Part Seven or "Funeral for an END"

[mike_smith]

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[luna_glass_wall]

At least I think that's what Rowling is trying to say. I'm not sure she has any practical applications for that idea.
I think that's the crux of the issue. All while following your reviews I've been wondering what exactly it is this book is supposed to be saying. I actually did enjoy reading about these characters' lives--well, reading vicariously, since I only know about the book through you--but the plot just kind of meanders to a complete halt, making everything that came before it a waste of time.

You're right: Rowling doesn't know how to close, and she doesn't know when to cut out extraneous crap.

(Also, there was a formatting error in your post; none of the html tags are working.)

[mike_smith]

I really wanted to rationalize the ending by interpreting it as some sort of artsy-fartsy thing. That is: Gavin doesn't really learn anything or change as some sort of contrast to the other characters who do; Parminder still has a lot of unresolved issues because not everything gets wrapped up so neatly in life; Obbo is never addressed because sometimes the bad guy is overlooked, that sort of thing.

But it just doesn't add up for me. Even an ambiguous ending should make some sort of statement about ambiguous endings. You take "Star Trek III" for example. They find Spock, Planet Genesis blows up, and the Klingons lose. There are a lot of other unresolved plotlines, but the point is that the important stuff got dealt with. The destruction of Enterprise, the diplomatic backlash, Kirk's court martial, all of that is a big deal, but insignificant compared to bringing Spock back to life. Obviously, they knew they'd settle the rest of it in the next movie, but even if there had been no sequel, "Star Trek III" would have held up just

[luna_glass_wall]

The only thing I could think of at that point would be that Rowling's trying to say "Things you thought were important really aren't/might not be; things you thought you could ignore actually ARE important but you might not find out until it's too late." The meandering plot/abrupt end might be a deliberate stylistic choice, if that's the case...*muses*

[ext_2536336]

I've never wandered into the Trekkie world, but... Star Trek III has better writing than a J.K. Rowling novel about serious social issues? Seriously? Don't you think those two stories are so different their storytelling shouldn't be compared so casually and easily like that?

Thanks for Doing These

[blogwraith]

I wanted to tell you I appreciate your efforts. I know you do this mostly for yourself and only half hope that you're being heard in the wilderness.

I started following your journal when I was teaching English in Korea. I started reading the Harry Potter books when I realized that talking about Harry Potter would get kids engaged in actually conversing in class, but I could never really enjoy them. Knowing that there was someone else out there struggling to understand the phenomenon helped me feel less alone. And I generally enjoyed your asides as well.

I'm not a big social media person, so I also appreciated the way you handled the runaway comments section. This journal felt very welcoming.

I don't think you're going to totally abandon lj for tumblr immediately, but I wanted to mention this before the lights went out completely.

Thanks for the free entertainment.

[grapefruitzzz]

Epic work, sir. I hope it gets published some day. And where are you on tumblr, so I can send hordes of rabid nitpickers to your door again?

[unorthodox_du]

duhragonball.tumblr.com seems to be the place.

I wouldn't go there if I were you. Nothing but memes and spoiler alerts.

[freedombono]

This reinforces my opinion that Rowling is a lousy closer. Maybe she just doesn't understand how important this is, or maybe I'm blowing it out of proportion, but you have to bring it on home.
You're not blowing it out of proportion. She really is terrible at it, and what is worse, seems to think she's a better writer for it! The only explanation I can find is that she just spends so much space during the middle of the books in irrelevant crap that there is none left to deliver the goods at the end for the tier 2 plotlines.

I feel like Rowling deliberately avoided any obvious conflict in order to preserve the realism of the scenario.You totally get the same feeling in Deathly Hallows. The final non-battle is the fantasy counterpart of what you just describe

Thanks

[cheddartrek]

Thanks for reviewing this. I didn't want to read it myself (the summary sounded boring), but I was curious about various aspects of it.

I am gonna check out her other book though (The Cuckoo's Calling), as a detective mystery sounds a little more up my alley.