furyofvissarion: (Default)
furyofvissarion ([personal profile] furyofvissarion) wrote2007-07-22 09:59 am

SPOILERS WITHIN

Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows - J. K. Rowling. I was pretty underwhelmed, actually: more relieved that it's just over already! There were bits I really liked--like the resurgence of the DA, & oh, Neville! Neville kicking butt! And Luna--her serenity in the face of everything, & the portraits she had in her room, &, yes.

I hated what was done to Tonks, though--let's make her pregnant & shove her out of the way, & then have her come back after she gives birth, seemingly more interested in protecting Lupin than in fighting Voldemort. And then they both die. And Harry bashing Lupin for leaving Tonks while she's pregnant to go fight? What about all that "for the greater good" stuff you were so into, Harry? What, no one else fighting has kids they're leaving @ home?

I liked the way Dumbledore was shown to not be perfect, no one is good & evil unmixed, & people can change, blah blah. Harry was an annoying git through most of the book, & I'm still annoyed that he did the whole Spiderman thing, breaking up w/Ginny @ the end of the last book. I did think that Ron & Hermione's relationship was fairly realistic, for teenagers under an incredible amount of stress.

I liked getting to see what Snape had been going through, playing his dangerous double game, but I found the whole "I did it all for the love of Lily" thing to be maybe a tad bit overdone, even tho' I liked the general idea.

Was glad as Hermione to see Ron giving a shit about the house elves (poor Dobby! And I loved how they all came out fighting @ the end, led by Kreacher--what happened w/that Death Eater that Hermione accidentally gave access to 12 Grimmauld Place, tho'?).

The whole "Harry dies & chats w/Dumbledore, only he's not really dead" thing confused me, arrrgh. Draco's mom faking out Voldy about Harry being dead was cool, tho'. Harry losing the stone that was part of the Deathly Hallows seems like an open door for some kind of sequel/side book, except I assume Rowling won't do that. Expect the stone to be found & fought over in fanfic. Mrs. Weasley kicking butt over Ginny was fun, & the return of Percy was just great--he's such a prat, but a repentant prat, & that was super sweet. Glad to see he got to see Fred again before he bit it (sniff!!).

I loved pretty much all the Battle of Hogwarts--I just have a kink for big scary endgame battle scenes like that. I thought that showcased the sorts of things Rowling is good @: cute/funny/apt details. She's still not a v. good actual writer--I like her ideas, but some of her descriptions are so clunky, as well as some of her dialogue (tho' some of it's quite funny & sharp). And could we fine her every time she uses a damn ellipsis, please? Also, the epilogue sucked. I really hate books that jump so far ahead @ the end, like it's an afterthought. I was interested to see that apparently Ron & Hermione have not felt like they had to name a child in memory of Fred, which seemed a bit cold.

[identity profile] liseuse.livejournal.com 2007-07-23 12:08 am (UTC)(link)
as much as I love any Harry Potter book, which is in pieces

I'm coming to the conclusion that this is how I love these books. Short contained segments are always my favourite bits. I don't care for the entirety of the books, but each book has a few sections I adore.
wrdnrd: (Default)

[personal profile] wrdnrd 2007-07-23 02:38 am (UTC)(link)
My theory is that the "19 years later" bit at the end is Rowling's "fuck you" to fanficcers. 'Cause now you're going to have to have Hermione divorce Ron in order to get at Pansy! Or make her a bi/poly. And who'd want to be bi/poly with Ron on one side when you could just be a lesbian with Pansy alone? ;)

I think i like the books better for the world than for the characters or the plot. These are books that i think would probably be better used as a setting for RPGs. (It's the same way Andy feels about Jordan's "Wheel of Time" stuff.) Alas, that W.... Oops, not sure i can say that in public.

[identity profile] furyofvissarion.livejournal.com 2007-07-23 06:31 pm (UTC)(link)
I think you're right re: Rowling trying to control ficcers by making everyone so relentlessly straight in canon. AU all the way, baby.

[identity profile] liseuse.livejournal.com 2007-07-23 10:20 pm (UTC)(link)
That seems a good explanation for the 19 Years Later The World Is Exclusively Straight Epilogue. Because we'll show the kids torture and pain and death and great heroic quests and love being the answer, but it needs to be painfully clear that certain kinds of love only are the answer. None of that icky same-sex love, no no. (Again, I say FEH.)

See, I'm going to have a very hard time with getting Pansy and Hermione together, but I do estimate I can have five or six kidfree years between the war and the epilogue, and I might be able to make something of that.