Harry Potter pwnz them all

[donnaimmaculata]

I've got a confession to make.

I've been indulging in rather horrible YA guilty-pleasure fantasy.

(No, not Twilight, I'm not that far gone.)

But, occasionally, I like to listen to Artemis Fowl audiobooks whilst doing household chores.

Now, Artemis Fowl isn't exactly good literature, but I can see the appeal of the books and am pretty sure I would have enjoyed them as a kid. At the age of 10, I would probably have had a crush on Artemis (he's dark-haired and thin, I'm easy), later on Butler and later on Holly. I can enjoy the convoluted plots and brainless action, I can suspend disbelief easily to buy into a world populated with the underground fairies with superior technology etc. etc.

But: the sheer stupidity of these things can be exasperating. Suspension of disbelief does not work if I'm asked to ignore very basic RL facts. I can ignore the fact that Artemis Fowl is a genius who performs better than every expert in any chosen field, from IT, through impressionistic paintings, to psychology and linguistics - it's not his fault that he's a totally unbelievable and hence unrelatable character, he was written that way.

I cannot ignore the fact that Artemis Fowl writes a translation programme for an as-yet unknown language (Gnommish) that provides a perfect translation in rhyme! That's not how translating works, and it's no wonder the kids of today(TM) grow up to believe that running stuff through an online translator will provide them with a perfectly phrased result.

Even worse, because even more rooted in a Real World scenario: When Artemis and Butler pretend to open an account at the super-safe International Bank in Munich, the clerk greets them with: "My name is Bertholt, and I will be assisting you today." WTF? He's not American. An employee at a high-profile bank (or any bank, really) in Germany will not, never, ever invite the customers to be on a first-name basis with him. He will very definitely be "Herr Soandso", and he will not try to get chummy with a sulky teenager. The Berholt bit actually threw me so much, I had to put the book aside for a while. It still makes me cringe.

And then there's the all-knowing, all-expert Artemis himself. God, what an unlikeable... not character, because he isn't, really. How does the author fail to realise that a protagonist who has all the information and skills (apart from physical fitness and social skills, because he's a nerd, donchaknow) is just plain boring? Oh, so Artemis speaks another language now - flawlessly, of course - and has published another article in some specialist magazine. How... exciting.

Probably not so much the author's fault, either, since the all-knowing, albei socially inept hero is very much en vogue, isn't he? It's like writers just couldn't be bothered to introduce relevant information other than having The Hero spout them.

I've read people complain about Harry Potter being only able to solve many of the riddles and get out of many of the dangerous situations by a combination of sheer luck (strategic eavesdropping) and the help of friends who are actually more competent than himself. Which is... kinda the point? What I love about the Harry Potter books is that the heros are very much incompetent and hopeless and that they acknowledge that don't know the anwers until they stumble over them by accident. (Apart from Hermione, but then, I've never liked Hermione.)

Misfits fits the bill, too. The heroes are totally useless, and they know it. Nathan states outright that they're lazy and incompetent, and the authorial voice acknowledges it, too. And the resident nerd is a perv.

I don't know what brought this on. I think it's because Artemis Fowl has annoyed me so much recently - the books might have been good (well, -ish) if they had proper characters in them instead of those ridiculous cardboard cutouts.

Comments

[shocolate.livejournal.com]

Which is... kinda the point?

Which is completely the point!!

In thousands of parallel universes, Harry didn't fluke the information that got him through that bit and he lost... this one was lucky, and he knows it, and he stumbled through and somehow won... far more real.

I love it.

And I love 'what if we're supposed to be Superheroes?' Naaaah!

[drakyndra.livejournal.com]

What I love about the Harry Potter books is that the heros are very much incompetent and hopeless and that they acknowledge that don't know the anwers until they stumble over them by accident. (Apart from Hermione, but then, I've never liked Hermione.)

Interestingly enough, over on this other forum I've been in a debate with this one guy about the merits (or lack thereof) of the Harry Potter series.

And today, he flat out admitted that one of the reasons that he disliked Harry Potter - both the series, and the character - is that Harry didn't have the stereotypical thing going on where he discovers he that he was secretly ~the most powerful wizard ever~, but remained... ordinary. Apart from being a wizard, of course.

Which baffled me a bit - shouldn't victory coming from an ordinary everyman character be so much more triumphant than that from some Wizarding Phenomenon? Harry is create because of the choices he made, not because some special gift he was born with.

[rosina-alcona.livejournal.com]

I've only dragged myself through one Artemis Fowl, and I thought the premise was going to be that he was an unreliable narrator, like Flashman or something. But sadly, not.

And I think one of the MAIN POINTS of Harry Potter is that heroics are quite often 'sheer dumb luck.' For me, the scene in the Silver Doe utterly sums it up:

'I'm sorry,' he said in a thick voice. 'I'm sorry I left. I know I was a—a-'

He looked around at the darkness, as if hoping a bad enough world would
swoop down upon him and claim him.

'You've sort of made up for it tonight,' said Harry. 'Getting the sword.
Finishing off the Horcrux. Saving my life.'

'That makes me sound a lot cooler than I was,' Ron mumbled.

'Stuff like that always sounds cooler than it really was,' said Harry. 'I've
been trying to tell you that for years.'

Simultaneously they walked forward and hugged, Harry gripping the still sopping back of Ron's jacket.

SORRY I KNOW THE HUG WAS UNNECESSARY FOR MY POINT

[soawen.livejournal.com]

Ye gods, woman, how could you sit through more than one of them?

I can't even say I hate Artemis Fowl. They just seem so unrealistic that even my Mary Sue-ish love of destined to be overpowered characters crawls shrieking into a corner. And as you say, it's not even only that, it's the lack of basic research into ordinary behaviour in our world too. Add to that the total lack of wit and I was done after reading the first one.

I think the difference between Harry and Artemis is that Harry is a character while Artemis is an instrument, either as a mouthpiece or a deus ex machina, and that's why even my 10 year old self wouldn't have fallen for Artemis.

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

I had no idea that's what those books were like. They sound dreadful!