在线国产一区二区_成人黄色片在线观看_国产成人免费_日韩精品免费在线视频_亚洲精品美女久久_欧美一级免费在线观看

  Home>News Center>Life
         
 

Potter fatigue hits some as book sales tallied
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-07-17 21:47

LONDON - Bookstores checked their tills on Sunday to tally sales of the sixth Harry Potter installment, but a day after the eagerly awaited global launch the magic was wearing off for some.

This image made available by Scholastic Books shows James Traver, 11, from Vancouver, Washington, one of ten national winners of the Scholastic Harry Potter Essay Contest, posing with his free copy of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince onboard American Airlines flight AA12 in New York at 12:01 A.M. EST Saturday July 16, 2005 to read on the overnight flight to London. (AP
This image made available by Scholastic Books shows James Traver, 11, from Vancouver, Washington, one of ten national winners of the Scholastic Harry Potter Essay Contest, posing with his free copy of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince onboard American Airlines flight AA12 in New York at 12:01 A.M. EST Saturday July 16, 2005 to read on the overnight flight to London. [AP]
"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" is widely expected to be the fastest-selling book in history, with British retailer Waterstone's forecasting that 10 million copies would have been snapped up worldwide during the first 24 hours of trade.

The early feedback was bullish. British book chain WH Smith reported sales of 13 books per second across the 391 shops it opened into the early hours of Saturday, compared with eight per second for the fifth Harry Potter adventure.

The launch, at one minute past midnight British time on Saturday, ended months of hype and elaborate steps to protect the contents of the penultimate chapter in the seven-story saga.

Children poured into book shops across the globe, many dressed as witches, wizards and other favorite Harry Potter characters. Author J.K. Rowling read from the book at Edinburgh Castle, and she will be interviewed by a young fan on Sunday.

Underlining the anticipation surrounding the book, instant reviews appeared on the Internet within a few hours of the release, and most of them were favorable.

Young readers picked up on the darkness of the plot.

"With its dramatic, violent conclusion, this book is by far the darkest and unsettling HP yet," wrote 12-year-old Indigo Ellis in the Sunday Telegraph. "Maybe it will leave a few more seven-year-olds in tears. But it also makes it the best so far."

A sizeable minority of older readers, however, was less than impressed by the 607-page work.

"It's wordy, flabby and not very well edited -- perhaps a bit less inventive than previous ones," wrote Suzi Feay, literary editor of Britain's The Independent on Sunday. "We could have done with some better gags."

Robert McCrum, writing in the Observer newspaper, said: "The dominant theme of HP6 is the tying up of loose ends in preparation for the final volume, the fabled HP7."

PRICE WARS

Publishers and retailers will be less concerned about write-ups than sales.

Eyeing a huge marketing opportunity, publishers issued two hardback versions of the book on Saturday, one for adults and another for children.

Supermarkets, Internet stores and book shops engaged in a fierce round of discounting, with one British outlet offering the book to young buyers for 4.99 pounds ($8.80), less than one third of the recommended retail price.

Rowling has been credited with winning over a new generation of young readers. British newspapers predict that her fortune, already estimated at $1 billion, was set to grow by 20 to 25 million pounds as a result of the first-day sales alone.

"In these days of instant, easy celebrity attained by very little actual achievement, J.K. Rowling is a refreshing exception," wrote the Sunday Mirror tabloid.

For some, though, Sunday was about bursting the bubble of hype and secrecy surrounding the biggest book launch retailers around the world can remember.

When a handful of copies were sold before the deadline in Canada, purchasers were ordered not to disclose its contents, and, according to media reports, even to read it.

"Oh for a timely spell of reality," Roland White wrote in the Sunday Times.

"Let's keep things in perspective," he added. "Until Friday, the Harry Potter series had sold about 270 million copies worldwide. Which is considerably less than the one billion shifted by the late, rather unfashionable, Barbara Cartland."



Sandra Bullock reportedly weds Mechanic
Miss Intercontinental contest in Hefei
11-year-old sells 500,000 households belongings for Internet money
  Today's Top News     Top Life News
 

Scholars: KMT, CPC should work for peace, prosperity

 

   
 

Top LNG ship takes shape in Shanghai

 

   
 

French giant VE sees wealth from waste

 

   
 

China to ease capital controls on companies

 

   
 

Gen. MacArthur statue spawns Korea protest

 

   
 

North Korea nuclear talks to start July 26

 

   
  Installment basis applied in medication
   
  Disneyland celebrates 50th anniversary
   
  Fitness fetish
   
  China to send pig sperm into space
   
  Junior commits suicide for relief on campus
   
  NZ man fined for taking off condom during sex
   
 
  Go to Another Section  
 
 
  Story Tools  
   
  Feature  
  1/3 Chinese youth condone premarital sex  
Advertisement
         
主站蜘蛛池模板: 午夜爽爽影院 | 91在线免费看 | 综合色av| 放几个免费的毛片出来看 | 亚洲三级av| av网站观看 | 天天干影院| 日韩激情一区二区 | 日韩亚洲在线 | 成人免费看片39 | 黄色成人毛片 | 国产裸体永久免费视频网站 | 国产午夜精品福利 | 天天cao| 午夜久久 | 最新国产精品 | 国产亚洲欧美在线 | 激情网站在线观看 | 日韩一级免费视频 | 免费中文字幕 | 亚洲成人免费观看 | 午夜精品福利视频 | 国产高清一区二区 | 欧美午夜精品一区二区 | 日韩视频一区二区 | 91精品看片 | 亚洲精品影院 | 午夜爱| 一级特黄视频 | 国产精品一区av | 国产美女在线播放 | 国产传媒在线播放 | 成人黄色大片 | 青草av在线 | 日韩精品久久久久久免费 | 怡红院av | 久久久精品影院 | 黄片毛片在线观看 | 国产网站在线 | 欧美在线免费观看视频 | 精品日韩一区二区 |