Reading Experience Poll

[dipsas]

Most of us are done reading HBP by now, and most of us also enjoyed the book a lot. Still, there have been several posts about how our reactions to the new book itself, to having a new book, to fandom erupting in about equal amounts of wank and squee, were different from what we expected. I'm curious to see if we can sum it up a bit.

Poll Reading HBPAlso, I

Comments

[maple_clef]

I love ticky boxes! Also, I thought you might want a peek at what I was up to last night - clue: it involved Photoshop :)

Recruitment icon/poster for molly_ish - opinions welcome!

[dipsas]

*giggles loudly*
That's awesome! When you're done, could you post it to the community as well so that we can all snag it? With credit, obviously. :)

[maple_clef]

Oh, of course! I just need to work on the details and text being clear at icon size, and tidy some bits up. It may have to just be a sort of mini-poster to use when recruiting friends to the cause, instead, but it would be great if everyone wanted to snag it!

[dipsas]

I'd love to be able to use it, for one. That reminds me, we should use the Dumbledore quote somewhere on the page - any ideas where and how?

(It would be lovely to get a few more participants too - there are so many talented people about.)

[mafdet]

I loved HBP (even though I wished that JKR had used a female character instead of Slughorn) and thought that this was one of the best in the series.

But the fandom scares me. I knew some people would be upset but I didn't know quite how hysterical they would get.

[dipsas]

I've restrained myself from having a peek at the wankier sites - I know it'd just depress me - but what surprised me was rather how fast fandom was. I knew there would be many fast readers out there, but I'm still amazed by how quickly the new theories popped up, how quickly old ones were shot down etc. When OotP came out, I didn't quite feel that way; I remember waiting for Missing Moment fics to turn up, but this time round, I know I shall need at least a few months to process what was in this book myself.

[a_t_rain]

Well, I won't say that I was exactly spoiled, but I had pretty much surmised who was going to die from what people were saying about spoilers, even though I hadn't looked directly at them. And I had a strong suspicion about Lupin / Tonks for the same reason, although I wasn't quite willing to get my hopes up until I saw it in black and white.

And I read it way faster than I thought I would, having discovered the hard way that I wasn't going to be able to sleep until I got to the end.

[dipsas]

I looked ahead to see if the R/T rumours were really true - otherwise I would just have been tapping my fingers to see where they'd turn up and missed the other (rather more important) parts of the story. And I read it through a lot faster than I thought too - I meant to stick to a slow pace, but... you know.

[castaliae]

37! What color?

[dipsas]

All sorts! If you scroll down a bit, they're here: http://www.livejournal.com/community/molly_ish/4743.html#cutid1

[agatha_s]

I avoided all spoilers. All I knew was that there was going to be a big surprise, and I never would have guessed what it was in a million years.

But being a part of the fandom still had a negative effect on my reading of the book. It made suspension of disbelief much more dificult. I read most parts of the book with a detached feeling and kept wondering what the fandom reaction was going to be. And I'm very sorry I let that happen. I made a mental note to myself: next time there is a book or movie you like this much, don't become part of an online fandom.

[dipsas]

Yes, I felt much the same way until my third re-read, which I started on well after most of the fandom drama had blown over. During this third round, however, I think I've found my own way into this book - and that's a good feeling.

Some *hugs* for good measure.