My HBP thoughts
Everybody's probably discussed the book to death already, but I'd still like to put down my thoughts about it and discuss. I haven't reread it yet, so some details are not yet fixed in my mind... Bear with.
I did love the book. And I am so grateful that I remained totally unspoiled, because Dumbledore's death at the end felt like I'd been suckerpunched. I think that is definitely the most powerful, most affecting scene in the books yet, surpassing any of the revelations/events in the previous five installments. The humor, the pacing, the plot and the characterisation (for the most part) was all fantastic in this book. I remain as always in awe of how seemingly throwaway details like the locket in GP and the Vanishing Cabinet become significant much later - how this woman planned her plot so intricately I will never know.
-Minor characters: I'm sad that Neville, McGonagall, F&G, Remus, Tonks and in particular Luna had barely more than cameos. I'd have loved to have seen more of them. Luna is possibly my favorite character in the HP universe and her saying that the DA was almost like having friends was one of the most poignant moments in the book for me. She was a hoot at Slughorn's party!
-Shipping: R/Hr has always been the ship that I thought would obviously happen in canon, and I'm glad that it did. I thought the manner in which it happened was very funny, too. Some people think apparently that Hermione acted out of character by jinxing McLaggen (is that his name?), but it's not like she's never resorted to questionable magic before (Marietta still sporting magic acne, anyone?) Her jealousy and the actions it led to may also seem a bit strange for her, but I think they show the strength of her feelings for Ron. Speaking of whom, Ron was great in HBP. His calm, understated "I love you" to Hermione was I think my favorite thing in the book. I know that he didn't exactly mean it as a great big declaration of romantic love, but it was still a big SQUEE moment for me.
On a non-shippy note, I thought Ron's wounds from the DoM battle would have had some significance? IIRC all he says is that they've healed. Where's the Seer!Ron of many a fanfic?
H/G, I'm not all that excited about. I have read many fics with the ship and liked them, but the canon version left me cold. I did like the bit with the potion smelling like Ginny, but the metaphor of the monster in Harry's chest (HEAR ME ROAR, I AM THE MONSTER OF SEXUAL ATTRACTION!) was just lame. I dunno if they're that well-matched. Yes, there's something very romantic about Ginny falling for the person who saved her life when she was eleven, but I dunno. I'd have been all over it if Rowling had written it a bit differently, but we never even saw them together all that much! JK really violated the good old show-not-tell there. Plus, the phrase "hard, blazing look on her face" is just... it's a weird turn of phrase. It completely took me out of the moment. Shouldn't she rather smile at him or something? I keep getting a visual of Ginny scowling at Harry as he leans in to kiss her. I also didn't like Ginny's character in this book, whereas I adored her in Ootp. There's a line between being feisty and being nasty and I think Ginny crossed that here. Crashing into the commentator's booth at top speed and thereby endangering fellow students is not A-OK in my book. She was just too much of a shrew.
Another reason I didn't like H/G was disappointment... I was actually pulling for Harry to get together with Luna. I always like Harry best when he's showing empathy for other people and his conversation with Luna at the end of Ootp made me into a bit of a Harry/Luna shipper. It was great to see them together at the party, though.
The other two (or rather three - Mollywobbles!!) ships I was neutral about. Bill/Fleur got too much screentime, Lupin/Tonks not enough. When I was reading (and rereading, and rereading) Ootp, I never saw any hint that the latter two were more than just colleagues, and I'd never pictured Tonks as the kind of girl who'd mope over her love. fernwithy has a good explanation that Tonks' depression is a way for JKR to get around the limited POV and get hints across to the reader, but still. I wish there'd been at least one concrete somewhere in there. Not that I don't like the ship - copperbadge, kikei and fernwithy (whom I immediately thought of as I read the infirmary scene) have all written great fics that have made R/T into one of my OTPs. The canon version was a little disappointing, but hey, now there's plenty of fodder for fics!
-Riddle backstory: Very cool. I especially enjoyed seeing the beginning of GoF from other perspectives and the linking of the Riddles' murders to the splitting of Voldie's soul. Speaking of, I think the Horcruxes are a fantastic idea. Absolutely wonderful explanation for why Voldie's still alive, better than anything I've seen in any fanfic. Though I do hope that Harry is not a Horcrux himself. Just don't like that idea for some reason. The DADA job being jinxed by Voldemort is another great detail (petty, petty Voldie)... But Quirrell held the post for more than a year - Flint?
-Draco: I've always found Draco one of the least interesting characters in the books, and though he was given great development in HBP, I still can't believe myself to care much. Though I do wonder what will happen to him now.
-Harry & Dumbledore: The heart of the book, for me. Their relationship really progressed to something special, and their scene at the cave, with Harry trying to reassure Dumbledore and feeding him the potion, and Dumbledore replying that he's safe because Harry's with him, will forever be one of my favorites from any medium. And that cave was just CREEPY, slimy zombies and all. I wonder what the potion was? Bad memories? Essence of Dementor? Scares-A-Lot potion?
Dumbledore's explanation that the prophecy only holds because Harry chooses to act on it is also a wonderful touch. We've all been harping on about how the prophecy goes against JKR's theme of choices - she managed to get out of that beautifully indeed.
Harry's maturity in this book was wonderful to behold, though the shift from his utter mistrust of Dumbledore and his grief over Sirius to this new Harry was a bit abrupt, but I won't quibble. I nearly cheered when he sat with Luna and Neville on the train and declared he was glad to have them as friends. Sad that the DA wasn't back, though.
Phew. This is getting long. I think I'll do my thoughts about Snape in another entry.
I did love the book. And I am so grateful that I remained totally unspoiled, because Dumbledore's death at the end felt like I'd been suckerpunched. I think that is definitely the most powerful, most affecting scene in the books yet, surpassing any of the revelations/events in the previous five installments. The humor, the pacing, the plot and the characterisation (for the most part) was all fantastic in this book. I remain as always in awe of how seemingly throwaway details like the locket in GP and the Vanishing Cabinet become significant much later - how this woman planned her plot so intricately I will never know.
-Minor characters: I'm sad that Neville, McGonagall, F&G, Remus, Tonks and in particular Luna had barely more than cameos. I'd have loved to have seen more of them. Luna is possibly my favorite character in the HP universe and her saying that the DA was almost like having friends was one of the most poignant moments in the book for me. She was a hoot at Slughorn's party!
-Shipping: R/Hr has always been the ship that I thought would obviously happen in canon, and I'm glad that it did. I thought the manner in which it happened was very funny, too. Some people think apparently that Hermione acted out of character by jinxing McLaggen (is that his name?), but it's not like she's never resorted to questionable magic before (Marietta still sporting magic acne, anyone?) Her jealousy and the actions it led to may also seem a bit strange for her, but I think they show the strength of her feelings for Ron. Speaking of whom, Ron was great in HBP. His calm, understated "I love you" to Hermione was I think my favorite thing in the book. I know that he didn't exactly mean it as a great big declaration of romantic love, but it was still a big SQUEE moment for me.
On a non-shippy note, I thought Ron's wounds from the DoM battle would have had some significance? IIRC all he says is that they've healed. Where's the Seer!Ron of many a fanfic?
H/G, I'm not all that excited about. I have read many fics with the ship and liked them, but the canon version left me cold. I did like the bit with the potion smelling like Ginny, but the metaphor of the monster in Harry's chest (HEAR ME ROAR, I AM THE MONSTER OF SEXUAL ATTRACTION!) was just lame. I dunno if they're that well-matched. Yes, there's something very romantic about Ginny falling for the person who saved her life when she was eleven, but I dunno. I'd have been all over it if Rowling had written it a bit differently, but we never even saw them together all that much! JK really violated the good old show-not-tell there. Plus, the phrase "hard, blazing look on her face" is just... it's a weird turn of phrase. It completely took me out of the moment. Shouldn't she rather smile at him or something? I keep getting a visual of Ginny scowling at Harry as he leans in to kiss her. I also didn't like Ginny's character in this book, whereas I adored her in Ootp. There's a line between being feisty and being nasty and I think Ginny crossed that here. Crashing into the commentator's booth at top speed and thereby endangering fellow students is not A-OK in my book. She was just too much of a shrew.
Another reason I didn't like H/G was disappointment... I was actually pulling for Harry to get together with Luna. I always like Harry best when he's showing empathy for other people and his conversation with Luna at the end of Ootp made me into a bit of a Harry/Luna shipper. It was great to see them together at the party, though.
The other two (or rather three - Mollywobbles!!) ships I was neutral about. Bill/Fleur got too much screentime, Lupin/Tonks not enough. When I was reading (and rereading, and rereading) Ootp, I never saw any hint that the latter two were more than just colleagues, and I'd never pictured Tonks as the kind of girl who'd mope over her love. fernwithy has a good explanation that Tonks' depression is a way for JKR to get around the limited POV and get hints across to the reader, but still. I wish there'd been at least one concrete somewhere in there. Not that I don't like the ship - copperbadge, kikei and fernwithy (whom I immediately thought of as I read the infirmary scene) have all written great fics that have made R/T into one of my OTPs. The canon version was a little disappointing, but hey, now there's plenty of fodder for fics!
-Riddle backstory: Very cool. I especially enjoyed seeing the beginning of GoF from other perspectives and the linking of the Riddles' murders to the splitting of Voldie's soul. Speaking of, I think the Horcruxes are a fantastic idea. Absolutely wonderful explanation for why Voldie's still alive, better than anything I've seen in any fanfic. Though I do hope that Harry is not a Horcrux himself. Just don't like that idea for some reason. The DADA job being jinxed by Voldemort is another great detail (petty, petty Voldie)... But Quirrell held the post for more than a year - Flint?
-Draco: I've always found Draco one of the least interesting characters in the books, and though he was given great development in HBP, I still can't believe myself to care much. Though I do wonder what will happen to him now.
-Harry & Dumbledore: The heart of the book, for me. Their relationship really progressed to something special, and their scene at the cave, with Harry trying to reassure Dumbledore and feeding him the potion, and Dumbledore replying that he's safe because Harry's with him, will forever be one of my favorites from any medium. And that cave was just CREEPY, slimy zombies and all. I wonder what the potion was? Bad memories? Essence of Dementor? Scares-A-Lot potion?
Dumbledore's explanation that the prophecy only holds because Harry chooses to act on it is also a wonderful touch. We've all been harping on about how the prophecy goes against JKR's theme of choices - she managed to get out of that beautifully indeed.
Harry's maturity in this book was wonderful to behold, though the shift from his utter mistrust of Dumbledore and his grief over Sirius to this new Harry was a bit abrupt, but I won't quibble. I nearly cheered when he sat with Luna and Neville on the train and declared he was glad to have them as friends. Sad that the DA wasn't back, though.
Phew. This is getting long. I think I'll do my thoughts about Snape in another entry.