J.K. Rowling stole my brain

[ani_no_mouse]

A few weeks back I was talking about watching the Harry Potter movies because I didn't think I had time for major obsessional reading right now. But, being the kind of person who  is inclined toward major obsessional reading, and being physically and emotinally drained most of the time lately and therefore vulnerable to the allure of major

Comments

[ani_no_mouse]

I liked many characters, but a lot of them didn't provide much basis for building parallel stories beyond the one that was explicitly in the book. Harry, Ron and Hermione are all great characters as are Fred and George - but they are kids and they are written for young readers to identify with, not adults. A lot of the adult characters are also very likable (Dumbledore, although he's a special case, McGonagal, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Lupin, etc.) but they are really written from a kid's perspective of what adults are like. In other words, they are presented as people whose characters are completely stably in place and who exist to fill certain roles in the kid's life. Unlike the people in wizarding photos, they don't move around much on the page.

I think it may actually have been Rowling's intention to make Voldemort boring. He's not an interesting villain because he is too entirely self-centered, too focused on achieving his own survival needs at anyone's expense. There is nothing grand, even in a delusional way, about his vision. It's why he is fated to end up as a grotesque and helpless infantile thing.