amanuensis1 | HBP thoughts three months later.

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HBP thoughts three months later.

What will my reaction be to Half-Blood Prince after the last book?

I still feel like the series peaked at OotP for me. Every volume has felt better than the last except for this last one--I'm still wigged that anyone, Rowling included, believes that Snape's motives are ambiguous, justifying leaving Harry in suspense at the conclusion of this book. I found Harry and Dumbledore's pensieve jaunts puzzlingly expository, and was waiting--am still waiting--to find out what was going on during those. Tom Riddle's history could have been related in two pages; what the heck happened in those pensieve jaunts that made them so crucial? I want there to have been more motivation on Dumbledore's part than exposition, or the idea that Harry had to see those moments for himself to gain understanding of Voldemort and of himself. It's not enough.

I loved the main plot of the book, the main plot being the Half-Blood Prince. Did I know who it was? Hell, no. The concept that "Prince" was a last name never crossed my mind--even when Hermione brought it up I couldn't see how that fit in. I didn't get it until I saw the chapter title "Flight of the Prince."

But I still believed that Slughorn gave him that book deliberately. Bah.

Will the last book draw it all back together for me? Will those unanswered questions finally fall into place? Or will I be happier admitting that HBP was the weak moment in the series for me and let it be?

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Tragic accident? I heard that Trevor ran off with Fluffy.

*nods* I shall have to attempt to assimilate your argument into my argument and see what comes out after I let it simmer for a few days.

I won't say I didn't like the story the pensieve scenes told but I wanted to see what they were for, you know?

See, I thought Chapter Two was rather expository. Yes, it lays out the major plotline to come, but the contrivance of having Bella force Snape to counter every bit of suspicion, like a trial summary, so that the reader could say later, "Well, I can't think of any other plot bits left unexplained..."

This may seem odd to you, but HBP made me even more impressed with OotP. Now we see the reason behind the entire "cleaning of 12 Grimmauld Place"--it had to be a section that large in order to disguise the introduction of the locket to the reader. Did anyone come out of OotP with theories about that locket? I didn't see a one. That was deft of her.

As I mentioned above, one of the remarkable things in HBP is that it shows us how deft Rowling was with the entire "cleaning of 12 Grimmauld Place" in OotP--that entire section is there so that she can disguise the introduction of the locket from the reader. Now we know.

You will have a remarkable audience for your analysis! And I am planning to be at it, and will try to give you many (polite and respectable) "Hear, hear!"s! Much love and good wishes to you, my dear one. ^_^

I haven't lost my faith in Rowling's plot writing skills.

No, nor have I! She's kept me going this far, certainly, and I still expect something bang-up at the end, even if it doesn't leave me saying, "Eeee, THAT'S what was going on in the last book!"

(I do love the discussion this has sparked!) Now that you say this, I do think that if the Dark Lord backstory made you fall in love, you're more likely to have liked this book. Though I won't say I found it uninteresting, I kept saying, "But why do we have to see this? What's going on?"

And I know I'm not the only one who loved CAPSLOCK!Harry in OotP, for all those who found it annoying. ^_^

Yay for your vindication! I loved what occured with Snape and Draco in HBP, but the ending as in the ending--Harry left in the dark--still has me flailing.

I love it, but it was just SO bleak

Perhaps that's why I thought OotP was the more powerful text! I never expected Sirius's death; I never expected to see Harry so hornswoggled he'd mess up that badly. On the other hand I've been expecting Dumbledore to buy it for two-three books, and I saw the ending coming from so early on in HBP.

Enjoyed the passion of your rant. ^_^ It would be hypocritical of me to make a negative statement about Rowling's writing, as her style and stories hold me and draw me in without any kind of quibble. There isn't much of her books that, as you find, make me never want to read those bits again--the Harry/Ginny is the first I've encountered. (Sirius's death doesn't count because that's devastating for me but not hateful.)

But y'can't please all of the people all of the time, and I enjoy reading these sorts of dissents. Within them I find the grains of my own dissatisfactions.

There are some amazing goddamn writers in this fandom, no question. It's addictive. I'm not sure if I should wish huge writing careers on them or selfishly wish that they just keep writing me tons of fanfiction. ^_^

My beef with Harry being left in the dark is that Harry's eyes have always been the reader's eyes, and for the reader to know something this obvious at the end of the book but for Harry to remain ignorant seems an affront to her protagonist. Harry seems clueless as a result. Of course, he IS, because the reader was given the chapter of Spinner's End and Harry was not. But to do that to Harry to and through the end of the book? Not right.

Harry is to be the jewel in his crown, his ultimate Mary-Sue. Is it okay that that makes me all aroused-shivery, that statement?

Heh, we had the same Ginny reactions! I was okay with her in OotP but I still couldn't believe she was destined to be paired with Harry because she'd had next to no interaction with him. Those are in the rules for a beloved protagonist--you can't pair him with someone not equally beloved by the readers, or there'll be mutinies.

Heh, you've explained exactly why I have no wish to write Greyback non-con: it's pedo-ick. Doesn't work for me either.

I didn't like HBP, but my hopes for book 7 are high. Why? Because odd-numbered Harry Potter books are awesome, and even-numbered Harry Potter books suck.

It's the reverse of Star Trek movies.

I very much agree with you. OotP just seemed to be a book about bureaucratic government incompetency to me. And the two major plot points -- the Occulmency and Sirius death -- are barely touched upon in HBP. And I feel that Occulmency should be very important in the final confrontation.

I much prefered the storyline in HBP, although I admit that I didn't like the forced romances or Pedophile!Slughorn. Isn't it possible to get one Slytherin character who isn't problematic? (and this is coming from a Snape lover). But the mystery and the story about the Prince himself were quite interesting.

Thus, I am intrigued enough to be looking forward to the next book.

OMG, I'm so glad to see this fact pointed out- I've said it to myself from time to time, and then, of course, glossed over it, calling myself an English major snob.

Yay for the ultra talented fanfic authors! I'm forever in their debt.

good, true point.

Is that Cheezie Wiz?

Hits self with hand and goes away slowly.

Coincidently I've been listening to the audio CDs of HBP in my car and I just finished the House of Gaunt chapter this evening and it's interesting to me that when I first read the book, I grew impatient with the pensieve scenes -- I thought they really brought the pace of the story down. Now I'm a bit more intrigued by the penseive scenes. I think that's partially because I don't see those scenes discussed that much in fandom and I certainly haven't seen any Gauntcests going around. That said, I still want to say "so what" at the end of that chapter and I thought JKR was way too heavy-handed in trying to show the pitfalls of pureblood ideology. I thought it was compelling enough before when I thought Riddle Sr. left his wife just because she was a witch, not because she was pathetic inbred outcast who tricked him.

But I still believed that Slughorn gave him that book deliberately.

And Ron could have ended up with that book instead!

Getting back to what I liked about HBP. I was unspoiled and I was completely blown away by the turn of events on the astronomy tower, nor did I guess the identity of the HBP and I consider myself a savvy reader, so I have to give credit where credit is due. JRK does spin quite a yarn and I admire the vision she had when she concocted this series.

We're so used to the high quality of some of our fanfic writers. Some of our writers are, yes, better than JKR is. It's a hushed over fact, but true

Very much so. It's also strange that I can see a vast improvement in a fanfic writer's style over a year or so (hello xylodemon and topaz_eyes), but Ms. Rowling's style (although decent, not great) hasn't changed for the better, you know? To me the best book was PoA because no word or action was wasted, and I didn't find myself rolling my eyes at anything. Whereas, in HBP, when I should have actually been devastated by Dumbledore's death, and begging my partner to hold me while the wind was whipping around my thin tent on the isle of Skye - my reaction was much different. I rolled my eyes at various key scenes that should have intrigued me.

I guessed Snape as the HBP because well... it's something that a jumped up halfblood would do. Delusions of gradeur and all that.

because it didn't - not in the sense of a tight plot, or a cheery turn of phrase. After the bloat that was OoTP, Ms. Rowling enrolled her muse on a pilates course and a string of slow release foods - and how! It's just at times... I felt a bit rushed by the book, if you know what I mean? This after reading it four times for various metas I still felt as if I were being pushed through the pages, because the author seemed impatient to have done with it. On the plus side, all the spaces in that book seemed to be filled in, whereas in OoTP there were certain gaps that only fanfic could fill, you know?

But I've found that my appetite for fanfic decreased after HBP, because all actions by all personalities were accounted for (and also, I can't be getting all involved in the characters to just have my heart broken as they are reduced to a plot point)).

I'll be reading the seventh book out of intellectual curiousity, not necessarily because I'm dying to see what will happen, in the sense that I've invested all this time in a series, and I need to get some closure.

I liked HBP enough - but felt it was more of a set up for the seventh book.

That said, I have to admit, JKR's contradictions confuse me. On one hand, she writes in shades of grey for some characters - Dumbledore, (I think his slight blindness to what he thinks is right is entirely purposeful), Hagrid, etc. On the other hand, she contradicts herself by making most of the Slytherins "fat, ugly and MEAN!!!!1111" (how old does she think her readers are, five?) despite even saying they're not all evil (then why *are* they?), etc.

But in other ways, I felt like JKR was trying to be less simplistic, and write in more shades of grey, and write in less innocence. Look at the MoM, or even Slughorn.

I think the main issue is, JKR's not going to write the books like Wicked, To Kill A Mockingbird or any other "what's moral/not moral" books beyond what she already does. I read the books knowing, and accepting, this fact. When I want something more mature and/or dark from the series, I read and write fanfic, or read other books.

Isn't it possible to get one Slytherin character who isn't problematic?
I wonder the same. Maybe this is to be part of the mystery, and the *good* Slytherin will appear only in the last book, but maybe then it would be too late to matter.

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HBP thoughts three months later.

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Slughorn

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true!

Man, I won't say that HBP blew chunks...

Here via the snitch

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