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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
 Posted - 07/18/2005 : 03:01:37
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Fucking incredable!! quote:
NEW YORK (AP) - The new Harry Potter book sold an astonishing 6.9 million copies in its first 24 hours, smashing the record held by the previous Potter release. "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" averaged better than 250,000 sales per hour, more than the vast majority of books sell in a lifetime.
"This is a cause for celebration, not just for Scholastic, but for book lovers everywhere," said Lisa Holton, president of Scholastic Children's Books, Rowling's U.S. publisher.
Sales for the sixth installment of J.K. Rowling's fantasy series easily outpaced those for Potter V, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," which came out in 2003 and sold 5 million copies in the first 24 hours. Acknowledging that some stores quickly ran out of books two years ago, Scholastic has already increased the print run for "Half-Blood Prince" from 10.8 million copies to 13.5 million.
The Scholastic numbers are for the United States only. Sales figures from Britain are expected Monday.
This is the the dream of every ink-stained wretch who ever went to the pen to try and earn a little coin. I am not insane with envy, no. Well, not much, anyway. I am delighted to see so many people actually reading, in these days of instant, visual gratification. I'm also slightly appalled by the whole, riotious scene. Works of fiction delievered to stores in the dead of night disguised as something else, and under guard! Who'd have believed it, back in the days when Rowling was on GB's versiom of welfare....
Fucking incredable!!
And now the amusing part, from a skeptics point of view, will begin. The Pope has already voiced opposition to Harry as have many of our Protestant denominations, the latter concievably seeing it as as a harbinger of the Antichrist. And not to mention the huge amount of coin Rowling has and is pulling down from no more effort than imaginitive, demonic scribbling, that thay can't get access to....
I now await the reviews from the various pulpets. Some of them will be doozies! 
Fucking incredable!!
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist! 
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Siberia
SFN Addict
Brazil
2322 Posts |
 Posted - 07/18/2005 : 06:35:47 [Permalink]
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Damn right. I could've bought the british version the day of release, to be delivered in two days, for +R$100 (my money).
Fuckin' incredible, but nonetheless pleasant. |
"Why are you afraid of something you're not even sure exists?"
- The Kovenant, Via Negativa
"People who don't like their beliefs being laughed at shouldn't have such funny beliefs."
-- unknown
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Kil
Evil Skeptic
USA
13477 Posts |
Posted - 07/18/2005 : 08:42:33 [Permalink]
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| These numb nuts would not know a good thing if they stumbled over it. Kids lining up to buy a book! In this day and age of instant gratification by way of television, movies, video games and such, these kids want to read a book. Glory be! They also insult the kids by assuming that they can't tell reality from a work of fiction. Shame on them… |
Uncertainty may make you uncomfortable. Certainty makes you ridiculous.
Why not question something for a change?
Genetic Literacy Project |
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furshur
SFN Regular
USA
1536 Posts |
Posted - 07/18/2005 : 09:24:07 [Permalink]
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I credit the Harry Potter series with getting both of my kids to realize how enjoyable reading can be. I know that my whole family will burn in hell for eternity because of reading HP - but I figure it is a small price to pay to have my kids reading.
12:15 am Saturday I was in line with my 13 year old to get the book. 3:00 pm Sunday she completed the 600 odd pages.
Go Harry! |
If I knew then what I know now then I would know more now than I know. |
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woolytoad
Skeptic Friend
313 Posts |
Posted - 07/18/2005 : 09:53:04 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by furshur
12:15 am Saturday I was in line with my 13 year old to get the book. 3:00 pm Sunday she completed the 600 odd pages.
*sigh* I remember the time I could put away that many pages in a few hours and still comprehend what I read. I spend so much time reading technical documents and code that the last thing I want to do is spend more time squinting.
I hope this reading thing doesn't just end up as another fad. You know what kids are like. |
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Siberia
SFN Addict
Brazil
2322 Posts |
Posted - 07/18/2005 : 11:29:25 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by woolytoad
quote:
Originally posted by furshur
12:15 am Saturday I was in line with my 13 year old to get the book. 3:00 pm Sunday she completed the 600 odd pages.
*sigh* I remember the time I could put away that many pages in a few hours and still comprehend what I read. I spend so much time reading technical documents and code that the last thing I want to do is spend more time squinting.
I hope this reading thing doesn't just end up as another fad. You know what kids are like.
We can always hope that when the HP series ends, there will be another greedy, talented writer with an astonishing imagination ready to fire up another equally long and pleasant series to occupy the kids and become a millionaire. |
"Why are you afraid of something you're not even sure exists?"
- The Kovenant, Via Negativa
"People who don't like their beliefs being laughed at shouldn't have such funny beliefs."
-- unknown
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Trish
SFN Addict
USA
2102 Posts |
Posted - 07/18/2005 : 21:23:43 [Permalink]
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| My kid isn't into reading Harry Potter, but she did like LOTR and several others. I'll take getting kids to read - even bribery. (The kid read LOTR, because she was told if she wanted to see the movie, then she'd have to read the book.) |
...no one has ever found a 4.5 billion year old stone artifact (at the right geological stratum) with the words "Made by God."
No Sense of Obligation by Matt Young
"Say what you will about the sweet miracle of unquestioning faith. I consider the capacity for it terrifying and vile!"
Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
They (Women Marines) don't have a nickname, and they don't need one. They get their basic training in a Marine atmosphere, at a Marine Post. They inherit the traditions of the Marines. They are Marines.
LtGen Thomas Holcomb, USMC
Commandant of the Marine Corps, 1943
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H. Humbert
SFN Die Hard
USA
4574 Posts |
Posted - 07/18/2005 : 21:56:31 [Permalink]
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| Where is everyone getting the idea that Harry Potter is strictly for children? Sure, it's children's lit., but I've enjoyed reading every novel in the series so far. In my opinion, very little of the Potter phenomenon is due to hype. Rowling should be duly credited for writing an amazing series of adventures. You guys are missing out. |
"A man is his own easiest dupe, for what he wishes to be true he generally believes to be true." --Demosthenes
"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself - and you are the easiest person to fool." --Richard P. Feynman
"Face facts with dignity." --found inside a fortune cookie |
| Edited by - H. Humbert on 07/18/2005 21:57:12 |
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Trish
SFN Addict
USA
2102 Posts |
Posted - 07/18/2005 : 22:38:59 [Permalink]
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| Oh, I've read the HP books. My kid has no interest in them, she read the first one and that was it. I've enjoyed the series immensely. Most of my friends have read the series. In fact, the friends with whom I am staying went to one of the many book parties on Friday night. I would have gone, only I had to be up to go to work at 8 am. |
...no one has ever found a 4.5 billion year old stone artifact (at the right geological stratum) with the words "Made by God."
No Sense of Obligation by Matt Young
"Say what you will about the sweet miracle of unquestioning faith. I consider the capacity for it terrifying and vile!"
Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
They (Women Marines) don't have a nickname, and they don't need one. They get their basic training in a Marine atmosphere, at a Marine Post. They inherit the traditions of the Marines. They are Marines.
LtGen Thomas Holcomb, USMC
Commandant of the Marine Corps, 1943
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 07/19/2005 : 00:06:13 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Trish
Oh, I've read the HP books. My kid has no interest in them, she read the first one and that was it. I've enjoyed the series immensely. Most of my friends have read the series. In fact, the friends with whom I am staying went to one of the many book parties on Friday night. I would have gone, only I had to be up to go to work at 8 am.
I have all of the movies (watched multiple times) and have every intention of reading the books.
These could very well become classics and Rowling could become a peer of Twain.
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist!
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furshur
SFN Regular
USA
1536 Posts |
Posted - 07/19/2005 : 07:15:03 [Permalink]
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I too enjoy the HP series. The HP series STARTED my kids on the joy of reading. Both my 15 year old and my 13 year old have there noses stuck in a book all of the time. He was suppose to read 1984 over the summer. Before June was over we were having great conversations about the book.
I am about 1/2 the way through the new HP book and I think it is very well written.
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If I knew then what I know now then I would know more now than I know. |
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AKM
New Member
Canada
31 Posts |
Posted - 07/27/2005 : 18:11:24 [Permalink]
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quote:
From article
Unlike most blockbusters, "Harry and the Half-Blood Prince" is also a hit with critics, getting raves from The New York Times, the Seattle Times, The Associated Press and others. Many found it Rowling's deepest, most accomplished work, with a tragic conclusion that left even reviewers in tears.
I have to wonder if this series and other contemporary books will one day be considered as classics like we would consider books such as Melville's Moby Dick a classic. Would they hold the same esteem as say something written by Earnest Hemmingway? Could Dan Brown and his "The DaVinci Code" be regarded as the future Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes? Or is it just alot to do about nothing (except the $$$)? Predictions? |
"Leadership is not magnetic personality—that can just as well be a glib tongue. It is not "making friends and influencing people"—that is flattery. Leadership is lifting a person's vision to higher sights, the raising of a person's performance to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations." Peter F. Drucker
"If we could sell our experiences for what they cost us, we'd all be millionaires." Abigail Van Buren |
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Siberia
SFN Addict
Brazil
2322 Posts |
Posted - 07/27/2005 : 18:47:59 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by AKM
quote:
From article
Unlike most blockbusters, "Harry and the Half-Blood Prince" is also a hit with critics, getting raves from The New York Times, the Seattle Times, The Associated Press and others. Many found it Rowling's deepest, most accomplished work, with a tragic conclusion that left even reviewers in tears.
I have to wonder if this series and other contemporary books will one day be considered as classics like we would consider books such as Melville's Moby Dick a classic. Would they hold the same esteem as say something written by Earnest Hemmingway? Could Dan Brown and his "The DaVinci Code" be regarded as the future Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes? Or is it just alot to do about nothing (except the $$$)? Predictions?
I wouldn't bet on Dan Brown's. But Harry Potter, IMHO, is the next LOTR. I enjoyed it much more than I enjoyed LOTR (maybe because I read in portuguese; I've been told it does not translate well). |
"Why are you afraid of something you're not even sure exists?"
- The Kovenant, Via Negativa
"People who don't like their beliefs being laughed at shouldn't have such funny beliefs."
-- unknown
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H. Humbert
SFN Die Hard
USA
4574 Posts |
Posted - 07/27/2005 : 18:50:34 [Permalink]
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quote:
I have to wonder if this series and other contemporary books will one day be considered as classics like we would consider books such as Melville's Moby Dick a classic. Would they hold the same esteem as say something written by Earnest Hemmingway? Could Dan Brown and his "The DaVinci Code" be regarded as the future Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes? Or is it just alot to do about nothing (except the $$$)? Predictions?
Well, you're comparing what is intended to be children's literature to adult books. Of course Harry Potter isn't on a par with Hemingway, but I can definitely see it joining the pantheon of such children's classics as Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, or The Chronicles of Narnia.
quote:
Originally posted by Siberia
I wouldn't bet on Dan Brown's.
I agree. Thumbs down on Brown.
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"A man is his own easiest dupe, for what he wishes to be true he generally believes to be true." --Demosthenes
"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself - and you are the easiest person to fool." --Richard P. Feynman
"Face facts with dignity." --found inside a fortune cookie |
| Edited by - H. Humbert on 07/27/2005 18:53:31 |
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Trish
SFN Addict
USA
2102 Posts |
Posted - 07/27/2005 : 22:04:40 [Permalink]
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Brown's main thrill right now is the stick in the eye of Catholicism and the other 'popular conspiracy theories' he incorporates so well into his books. But not sure I'd call him classic. I'd reserve that for Umberto Eco, personally.
I can see Harry Potter joining the ranks of Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, and Chronicles of Narnia. |
...no one has ever found a 4.5 billion year old stone artifact (at the right geological stratum) with the words "Made by God."
No Sense of Obligation by Matt Young
"Say what you will about the sweet miracle of unquestioning faith. I consider the capacity for it terrifying and vile!"
Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
They (Women Marines) don't have a nickname, and they don't need one. They get their basic training in a Marine atmosphere, at a Marine Post. They inherit the traditions of the Marines. They are Marines.
LtGen Thomas Holcomb, USMC
Commandant of the Marine Corps, 1943
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AKM
New Member
Canada
31 Posts |
Posted - 07/27/2005 : 22:33:04 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by H. Humbert
Well, you're comparing what is intended to be children's literature to adult books. Of course Harry Potter isn't on a par with Hemingway, but I can definitely see it joining the pantheon of such children's classics as Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, or The Chronicles of Narnia.
Didn't mean to give that impression. I suppose more accurately would be if Harry Potter books would be considered classics in their genre, as in children's books. Likewise with other modern works, but in their respective category. Would they hold the same esteem or reverence as the classics that we know from our past. My bad. |
"Leadership is not magnetic personality—that can just as well be a glib tongue. It is not "making friends and influencing people"—that is flattery. Leadership is lifting a person's vision to higher sights, the raising of a person's performance to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations." Peter F. Drucker
"If we could sell our experiences for what they cost us, we'd all be millionaires." Abigail Van Buren |
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