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Half-Blooded Thoughts
After all the trouble in waiting for Amazon to deliver the books, I gave up and just went to buy them at the Coop near MIT. Thus, I've decided to do the same for Book 7, whenever it should become avaliable.
My boyfriend refused to let me read until we were on the interstate, and I left the book in the car when we stopped for food. Also, given my surety that someone was going to die in the last chapters, I left off reading them until after I slept, thus while I did not finish the book until Sunday morning, it took a grand total of 6 hours, if we don't count the breaks.
This book, I think, ranks up with PoA as a tie for first, if it doesn't surpass it. Clearly, having had the plot in mind for much of the past decade or so has definitely paid off in terms of storytelling. It doesn't really lag, the length is not egregious, and we aren't shown every intimate detail that does not relate to the story simply to expand the world, or in set up for some next chapter. Mind, at this late juncture, there's a precious few things left to set up.
As I commented somewhere else, I was expecting Dumbledore to go in this book, so his death was not a complete shock. Actually, that Hagrid continues to elude death is more of a surprise for me. The Hero's Journey is such that the last phase must be done alone. Though I'm incredibly fond of Ron and Hermione's insistence to follow Harry to the ends of the Earth, I cannot believe they will not be separated somehow prior to the final battle.
Speaking of the final battle, it is my prediction that there shall be a Moony & Wormtail face-off somewhere abouts there. Otherwise, what's that silver hand for anyway?
I must admit to spending a great deal of the book going "I called that!" "![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
lareinenoire so called that!" and so on. It made for something of a fun read, especially on the more light-hearted chapters.
I was very pleased that the POV shifted from Harry in the openning chapters, and even more pleased to see Narcissa and Bellatrix together at last. Bellatrix as the eldest sister is something I must have missed the second go-round on OotP, as I was expecting Andromeda to be the eldest. How young was she when she had Tonks, anyway?
The moment Snape swore that vow I was 100% sure that he would be killing Dumbledore before the book was out. Likewise, the moment he was announced as the DADA professor I knew he wasn't going to be at Hogwarts for book 7. And I called him as the HBP the minute Harry got the textbook. There had to be a reason he was a potions instructor, after all.
On the whole, I was very pleased with the new developments in old characters. As fond as I am of Tonks, Lupin, Luna, and Neville, they sort of had the limelight in the last book, and it was very nice to see Draco and Snape center-stage again. I like that she handled teenage relationships the way teenage relationships often go - abrupt, often stupid and silly, and full of mistakes and unnecessary angst. As much as I love Veronica Mars, the teenagers on that show are much more sophisticated than your average 16/17-year-old, and JKR does have a knack for getting that age right in all it's pain and over-seriousness. And its nice to see them acting normal, whether they are normal children or not.
I do agree that R.A.B. is Regulus Black, but vocally disagree that Harry (or his scar) is a Horcrux. It's been established (even harped on) that Voldemort cannot reside in Harry's body. Also, he planned to make his final Horcrux of Harry's death, and he certainly wasn't expecting Lily to bring her smarts and her magic to the party.
I think that Dumbledore trusted Snape above all others for a reason no one else knows, to the point where he would not hear a word against him from anyone, and it is one we've not learned yet. I can't give up on Snape completely, for that would make JKR the most boring author ever, and I can't bear for Dumbledore to be wrong. Plus, why would he show Fudge his Dark Mark in the hospital scene at the end of GoF? Dumbledore certainly didn't ask him to. I can't get my hopes up too much, except to really hope that book 7 comes out before the HBP movie starts shooting so that we can actually have a final direction for Alan Rickman to play. I do, however, imagine him reading with glee and going "You mean I get to act in that film?!"
My latest theory, sprung from my flailing hopes and some thought about Spinner's End, is that Dumbledore set Snape up to be the inside man from the very beginning, even before Voldemort recruited him. Unlikely, but given his schpiel to Bellatrix...
I also am surprised at how many ways JKR can think of violating a person. Love potions, legimancy... Creepy and creepier.
On a completely different note - poor Emmeline Vance. I wanted more of her, not to have her offed in the first chapter!
My boyfriend refused to let me read until we were on the interstate, and I left the book in the car when we stopped for food. Also, given my surety that someone was going to die in the last chapters, I left off reading them until after I slept, thus while I did not finish the book until Sunday morning, it took a grand total of 6 hours, if we don't count the breaks.
This book, I think, ranks up with PoA as a tie for first, if it doesn't surpass it. Clearly, having had the plot in mind for much of the past decade or so has definitely paid off in terms of storytelling. It doesn't really lag, the length is not egregious, and we aren't shown every intimate detail that does not relate to the story simply to expand the world, or in set up for some next chapter. Mind, at this late juncture, there's a precious few things left to set up.
As I commented somewhere else, I was expecting Dumbledore to go in this book, so his death was not a complete shock. Actually, that Hagrid continues to elude death is more of a surprise for me. The Hero's Journey is such that the last phase must be done alone. Though I'm incredibly fond of Ron and Hermione's insistence to follow Harry to the ends of the Earth, I cannot believe they will not be separated somehow prior to the final battle.
Speaking of the final battle, it is my prediction that there shall be a Moony & Wormtail face-off somewhere abouts there. Otherwise, what's that silver hand for anyway?
I must admit to spending a great deal of the book going "I called that!" "
lareinenoire so called that!" and so on. It made for something of a fun read, especially on the more light-hearted chapters.I was very pleased that the POV shifted from Harry in the openning chapters, and even more pleased to see Narcissa and Bellatrix together at last. Bellatrix as the eldest sister is something I must have missed the second go-round on OotP, as I was expecting Andromeda to be the eldest. How young was she when she had Tonks, anyway?
The moment Snape swore that vow I was 100% sure that he would be killing Dumbledore before the book was out. Likewise, the moment he was announced as the DADA professor I knew he wasn't going to be at Hogwarts for book 7. And I called him as the HBP the minute Harry got the textbook. There had to be a reason he was a potions instructor, after all.
On the whole, I was very pleased with the new developments in old characters. As fond as I am of Tonks, Lupin, Luna, and Neville, they sort of had the limelight in the last book, and it was very nice to see Draco and Snape center-stage again. I like that she handled teenage relationships the way teenage relationships often go - abrupt, often stupid and silly, and full of mistakes and unnecessary angst. As much as I love Veronica Mars, the teenagers on that show are much more sophisticated than your average 16/17-year-old, and JKR does have a knack for getting that age right in all it's pain and over-seriousness. And its nice to see them acting normal, whether they are normal children or not.
I do agree that R.A.B. is Regulus Black, but vocally disagree that Harry (or his scar) is a Horcrux. It's been established (even harped on) that Voldemort cannot reside in Harry's body. Also, he planned to make his final Horcrux of Harry's death, and he certainly wasn't expecting Lily to bring her smarts and her magic to the party.
I think that Dumbledore trusted Snape above all others for a reason no one else knows, to the point where he would not hear a word against him from anyone, and it is one we've not learned yet. I can't give up on Snape completely, for that would make JKR the most boring author ever, and I can't bear for Dumbledore to be wrong. Plus, why would he show Fudge his Dark Mark in the hospital scene at the end of GoF? Dumbledore certainly didn't ask him to. I can't get my hopes up too much, except to really hope that book 7 comes out before the HBP movie starts shooting so that we can actually have a final direction for Alan Rickman to play. I do, however, imagine him reading with glee and going "You mean I get to act in that film?!"
My latest theory, sprung from my flailing hopes and some thought about Spinner's End, is that Dumbledore set Snape up to be the inside man from the very beginning, even before Voldemort recruited him. Unlikely, but given his schpiel to Bellatrix...
I also am surprised at how many ways JKR can think of violating a person. Love potions, legimancy... Creepy and creepier.
On a completely different note - poor Emmeline Vance. I wanted more of her, not to have her offed in the first chapter!
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I agree HBP moved much faster. She finally stopped giving gratuitous exposition when re-introducing a character or location, and stopped describing all the little nick-nacks in the rooms we had already visited. I kind of wish we'd seen more of the DADA classes, but we got plenty of Snape anyways. The kids weren't complaining about it too much, so he must have been a descent teacher.
I thought Andromeda was oldest, too. I may have to re-read that chapter (for many reasons). The hp-lexicon (http://www.hp-lexicon.org/wizards/black-family-tree-image.html) lists Andromeda as middle daughter, but I don't know what clues they used to determine that.
Also, did you find it weird that people thought Dora Tonks might spend the Christmas Hols "with family"? I don't know why, but I always got the impression that people spoke about Andromeda in the past tense. I keep wondering if she's alive, and if so, why haven't we seen her. (Although, we may have seen her and Harry didn't recognize her.)
For some reason, I didn't piece together that Draco's intended victim was Dumbledore. I figured he would die, but I thought Draco's mission would have something to do with Harry. Clearly, not all conspiracies revolve around the title character.
Agreed on the portrayal of the age group. Harry appeared to recover from his grief a bit too quickly, but his mastery of avoidance tells me it's still an issue.
It's certainly a possibility that the final Horcrux is an unknown object. When Dumbledore remarked that the only remaining artifact of Gryffindor's was the sword, it wasn't even the only remaining artifact in the room. He conveniently forgot the Sorting Hat. (Not that I'm saying it's the Sorting Hat, only that DD's comment was not accurate.) Other artifacts may exist. If Harry is some way related to Godric Gryffindor, maybe the artifact was at Godric's Hollow. (That location name HAS to mean something.)
I agree there has to be more to why DD trusted Snape. He was not as naive as Harry's explanation would make it appear. I try not to look at interviews with JKR too much, but the stuff she says about Snape and book 7 are tantalizing.
Oh, and I totally agree that we finally have a scene that might actually challenge Rickman. He's an excellent actor, and capable of playing the role to be both ambiguous and faithful to JKR's sekret info.
Alas, Emmeline Vance! As soon as I read "the Bones and Vance murders" I shouted, "No!" at my book. Did JKR have to kill off one of the few females in the Order, and a potentially sympathetic female character? Granted, it was important to point out that non-Order members were also getting attacked, but still. Did they have to both be female?
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She's said something about Snape & book 7? I've missed it then, because most of the stuff I've read she's been incredibly closed-mouthed on that issue. And I want my Snape redeemed!
...Not that he can just go on with his life even if he wasn't evil after killing the most accomplished wizard of the age or anything. She's pretty much killed Snape with that stroke, too.
I'm getting the feeling that Rowling doesn't write good female characters. Other than Hermione they're all in the background, and Hermione isn't really an inspiration herself.
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From J.K. Rowling interview transcript, The Connection (WBUR Radio), 12 October, 1999 (http://www.quick-quote-quill.org/articles/1999/1099-connectiontransc.html):
One of our internet correspondents wondered if Snape is going to fall in love.
JKR: (JKR laughs) Who on earth would want Snape in love with them? That's a very horrible idea.
There's an important kind of redemptive pattern to Snape
JKR: He, um, there's so much I wish I could say to you, and I can't because it would ruin. I promise you, whoever asked that question, can I just say to you that I'm slightly stunned that you've said that and you'll find out why I'm so stunned if you read Book 7. That's all I'm going to say.
I agree that even if he is loyal to Dumbledore, there's almost no way wizarding society will accept him back. He's condemned to be misunderstood and persecuted. Dumbledore won't be around to defend him at the end of this war.
Yeah, the lack of good female characters is odd. (That's what fanfiction is for *ducking*)
In response to your quote above: PoA is my favorite, as well.