Poll

What is your favourite book in the Harry Potter series ?

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
0 (0%)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
0 (0%)
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
1 (6.7%)
Harry Potter and the Goblet of fire
8 (53.3%)
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
4 (26.7%)
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
0 (0%)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
2 (13.3%)

Total Members Voted: 15

Author Topic: Best Harry Potter book  (Read 2110 times)

DarkeningHumour

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Best Harry Potter book
« on: October 23, 2016, 03:02:13 PM »
I wanted to compare people's favourite book in the series with their favourite adaptation sing this thread. No particular reason, I just get curious. Also, I like telling people they're wrong for loving Prisoner so much.

Order of the Phoenix
Half Blood Prince
Goblet of fire
Chamber of Secrets
Deathly Hallows

Philosopher's Stone
Prisoner of Azkaban


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Teproc

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Re: Best Harry Potter book
« Reply #1 on: October 23, 2016, 03:16:25 PM »
I loooved Prisoner when I first read it, mostly because I thought Lupin was the awesomest (and to a lesser extent Sirius as well) and I loved all the Marauders stuff. I still do but there's more to the book that's less than stellar, it's still stuck in the first two books most annoying traits (the boys being dicks to Hermione, Harry being dumb and annoying in general and paranoid towards Snape, etc.). The later books are really better, but if pressed I think my favorite is Goblet of Fire. It's the one I remember the most specific moments about, maybe because I read it much younger than the other ones (I started reading when the first four were out) and was thus genuinely scared by both the opening and the climax. Also the Quidditch World Cup is fun.

Not sure about the colors, but a tentative ranking :

1. Goblet of Fire

2. Order of the Phoenix
3. Half-Blood Prince

4. Prisoner of Azkaban
5. Deathly Hallows
6. Philosopher's Stone







7. Chamber of Secrets
« Last Edit: October 23, 2016, 03:18:36 PM by Teproc »
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DarkeningHumour

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Re: Best Harry Potter book
« Reply #2 on: October 23, 2016, 03:30:44 PM »
I think you got your vote wrong there...Also,

7. Chamber of Secrets

 :'(
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St. Martin the Bald

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Re: Best Harry Potter book
« Reply #3 on: October 23, 2016, 05:47:10 PM »
1. Deathly Hallows
2. Half Blood Prince
3. Order of the Phoenix
4. Prisoner of Azkaban
5. Chamber of Secrets
6. Sorcerer's Stone


For me, Hallows has all of the feels. Especially when Harry gets back to Hogwarts and you see that students have had their own problems going on but that Harry was still an inspiration to them.
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oldkid

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Re: Best Harry Potter book
« Reply #4 on: October 23, 2016, 11:28:25 PM »
Philosopher's Stone was good, solid children's lit.
Chamber was too much like the first.
Prisoner had more variety and excellent new characters, but still the basic structure of the first.

Goblet added a new frame, new characters, deeply developed the old main characters, and had an ending that changed the whole series.

I love Order of Phoenix and the other two, but Goblet is the balance between what is best in the first half and and the open door to the second half.
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1SO

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Re: Best Harry Potter book
« Reply #5 on: October 24, 2016, 01:33:20 AM »
I'm sure this will rip some kind of hole in time and space, but here goes.


1. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - MOVIE
2. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - BOOK
3. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - BOOK
4. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - MOVIE
5. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - BOOK
6. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - MOVIE
7. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II - MOVIE
8. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - MOVIE
9. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - MOVIE
10. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I - MOVIE
11. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - BOOK
12. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - MOVIE
13. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - BOOK
14. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - MOVIE

15. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - BOOK


Order of the Phoenix was a sprawling mess of a book, spread too thin and drowning in too many subplots and side stories. It stands as my favorite screenplay adaptation for bringing so many of those stories under a cohesive shell.

Half Blood Prince is a great book, but I remember thinking large sections of it were going to be uncinematic as Rowling was drawing out the drama. Turns out I was right.

On one hand, my problem with Azkaban is that Alfonso Cuarón is too distinct an auteur, so the film stands apart from the series because of it's particular visual pleasures. As you can see, I'm not a fan of the original book and that's due to the clumsy final third, which has 3 Chapters in a row in the Shrieking Shack followed by that time travel climax, which many found clever but I just saw it as Harry putting everything into place at the right time. There wasn't any actual danger like defeating the Basilisk in Chamber of Voldemort in all future books. He knew exactly what he had to do, so we just followed along while he did it.

Teproc

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Re: Best Harry Potter book
« Reply #6 on: October 24, 2016, 02:31:59 AM »
Interesting, because I love the Order of the Phoenix book and strongly dislike the film, as I think it gets lost in a lazy nazi/fascist allegory that feels completely out of place stylistically for the series : that films stands out so much more (in a bad way) than Azkaban does, to me. There's also the fact that I hate the way Yates directs those battles, and that kinda ruins the whole climax.
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Sam the Cinema Snob

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Re: Best Harry Potter book
« Reply #7 on: October 24, 2016, 09:34:08 AM »
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets


Dave the Necrobumper

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Re: Best Harry Potter book
« Reply #8 on: January 21, 2017, 05:41:35 AM »
Prisoner just over Goblet in the books.

StarCarly

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Re: Best Harry Potter book
« Reply #9 on: January 21, 2017, 11:58:31 AM »

Goblet of Fire
Prisoner of Azkaban
Deathly Hallows
Half-Blood Prince
Chamber of Secrets
Sorcerer's Stone
Order of the Phoenix
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