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Originally Posted by bhartman36
I get what you're saying (I think), but my point with The Hardy Boys was that back then, that was considered children's (probably boys') books. Adults didn't read them. That's why I find the HP phenomenon (Or is it phenomena? I never remember.) so odd and disturbing. If it broadens peoples' horizons, that's great, but a lot of what I'm seeing is people waiting for the next installment of HP, or failing that, "the next HP".
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Why is that bad? I know a number of adults who are huge Harry Potter fans. (Several of them are published writers.) HP transcends age brackets, and tells a story accessible by all ages.
Wanting more of the same isn't age specific. Consider the popularity of fantasy inspired largely by Tolkien's _Lord of the Rings_ trilogy. An awful lot of fantasy got published that trod firmly in LoTR's footsteps, because that's the sort of thing people wanted to read. But because fantasy got established as a popular category, various stuff that
wasn't an LoTR clone got released as well.
There are endless "me too" products in any art, but it's largely inevitable and part of the process.
It's why I don't join the chorus unhappy with publishers publishing more of the crap they don't like to read. Well, it
sells, which mean large numbers of people
don't think it's crap. I may not like it, but I'm not arrogant enough to presume my tastes are superior and
they shouldn't like it either.
Publishers publish what they think will
sell, based on what
is selling. Fine by me: the money they make on that stuff funds the publication of the stuff I
do like to read.
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And I think the problem is based in movies. By their very nature, movies center around visual sensations, rather than plot, and often at the expense of dialogue. Reading a book like you're watching a movie (if you know what I'm saying) gives someone only a surface assessment of the work, and the culture seems to be encouraging that kind of thing.
But then again, maybe I'm full of crap. 
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Some books simply don't translate to film. Think of things that have, say, interior monologues. Visual art isn't necessarily simplistic, and there are things you can convey in film that you can't convey in a book, as well as vice versa.
But I'm not sure
how you can "read a book like you're watching a movie" in most cases, given the differing nature of the mediums.
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Dennis