A Series of Unfortunate Events vs. Harry Potter

If any two series of books helped introduce me and get me interested in literature, it was these two. I can still remember getting the first two HP books for CHristmas and ordering the first couple Series books from a school book catalogue.

However if I had to pick a favorite it be A Series of Unfortunate Events. Why? I enjoy its absurdist style more; it has serious elements but overall it's whacky fun. Of course it does get progressiely darker which I enjoyed. I remember I always liked, from Book 1 and on, the fact the bad guys didn't lose. That stuck with me profoudnly because in middle school I hadn't been exposed to much fiction in which the villains weren't arrested or killed or whatever.

Anyone else read both these series and which one did you like more growing up?

I tried reading A Series of Unfortunate Events but it's language is so third grade that I couldn't read anymore.

Ah, two series I started and never finished.

I was a huge Harry Potter fan for a while, and I was really into the Unfortunate Events series for a while, too. I probably couldn't decide between the two at this point, so I'll judge them based on their movies.

The Unfortunate Events movie sucked, and the Harry Potter movies have not. So, Harry Potter wins in my eyes, I suppose :P

Every HP movie has sucked. The first two were less sucky for the good Dumbledore + Alan Rickman Snape.

Everything after that...not even Mr. Rickman can support the untalented cast he's forced to work with in the next foru films.

Though, to be fair, it's more the fault of whoever writes the script. Their methodology seems to be shouting the story at you rather than telling it. The pacing is just awful and it's quite clear they are just flipping through the book and saying "let's put that in there...let's not put that in there...let's put that in there but change it..."

That's just my opinion though.

And the language of the Series books is definitely not third grade. I doubt even your average middle schooler would understand half the references. I know I didn't. Though i'll be fair and say I was a below average middle schooler.