I’m a voracious reader, though not for what some might call “good” literature, meaning the classics or anything intellectual. Don’t get me wrong – I don’t think there’s anything bad about reading light, fluffy fiction that does nothing more than entertain and pass the time, but I’ve been told that I’m mistaken. 😉
Anyway, I love science fiction, and I adore Harry Potter. While waiting for the 7th and final installation in the Harry Potter series, I’ve been spending a lot of time visiting sites and forums, and buying books that analyze the Harry Potter universe. The best site, by far, is of course J.K.Rowling’s site, which not only has all kinds of good info about the ooks and the author herself, but also makes a game of it, with clues and different kinds of hidden treasures scattered around. Great fun!
I have been wanting to thank
you for recommending the Fforde books last summer. I love them!!!!! You are absolutely
correct: a little light reading is not a bad thing and in fact, I think, works just like a
rest time or light exercise does for our bodies.
Funnily enough I’m reading
Harry Potter in French at the moment; (Harry Potter et la coupe de feu.)
It’s interesting
seeing how the translator deals with idioms and the like (la famille Jedusor for the Riddle
family – for example).
Happy reading!
Best wishes
Mike
Hi Laura,
I finished reading the Harry
Potter series in French last summer and enjoyed each one immensely. I even got the audio
series in French for the first three to listen to while on my way to work! I also agree that
it’s okay to read “light” and “fluffy” stuff once in a while, especially children’s
literature. I’ve reread some books that I had read when I was growing up and it’s amazing
how one can have a completely different perspective on the same book as an adult. I always to
try to balance my reading by rotating the types of books I read, for example, I just read Le
Fleau by Stephen King (fluffy & French) and now I’m reading Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared
Diamond (historical/factual). So, for me, balance works.
You may also want to check out
this link if you enjoy listening to book debates in French and
English:
http://www.radio-canada.ca/radio/indicatifpresent/combat2005/
http://www
.cbc.ca/canadareads/cr_2005/
Both debates are over for the year, but you can still
listen to them and even download them to your MP3 player.
Also, I wanted to say thanks
for responding to my post in the French forum. I had asked how you went about going to France
for three months because it was something I was interested in doing. I’m glad you wrote the
steps for the long term visa stay-I think that’s what I actually wanted! Merci mille fois!!
-Alana (DeuxFoisBravo)
I love Harry Potter and I really enjoy J. K. Rowlings website. I started reading the HP books
at the end of last year and I could not put them down. I completed books 1-6 in a few weeks.
I’m impatiently awaiting the final installment.
If you enjoy science fiction and want something
a bit more interesting than the run of the mill, you might try Last and First Men/Last Men in
London (usually published together) by Olaf Stapledon (a professor at Liverpool University) –
very philosophical and the best book I’ve ever read.