What other fantasy books do YOU read?

[Galadriel]

Originally Posted by LadyBrooke

If it was just the simplicity of it, I'd still read it and like it, most likely...I, after all, still read Winnie the Pooh and Dr. Suess just for the fun of it at times, as well as Babysitters Club, Nancy Drew, ect... It's more the religious aspects of it that annoy me...if I want religion, I'll read the Bible again.

Lol, I still read 'The Tale of Peter Rabbit' Yes, I agree, the religious aspects were a turn-off for me. Tolkien's works have a religious base too, but it's less obvious in my opinion.

A lot of people have read the Bible...anyone around here read the Upanishads?

[LadyBrooke]

Originally Posted by Galadriel

A lot of people have read the Bible...anyone around here read the Upanishads?

Not yet...it's a goal in life, I suppose. I need to read it, the Quran, at least one of the Buddhist texts, ect. Personally, I believe an understanding of all religions is important...

I have, however, read portions of the Epic of Gilgamesh for an essay. It was weird...but I liked it. I like ancient literature...I read the entire Iliad and Odyssey for fun, when we had to read a portion for school...The college I'm going to offers Ancient Greek and Latin, but I doubt I'll have time to take them. So, I guess my knowledge will be limited to what I can learn on my own...

Originally Posted by Galadriel

Yes, I thoroughly enjoyed the third and fourth books. The first two were a bit childish, and the fifth one is dragging more than it should. For me, it doesn't exactly lack character depth, but it lacks depth in theme and creativity. Sure, Rowling describes Hogwarts and some magical villages really well, but there's very little beyond that. I like a larger world to play around with, but that's my personal preference.

Personally, I hated the way it seemed that Slytherin automatically meant you were evil, with a few exceptions (and those weren't presented well either). What's wrong with ambition? And really, why would three people form a school with some evil guy? I liked parts of the fifth one, but I can't stand how Molly Weasley is presented as some kind of good person by Rowling. I mean, I'm not the largest fan of Sirius, but going into somebody's house and insulting them...her insults to him were worse then Snape's for crying out loud. And the way she jokes about love potions...I don't think that many of the good characters, like Molly and Ginny, were really the saints they're presented as by Rowling. I loved book 3 and 4 though...of course, Remus and Fleur are my favorite characters so....

I agree. IMO romance kills a book, unless it's in small amounts. I think that is one of the (big) reasons I loved LotR so much. When I reached the end I was like "Yes, yes, yes! Such little romance!" Of course, Jackson simply had to put an unnecessary amount of it in the movies. Poor, dear Glorfindel

Romance has it's place, but it's not in a fantasy book set at a school, imo. And if the romances had made sense, I might have not had as large problem...but they didn't, with the exception of one or two, and I had the urge to throw the book at the wall when Hermione and Ron got together or Remus and Tonks...they just don't seem like they're suited for each other (and please, any one who thinks they do, don't bring up the anvil sized hints. They were there, but Ron also insults Hermione in every book, is lazy and unmotivated, and makes fun of Hermione's beliefs.) I completely agree about LotR, though...and why did PJ have to do that? Why?

Ditto. I also think that she could really use some better vocabulary. Whenever I think of HP I think of "reckon" - she repeats that word waaay too often. I know she wants to imitate British slang, but it just gets on my nerves. As for the 5th book - I only read the 6th one to find out what Harry's OWL results were. I didn't see any other point in reading on.

Better then me...I got 20 pages into book 7, realized I hated it, and put it down, in spite of wanting to know what would happen. I just couldn't stand the writing style. So, I only finished it when I found MST of it...

[Galadriel]

[QUOTE=LadyBrooke;658559]Personally, I hated the way it seemed that Slytherin automatically meant you were evil, with a few exceptions (and those weren't presented well either). What's wrong with ambition? And really, why would three people form a school with some evil guy?/QUOTE]

I concur, that was the part that seemed the most biased to me. I refuse to believe that so many students would be cheats and sneaks. One quarter of a school? Are you kidding me? All of them stuffed into the same house? That's a recipe for disaster, if you ask me. Yes, it seemed a bit foolish of those people to form a school with someone like that. Also, Rowling really makes it seem like Harry, Ron and Hermione are the only kids in the school with common sense.

[LadyBrooke]

Originally Posted by Galadriel

I concur, that was the part that seemed the most biased to me. I refuse to believe that so many students would be cheats and sneaks. One quarter of a school? Are you kidding me? All of them stuffed into the same house? That's a recipe for disaster, if you ask me. Yes, it seemed a bit foolish of those people to form a school with someone like that.

Well, I can believe that many people can be cheats, but believe me, it wouldn't be limited to one house. In fact, Slytherin seems like it'd also have a high portion of students who would never cheat, just because ambition is not a synonym with evil, and there are ambitious people who don't...in my experience, it was the lazy, unmotivated people who tried to cheat on me the most. It would be a disaster to have one house that was evil. For one thing, if Slytherin is so evil, then how come so many of them were trusted, like Lucius Malfoy (not saying he deserved to be trusted by Fudge...but he was.)

Also, Rowling really makes it seem like Harry, Ron and Hermione are the only kids in the school with common sense.

Yeah....and the rest of the school are mindless followers and gossipers (Hufflepuff, Justin), crybabies and traitors (Ravenclaw), or evil (Slytherin)...and only exposure and friendship with Harry and co can redeem somebody. It's stupid....and I'd end up strangling somebody, likely Ron.

Originally Posted by Galadriel

I'm going to give the sixth and seventh books a go, but only because my mother says they were better than the rest (and because my friends would kill me if I didn't read them). *Sigh* It's irritating how they gasp and gawk when I say I haven't read Harry Potter.

My apologies and sympathy for how your friends act...mine are the same way about Twilight. It is rather annoying, isn't it?

PS - Can anyone tell me how to quote different bits of a paragraph at a time? I've no idea how

Err, copy or cut and paste, or use the enter and delete keys, to get the individual sections you want to reply to into different spots, separated by a line. Then put the [ quote ] and [ /quote ] at the beginning and end of each one. That's a really dumb explanation, that probably makes no sense.....

[Galadriel]

[QUOTE]

Originally Posted by LadyBrooke

Well, I can believe that many people can be cheats, but believe me, it wouldn't be limited to one house. In fact, Slytherin seems like it'd also have a high portion of students who would never cheat, just because ambition is not a synonym with evil, and there are ambitious people who don't...in my experience, it was the lazy, unmotivated people who tried to cheat on me the most. It would be a disaster to have one house that was evil. For one thing, if Slytherin is so evil, then how come so many of them were trusted, like Lucius Malfoy (not saying he deserved to be trusted by Fudge...but he was.)

I shall try your suggestion right now

Call me gullible, but I can't believe that around fifty people in one grade would join with dark forces, murder and torture. They're kids, at the end of the day. You are right, it is usually the lazy people who are corrupt and surly. And you are right about Lucius.

Yeah....and the rest of the school are mindless followers and gossipers (Hufflepuff, Justin), crybabies and traitors (Ravenclaw), or evil (Slytherin)...and only exposure and friendship with Harry and co can redeem somebody. It's stupid....and I'd end up strangling somebody, likely Ron.

Haven't gotten to some of those parts yet, but I agree about Harry.

My apologies and sympathy for how your friends act...mine are the same way about Twilight. It is rather annoying, isn't it?

Twilight is still okay. I have such a vehement dislike towards it that most people don't even utter that word in my presence. But since I was neutral towards Potter, my friends thought they could persuade me to read it. Sadly, I know no one who is interested in Lord of the Rings. One of my friends is reading it now, at my suggestion, but I don't think she's going to get quite as obsessed with it as I am

PS - Wohoo, it worked!