Spreading the OotP love
Jul. 8th, 2005 04:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
donnaimmaculataHBP is one week away, and I realised something: I am not worried about anything that might happen in the book. (I have quite reconciled with the idea of Remus' death.) But what makes me uneasy is the anticipation of the reactions in fandom. There will be hissy fits, there will be character bashing, and there will be outcries of "OMG! JKR is, like, so stupid! She has no idea what makes her characters work, and she dares [dislike Snape/Draco/Voldemort] [like Sirius/Harry/Dumbledore]!!" So, hm, in order to remind myself that there are people who actually like the books and don't mind that it is Rowling who continues writing them, I've got a question: What did you liked about OotP? If anything? Because, personally, I quite liked it. I realise that there are plot holes in Rowling's writing and that Sirius should not have died and that Harry is angry and irrational. But, on the whole, I like the book better than I liked GoF.
- I like angry!Harry. I've always found him too bland in earlier books and never cared much about him, despite his being the hero. His reactions are now appropriate to all the shit life puts him through
- I like that Remus didn't die
- I like Snape's smooth put-down of Umbridge when she demands more Veritaserum
- I like that there isn't so much Quidditch
- I like that Ron is made prefect and not Harry and that Harry is now shut out from a part of Ron and Hermione's life
- I like the glimpse we get of Petunia and Dudley at the beginning (and I like that it is only a glimpse, without any explanation)
- I absolutely adore that Rowling acknowledges that people don't start trusting/liking each other just because they happen to have a goal in common. In fact, this is what I like most about OotP. Most fics written post GoF and dealing with the war had the good guys stand united and fight the evil together (whether or not successfully is immaterial). Snape would train Harry, who would submit to it like a reasonable kid; Snape would forget his own grudge against MWPP and acknowledge Lupin and Black's competence; Dumbledore would be the leader and the Ministry would submit to his leadership... etc. OotP does not offer any of those satisfactory solutions. The good guys keep disliking and distrusting each other, and Harry, despite his hero status, is treated like the brat that he is. OotP is also the book of stagnation: nothing much happens, apart from waiting for Voldemort to act. This drives the characters mad, and their irritation translates to the reader. I don't know whether Rowling did that on purpose, but whatever her intention might have been: she managed to make the readers feel as twitchy and frustrated as the characters. OotP would not work as a stand-alone novel, but as part of a series, it does.
So, I am curious: is there anything you liked about OotP? Or is the hatred of the book universal?
- I like angry!Harry. I've always found him too bland in earlier books and never cared much about him, despite his being the hero. His reactions are now appropriate to all the shit life puts him through
- I like that Remus didn't die
- I like Snape's smooth put-down of Umbridge when she demands more Veritaserum
- I like that there isn't so much Quidditch
- I like that Ron is made prefect and not Harry and that Harry is now shut out from a part of Ron and Hermione's life
- I like the glimpse we get of Petunia and Dudley at the beginning (and I like that it is only a glimpse, without any explanation)
- I absolutely adore that Rowling acknowledges that people don't start trusting/liking each other just because they happen to have a goal in common. In fact, this is what I like most about OotP. Most fics written post GoF and dealing with the war had the good guys stand united and fight the evil together (whether or not successfully is immaterial). Snape would train Harry, who would submit to it like a reasonable kid; Snape would forget his own grudge against MWPP and acknowledge Lupin and Black's competence; Dumbledore would be the leader and the Ministry would submit to his leadership... etc. OotP does not offer any of those satisfactory solutions. The good guys keep disliking and distrusting each other, and Harry, despite his hero status, is treated like the brat that he is. OotP is also the book of stagnation: nothing much happens, apart from waiting for Voldemort to act. This drives the characters mad, and their irritation translates to the reader. I don't know whether Rowling did that on purpose, but whatever her intention might have been: she managed to make the readers feel as twitchy and frustrated as the characters. OotP would not work as a stand-alone novel, but as part of a series, it does.
So, I am curious: is there anything you liked about OotP? Or is the hatred of the book universal?
no subject
Date: 2005-07-08 12:10 pm (UTC)Now that's off my chest, here's what I liked:
The background on the Blacks. JKR says that Sirius is a minor character, but damn, we know about his mom, brother, cousins, niece, nephew, ancestors, house, childhood, adulthood, etc! I'm glad that JKR's illogical like that, because I loved learning more about Sirius.
I loved the "Sit down, Sirius" line from Remus.
I loved that Remus tried to stand up for both Harry and Sirius, while still getting them to compromise.
I love the way Sirius and Remus remembered James so fondly.
McGonnagall was the best! Loved her. Wish she'd been like this the whole series. She's right up there with Sirius and Remus for me now.
I loved her dry wit and asides that just skewer pretentiousness like a surgical steel needle. And helping Peeves! LOL!
I liked reading about Kreacher. I work with someone an awful lot like Kreacher, actually, so he was hilarious to me.
Sirius's line about Kreacher snogging his mum's knickers always makes me smile.
I loved the way Sirius handled the twins. He knew just what to say without going overboard, nor losing his temper unduly.
Sirius at Christmas was fantastic, but so very sad too.
Snape vs Umbridge was great.
The twins' glorious exit.
I LOVED CAPSLOCK HARRY! YAY! Finally, he's real
Loved the way Harry got his own back with Dudders. I don't feel a bit sorry for Dudley.
I am one of the few who liked Ginny. JKR had hinted she was like this in the Chamber of secrets, so I was glad she got to have a personality.
Love Luna and Tonks. Loved Tonks' metamorph abilities. Gives rise to several possibilities. One of the following was replaced with a metamorph, and the doppelganger is a spy: Remus, Neville, or Tonks.
Found Andromeda intriguing. First of all, I think that Andromeda is a female Sirius, but she rebelled and won. I'm surprised that there is no Andromeda fic to speak of.
Loved Regulus.
Gotta go to work now. Lots of stuff to like in it even if all the housework and Umbridge and Grawp were irritating, and that there weren't nearly enough Harry, Remus, and Sirius moments.