h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I was hoping that they'd inserted some "Adult Scene's" into the book, you know Harry is made to fag for some disreputable seventh former, Harry experiments with recreational potion use, attracts the unwelcome attentions of the maths wizard with the big wand, Harry tentatively meets up with a co-ed from the witches guild behind the broomstick-shed.

Well it is a boarding school isn't it.

I'm sure if you rumage around long enough on the internet I *know* there are fan fictions out there. Addmitedly most of them involve Sirius and Lupin....... but I'm sure most sites would welcome new submissions.

Is this going to be moderated away?

FABT - reads *way* too much.......

Can't you leave _anything_ alone?

No.

Well, I saw the film yesterday and entertaining as it was, the highlight was definitely seeing the full trailer for Lord of the Rings.



Now there is full on adult fantasy (without big wands )
and no mistake.

Roll on Dec 19th. Isn't there another day everyone waits for around then? Can't remember at the moment

Have you noticed how many top films seem to be being followwed up with porn remakes at the moment. I noticed loads of them in the local video store the other day. Remakes of Blair Witch and horrors mainly. And they seem to be mainstream, (ie not under the counter top shelf type things - just in with the other movies). Now that is scarry.

I can't help thinking there will be a LOTR porn out on Dec 20th. Complete with real dwarfs probibly.

It doesn't matter what you make up, there's someone out there doing it for real.

Seriously though, it is a bit of a shame that the HP books haven't really dealt with any of the issues i mention in post 21. They're not just boarding school issues, but relevent to all schools, and most kids. I know it's escapism, and it just a bit of fun, but thats a good environment for dealing with sensitive stuff.

There's not really much of a place for it in the Harry Potter world though. I don't think all books have to deal with every nitty-gritty unpleasantness that can happen in similar situations in real life. Sometimes people need pure escapism.

Come on...it's really a book for little kids. That kind of thing can wait a bit can't it?
I know that for girls this sort of thing is coped with in the (what I think of as) cruddy teenage books like sweet valley high or modern equivalent, and I'm sure it gets covered in whatever it is boys read (point horror etc).
Just because this is set in a school, you don't have to have realistic school problems do you? HP is pure fantasy....a fact which is shown straight away by the situation HP is in at the very begining. The same can be said for "Harry and the wrinklies" and Diana Wynne Jones' Chrestomancy series. Not everything in life has to be serious, down to earth and, basically, depressing. Does it?
If so, stop the world I wanna get off.....
(and yes, I read a heck of a lot of kiddies books........ I just don't want to grow up..)
Oh cheeze it...I'm being serious and boring again. Must unsubscribe from these convos...

That's a good point - Diana Wynne Jones' Chrestomanci series had one book in particular in it which is excellent - Witch Week. This is set in a boarding school, and it's a really horrible one. Many of the pupils are orphans of witches who have been burnt, or their parents are in prison for helping witches, or they're considered to be difficult children. Lots of bullying and other unpleasantness goes on, and there's a very real feeling to it - the groups which form within the classes are just like those which form in real life. However, there's a place for that in that book, because the school is supposed to be horrible. In Harry Potter, Hogwart's is supposed to be wonderful, especially for Harry as he lives in such horrible conditions at home - and wonderful it is indeed.

I think it's done just right.

"Pretty much guaranteed they'll release at least six more versions with the film photos on the cover. Lets see: one for the script, one really dumbed down for stupid kids, one with directors comments, one with stills from the film, one hard back luxury edition, one hardback cheapo edition, one paper back large size, one paper back small size,....."

Hmm I think they are way ahead of you. I punched "Harry Potter" into Amazon's UK database and got 175 matches. On a cursery check I didn't see many that were books about say, ancient greek literature, written by one Harry Potter.

A friend and I were talking about the fact that the Harry Potter movie is getting more hype than the LOTR. She said that the LOTR has its own cult following and doesn't need it. Which seemed odd to me, but the more I think about it the more I realize she was right, because I've been waiting for someone to come along and make a movie out of it for a long time. I always like movies made from books, even if they don't follow the storyline exactly it's cool to see the people you read about in real life so to speak.

On the other hand, if the books get young children to read like I did, then that I would consider to be a good thing, regardless of how lame its seems to me at this age.

It's a bit sad though that kids are given the impression that they can escape bullying in the home at school if they then find more bullying at school, if Harry can face monsters and plotting wizzards surely he can deal with being used as a toast rack by the older boys. Hey he can use magic sure, but just showing kids that you can stand up to those above you and you don't need to cower in silence at the hot butter runs down your thighs...

So ...was that your school experience then? Well.....Uh....
To be honest with you I don't really see why anyone SHOULD have to put up with that kind of behaviour...But I went to the local one and only hell-hole so what do I know?
I think little kids get as much real life as they should have to in an escapim book, what with Snape and the Slytherins in general and Percy and Ron's big brother and stuff like that. (I can't even type for frecks sake) If you want a discursive essay on this I'm not going to oblige as i was never very good at that sort of thing. But COME ON everyone, 1-100, needs to get away from all the stupid pettyness of the world. Don't they? If only for sanity's sake?!

Just think of the shock all those kids are getting now who begged their mummy and daddy to go to boarding school after reading HP and are now living in the middle ages (and i'm not talking about the dragons and alchemy end either rather the sodomy and the lash end that still flourishes).

I'd quite like to see a slanted look at some of the issues today. For instance, wizards use alot of different plants, herbs & spices. So what is Marijuana good for in a spell-book ? Perhaps it just gives them a nasty headache. Perhaps not.
Bear in mind that HP himself grows as the books carry on. Unless Rowling wants to be writing about a lonely and bitter 30 year-old, they will have to deal with some issues eventually
However, despite it being quite a fun film to watch, the acting of Daniel Radcliffe and the other boy is terrible. Emily Watson ('Hermione') really shines out - in more ways than one. I'm not a perv but, as a friend of mine pointed out, in about 5 years, she looks like she'll be very attractive.
Finally, I ought to point out that, 20 years ago, LOTR was in it's 77th edition. They can keep printing those books as long as there are kids with pocket money or adults wondering about the hype.

...or adults with too much pocket money. A first edition of LOTR in top condition will set you back at least £50,000

a lot of you seem to have a very stereotypical idea of what boarding school is like...
i've been at a boarding school for the last five years, and i've never seen any serious bullying. it's a girl's school i go to, but i don't see how that should make much difference. and it's not all midnight feasts and prank-playing either...
^. .^
= ' =

I'm glad to hear it!!!

But do you get broomstick lessons?