Thoughts on HP7
Jul. 22nd, 2007 04:09 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
salienneSERIOUS spoilers here, so read at your own peril!
Initial reactions to “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”:
All right, so after getting “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” at 11 this (er…. yesterday) morning and reading pretty much nonstop till 3:45 this morning, I need to just say one thing: this book is amazing. ANY book that can make me cry repeatedly, can actually make me have difficulty stop crying, can make me get teary just REMEMBERING certain bits (and I’m now done with the crying business, but with all the death, kinda hard to be I suppose @_@), can make me go from loving Dumbledore to hating Dumbledore to have a grudging respect and dawning understanding of Dumbledore to have a grudging affection that I have no doubt will turn into love again at some near point—and can do this in the span of, say, 2 chapters, and any book that gives Snape that fantastic chapter…
Is just plain amazing.
I refuse to listen to people denouncing the books and their “OOC-ness” or “sloppy writing” (though I will admit there were 5 or so [somehow, I managed to keep a mental count] instances where JKR’s sentence structure needed severe editing) or how Harmony should exist or blah blah blah. I love these books. I love this book. I officially need to reread 3-7 (possibly 1 and 2, but I didn’t like those as much, and I always hate to go back to when my beloved matured characters started out; I get way too impatient), though I prolly won’t get to the for a while. I’m just basking in my love for this last book. And trying not to tear up some more. :P
Oh, and can I totally call how RIGHT I was about Snape? *Boogies like a maniac* And I now refer anyone who is interested to this here entry: http://salienne.livejournal.com/76156.html. Granted, I didn’t call the fact that they were childhood friends, but I so called the “good” Snape and the love theory, the latter of which I thought up on my own. XD *is very proud of herself*
As for the Dumbledore reveal… go JKR for pushing the boundaries a bit, for making Dumbledore seem like a cold calculating bastard in the scenes with Snape once we think we understand what changed him, and then showing us that he had both in him… and that how we believe the events with his family changed him aren’t really far off from the truth at all. Harry was not just a pawn, although he seemed to make him seem that way to Snape. Rather, he did care about Harry but knew this had to happen. Basically, I think DD changes his approaches to people depending on who they are; he’s more upfront and cruel to Snape, more like a kindly grandfather to Harry, a colleague and leader to Molly and Arthur, etc. And while I agree that a bad event happening to someone and making them turn away from the Dark Side is a plot point used before, I SO did not expect it, not from our archetypal old wise figure. It so added amazing layers of depth to DD. I love JKR. ^.^
One aspect of Book 7 that bothered me: Tonks and Lupin. Not their relationship—I loved it, I want to see more of it, I want fanfiction, I want to write fanfiction, aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! @_@—but their deaths. Hedwig, I handled. Mad-Eye, I handled. Dobby, I handled. Even Fred, I handled, though I was a wreck when Percy wouldn’t leave him. And then we hear about Remus and Tonks and I just stared at the book and rambled at it and made my dog and cat stare at me like I was a lunatic. The two just had a baby! And while it’s true they go out in the best way possible short of old age—fighting the Death Eaters, fighting for Harry, and, in my mind, fighting together—that was just not fair. The deaths were so believable, she presented them so well, but I don’t like them. I love Tonks and Remus too much, they’ve had maybe a few months of happiness together (and Remus is NOT a happy guy), and then it’s just over for them… I don’t like my favorite characters dying, no I Do Not. Too much death, dammit! Though I suppose that’s really the point…
As for Harry being the final Horcrux, well I'd never liked this theory before, not when I heard it in fandom, but I thought JKR really made it work. It still sits a little off with me, prolly cuz of the fanom aspect, but because she wrote him walking do his death so well... besides, I'm sure after musing over it a bit more, the specifics of how he was able to come back will solidify in my mind. What I've got so far is the Killing Curse pretty much hit the piece of Voldy in Harry and ended up protecting Harry enough for him to come back, attached as he was to the mortal coil via Voldy, free and unencumbered by the iddy biddy Voldy soul slowly being built back from the pieces.
Oh, and how CLEVER was the Wand bit with Draco? Love it! XD
And did anyone else really adore this bit: “Albus Severus,” Harry said…, “you were named for two headmasters of Hogwarts. One of them was a Slytherin and he was probably the bravest man I ever knew.”
-yet another bit that brought tears to my eyes and is very likely one of my favorite quotes in the series, if not the favorite.
I love Snape. I officially adore him, no matter how horrid he treats Harry. And Dumbledore I’m still not too comfortable with, but from a writer’s standpoint, I love his character and backstory and complexity. :D
So… yeah, I love JKR’s twists and I love Book 7. I’m almost completely satisfied (only thing missing was a child named Sirius Remus, but I’m gonna hold out hope our various pairs of lovebirds haven’t finished breeding yet :P) and, for the last book in a series that ends up having SO many twists but fitting together so nicely… I think that’s the very best I could hope for. :D
P.S. Oh, and does anyone know who Victoire is? Fleur and Bill’s kid, perhaps? I love that Ted is pretty much a little Sirius, but is this girl theirs?
Initial reactions to “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”:
All right, so after getting “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” at 11 this (er…. yesterday) morning and reading pretty much nonstop till 3:45 this morning, I need to just say one thing: this book is amazing. ANY book that can make me cry repeatedly, can actually make me have difficulty stop crying, can make me get teary just REMEMBERING certain bits (and I’m now done with the crying business, but with all the death, kinda hard to be I suppose @_@), can make me go from loving Dumbledore to hating Dumbledore to have a grudging respect and dawning understanding of Dumbledore to have a grudging affection that I have no doubt will turn into love again at some near point—and can do this in the span of, say, 2 chapters, and any book that gives Snape that fantastic chapter…
Is just plain amazing.
I refuse to listen to people denouncing the books and their “OOC-ness” or “sloppy writing” (though I will admit there were 5 or so [somehow, I managed to keep a mental count] instances where JKR’s sentence structure needed severe editing) or how Harmony should exist or blah blah blah. I love these books. I love this book. I officially need to reread 3-7 (possibly 1 and 2, but I didn’t like those as much, and I always hate to go back to when my beloved matured characters started out; I get way too impatient), though I prolly won’t get to the for a while. I’m just basking in my love for this last book. And trying not to tear up some more. :P
Oh, and can I totally call how RIGHT I was about Snape? *Boogies like a maniac* And I now refer anyone who is interested to this here entry: http://salienne.livejournal.com/76156.html. Granted, I didn’t call the fact that they were childhood friends, but I so called the “good” Snape and the love theory, the latter of which I thought up on my own. XD *is very proud of herself*
As for the Dumbledore reveal… go JKR for pushing the boundaries a bit, for making Dumbledore seem like a cold calculating bastard in the scenes with Snape once we think we understand what changed him, and then showing us that he had both in him… and that how we believe the events with his family changed him aren’t really far off from the truth at all. Harry was not just a pawn, although he seemed to make him seem that way to Snape. Rather, he did care about Harry but knew this had to happen. Basically, I think DD changes his approaches to people depending on who they are; he’s more upfront and cruel to Snape, more like a kindly grandfather to Harry, a colleague and leader to Molly and Arthur, etc. And while I agree that a bad event happening to someone and making them turn away from the Dark Side is a plot point used before, I SO did not expect it, not from our archetypal old wise figure. It so added amazing layers of depth to DD. I love JKR. ^.^
One aspect of Book 7 that bothered me: Tonks and Lupin. Not their relationship—I loved it, I want to see more of it, I want fanfiction, I want to write fanfiction, aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! @_@—but their deaths. Hedwig, I handled. Mad-Eye, I handled. Dobby, I handled. Even Fred, I handled, though I was a wreck when Percy wouldn’t leave him. And then we hear about Remus and Tonks and I just stared at the book and rambled at it and made my dog and cat stare at me like I was a lunatic. The two just had a baby! And while it’s true they go out in the best way possible short of old age—fighting the Death Eaters, fighting for Harry, and, in my mind, fighting together—that was just not fair. The deaths were so believable, she presented them so well, but I don’t like them. I love Tonks and Remus too much, they’ve had maybe a few months of happiness together (and Remus is NOT a happy guy), and then it’s just over for them… I don’t like my favorite characters dying, no I Do Not. Too much death, dammit! Though I suppose that’s really the point…
As for Harry being the final Horcrux, well I'd never liked this theory before, not when I heard it in fandom, but I thought JKR really made it work. It still sits a little off with me, prolly cuz of the fanom aspect, but because she wrote him walking do his death so well... besides, I'm sure after musing over it a bit more, the specifics of how he was able to come back will solidify in my mind. What I've got so far is the Killing Curse pretty much hit the piece of Voldy in Harry and ended up protecting Harry enough for him to come back, attached as he was to the mortal coil via Voldy, free and unencumbered by the iddy biddy Voldy soul slowly being built back from the pieces.
Oh, and how CLEVER was the Wand bit with Draco? Love it! XD
And did anyone else really adore this bit: “Albus Severus,” Harry said…, “you were named for two headmasters of Hogwarts. One of them was a Slytherin and he was probably the bravest man I ever knew.”
-yet another bit that brought tears to my eyes and is very likely one of my favorite quotes in the series, if not the favorite.
I love Snape. I officially adore him, no matter how horrid he treats Harry. And Dumbledore I’m still not too comfortable with, but from a writer’s standpoint, I love his character and backstory and complexity. :D
So… yeah, I love JKR’s twists and I love Book 7. I’m almost completely satisfied (only thing missing was a child named Sirius Remus, but I’m gonna hold out hope our various pairs of lovebirds haven’t finished breeding yet :P) and, for the last book in a series that ends up having SO many twists but fitting together so nicely… I think that’s the very best I could hope for. :D
P.S. Oh, and does anyone know who Victoire is? Fleur and Bill’s kid, perhaps? I love that Ted is pretty much a little Sirius, but is this girl theirs?
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-22 08:52 am (UTC)We were trying to work out Lily's (minor) middle name yesterday and was amazed it took so long to suggest that it might be 'Nymphadora'.
Somehow Remus's death didn't bother me. Probably because I was expecting it, but maybe because of what he said as a spectre to Harry. Tonks I never felt close to, but the whole thing -- leaving a child behind -- had a very Potterish feel to it.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-22 07:35 pm (UTC)Hmmm.... good point. I like that. :D Still think there needs to be a Sirus Remus/Rimius Sirius, though.
Yeah, looking back on it, it does feel very Potterish... But I actually didn't see it coming and love Remus, so I was just a bit stunned at that moment. I love how we're presented with the death--so realistic--but I was just a tad heartbroken when it happened.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-22 09:36 am (UTC)Albus Severus is just a terrible name, imho. Especially since Snape treated Harry like shit for years. There are other people more deserving of the honor.
(in case no one else answered, Victoire is Bill and Fleur's daughter)
I loved the book from the summaries I read (what happens, if not exactly how it is told, basically). It is mostly a well-crafted book which fits alongside the other good books in the series and a fitting end to the series. I can't raise my glass to JK as the diety so many people seem to see her as (The emporess has no clothes, dammit!), but she did as good as she could and better than I expected. It's just too bad a better writer didn't get her inspiration.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-22 09:41 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-22 07:43 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-22 07:42 pm (UTC)I do think the name sounds awful, but because of the emotion and reasons behind it, it works. And while I definitely would NOT have wanted to be Harry all those years, Snape has to be the most tragic/heroic figure in the series (perhaps with the exception of Harry himself). I plan to put up musings on Snape some other day.... but I'm too tired at the moment.
I think we'll have to agree to disagree here about JKR's skills. Sure, her wording can be iffy at times, but not any more than any other writer's. Plus, I like her writing. Also, it's not just an idea coming to you. She put a LOT of thought and planning into those books; every little detail, every twist, the world--those things don't just come to you via inspiration (sure, the basics of Harry, Ron, Hermione, witches, wizards, and Hogwarts might, but that's the very basics), you have to work through them and consciously create.