[Books]JK Rowling to publish first adult novel

[Soulchilde]

Annoucement is here  It will be hard to measure up to people expectation after the HP series.  I am interested, but I think a lot of her fans will be turned off by this new direction

[hepcat]

next stop, adult films!

wait...that didn't come out right.

[Purge]

Your title had me believing that she will be the first to publish an adult book.

I highly doubt she's invented porn-in-prose format.

[PeteRock]

I really enjoyed her knack for storytelling in the Harry Potter series, developing a complex and evolving storyline accessible to children while still equally entertaining and compelling for adults, so I'm curious to see what she does with content aimed specifically toward adults.

Given the rudimentary style of her young adult writing, I do have some concern as to whether her writing will resemble Dan Brown's simplistic magazine style, or if it'll appeal to more discerning tastes.  Still, her ability to tell a good story certainly works in her favor.  I'm not against easy reading, as The Hunger Games trilogy has been a lot of fun and easy to get through rather quickly, but in the same breath I cannot stomach Brown's writing as I fixate too much on his irritating writing style.

I'm cautiously intrigued.

[Purge]

Pete, your writing could make cardboard sound tasty.

[Blackjack]

imho, "... to publish first novel whose intended audience consists of adults" would've been more accurate and far less entertaining. 

[PeteRock]

Pete, your writing could make cardboard sound tasty.

And given my culinary expertise I could make it actually be tasty. 

[Purge]

Pete, your writing could make cardboard sound tasty.

And given my culinary expertise I could make it actually be tasty. 

As long as you keep the GI reaction down, I might just try it.

[rickfc]

Pete, your writing could make cardboard sound tasty.

And given my culinary expertise I could make it actually be tasty. 

As long as you keep the GI reaction down, I might just try it.

GET A ROOM ALREADY.

[Bullwinkle]

Pete, your writing could make cardboard sound tasty.

And given my culinary expertise I could make it actually be tasty. 

As long as you keep the GI reaction down, I might just try it.

GET A ROOM ALREADY.

And make sure it's easy to clean.

[Crusis]

Nice! I will finally get to read one of her books.

[hepcat]

If you've been looking forward to reading her books for a while and the only proof of her talent has been the Harry Potter books, why haven't you read the Harry Potter series?   

[rickfc]

If you've been looking forward to reading her books for a while and the only proof of her talent has been the Harry Potter books, why haven't you read the Harry Potter series?   

This. 

[Purge]

If you've been looking forward to reading her books for a while and the only proof of her talent has been the Harry Potter books, why haven't you read the Harry Potter series?  

This.  

Perhaps the material does not resonate with him. A pastry chef may be fantastic at their work, but I would not be in a position to sample it. If they focused their talents on steak, imma be first in line.

I find Crusis's position to be an admirable one - he's interested in smutty adult books over under-age teens figuring out their wiggly bits.

[Purge]

I think you're missing the point.  The part being addressed is the use of "finally".

Right. She's highly touted, and this series has made her vastly rich. I'm curious about her writing talent, and would be interested in picking up one of her books.

I've yet to read one of the novels - but I'm not entirely sure that I want to suffer through teenage inadequacies and ineptitude.  (f*** you, I'm not calling it angst)

[Shinjin]

Perhaps...

Right...

 ?

[Purge]

I found heps deleted message in my browsing history. Added so that doesn't look like I'm a raving loon. I'd rather that be a surprise.

[hepcat]

? 

[Purge]

? 

*ahem*

[hepcat]

Dude, that's so obviously photoshopped.  Uncool. 

[Bullwinkle]

I don't get this attitude.

I can understand if you don't like pastries, not wanting pastries, but that doesn't mean all desserts should be thrown out.  Not all books are the same, either.  Not even all "Teen" books.

Young Adult, as it's been labeled, is where the money is now.  Books that don't necessarily belong there get put there, so they might make some money.  The Hunger Games series might even be considered one of these.  I imagine To Kill a Mockingbird would be published as YA today.

Of course, the reason YA is the cash cow is entirely due to Harry Potter.  Part of the reason that happened is because, Rowling got kids to read again.  However, she also got adults to read again.  And the reason for both of those things is these books are a pinnacle of our era.  

We will be talking about the Harry Potter books for decades.  Longer than the movies or even the remakes of the movies or even the remakes of the remakes.  Hell, I was being conservative with "decades" really.  A century from now, Harry Potter will still be a force of literature.  It might seem dated by then or even quaint.  Much the way that The Wizard of Oz books are.  Or Alice in Wonderland.  Or To Kill a Mockingbird.  Or Lord of the Rings.   But it will still be relevant.

They're not all great, of course.  Book 2 is still the weakest of the bunch, by far, IMO.  Too much of a Book 1 rehash.  But as a whole, it's a staggering literary masterpiece and everyone owes it to themselves to give it a try.

Seeing the movies doesn't count.  You can't dismiss the Harry Potter books if you haven't tried them.

Unless you can't read, of course.

[Soulchilde]

I was certainly one of those that considered her novels childish and it took my sister almost a year before she convinced me to read them.  I finally read Sorcerer Stone when Prisoner of Azakabhan came out and I was hooked.   Check out the novels from  your local library and stick with them.  

[godhugh]

I was certainly one of those that considered her novels childish and it took my sister almost a year before she convinced me to read them.  I finally read Sorcerer Stone when Prisoner of Azakabhan came out and I was hooked.   Check out the novels from  your local library and stick with them.  

That was me too. I avoided them for years simply because I thought they were childish. My wife finally managed to convince me to read them late last year and I finished all 7 in about 3 months. I went in expecting crap, but by the time I finished I would rank them as my 2nd favorite fantasy series of all time, right behind LOTR. They're really amazing books.

[Rumpy]

I think she'll do fine, as long as adult doesn't mean like Twilight. The Harry Potter books were very successful in terms of having adults read them, to the point that there were even adult versions published where the covers were more adult-like rather than cartoon-like. What she does really well is world-building, so I'm intrigued and look forward to seeing what she writes. But I do agree and hope that the writing will be more complex, more in the way of Time Time Traveler's Wife than say, Dan Brown style sparsely detailed writing.

Now if we can only imagine our other favourite authors taking on a childrens series...

[Purge]

Or, rather than reading through 7 books, I can enjoy her next one, which may or may not fall within my line of interest.

I'm not against YA books or their field of budding adults, but I don't have the patience in my life, right now, to go through reading seven books that I know the story to. It doesn't seem like a good use of my limited personal time, and while I have no doubt that they are well written, I am entitled to my tastes as much as you are to yours.

FWIW, I enjoyed the first 3 movies. The rest of them were viewed to simply see the end of it. They were "good" - but by no means did their BD releases get added to my xmas list.

[Crusis]

I just don't care for YA books. No conspiracy. FWIW I also watched the first HP movie and didn't care for it.

[wonderpug]

The first two Harry Potter movies are terrible.  They try to hard to cram in as many scenes from the book as they can without any regard for making the movie stand as something good on its own.

If you want to give Harry Potter movies a try, start with #3.  If you want to give Harry Potter books a try, the first one can be read in a single night.

[Bullwinkle]

I just don't care for YA books.

If you have not read all of the YA books, you cannot make that statement.  You've lumped all of them together and assumed things about the category that just aren't true.

[hepcat]

To be fair, I will usually avoid any books with the YA designation.  I would have to hear quite a few accolades from folks who I respect to consider going outside my comfort zone in that arena.

[Purge]

I just don't care for YA books.

If you have not read all of the YA books, you cannot make that statement.  You've lumped all of them together and assumed things about the category that just aren't true.

One does not need to sample everything to form an opinion, or act upon it.

Otherwise, you would have to read all YA to then state what you did, as well as every other book, for contrast.

I've read YA, both as a youth and adult. At this point in my life it's not something I seek out. I'd much rather read something that didn't limit the world based on the age of the audience. The Sword of Truth series, for instance, could be YA except for several scenarios in each book.  It could be just as exciting, compelling, and preachy as the unabridged version - but it would have lost the impact of what they were fighting for.

It's like Disney movies where swords have no blood on them. Even death has been softened, and in doing so, creates a significant degradation of the killing / dying. This is the exact reason the opening battle in Saving Private Ryan had such an impact - it was visceral, and it neither glorified nor dulled down the deaths.

Having a book that states "This is safe, but edgy" is like two adults going out on a date where you KNOW the night is going to end with the equivalent to a goodnight peck - not because it should, but simply for the sake of the audience.

So I look forward to sampling her work where she isn't restricted by an age limit - I am not of an age where that kind of content is being held back from me, nor should it be.

[wonderpug]

Young adult in no way means it's got "safe" content.  It generally features young protagonists, often deals with 'coming of age' type themes, and often finds some way to get adults out of the picture so that the kids can have their own adventure.

For example (spoilers ahoy)

• Unwind is a YA novel that was more disturbing to me than most adult literature I've read.  There's a scene in which they describe in detail the experience of a kid being dismembered and organ-harvested piece by piece, while awake.
• Speak is very direct in its handling of a pre-high school rape and the following aftermath
• Hunger Games features 12 to 18-year-olds fighting each other to the death

[Purge]

Put those up against the Necroscope, where one of the guys Harry Keogh is hunting by talking with the dead is a necrophiliac who's using sharpened steel pipes to make his own "holes".

Dude, I said edgy. Teen rated movies are the same way. But there is a manner in which content is handled. Alien VS. Predator was a PG-13 movie. It is HOW it is done that makes a difference. For instance - Deliverance was NOT.

The other thing I'd like to point out is that our society (in North America) touts puritan values, so violence (unless graphic) is PG territory. Nipples? VERBOTEN!!

So I am looking forward to a celebrated author writing a book that falls more in line with the content I'm prepared to read. If it turns out that it's a romance novel, she still won't be getting my book-buying money. If there is romance IN it, but has a lot more to it, perhaps I'll be picking it up.

[Harkonis]

I read the first HP book because I was bored and lived with my sister and her kids and they had them laying about.  I was quite pleasantly surprised at the quality.  I was also quite surprised at how 'not for kids' the book was.  As the series went on and the characters grew up it only got more so.

[wonderpug]

Dude, I said edgy.

But... you were the one who said YA novels could be edgy?    I was addressing your point that YA novels equated to safe.  Unwind may not stand up to your favorite necrophiliac fiction, but it's definitely not safe.  If it turned into movie form exactly as depicted in the novel, I would rate it R, not PG-13.

[Crusis]

I just don't care for YA books.

If you have not read all of the YA books, you cannot make that statement.  You've lumped all of them together and assumed things about the category that just aren't true.

I haven't read a stack of romance books either - don't care for the genre. Sell me on romance.

And I assure you, I can make the statement that I don't care for YA books. I also don't care for porcupines, people in red cowls, and psychotic serial killer clowns. Man I hate those guys. The makeup, the axes, the attitude, the crazy eyes, and bad make up. It's just a bad combination IMO.

[wonderpug]

Ready Player One reads like a YA novel, and I bet you'd enjoy that one.

[hepcat]

My only reason for posting what I did earlier was that I could not (and still don't) understand why you said "finally" as if you had been waiting forever for her to write something more mature.  Given that her only work has been in a genre you dislike, that didn't make any sense to me.  Insane Clown Posse (sticking with the motif you established) creates within a medium I partake in selectively (music) and has quite a few fans, but I harbor no immediate desire to listen to them if they decide to start making rockabilly music.

I have no issue with not wanting to read any YA books, though.  I did pick up a YA book recently though after someone on OO posted great things about it.  The Monstrumologist.  I haven't read it yet, but it looks interesting.  However, if even one of the characters mentions the Jonas Bros., I'm outta there!

[Purge]

Dude, I said edgy.

But... you were the one who said YA novels could be edgy?    I was addressing your point that YA novels equated to safe.  Unwind may not stand up to your favorite necrophiliac fiction, but it's definitely not safe.  If it turned into movie form exactly as depicted in the novel, I would rate it R, not PG-13.

They can be edgy, as in approaching the edge.

They will not go OVER the edge though, and that is my point. It's got guardrails. Not Dr. Seuss guardrails, but they are, by the very definition, a genre imposed by limitation.

That, and they generally deal with coming-of-age issues which aren't relevant to my current life experiences.

[wonderpug]

You keep talking to me about the part I'm not talking about.

[rickfc]

Dude, I said edgy.

But... you were the one who said YA novels could be edgy?    I was addressing your point that YA novels equated to safe.  Unwind may not stand up to your favorite necrophiliac fiction, but it's definitely not safe.  If it turned into movie form exactly as depicted in the novel, I would rate it R, not PG-13.

They can be edgy, as in approaching the edge.

They will not go OVER the edge though, and that is my point. It's got guardrails. Not Dr. Seuss guardrails, but they are, by the very definition, a genre imposed by limitation.

That, and they generally deal with coming-of-age issues which aren't relevant to my current life experiences.

So then does a book have to go over the edge for you to find it enjoyable? I'm sure you've read books in the past that didn't go over any edge, nor did they have to, in order for you to enjoy them.