i mean.. in language..
outside i know that have very kind of covers.. but inside they are the same?
2007-01-11 06:48:17 · 11 answers · asked by Sirius Seriously 2 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Books & Authors
wow!
thanks guys, really usefull answers!
thanks a lot
2007-01-11 07:08:33 · update #1
I agree, most of the Harry Potter books are different only in terminology. However, there is a significant passage in book 6 (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince) that is very different.
CAUTION: SPOILER
U.S. Edition Quote from Dumbledore:
"[Voldemort] cannot kill you [Draco] if you are already dead. Come over to the right side, Draco, and we can hide you more completely than you can possibly imagine. What is more, I can send members of the Order to your mother tonight to hide her likewise. Nobody would be surprised that you had died in your attempt to kill me - forgive me, but Lord Voldemort probably expects it. Nor would the Death Eaters be surprised that we had captured and killed your mother - it is what they would do themselves, after all. Your father is safe at the moment in Azkaban... When the time comes, we can protect him too. Come over to the right side, Draco... you are not a killer."
U.K. Version of the same passage:
"Come over to the right side, Draco, and we can hide you more completely than you can possibly imagine. What is more, I can send members of the Order to your mother tonight to hide her likewise. Your father is safe at the moment in Azkaban... When the time comes, we can protect him too. Come over to the right side, Draco... you are not a killer."
Just an example of a difference I find very interesting. Not for any conspiracy theory, I believe what JKR says, not rumors.
2007-01-11 07:10:38 · answer #1 · answered by Kate 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Mainly the just change some of the slang terms. There are certain words that the British use that Americans may not get so they switch them to the american equivalent of the word. The biggest example is the title of the first book. In Brittian it was Harry Potter and the Philosphers Stone. People thought that Americans may not get the reference they were trying to make so they changed it to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.
2007-01-11 14:56:03 · answer #2 · answered by Courtney C 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
About the Philosopher's Stone thing, I once met someone who had worked for the U.S. publisher (Alfred A. Knopf, if I remember correctly), and she told me that a part of the reason they'd changed the title was because Knopf came from Louisiana, and Cajun culture had its own mythology about the Philosopher's Stone, which was a universally positive force, so it seemed like the stone in the Harry Potter books should have a name without quite the same positive connotations, since it could be used for evil and ultimately needed to be destroyed. It still bugs me that they changed it, though.
2007-01-11 15:36:34 · answer #3 · answered by thunderpigeon 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Not particularly different. Definetly not in content, but some of the wording is changed. Mrs. Weasley's always "mum", but the guys wear sweaters, not jumpers, and such. Basically the usual differences between books written by americans and those written by those overseas. I think that some spellings are changed, and the words, and thats it.
2007-01-11 14:53:18 · answer #4 · answered by treehuggingveganhippy 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Headintheclouds is correct. The main change, though, is the difference between the "Philosopher's stone" and the "Sorcerer's stone." The other thing that I noticed especially was the candy -- like in the American editions Dumbledore likes "lemon drops," but in the UK version he has "sherbert lemons."
2007-01-11 14:57:43 · answer #5 · answered by tooyoungforkidsthisold 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
The only difference is the fact that they changed certian words in the US versions, cause we might not understand some of the slang and word usage the brits use.
2007-01-13 22:25:13 · answer #6 · answered by Taylor S 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
My daughter brought me back the entire UK series when she visited Scotland and I agree with the previous poster - some wording is different and spelling - but content is the same.
2007-01-11 14:57:42 · answer #7 · answered by Susie D 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Yes, it is different, but only in some wording and spelling - but content is the same. It's just that there are words used in British english that Americans don't use and spellings that are different for e. g. colour(brit.), color(U.S.).
2007-01-11 15:07:37 · answer #8 · answered by Victoria B 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
lexical and punctuation differences between the UK and U.S. editions of four Harry Potter books
http://www.uta.fi/FAST/US1/REF/potter.html
I am almost glad my Welsh mum is not here to see this sort
of "translation" of English into "American" (Yank). She would be well about 110 but would likely insist she read me the Welsh version.
crumpets are English muffins ? they jest?
What next? They change Charles Dickens? Keats, Shelly,
Sherlock Holmes speaking "hip hip"? "Yo my man watts,
it be first grader"
I wonder if I can return to the UK claiming America is murdering our language?
2007-01-11 16:12:33 · answer #9 · answered by cruisingyeti 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
No. There are subtle differences, such as the whole sorcerer/philosopher thing.
2007-01-11 15:05:49 · answer #10 · answered by Whitney K 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋