Before you read this post, please read this comment, as this is what I will be addressing today; all done? Good. Now, where to start? How does one break down a statement of such blatant hypocrisy? It seems the best way to do it would be in list form, so here it goes, my complaints to you Patty, and please don't take them personally, they are not meant to be hurtful, but they are pretty cut and dry. Here goes;
1 - You are 15; you know nothing of quality literature. Don't argue, just accept it. I have been an avid reader since childhood, and I am now 27 and I still know nothing about quality in literature, so don't try and belittle me for not liking Harry fucking Potter. You're wrong, and the reason you are wrong is the same reason you think I am wrong; we are arguing about a difference of opinion, and every man is right is his own eyes.
2 - You stated that you had a "deep passion for the complexity and depth...", and that is something I can appreciate. But tell me, do you so adamantly defend Stephen King the same way you would J. K. Rowling? He also writes with amazing complexity and depth, but many write him off as a hack because of his darker themed material. Pick an author that you do not enjoy and I guarantee you I can find someone who feels the exact opposite. I may piss you off, as you so cleverly put it, but you can't get mad at everyone who shares a different opinion than you now can you?
3 - I don't understand why you accuse me of being "annoyed" at people who "exercise their ability to read". I don't, I just don't like what they are reading. What I was trying to say was that the majority of people I have ever encountered who read Harry Potter books read only Harry Potter books. How can you (and by "you" I mean the readers I am talking about, not necessarily you personally) stand on your high pedestal and claim these books are such great pillars of literature when you have nothing to compare them too? What I mean to say is that most Potter readers read only Potter, and thereby have no basis to stand on when arguing their greatness. It is a biased opinion, at best.
4 - Yes, I agree that it has made a difference in child literacy, and that is something I will never condone unless the books preach hatred (which as far as I know they don't). But tell me, were these books a greater contribution to the literary world than Dumas, Wilde, Dickens, Vidal, Vonnegut, Tolkien, or Shakespeare? Because these writers and hundreds like them built the foundation of which all writers today stand on. What I mean to ask is have you bothered to look at the other side's point of view? There is no way, in my humble opinion, that the Potter books can compare to these other great authors I mentioned, and the only people who will argue that are the Potter fanatics you just don't know any better. When you start to argue quality literature, you had better study the past before you argue the present.
To cap all of this off, I am not angry nor am I trying to convince you to stop reading the Potter books. In fact, I hope you reply to this with another comment, as I rather enjoy friendly debates. But you have to understand where we anti-Potter people are coming from. Potter fanatics act like literature was nothing more than useless words before J. K. Rowling came along, and that makes us mad. You (again, not personally) talk down to us as if we are the ignorant ones for just not having any God damn interest in reading those books, when in fact you refuse to pick up anything else that does not involve a little boy and his wand. In my post I was attacking the fanatics, not the fans, but maybe you should take your own advice of considering things from someone else's perspective. And by the way, yes I could hurt a lot if people, but you know what? So what. I am not here to please people, I am here to state my random ramblings and debate with 15 year olds about books, not hurt people. I doubt anybody is going to throw themselves off a cliff because of my opinion. With that, I say happy holidays to you and all you other readers out there, and feel free to tell me I am right or wrong, I really don't care.
Is it something I said when I lost my mind? Temper too quick, makes me blind
No comments:
Post a Comment