# People who read Harry Potter and nothing else (kinda lame) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 12, 2004, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-read-harry-potter-and-nothing-else-kinda-lame/228918 "2004-02-12T21:05:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2004, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-read-harry-potter-and-nothing-else-kinda-lame/228918/21 "2004-02-13T07:18:58Z")
> [@Brutus](#): > > So, the guy who’s game is “…a fantasy game, depicting valiant elves, stalwart dwarves and brave human warriors tirelessly fighting orcs, trolls, dark sorcerers and other agents of evil.” dares complain that JKR is not being original? 🙂 Oh no. And I most certainly am not. I’m quite proud of certain aspects of the rules system and syntax, though. That’s where I reach for originality. > [@](#): > > I know, I know, you are complaining about other people assuming she is. But be glad that the genre is getting a bit of a shot in the arm from JRR and JKR these past few years, bringing new kids in that may have otherwise been lost forever to Super Mario. Yes, yes, yes. I just wish… just wish… that they’d know that their fad is one of many, y’know? That there’s nothing special about this particular incarnation of it. _Lord of the Rings_, that was special in many ways. And when the first proto-gnostics invented the wizard/muggle world and the child-in-terrible-family-who’s-really-really-special deal 10000 years ago, that was special too. But even _Star Wars_ was more original than Harry Potter. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2004, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-read-harry-potter-and-nothing-else-kinda-lame/228918/22 "2004-02-13T07:33:54Z")
Oh, and if someone wrote me asking if Peter Jackson had to pay me to use elves and dwarves and orcs in his movies, I’d Pit them too. Righteously. ---
**Author:** ![Darkhold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@Darkhold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darkhold)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2004, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-read-harry-potter-and-nothing-else-kinda-lame/228918/23 "2004-02-13T09:27:54Z")
I always hate this conversation. “So what are you into?” “oh I like yadda, yadda, yadda, Reading” “Cool what books do you read?” “Harry Potter mostly” “Oh I only read one of them it was ok but not really my thing. What else do you read?” _blink blink_ “No I only read Harry Potter books” ARGHHHHH!!! If there’s a book you love pick up another one. Maybe just maybe you’ll love that one too. ---
**Author:** ![lucwarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@lucwarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lucwarm)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2004, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-read-harry-potter-and-nothing-else-kinda-lame/228918/24 "2004-02-13T11:01:49Z")
Out of curiousity, what are the major pre-Harry Potter works with the concept of the wizard school? ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2004, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-read-harry-potter-and-nothing-else-kinda-lame/228918/25 "2004-02-13T11:15:53Z")
Major? Dunno. Harry Potter is easily the most successful. However, the wizard school is a staple of the genre and a bit of a genre unto itself. Ursula LeGuin’s books feature a wizard school, for example _A Wizard of Earthsea_. A websearch finds me [_A Bad Spell In Yurt_](http://foothills.wjduquette.com/archives/000049.html) and [this series](http://www.sfsite.com/02a/wh169.htm). The review specifically recommends it for “fans of the wizard school genre”. Some more searching shows me [Wizard’s Hall](http://www.fa.org/library/betasummerreading.htm) and [The Dark Lord of Derkholm](http://www.fantasyfreaks.org/reviews/caleyna/dlod.html). And, of course, there’s the Unseen University in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld books. ---
**Author:** ![Cerri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3bc359/32.png) [@Cerri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerri)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2004, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-read-harry-potter-and-nothing-else-kinda-lame/228918/26 "2004-02-13T11:25:38Z")
> [@LostCause](#): > > Another annoying occurance was when after watching Fellowship of the Ring, some Everquest and UO gamers will discussing about the character, particularly about what _class_ Aragorn was. “He’s a paladin!” one of them exclaimed. I did a double-take. Aragorn was the arche-type of ranger which D+D derived from. How the hell did he imagine a paladin? > > One of them even made the remark how the movie was so like D+D/Everquest. Man, I felt like strangling them all! Interesting…I’ve played EverQuest for going on 4 years now, and I’d never picture Aragorn as anything BUT a ranger (though, to clarify, he wouldn’t be considered an Everquest type ranger the way the game is played today, they’ve gotten so many bonuses to archery the last year or two, that it in no way pays for a high level ranger to melee, they get WAY more DPS (damage per second) with archery). He CERTAINLY, imo, wouldn’t be considered a paladin…unless I missed him doing some laying on of hands, or Healing somewhere along the way, which I am damn sure I didn’t. The ONLY thing I can think of that he did even remotely paladin-like (Everquest paladin that is, I know nada about UO), was use his sword as a 2-Hand slash weapon, instead of dual-wielding, or 1-Hand slash with shield. Now that I’ve displayed my female geekness thoroughly, I’d like to additionally state, that I really don’t understand people who don’t like to read. ---
**Author:** ![Cerri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3bc359/32.png) [@Cerri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerri)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2004, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-read-harry-potter-and-nothing-else-kinda-lame/228918/27 "2004-02-13T11:28:38Z")
> [@lucwarm](#): > > Out of curiousity, what are the major pre-Harry Potter works with the concept of the wizard school? Hm, well, it’s not Wizard school, but Mercedes Lackey’s Heralds of Valdemar series does have a Collegium where they teach their future Heralds mind-magic and magery. Also, Discworld’s Unseen University (Terry Pratchett), is a Wizard’s learning instituition that has no peer for funny wizard antics, imo. ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2004, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-read-harry-potter-and-nothing-else-kinda-lame/228918/28 "2004-02-13T11:40:12Z")
Wart’s (Arthur) early education by Merlin in **T.H.White** ’s _The Sword in the Stone_ dates from 1938. It’s private tutoring rather than a boarding school, and Merlin mainly uses shape-changing to teach Arthur about life rather than actually teaching him magic, but it seems to me to be an early inspiration for ‘wizard-school’ type stories… ---
**Author:** ![gex\_gex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/94ad74/32.png) [@gex\_gex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gex_gex)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2004, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-read-harry-potter-and-nothing-else-kinda-lame/228918/29 "2004-02-13T12:00:54Z")
Ehh. I’d never encounted hippogriffs before Rowling, and I read a hell of a lot. But I avoid fantasy like the plague. I can only cope with Rowling because it’s not really fantasy - I see it as Enid Blyton style school stories in a different setting. I know it ain’t original though. ---
**Author:** ![Shade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2004, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-read-harry-potter-and-nothing-else-kinda-lame/228918/30 "2004-02-13T12:34:59Z")
I don’t actually play DnD but I thought I had some idea of what a paladin was, and Aragorn does seem to fit it in many ways, especially later. Though I agree he was SO a ranger from the start. He was even CALLED a ranger. He represents a cause. He’s got an awesome moral code and goodness shines out of his pores. His virtue is so palpable he can stare down a dark god with it. He’s badass on the battlefield. He doesn’t ‘lay on hands’ but I’d say the bit where only he can heal the black-breathed at the end is representative of that. Though I admit I don’t know what +/- paladins should get… ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2004, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-read-harry-potter-and-nothing-else-kinda-lame/228918/31 "2004-02-13T12:39:35Z")
> [@Shade](#): > > I don’t actually play DnD but I thought I had some idea of what a paladin was, and Aragorn does seem to fit it in many ways, especially later. Though I agree he was SO a ranger from the start. He was even CALLED a ranger. Yes he was. Mostly because the D&D class of “ranger” was taken from _Lord of the Rings_. So Aragorn is the quintessential ranger. [sub]Hey, I used the word “quintessential” twice in one thread! Is there a prize?[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Shade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2004, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-read-harry-potter-and-nothing-else-kinda-lame/228918/32 "2004-02-13T12:44:53Z")
> [@Priceguy](#): > > Yes he was. Mostly because the D&D class of “ranger” was taken from _Lord of the Rings_. So Aragorn is the quintessential ranger. That’s what I suspected… thanks. > [@](#): > > [sub]Hey, I used the word “quintessential” twice in one thread! Is there a prize?[/sub] Dude, you’re so going stale. Twice? You need to expand your vocabulary, man! 😃 d&r Though I agree “quintissential” is the quintissential synonym of “quintissential”, there are others… [sub]Three times! Woo! 😛 :D[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![WernhamHogg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a587f6/32.png) [@WernhamHogg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WernhamHogg)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2004, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-read-harry-potter-and-nothing-else-kinda-lame/228918/33 "2004-02-13T12:56:38Z")
Well, I was under the mistaken impression recently that she had invented hippogriffs, since I’d never encountered that creature before. I think maybe the OP is over the top, since some people read extensively but don’t waste much time on the fantasy genre, which is (with a few notable exceptions), mostly junk. There are no hippogriffs in Shakespeare, Dante, Goethe, Melville, or Joyce. ---
**Author:** ![Cerri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3bc359/32.png) [@Cerri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerri)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2004, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-read-harry-potter-and-nothing-else-kinda-lame/228918/34 "2004-02-13T13:01:26Z")
> [@skutir](#): > > Well, I was under the mistaken impression recently that she had invented hippogriffs, since I’d never encountered that creature before. I think maybe the OP is over the top, since some people read extensively but don’t waste much time on the fantasy genre, which is (with a few notable exceptions), mostly junk. There are no hippogriffs in Shakespeare, Dante, Goethe, Melville, or Joyce. Hmm, I kind of take exception to your statement that fantasy is mostly junk. It may not be YOUR cup of tea, and that’s great, but I wouldn’t be so arrogant as to classify an entire genre of literature as “junk” just cause I don’t like it. ---
**Author:** ![Cerri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3bc359/32.png) [@Cerri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerri)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2004, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-read-harry-potter-and-nothing-else-kinda-lame/228918/35 "2004-02-13T13:04:01Z")
To clarify (My kingdom for an edit button!) my above statement. I’m not a big fan of who-dunit mystery. However, I’d never be so arrogant as to call the likes of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie, or or Alfred Hitchcock “junk”. ---
**Author:** ![In\_Conceivable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/4bbf92/32.png) [@In\_Conceivable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/In_Conceivable)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2004, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-read-harry-potter-and-nothing-else-kinda-lame/228918/36 "2004-02-13T13:06:43Z")
I have read thousands of books. I don’t read very much fantasy but I have read some. The only place I have heard of a hippogriff is Harry Potter. If asked I would have guessed that J K Rollings invented hippogriffs. It isn’t like the half horse/half something else thing hasn’t been done before. I just thought it was a very slightly new twist. Of course I have never played a fantasy game either. Perhaps you are just attracting a lot of first time fantasy game players. Good luck becoming Gary Gygax (whoever he is). ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2004, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-read-harry-potter-and-nothing-else-kinda-lame/228918/37 "2004-02-13T13:16:43Z")
> [@In Conceivable](#): > > I have read thousands of books. I don’t read very much fantasy but I have read some. > > The only place I have heard of a hippogriff is Harry Potter. If asked I would have guessed that J K Rollings invented hippogriffs. Exactly. You would have _guessed_. Not _assumed_. And I hope you would have done a five-second check before acting on that guess. ---
**Author:** ![WernhamHogg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a587f6/32.png) [@WernhamHogg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WernhamHogg)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2004, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-read-harry-potter-and-nothing-else-kinda-lame/228918/38 "2004-02-13T13:18:22Z")
> [@Cerri](#): > > Hmm, I kind of take exception to your statement that fantasy is mostly junk. It may not be YOUR cup of tea, and that’s great, but I wouldn’t be so arrogant as to classify an entire genre of literature as “junk” just cause I don’t like it. Sorry, but I calls 'em as I sees 'em. I’m not an aesthetic relativist who says Terry Brooks is just as good as Joyce and it’s “all a matter of opinion.” No, it’s all a matter of being well read and having good taste. ---
**Author:** ![WernhamHogg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a587f6/32.png) [@WernhamHogg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WernhamHogg)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2004, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-read-harry-potter-and-nothing-else-kinda-lame/228918/39 "2004-02-13T13:19:41Z")
> [@Cerri](#): > > To clarify (My kingdom for an edit button!) my above statement. I’m not a big fan of who-dunit mystery. However, I’d never be so arrogant as to call the likes of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie, or or Alfred Hitchcock “junk”. I did say “with a few notable exceptions,” which would include Tolkien and Mervyn Peak maybe even Rowling. But Christ, have you been to the fantasy section of a bookstore lately? ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2004, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-read-harry-potter-and-nothing-else-kinda-lame/228918/40 "2004-02-13T13:22:21Z")
> [@skutir](#): > > Sorry, but I calls 'em as I sees 'em. I’m not an aesthetic relativist who says Terry Brooks is just as good as Joyce and it’s “all a matter of opinion.” No, it’s all a matter of being well read and having good taste. So it _isn’t_ a matter of opinion? There’s a Big Holy Yardstick of Literary Excellence somewhere? Moron. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-read-harry-potter-and-nothing-else-kinda-lame/228918.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-read-harry-potter-and-nothing-else-kinda-lame/228918.md?page=3)