Post by xanderxavier on Jul 24, 2007 19:53:55 GMT
as the other thread points out, its 10 years since millions of loyal fans have waited for the book.
frankly, i'm dissapointed.
maybe, as i said in my blog, it was the wine speaking, when i felt a loss of sunshine and hope when i finished the book. but concluded this was because, for me, harry potter was integral to my childhood. since it had ended, so did that period of life.
melodramatic: yes; but whatever.
the book served its purpose to outline in a basic, fan-fic-esque way big ideas of life and death; of time and space; of love and hate; of good and evil. the ying and yangs of life.
the only way rowling could convey such themes were through an "apt and predictable" novel. through plot details that i knew would occur at a pace i knew it would take.
this is "deathly hallows" strength as well as its weakness. as the diadem of the series, i grudgingly accept. but, as a way to confront these ideas and weave them through society's pyche is admirable.
her skills shine (as bright as those pockets of hopes she delivers at key points in the book) in three areas:
hooking the reader
taking the reader on a rollercoaster of twists and turns
wrapping up the story
developing characters such as hermoine granger, albus dumbledore, and severus snape. (of course harry..)
she fails by:
being inconsistent in her quality of the prose written i.e. the prologue is throughly meh whilst her opening chapter is one of the best she has ever written. another example is the "kings cross" chapter. her aim to write a metaphysical, surrealist turn in the book is adventurous, experimental:
but, was not successful.
and
most importantly: the 2-dimensional characters remain. lupin wasn't imperiused, but merely depressed for example. no big characters died except snape. where was the death of ginny, mrs weasley, mcgonagall. people who were affected by it, are ulitmately, just willing to cry at anything.
the only sad death was hedwig. mad-eye was quick and silly. and tonks and lupin didn't even have the grandeur of a scene.
only fred's death as well as snape had an air of drama and wit.
there is a lot to complain, but in conclusion, it answered all questions and gave us a look in at the ravenclaw tower.
frankly, i'm dissapointed.
maybe, as i said in my blog, it was the wine speaking, when i felt a loss of sunshine and hope when i finished the book. but concluded this was because, for me, harry potter was integral to my childhood. since it had ended, so did that period of life.
melodramatic: yes; but whatever.
the book served its purpose to outline in a basic, fan-fic-esque way big ideas of life and death; of time and space; of love and hate; of good and evil. the ying and yangs of life.
the only way rowling could convey such themes were through an "apt and predictable" novel. through plot details that i knew would occur at a pace i knew it would take.
this is "deathly hallows" strength as well as its weakness. as the diadem of the series, i grudgingly accept. but, as a way to confront these ideas and weave them through society's pyche is admirable.
her skills shine (as bright as those pockets of hopes she delivers at key points in the book) in three areas:
hooking the reader
taking the reader on a rollercoaster of twists and turns
wrapping up the story
developing characters such as hermoine granger, albus dumbledore, and severus snape. (of course harry..)
she fails by:
being inconsistent in her quality of the prose written i.e. the prologue is throughly meh whilst her opening chapter is one of the best she has ever written. another example is the "kings cross" chapter. her aim to write a metaphysical, surrealist turn in the book is adventurous, experimental:
but, was not successful.
and
most importantly: the 2-dimensional characters remain. lupin wasn't imperiused, but merely depressed for example. no big characters died except snape. where was the death of ginny, mrs weasley, mcgonagall. people who were affected by it, are ulitmately, just willing to cry at anything.
the only sad death was hedwig. mad-eye was quick and silly. and tonks and lupin didn't even have the grandeur of a scene.
only fred's death as well as snape had an air of drama and wit.
there is a lot to complain, but in conclusion, it answered all questions and gave us a look in at the ravenclaw tower.