Overload
CoS is back! Yay! I've made a few posts, only being back there right now, I can't shake the feeling that I'm about to get stampeded over. I wonder how long it will take for people to burn through that initial adrenaline-fueled enthusiasm and for the threads to slow to a comfortable pace.
I'm still having trouble wrapping my head around and assimilating all that new canon, but I wanted to mention a few of the things I really did like in the book.
The Deathly Hallows themselves, and that whole storyline. I like how it was a childen's story, just like the HP books themselves, and that it was pointing to something profound but secret. I feel like there's some important symbolism and philosophy bound up in that, and I feel like it was pretty nearly in line with where I thought the series was going philosophically, but I'm still not sure exactly how it all matches up. I need to reread and mull over that a bit.
I'm pleased with myself for cooking up a theory about Sirius leaving a bit of his soul in Harry, a magical memory not unlike the Riddle in the diary (though way less sinister), that would manifest when Harry most had need of him - which turned out to be extremely close to the truth. I remember proposing that parts of his soul, as well as James and Lily and Dumbledore's, remained earthbound in Harry and strengthened him magically in ways Voldemort couldn't possibly compete with, and I think I was spot on in that. Which balances out my being dead wrong about Aunt Petunia teaching Muggle Studies at Hogwarts, I guess. :D
Odd, that my best prediction turned out to be from a fanfic and not an actual attempt at theorizing. Oh well.
I liked when Harry's glasses came off for his transcendent chat with Dumbledore, and I absolutely loved the last line in that chapter: "Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?" Possibly my favorite line in the whole series. Though don't hold me to that too strictly.
I liked the R.A.B. backstory, though not much of it surprised me, except maybe the Percy-like tinge in Regulus's character. I really loved Hermione and Ron, individually even more than together - I think they were better in this book than in any of the others. Hermione's beaded bag was excellent, and she herself was more brilliant than ever. Ron learning some Parseltongue, diving into the lake to help Harry, destroying that Horcrux - all very cool.
I was also proud of recognizing the horned diadem right away, from the High Priestess tarot card. I liked that Bellatrix's death echoed Sirius's a little. I liked Xeno Lovegood - more for the entertainment than for his personality. Though I thought the trio was rather harsh with him. I was kinda surprised with how easily Kreacher was won over, but I couldn't help liking him too.
There's more, my brain literally feels like it's overflowing, but I don't want to write reviews and analyses of the book that wind up being longer than the book itself. :D
I'm still having trouble wrapping my head around and assimilating all that new canon, but I wanted to mention a few of the things I really did like in the book.
The Deathly Hallows themselves, and that whole storyline. I like how it was a childen's story, just like the HP books themselves, and that it was pointing to something profound but secret. I feel like there's some important symbolism and philosophy bound up in that, and I feel like it was pretty nearly in line with where I thought the series was going philosophically, but I'm still not sure exactly how it all matches up. I need to reread and mull over that a bit.
I'm pleased with myself for cooking up a theory about Sirius leaving a bit of his soul in Harry, a magical memory not unlike the Riddle in the diary (though way less sinister), that would manifest when Harry most had need of him - which turned out to be extremely close to the truth. I remember proposing that parts of his soul, as well as James and Lily and Dumbledore's, remained earthbound in Harry and strengthened him magically in ways Voldemort couldn't possibly compete with, and I think I was spot on in that. Which balances out my being dead wrong about Aunt Petunia teaching Muggle Studies at Hogwarts, I guess. :D
Odd, that my best prediction turned out to be from a fanfic and not an actual attempt at theorizing. Oh well.
I liked when Harry's glasses came off for his transcendent chat with Dumbledore, and I absolutely loved the last line in that chapter: "Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?" Possibly my favorite line in the whole series. Though don't hold me to that too strictly.
I liked the R.A.B. backstory, though not much of it surprised me, except maybe the Percy-like tinge in Regulus's character. I really loved Hermione and Ron, individually even more than together - I think they were better in this book than in any of the others. Hermione's beaded bag was excellent, and she herself was more brilliant than ever. Ron learning some Parseltongue, diving into the lake to help Harry, destroying that Horcrux - all very cool.
I was also proud of recognizing the horned diadem right away, from the High Priestess tarot card. I liked that Bellatrix's death echoed Sirius's a little. I liked Xeno Lovegood - more for the entertainment than for his personality. Though I thought the trio was rather harsh with him. I was kinda surprised with how easily Kreacher was won over, but I couldn't help liking him too.
There's more, my brain literally feels like it's overflowing, but I don't want to write reviews and analyses of the book that wind up being longer than the book itself. :D