# Will you buy the new J.K. Rowling novel? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 29, 2012, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-you-buy-the-new-j-k-rowling-novel/636200 "2012-09-29T02:06:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2012, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-you-buy-the-new-j-k-rowling-novel/636200/41 "2012-10-02T14:41:22Z")
I bought it. My daughter is a huge Potter fan, so I knew she’d want it. I read the Potter books and liked ‘em fine, but not enough to read them again. This one…well, I’ll give it a look-see. Sometime. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2012, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-you-buy-the-new-j-k-rowling-novel/636200/42 "2012-10-02T15:08:57Z")
I’m a librarian, so I don’t buy books I don’t already know I love. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2012, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-you-buy-the-new-j-k-rowling-novel/636200/43 "2012-10-02T15:24:54Z")
I won’t buy it, but I’ve wishlisted it at a book swapping site. So I’ll read it most likely in 2013. ---
**Author:** ![eclectic\_wench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ac91a4/32.png) [@eclectic\_wench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eclectic_wench)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2012, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-you-buy-the-new-j-k-rowling-novel/636200/44 "2012-10-02T15:43:15Z")
I liked the Harry Potters, but this doesn’t sound like my kind of thing. From the reviews, it sounds like every character is loathsome, miserable or both, and that kind of book doesn’t do it for me. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Woodhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@Miss\_Woodhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Woodhouse)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2012, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-you-buy-the-new-j-k-rowling-novel/636200/45 "2012-10-02T17:29:45Z")
I downloaded the sample for my Kindle and didn’t even manage to finish it before I deleted it. I can’t read books without likable characters in it. The thing that was so great about the HP universe was it’s likable characters. I kept reading because they were so fun to hang out with for awhile. These characters are just a pack of Dursleys and no one really cares what the Dursleys are up to. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-you-buy-the-new-j-k-rowling-novel/636200/46 "2012-10-24T15:52:09Z")
Just finished the book. Well worth the read, but when they describe it as a tragedy, they aren’t kidding. Very strong and powerful stuff & very different in tone than the Harry Potter books (though interestingly their underlying messages aren’t all the different when you really think about it). ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-you-buy-the-new-j-k-rowling-novel/636200/47 "2012-10-24T15:56:13Z")
Yeah, I was kind of crushed the day I finished it. I also found out that my daughter is giving it to her grandmother for Christmas! I told her I didn’t think that was such a hot idea, what with Grandma being down in the dumps half the time anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Feyrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/fbc32d/32.png) [@Feyrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Feyrat)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-you-buy-the-new-j-k-rowling-novel/636200/48 "2012-10-24T16:32:42Z")
There needed to be an option for “No - and I used to be a Harry Potter fan before she apparently became too important for an editor and destroyed the series with the last books.” Because that’s me. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-you-buy-the-new-j-k-rowling-novel/636200/49 "2012-10-24T16:53:15Z")
Maybe. I’ll decide after I read the early reviews for _The Casual Vacancy and the File Cabinet of Secrets._ ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-you-buy-the-new-j-k-rowling-novel/636200/50 "2012-10-24T17:05:29Z")
> [@nomdenet](#): > > Well, as I have already opined, the hook is that that Harry Potter and the Dursleys and so forth could be real. That’s the appeal. If it was just “Wizard School in Fantasy Universe”, I don’t think it would have been as big a hit. That’s been done several times before, Earthsea and what have you. Harry potter really emphasised the “Muggle” angle, and I guess that that is its success. As well as timing, marketing , and pure dumb luck. I wouldn’t describe the muggle portion as “could be real”. When I think “real”, I think very realistic, with a feeling of depth to the characters. I think of the HP series as crossing two genres: medieval fantasy and children going away to school. Both genres have stock characters and themes. One has a contemporary setting and recognizable events, but neither one is particularly real. I agree that it’s the crossover that is the charm of the series. And that the contemporary settings and events drew readers into the story and appealed to readers who wouldn’t have gone for straight fantasy. The wizarding rules about hiding magic from muggles added complications for our heros, which was good for the stories. And it left us with a background feeling that if the wizards could hide themselves completely from the muggles, then maybe there’s some magic out there that’s hiding from us. If that’s what you mean by “could be real”, I’d agree. ---
**Author:** ![Skypist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skypist/32/169_2.png) [@Skypist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skypist)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-you-buy-the-new-j-k-rowling-novel/636200/51 "2012-10-24T18:10:10Z")
No, will not be buying this new novel but am a fan of the Harry Potter series. The subject matter doesn’t appeal to me. Plus I’ve heard that almost all of the characters are miserable and unlikable. IMO, she may have gone overboard trying to do the polar opposite of Harry Potter. Having all the characters in a story be miserable and suicidal? That’s what she thinks non-fantasy is? I don’t believe I’ll even check it out at the library. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-you-buy-the-new-j-k-rowling-novel/636200/52 "2012-10-24T18:12:33Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > Yeah, I was kind of crushed the day I finished it. Yeah, that’s a good way of putting it. Kind of felt like a punch in the gut. Though a great read - just be prepared for what it is. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-you-buy-the-new-j-k-rowling-novel/636200/53 "2012-10-24T19:30:06Z")
> [@Skypist](#): > > That’s what she thinks non-fantasy is? No, that’s what she thinks this particular novel is. (Your description of the characters – which is not entirely accurate, but also not surprising since you can’t be bothered to read the book – aside.) ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-you-buy-the-new-j-k-rowling-novel/636200/54 "2012-10-24T19:41:50Z")
I found several characters in the book worth rooting for. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-you-buy-the-new-j-k-rowling-novel/636200.md?page=2)