HBP thoughts three months later.

[amanuensis1]

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?

Comments

[http://users.livejournal.com/_hannelore/]

For some reason, I think HBP made me appreciate OOtP more than I had in the past. I also was hoping that there might be some more dramatic tie-in with all the pensieve scenes, especially since we never actually see what Voldemort is up to except for the first few chapters. But, I also think the book has spawned some truly wonderful fanfic, which in my eyes always makes the book feel that much better. Even if HBP might have failed me on many accounts, there are certainly scenes and aspects that I'm glad I know have.

That being said, it's also difficult to look at HBP with what I wish had been in there (Harry and company dealing with Sirius's death).

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

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.