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rayvyn2kInstead of spamming my f-list with my thoughts about JKR's latest masterpiece, I'll just put them here. Naturally there will be spoilers.
As I said in my first post, I love this book.
In no particular order:
Dudley shaking Harry's hand. That rocked. It set the entire theme of this last book which in my view was "redemption".
I hated that Hedwig was killed. That just seemed senseless to me and unnecessary. Harry could have let her fly back to Hogwarts and roost in the Owlery. Her death bothered me a lot.
The Remus/Tonks storyline felt sort of crowbarred in--beginning in book 6. It just came out of nowhere, then ran through book 7 as background. We "heard about" their marriage, "heard about" the pregnancy (which I totally guessed, btw, when Remus was acting all ooky), we got to see Remus as a chuffed new dad, which was nice, but then at the end, they are...lying dead with the other victims? I think if JKR wanted to have this sub-plot for whatever reason (to parallel Teddy with Harry) then Teddy's parents' deaths should have had more emotional impact. Lupin was a friggin' Marauder for cryin' out loud.
Going back to calling Voldemort "You-Know-Who". Taking one of the things that makes Harry unique in the magical world (his willingness to say Voldemort's name) and turning it upside down was interesting and unexpected.
The whole "on the run" camping thing I felt went on too long. I did like it that Ron was the one to draw and wield the Sword of Gryffindor, though. Overall, I liked Ron more in this book than in many of the others.
The wedding, the break-in at the Ministry, the visit to the Lovegood's, Gringott's bank...wow, this book was action-packed.
Neville rocks throughout. And his gran rocks too! Loved the entire Neville "coming of age" sub-plot. Especially his confrontation with Harry in the Room of Requirement. Who knew that the sweet, round-faced boy would turn out to have the heart of a lion? LOVED HIM.
Loved the story of the Gray Lady and the Bloody Baron.
I was really disappointed with Snape's death. Not the fact that he died, I expected that, but the way he died. It seemed anti-climactic, somehow, to have the erst-while villian of the series taken out by a...snake bite? I feel the same way about Snape's death as I did about Captain Kirk's in that stupid Star Trek Nexis movie when Kirk..fell? Off a bridge? To his...death? Both Kirk and Snape should have gone out in a blaze of glory, in my opinion. Kirk saving some planet from destruction by sacrificing his ship and himself--Snape saving the trio by doing the same. I wanted Snape's death to be preceded by a nail-biting scene of suspense between him, Voldemort and the trio so you wondered "Which side is he really on?" before he sacrifices himself to save them. But if that had happened, we wouldn't have had...
...the Pensieve scenes. Oh my God...heartbreaking. I suspected all along that Snape loved Lily. I wrote a fanfic called Snape's Best Memory which was scarily close to the mood/theme of the entire Pensieve scene. Beautiful and so, so sad. His Patronus is a doe??? Aww, I knew my dear, snarky Professor Snape would turn out to be the tragic hero, but the romantic tragic hero was too much to hope for. I'm so glad I was right all along to believe there was a tender side to him.
On the other hand...where's Snape's portrait? He was the Headmaster of Hogwarts, so his portrait should have been on the office wall at the end.
Dobby's death made me cry, surprisingly, as I never really liked him very much. Rivers of tears ran down my face as Harry dug the grave and buried him. I'm welling up just thinking about it right now.
The Malfoy family redemption. It wasn't an "ah-ha!" moment for any of them...it happened as most redemptions do, slowly and painfully. Very, very well done, in my opinion. I knew that Draco would be redeemed after he couldn't kill Dumbledore in Book 6, but I thought that his redemption would come at the cost of losing both of his parents to Voldemort's cruelty. Happily, JKR did not take that easy road. Draco "saving" Harry at Malfoy Manor by "not" recognizing him and then Harry saving Draco at the battle of Hogwarts and Narcissa saving Harry (Is Draco alive? Is he in the castle?" "Yes." *shiver*)in the forest? Best redemption ever.
Voldemort was truly evil and very frightening. To me, this shows that, although Harry Potter might have started out as a "children's" book, it certainly did not end as one.
The battle of Hogwarts was, on the whole, done well. It had the kind of choppy, sort of channel-changing (if you know what I mean) feel to it that I imagine a real battle would have. I liked that the house elves and the centaurs joined in at the last...and I appreciated seeing the various teachers and students at their best. Loved the Room of Requirement being packed with people when Harry got back. Loved that Molly finally showed her stuff by killing Bellatrix, although I was hoping Neville would be the one to off that bitch.
Professor Trelawney launching her crystal balls from the top of the stairs? Had me laughing out loud. LOVED IT. As I said to someone on my f-list, if they cut that from the movie, I will be pissed.
Harry willingly sacrificing himself and then being reincarnated. Reminds me of another story I've heard somewhere...
Dumbledore "coming back" and explaining things to Harry at the end. I appreciated the tying up of so much and it didn't feel forced to me.
I didn't really like the epilogue. It felt sort of tacked-on and fan-fic-ish to me. Are we meant to believe that Harry, Ron and their families are living in Muggle London? I felt like I was Confunded reading that chapter.
I was left wondering:
Did Hermione's parents ever come back?
Who was supposed to obtain magic later in life?
What happened to the Dursleys?
Luna?
McGonagall?
Hell, all of the teachers?
Is there a portrait of Snape in the Headmaster's office?
Who is Headmaster now?
So many unanswered questions...
I hope JKR eventually releases her notes, drafts, scribbles, etc. I would love to read the "deleted scenes" someday.
As I said in my first post, I love this book.
In no particular order:
Dudley shaking Harry's hand. That rocked. It set the entire theme of this last book which in my view was "redemption".
I hated that Hedwig was killed. That just seemed senseless to me and unnecessary. Harry could have let her fly back to Hogwarts and roost in the Owlery. Her death bothered me a lot.
The Remus/Tonks storyline felt sort of crowbarred in--beginning in book 6. It just came out of nowhere, then ran through book 7 as background. We "heard about" their marriage, "heard about" the pregnancy (which I totally guessed, btw, when Remus was acting all ooky), we got to see Remus as a chuffed new dad, which was nice, but then at the end, they are...lying dead with the other victims? I think if JKR wanted to have this sub-plot for whatever reason (to parallel Teddy with Harry) then Teddy's parents' deaths should have had more emotional impact. Lupin was a friggin' Marauder for cryin' out loud.
Going back to calling Voldemort "You-Know-Who". Taking one of the things that makes Harry unique in the magical world (his willingness to say Voldemort's name) and turning it upside down was interesting and unexpected.
The whole "on the run" camping thing I felt went on too long. I did like it that Ron was the one to draw and wield the Sword of Gryffindor, though. Overall, I liked Ron more in this book than in many of the others.
The wedding, the break-in at the Ministry, the visit to the Lovegood's, Gringott's bank...wow, this book was action-packed.
Neville rocks throughout. And his gran rocks too! Loved the entire Neville "coming of age" sub-plot. Especially his confrontation with Harry in the Room of Requirement. Who knew that the sweet, round-faced boy would turn out to have the heart of a lion? LOVED HIM.
Loved the story of the Gray Lady and the Bloody Baron.
I was really disappointed with Snape's death. Not the fact that he died, I expected that, but the way he died. It seemed anti-climactic, somehow, to have the erst-while villian of the series taken out by a...snake bite? I feel the same way about Snape's death as I did about Captain Kirk's in that stupid Star Trek Nexis movie when Kirk..fell? Off a bridge? To his...death? Both Kirk and Snape should have gone out in a blaze of glory, in my opinion. Kirk saving some planet from destruction by sacrificing his ship and himself--Snape saving the trio by doing the same. I wanted Snape's death to be preceded by a nail-biting scene of suspense between him, Voldemort and the trio so you wondered "Which side is he really on?" before he sacrifices himself to save them. But if that had happened, we wouldn't have had...
...the Pensieve scenes. Oh my God...heartbreaking. I suspected all along that Snape loved Lily. I wrote a fanfic called Snape's Best Memory which was scarily close to the mood/theme of the entire Pensieve scene. Beautiful and so, so sad. His Patronus is a doe??? Aww, I knew my dear, snarky Professor Snape would turn out to be the tragic hero, but the romantic tragic hero was too much to hope for. I'm so glad I was right all along to believe there was a tender side to him.
On the other hand...where's Snape's portrait? He was the Headmaster of Hogwarts, so his portrait should have been on the office wall at the end.
Dobby's death made me cry, surprisingly, as I never really liked him very much. Rivers of tears ran down my face as Harry dug the grave and buried him. I'm welling up just thinking about it right now.
The Malfoy family redemption. It wasn't an "ah-ha!" moment for any of them...it happened as most redemptions do, slowly and painfully. Very, very well done, in my opinion. I knew that Draco would be redeemed after he couldn't kill Dumbledore in Book 6, but I thought that his redemption would come at the cost of losing both of his parents to Voldemort's cruelty. Happily, JKR did not take that easy road. Draco "saving" Harry at Malfoy Manor by "not" recognizing him and then Harry saving Draco at the battle of Hogwarts and Narcissa saving Harry (Is Draco alive? Is he in the castle?" "Yes." *shiver*)in the forest? Best redemption ever.
Voldemort was truly evil and very frightening. To me, this shows that, although Harry Potter might have started out as a "children's" book, it certainly did not end as one.
The battle of Hogwarts was, on the whole, done well. It had the kind of choppy, sort of channel-changing (if you know what I mean) feel to it that I imagine a real battle would have. I liked that the house elves and the centaurs joined in at the last...and I appreciated seeing the various teachers and students at their best. Loved the Room of Requirement being packed with people when Harry got back. Loved that Molly finally showed her stuff by killing Bellatrix, although I was hoping Neville would be the one to off that bitch.
Professor Trelawney launching her crystal balls from the top of the stairs? Had me laughing out loud. LOVED IT. As I said to someone on my f-list, if they cut that from the movie, I will be pissed.
Harry willingly sacrificing himself and then being reincarnated. Reminds me of another story I've heard somewhere...
Dumbledore "coming back" and explaining things to Harry at the end. I appreciated the tying up of so much and it didn't feel forced to me.
I didn't really like the epilogue. It felt sort of tacked-on and fan-fic-ish to me. Are we meant to believe that Harry, Ron and their families are living in Muggle London? I felt like I was Confunded reading that chapter.
I was left wondering:
Did Hermione's parents ever come back?
Who was supposed to obtain magic later in life?
What happened to the Dursleys?
Luna?
McGonagall?
Hell, all of the teachers?
Is there a portrait of Snape in the Headmaster's office?
Who is Headmaster now?
So many unanswered questions...
I hope JKR eventually releases her notes, drafts, scribbles, etc. I would love to read the "deleted scenes" someday.
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(no subject)
Date: 7/23/07 02:10 am (UTC)One theory I heard is that Snape was never rightfully Headmaster. *shrug* I would love for his portrait to be there.
(no subject)
Date: 7/23/07 03:05 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 7/25/07 04:02 pm (UTC)Agree about the epilogue. I'd have preferred something that told what was happening to all the characters next. Especially Umbridge. I feel cheated we didn't get to see her get her just desserts.