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timepiececlockI read it! I read it!
I read it in two days, exactly. Evening to evening. It was quite absorbing, at many times moving ahead by the pure momentum of its own existence as much as the plot events itself.
I enjoyed it, though I won't say it was perfect. Overall it exceeded my expectations while giving me a few things to shake my head regretfully over. It was like most of the books, that way.
Way too many people lived! I mean, yeah I regretted the loss of Lupin, but he was a supporting character and Tonks and Fred were minor characters, whereas none of the major characters except Snape and very few of the supporting characters died. None of the sextet died (the sextet lives again! I love Neville and Luna and I love Mrs. Weasley too).
There's something odd about my disappointment here. After the end of Full Metal Alchemist, I was beside myself with joy that "Everyone didn't die!". At the end of this epic series, I'm a little let down. For all the darkness here, all the torture and pain... not that many important people died.
And I wish she hadn't written the epilogue. It was too... neat. I can't buy into it: that everyone married their high school sweetheart, that a nice, nucleic family and a happiness and forgiveness completes the circle of what a good life should be. Sure, Harry got the family he wanted... but come on! Life is not a neat little package. I'd rather see him in an "unconventional" family. The rest of this book was so very much about that idea: that no one is perfect, that nothing is simple, and then it concludes in this cookie-cutter future of the most banal predictions possible. Yeah, some people died, but everyone ended up married with kids, teaching at Hogwarts, etc etc etc. Blah! I wanted them all, particularly Hermione, Harry, and Ron, to have a crazy-ass adventurous future life beyond that mundane destiny.
The idea of being trapped in the same pattern as the previous generations is just... bleg! Where's the fun of that? I get that it's a major theme of the series, that becoming his father and duplicating te family he lost is Harry's greatest dream, that obsession with and emulating the parents, no matter how grave their mistakes, is what drives many characters in Potterverse. But to have that kind of settling as a desireable end goal... LAME. LAME, I SAY.
I wanted the this quest to be the first great adventure of their lives, not the last. I wish she hadn't written the epilogue, because without it we could have imagined whatever future we wanted, taken it any direction we wanted, and in our heads each fan could have their idea of that future in their own imagination.
GOD (of the internets): ARE YOU SAYING THAT YOU DIDN'T LIKE THE EPILOGUE BECAUSE IT ROBBED YOU OF THE OPPORTUNITY OF FANFICTION?
Rashaka: ...Yes?
GOD (of the internets): ME TOO.
The only thing I really liked about the epilogue was that his second son was named Albus Severus. Whee.
Other than that? Awesome! I really enjoyed reading it. Though with the first half of the book I was pretty skeptical, getting a bit tired of the patterns, it soon flourished into something very exciting. For once, I have no complaints about the pace of the book. It was speedy. And I loved the backstories of Dumbledore and of Snape. I'm really going to enjoy the next few movies, because the current actor for Dumbledore will be able to nicely embody the subtle menaces that Harry's early view of Dumbledore hid. And Snape! Ahh, Snape. You achieved the hero status, but at such a price! Your soul is a high price indeed. I think it's very ironic indeed that Dumbledore found in Snape the exact man he needed: someone with a brave heart, but not necessarily a good one... someone who could be motivated to do the right thing, but who would willingly do many bad things to get there. Someone who would be loyal no matter what was asked of him. Dumbledore, being willing to exploit that, was just as guilty as Snape when it came to what Snape did for the Death Eaters.
I liked the battle. It was big, and fun, and full of good fights. I love that Luna, Neville, and Ginny kept the DA alive and led such an organized revolt. I loved that Neville killed the snake, the last Horcrux: his status as a parallel to Harry, though almost ingored in the 6th book, shone in the 7th. He got to use the sword! That's awesome.
Speaking of swords and battles, JKR tipped her hand as a Tolkien fan with this book. The fight bore a striking resemblance to the Battle of Five Armies from The Hobbit, and the way Neville beheaded the snake took me right back to that awesome moment of Eowyn defeating the Witch King riding on a Nazgul.
Random thought: Harry declaring that Draco Malfoy was the true master of the Elder Wand was just about the funniest thing ever. The most unintentionally hilarious line of the whole book.
I'm a little sad about my OTP (Harry/Luna) not being OTP, but not too much. I enjoyed the H/G stuff more this book than in the 6th book, and that helped a lot in making up for it. I only wish that we hadn't gotten that stupid epilogue, it basically blocks any non-canon OTPs from the potential future. Not just mine, but others too. Still, Harry and Luna had strong interactions this book, and I loved Luna's character as always.
There were more ups and downs, but that's all I have energy for tonight.
But, at the end of it all, I look and I think, "Well, that was a fun fanfic to read. Good times! I should probably write a review. Now when does the seventh book come out?"
I read it in two days, exactly. Evening to evening. It was quite absorbing, at many times moving ahead by the pure momentum of its own existence as much as the plot events itself.
I enjoyed it, though I won't say it was perfect. Overall it exceeded my expectations while giving me a few things to shake my head regretfully over. It was like most of the books, that way.
Way too many people lived! I mean, yeah I regretted the loss of Lupin, but he was a supporting character and Tonks and Fred were minor characters, whereas none of the major characters except Snape and very few of the supporting characters died. None of the sextet died (the sextet lives again! I love Neville and Luna and I love Mrs. Weasley too).
There's something odd about my disappointment here. After the end of Full Metal Alchemist, I was beside myself with joy that "Everyone didn't die!". At the end of this epic series, I'm a little let down. For all the darkness here, all the torture and pain... not that many important people died.
And I wish she hadn't written the epilogue. It was too... neat. I can't buy into it: that everyone married their high school sweetheart, that a nice, nucleic family and a happiness and forgiveness completes the circle of what a good life should be. Sure, Harry got the family he wanted... but come on! Life is not a neat little package. I'd rather see him in an "unconventional" family. The rest of this book was so very much about that idea: that no one is perfect, that nothing is simple, and then it concludes in this cookie-cutter future of the most banal predictions possible. Yeah, some people died, but everyone ended up married with kids, teaching at Hogwarts, etc etc etc. Blah! I wanted them all, particularly Hermione, Harry, and Ron, to have a crazy-ass adventurous future life beyond that mundane destiny.
The idea of being trapped in the same pattern as the previous generations is just... bleg! Where's the fun of that? I get that it's a major theme of the series, that becoming his father and duplicating te family he lost is Harry's greatest dream, that obsession with and emulating the parents, no matter how grave their mistakes, is what drives many characters in Potterverse. But to have that kind of settling as a desireable end goal... LAME. LAME, I SAY.
I wanted the this quest to be the first great adventure of their lives, not the last. I wish she hadn't written the epilogue, because without it we could have imagined whatever future we wanted, taken it any direction we wanted, and in our heads each fan could have their idea of that future in their own imagination.
GOD (of the internets): ARE YOU SAYING THAT YOU DIDN'T LIKE THE EPILOGUE BECAUSE IT ROBBED YOU OF THE OPPORTUNITY OF FANFICTION?
Rashaka: ...Yes?
GOD (of the internets): ME TOO.
The only thing I really liked about the epilogue was that his second son was named Albus Severus. Whee.
Other than that? Awesome! I really enjoyed reading it. Though with the first half of the book I was pretty skeptical, getting a bit tired of the patterns, it soon flourished into something very exciting. For once, I have no complaints about the pace of the book. It was speedy. And I loved the backstories of Dumbledore and of Snape. I'm really going to enjoy the next few movies, because the current actor for Dumbledore will be able to nicely embody the subtle menaces that Harry's early view of Dumbledore hid. And Snape! Ahh, Snape. You achieved the hero status, but at such a price! Your soul is a high price indeed. I think it's very ironic indeed that Dumbledore found in Snape the exact man he needed: someone with a brave heart, but not necessarily a good one... someone who could be motivated to do the right thing, but who would willingly do many bad things to get there. Someone who would be loyal no matter what was asked of him. Dumbledore, being willing to exploit that, was just as guilty as Snape when it came to what Snape did for the Death Eaters.
I liked the battle. It was big, and fun, and full of good fights. I love that Luna, Neville, and Ginny kept the DA alive and led such an organized revolt. I loved that Neville killed the snake, the last Horcrux: his status as a parallel to Harry, though almost ingored in the 6th book, shone in the 7th. He got to use the sword! That's awesome.
Speaking of swords and battles, JKR tipped her hand as a Tolkien fan with this book. The fight bore a striking resemblance to the Battle of Five Armies from The Hobbit, and the way Neville beheaded the snake took me right back to that awesome moment of Eowyn defeating the Witch King riding on a Nazgul.
Random thought: Harry declaring that Draco Malfoy was the true master of the Elder Wand was just about the funniest thing ever. The most unintentionally hilarious line of the whole book.
I'm a little sad about my OTP (Harry/Luna) not being OTP, but not too much. I enjoyed the H/G stuff more this book than in the 6th book, and that helped a lot in making up for it. I only wish that we hadn't gotten that stupid epilogue, it basically blocks any non-canon OTPs from the potential future. Not just mine, but others too. Still, Harry and Luna had strong interactions this book, and I loved Luna's character as always.
There were more ups and downs, but that's all I have energy for tonight.
But, at the end of it all, I look and I think, "Well, that was a fun fanfic to read. Good times! I should probably write a review. Now when does the seventh book come out?"
no subject
Date: 2007-07-27 04:12 am (UTC)((sets out hunting for Harry/Luna fic))
no subject
Date: 2007-07-29 03:12 am (UTC)Also, I just made a post about HP pairings in my mental canon post-movie, with my theory on H/L.
no subject
Date: 2007-07-29 05:55 am (UTC)Woot! Thank you very much.