well, damn
Jul. 31st, 2007 02:53 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
impyFinished the other Harry, as someone lent me their copy yesterday. Yes, I sat there and crammed as much of the book into my brain as humanly possible until the words ceased to make any sense whatsoever, passed out, woke up, ate something, and resumed my crash course in warfare.
I could sit and go on and on and ooooonnnnnn, but I'm not really up for that. So I'll dance around topics that interest me, either for good or bad, and maybe bang my head against a wall a time or two.
1) The epilogue. Let's get this straight. I love it in movies where, at the end, you get a little blurb about what happened to the various characters after the end of the movie, so long as it makes sense. Love it. However, it's that "when it makes sense" bit that trips up any love I might have for this go round. Well, that and it's not a movie [yet]. The previous chapter ends pretty well, and I think would make a much better ending than this fantastic cotton candy epilogue. It isn't necessary. We could figure out that odds are good, given the nature of the books, that high school romances would then turn to marriage and there'd be a kid or twelve...billion. Considering Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione acted exactly the same as they did "19 years before" was just weird, man. On the other hand, I'm wondering if my middle school aged self would've thought, "awesome!" at the idea, at least. The execution was still a bit off no matter how hard I squint and tilt my head to the side.
2) Remus reacting badly. When he first gives Tonks this weird look that Harry catches [after she makes some comment that didn't seem to fit in with Muriel's character] I was convinced she was mind zapped and he just didn't have the heart to turn her in, which seemed incredibly stupid as you'd think they could fix her. But running away and acting like a complete ...I lack the words to properly label his actions, but to say they rang false would be a gross understatement. What. The. Fuzzy?
I'd like to think it wasn't just because I'm all about the Remus/Sirius love, but it could be. I guess. It still seemed off to me.
3) In the same vein as Remus and the epilogue of DOOM, who raised Teddy? Because the way it's worded, it doesn't sound like Harry was a father at 17, y'know? So I'm guessing Teddy's grandmother raised him, but it doesn't say and it's driving me insane. Meh.
4) With Snape, I was prepared for it to go either way. Either he was a royal SOB and deserved the death Voldy was so obviously gonna hand out, and I'd be damned if I didn't cheer, or there'd be proof that Dumbledore wasn't so completely out of his skull in regards to Snape. Couldn't tell you which way I'd prefer, to be honest. On the one hand, truly evil [though not flat, 2-D] characters are hard to find. One could argue that Bellatrix was one, and that Voldy was as well, and really, did we need much more than that? Of course, then there's the fact that so much came to light about Dumbledore and his short-comings that having Snape be another one seemed a bit like overkill.
I liked that he and Lily were best friends. I liked the fun travel through Snape's memories and how they wound so much around Lily, though that was a bit creepy at times, it was also in Snape's nature to be awkward and a bit creepy. Outsiders don't do normal well, hence being outsiders. I suspect that if I think too much on this, it'll fall apart or at least fray at the edges, so for now I'll just leave it in that mostly happy place. I'm sorry he died, but it doesn't break my heart. I never expected him to make it out of the series alive.
5) Holy frickin' warfare, Batman. The only thing I knew going into the book was that someone died in the first chapter, and from then on, it was going to be a bloodbath. I also figured a Weasley was going to croak, but I had my money on anyone but the twins, particularly once George was hurt. To be honest, the second Percy showed up again, I figured he'd redeem himself and die. I'd have been happier that way, but I love the twins, so... yes. I nearly stopped reading when Hedwig died, never got over Moody, and actually cried when Dobby died. I like that it was Dobby's death that cleared away so much of the confusion in Harry's head, as it seemed right somehow.
Didn't like Tonks and Lupin both dying. Thought it unbelievably selfish to go and leave Teddy like that, and reading that JK was all about the orphaning Teddy and went out of her way [as much as one can as an author] to do so bugs the hell out of me. I'm guessing most of the people reading and enjoying HP get that war is hell. We aren't questioning that. Really. Truly. Honestly. Oi.
And finally, despite being told that he couldn't say Voldy's name, Harry still doing so just made me want to reach through the book and slap him so hard he'd lose a tooth or twelve. Nyargh. Though that did lead to the rescue of Luna, someone I thought might die for sure, just to tick me off. So.... silver linings and all. I'm glad Neville grew up and when I read he was one of the ring-leaders, along with what, Ginny and Luna, I felt oddly proud. Ditto to his sword/hat trick.
And to keep this from being almost exactly a copy of something I posted elsewhere, I will say that Harry's long, creepy walk towards what one could argue was suicide? Yeah, disturbing to say the least. Had there not been the comment later that it was essentially Harry throwing his arms up to protect everyone in the castle, everyone he loved, everyone everyone, I'd have cried foul. But since that was the point, I'll just twiddle my thumbs and say that it was the single most disturbing event in the book.
So overall, lots of love. I think I could read it again sometime soon without my head exploding [something I will never say about OoTP] and that maybe I shouldn't have read it so fast. But it was pretty much the same school of thought that goes into ripping off a band-aid. You want the pain over as fast as possible, and I knew there would be pain.
In other news, Ghost Rider sucked so bad that we couldn't even mock properly. Do you know how hard it is to do that? I didn't even think it possible, to be honest. When we originally saw the trailer waaaaaaay back... whenever, Ari said she wanted to see it, and I said it definitely looked crack worthy. Um... no, not really. It's just bad. Eva M. is a really terrible actress if this movie is any indication, and if you have to ask if the main character is supposed to be coming across as mentally handicaped, I think there's a problem somewhere. It had moments where it was exceptionally pretty [although I think some of that can be attributed to sitting at the wrong angle for a HD TV] and parts were so unbelievably cheesetastic, but not so much that it was awesome. Either not enough, or way too much. I had to look away because if I didn't, I thought I'd fall out of my chair.
Had Ari not lent me DH, I'd have been spilling blood over The Harlequin, as it finally pushed Anita from grey area, possible super-heroine with a sex addiction straight into villain of the I don't think LKH realized it variety. Granted, that was if you were being polite, but still. G'ah! It took me a week to finish that book, but give me less than a day, complete with sleep and other things and I'll finish the new HP? At least I know my reading button wasn't broken.
I'm hungry now. Feeeeeeeeeed me, Seymour. Feeeeeeeeeed me.
I could sit and go on and on and ooooonnnnnn, but I'm not really up for that. So I'll dance around topics that interest me, either for good or bad, and maybe bang my head against a wall a time or two.
1) The epilogue. Let's get this straight. I love it in movies where, at the end, you get a little blurb about what happened to the various characters after the end of the movie, so long as it makes sense. Love it. However, it's that "when it makes sense" bit that trips up any love I might have for this go round. Well, that and it's not a movie [yet]. The previous chapter ends pretty well, and I think would make a much better ending than this fantastic cotton candy epilogue. It isn't necessary. We could figure out that odds are good, given the nature of the books, that high school romances would then turn to marriage and there'd be a kid or twelve...billion. Considering Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione acted exactly the same as they did "19 years before" was just weird, man. On the other hand, I'm wondering if my middle school aged self would've thought, "awesome!" at the idea, at least. The execution was still a bit off no matter how hard I squint and tilt my head to the side.
2) Remus reacting badly. When he first gives Tonks this weird look that Harry catches [after she makes some comment that didn't seem to fit in with Muriel's character] I was convinced she was mind zapped and he just didn't have the heart to turn her in, which seemed incredibly stupid as you'd think they could fix her. But running away and acting like a complete ...I lack the words to properly label his actions, but to say they rang false would be a gross understatement. What. The. Fuzzy?
I'd like to think it wasn't just because I'm all about the Remus/Sirius love, but it could be. I guess. It still seemed off to me.
3) In the same vein as Remus and the epilogue of DOOM, who raised Teddy? Because the way it's worded, it doesn't sound like Harry was a father at 17, y'know? So I'm guessing Teddy's grandmother raised him, but it doesn't say and it's driving me insane. Meh.
4) With Snape, I was prepared for it to go either way. Either he was a royal SOB and deserved the death Voldy was so obviously gonna hand out, and I'd be damned if I didn't cheer, or there'd be proof that Dumbledore wasn't so completely out of his skull in regards to Snape. Couldn't tell you which way I'd prefer, to be honest. On the one hand, truly evil [though not flat, 2-D] characters are hard to find. One could argue that Bellatrix was one, and that Voldy was as well, and really, did we need much more than that? Of course, then there's the fact that so much came to light about Dumbledore and his short-comings that having Snape be another one seemed a bit like overkill.
I liked that he and Lily were best friends. I liked the fun travel through Snape's memories and how they wound so much around Lily, though that was a bit creepy at times, it was also in Snape's nature to be awkward and a bit creepy. Outsiders don't do normal well, hence being outsiders. I suspect that if I think too much on this, it'll fall apart or at least fray at the edges, so for now I'll just leave it in that mostly happy place. I'm sorry he died, but it doesn't break my heart. I never expected him to make it out of the series alive.
5) Holy frickin' warfare, Batman. The only thing I knew going into the book was that someone died in the first chapter, and from then on, it was going to be a bloodbath. I also figured a Weasley was going to croak, but I had my money on anyone but the twins, particularly once George was hurt. To be honest, the second Percy showed up again, I figured he'd redeem himself and die. I'd have been happier that way, but I love the twins, so... yes. I nearly stopped reading when Hedwig died, never got over Moody, and actually cried when Dobby died. I like that it was Dobby's death that cleared away so much of the confusion in Harry's head, as it seemed right somehow.
Didn't like Tonks and Lupin both dying. Thought it unbelievably selfish to go and leave Teddy like that, and reading that JK was all about the orphaning Teddy and went out of her way [as much as one can as an author] to do so bugs the hell out of me. I'm guessing most of the people reading and enjoying HP get that war is hell. We aren't questioning that. Really. Truly. Honestly. Oi.
And finally, despite being told that he couldn't say Voldy's name, Harry still doing so just made me want to reach through the book and slap him so hard he'd lose a tooth or twelve. Nyargh. Though that did lead to the rescue of Luna, someone I thought might die for sure, just to tick me off. So.... silver linings and all. I'm glad Neville grew up and when I read he was one of the ring-leaders, along with what, Ginny and Luna, I felt oddly proud. Ditto to his sword/hat trick.
And to keep this from being almost exactly a copy of something I posted elsewhere, I will say that Harry's long, creepy walk towards what one could argue was suicide? Yeah, disturbing to say the least. Had there not been the comment later that it was essentially Harry throwing his arms up to protect everyone in the castle, everyone he loved, everyone everyone, I'd have cried foul. But since that was the point, I'll just twiddle my thumbs and say that it was the single most disturbing event in the book.
So overall, lots of love. I think I could read it again sometime soon without my head exploding [something I will never say about OoTP] and that maybe I shouldn't have read it so fast. But it was pretty much the same school of thought that goes into ripping off a band-aid. You want the pain over as fast as possible, and I knew there would be pain.
In other news, Ghost Rider sucked so bad that we couldn't even mock properly. Do you know how hard it is to do that? I didn't even think it possible, to be honest. When we originally saw the trailer waaaaaaay back... whenever, Ari said she wanted to see it, and I said it definitely looked crack worthy. Um... no, not really. It's just bad. Eva M. is a really terrible actress if this movie is any indication, and if you have to ask if the main character is supposed to be coming across as mentally handicaped, I think there's a problem somewhere. It had moments where it was exceptionally pretty [although I think some of that can be attributed to sitting at the wrong angle for a HD TV] and parts were so unbelievably cheesetastic, but not so much that it was awesome. Either not enough, or way too much. I had to look away because if I didn't, I thought I'd fall out of my chair.
Had Ari not lent me DH, I'd have been spilling blood over The Harlequin, as it finally pushed Anita from grey area, possible super-heroine with a sex addiction straight into villain of the I don't think LKH realized it variety. Granted, that was if you were being polite, but still. G'ah! It took me a week to finish that book, but give me less than a day, complete with sleep and other things and I'll finish the new HP? At least I know my reading button wasn't broken.
I'm hungry now. Feeeeeeeeeed me, Seymour. Feeeeeeeeeed me.
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Date: 2007-08-01 10:52 pm (UTC)