Harry Potter and the order of the phoniex

[electricmayhem]

At first, she wrote in a style for smaller kids to understand. Now it is much more complex. Am I wrong?

I completely agree. I'm a teachers aide for a middle school theater class and all the kids in there were talking about Harry Potter and getting book 5 and whatnot and I just couldn't help thinking that the books are getting pretty sophisticated and younger readers might not understand them as much. I don't mean offense to anyone at all of course, it's just the plot lines are so intricate just in one book as well as across all the books and it is much deeper,darker story matter now(obviously). It just seems that as you get older, you appreciate them a little more fully. But of course, younger kids reading them now will have plenty of chance to do that as they reread them as the grow

A question to any English person or someone who knows English slang: what exactly does "wotcher" mean. Tonks has used it a couple times and it just seems like it was in a different context at different times. Just curious

 

[wolfy]

It just seems that as you get older, you appreciate them a little more fully. But of course, younger kids reading them now will have plenty of chance to do that as they reread them as the grow

A question to any English person or someone who knows English slang: what exactly does "wotcher" mean. Tonks has used it a couple times and it just seems like it was in a different context at different times. Just curious

I believe Ms Rowling has been writing the stories so that as Harry grows in the books, so do her readers. I think this was her intention the whole time...

I don't recall when the first Potter book came out, but I would hazard a guess that it was at least two to three years ago. I know that both my boys have "grown up" with Harry, and they do seem to enjoy the books, even with the darker side to them.

As for who dies, I'm not going to guess, but Rowling did say during her interview with Katie Couric on "Dateline" last Friday that this death "is the first of many to come..." Then she said something about "the wars are starting," whatever that means to you Potter readers...(again, never read the books, just seen the movies).

As for the word "wotcher," let's see if Luke knows, and if not, then I will do some checking. My Mum is English, and so are my uncle and aunt, so I can always ask them...
wolfy

 

[Don'tLiveonMoon]

I don't recall when the first Potter book came out, but I would hazard a guess that it was at least two to three years ago.

I'm pretty sure the first book came out in 1998. I read it in early 1999.
Erin

 

[wolfy]

TA-DAAAA!

I found it!

WOTCHA: Exclamation. A greeting. A shortening of what cheer! Also spelt wotcher. Mainly London use.

This was found in "A Dictionary of Slang - Slang and Colloquialisms of the U.K."

Hope it is helpful, Potter readers...
wolfy

 

[electricmayhem]

Ok, thanks, that helps I figured it was some sort of greeting.

 

[Jennifer12]

They keep getting better and better.....

Wow! Stayed up last night to finish it and all I can say is...WOW! I didn't know if people would be giving away plot points on the board so I stayed away while I was reading the book and now I need to discuss it! But in looking over posts, it looks like people are keeping secrets, so I won't spoil it.

It seems everyone knows "someone" dies, and when I got to that point I actually cried! I really liked that character and I'm bummed! I thought for sure it would be someone else... I won't say who to keep up the surprise, but I'm so sad...

I will say there were a lot of references to the past books, and shamefully I couldn't remember a lot of the things mentioned because I read them over a year ago. I guess I'll have to go back and re-read. I do remember after finishing the fourth book thinking that Rowling couldn't possibly top herself, and she managed to do so with Order of the Phoenix. I wish I was such a talented writer! I know someone who fancies herself quite the writer and poo-poos the Harry Potter books (never having read them herself, of course). It gives me great pleasure to bring up the fact that this last books sold 5 million copies in the first weekend....

Okay, enough rambling....

Jennifer

 

[wolfy]

My son finished the book yesterday, too.

What irked him was that, when he came down to talk to me about it, I had information from the new People magazine and was asking him questions about this and that in the book.

Since he knows I haven't read one single one of Rowling's books, only seen the movies, he was puzzled at the questions I asked, then confronted me with "You got this from either Muppet Central or some magazine that blabbed, didn't you?"

Well, I admitted that I had read it in People, and he was somewhat relieved. I forced who died out of him, then asked how he felt it might affect others. He, too, said that he liked this character and that he/she would be sorely missed, and that he did get upset over this character's death because it was a surprising one.

When we discussed how Rowling had mentioned that this was just the beginning of the deaths as there is going to be a "wizard's war" of sorts, he said, "Yeah, I can see it might be coming. I'm going to be quite upset when I read of others dying, but sometimes it happens in books..."

I then asked about someone's half-brother (new) and a few other things, and this does seem to be a great book that Rowling has written; perhaps her best.

What I really like, though, is that her books have encouraged so many youngsters to pick up books and read in the first place. That is so great! Anything to tear them away from television and computerized games for a change...

Go Rowling! Go Rowling! (This momma is happy!)
wolfy

 

[Don'tLiveonMoon]

I also finished the book yesterday. Hooray!!! Except, of course, that I now have to wait who knows how long for the next installment... I thought that this volume was terrific, and Rowling continues to amaze me with the intracies of the world and characters she has created, and all of the interconnected plot points. She is really quite incredible, and as a writer I envy her greatly. The tone of this book was definitely the darkest yet, though there's been quite a bit of darkness in the preceding volumes. It grows steadily darker with each volume, and Harry's prevalent surliness cast an especially large shadow over Book 5. There were a couple characters I wanted to see more of, but I'm sure I will in the next volume(s). I hope it's not too long of a wait for Book 6!
Erin

 

[electricmayhem]

Well, I just finished yesterday too and I am just wowed. I too cried when the person died. This was one of my favorite charaters. I didn't even want to believe it had happened and I kept telling myself that it was a twist and it hadn't really happened. And then I cried big time at the end. It was just so good!! I'm going to read it again later this summer. I also really liked the story around another of the characters and absolutely wanted to kick someone when reading about another "teacher". Man, I hated her.

Countdown to book 6: too long

 

[Don'tLiveonMoon]

I also really liked the story around another of the characters and absolutely wanted to kick someone when reading about another "teacher". Man, I hated her.

Ooooohhh, she made me cringe!!! Even Snape looked good after her, especially by the end of the book...
Erin