[no safety or surprise, the end]
So Harry Potter is over, huh? (Seriously, though, our mail carrier was totally off the ball with this one. First of all, we didn't get our books until 1:00, which, okay, did give us a chance to watch the 2004 World Series DVD Boxset special feature, Bronson Arroyo: Pitcher by Day, Musician by Night, but also caused much hand-wringing and, "if they don't arrive by the time we've watched the documentary thing, we're heading out and finding ourselves copies elsewhere." And then, when the mail finally did arrive, they screwed it up. My book was there, someone from down the street's books were there, but tangleofthorns's book was not there. So she "borrowed" one of our neighbor's copies and we settled in for the last 2.45 hours of Harry Potter ever (excepting films, which everyone knows don't really count*). Then we stumbled into the kitchen, I had an egg and fake-sausage sandwich, and we sat around the table recovering. And, yes, we eventually made it down the street to exchange books.)
Um. I liked it. I, like so many others, could've done without the Epilogue of Heteronormality, but, hey, tangleofthorns is going to write (me) Neville/Viktor futurefic of love, herbology, and other stuff. It's going to be awesome, people, I swear. It's just. Did they all need to get married and reproduce? We don't even know what Harry does for a living. We don't know anything about these people except, well, they have the names of our main characters (even if they're pretty much unrecognizable in every other sense) and gave their children ridiculous names. While this does give us, as fanfic writers, lots of room in which to maneuver in terms of everything except those basic details, it still felt a) pastede on yay, b) out of character (yes, yes, I know, she's the creator, they're her characters, it can't be OOC, whatever; it just felt flat and unrealized and false, and I actually don't mind Harry/Ginny and I like Ron/Hermione, so take of that what you will), c) vaguely (I don't want to say "offensive," necessarily, but) offensive to those of us who don't subscribe to the theory that happy = married + children. Why can't a children's book offer other options? Present different lifestyles? The closest we get here is Neville Longbottom, who is apparently a Hogwarts Professor of unknown marital status (and, in all honesty, I was half-expecting a, "and tell his wife thanks for the flowers!" there).
No, JKR doesn't mean anything malicious by any of this. It's just her way of saying farewell to beloved characters, to make peace with them and move on, &tc. Which sort of makes it worse. I think. I admit that I'm biased and knee-jerky about this whole issue, as someone who is not straight and does not necessarily value marriage and children above all else, and it's the sort of thing that feels like it could be avoided with a few simple words. (Yes, I know it's not that easy. Yes, I know that there's more to it than just having the writer tack on a "Harry and Ginny both work as aurors, and Hermione's climbing the ranks at the Ministry while Ron runs a pre-school," and a "Neville and Viktor are basically married, even if Neville's at Hogwarts and Viktor travels around the continent as a Quidditch promoter," but still. It feels like it should be that simple, which is maybe my point. I don't know. I'm tired, and rather inarticulate at the moment.) It's not even a sexuality thing, really, no matter how much that rankles (because we really don't get enough information, and, for all we know, Neville really is gay and, yes, yes, that is totally my personal canon now). It's more that we don't know anything about these people other than the fact that they're a) married and b) have [#] children named [x, y, z], some of whom are of Hogwarts age. Which seems to trivialize anything else they've done with their lives, post-war. (Then again, it gives us more to play with, right? And there's my momentary lapse into "looking at the bright side.")
And, wow, did I spend way too much time on the fucking epilogue there. The rest of this will be much shorter, I swear, and much less wanky. So, yes, moving on. Because I really did mean it when I said that I liked this book.
Hermione, Ron, Luna, and Neville truly kicked ass in this one. Just to say.
I like that people died, often ignobly and meaninglessly. I like that Hedwig died. I like that Remus and Tonks died (it sort of made the "we're having a baby!" stuff slightly less lame), and I'm pretty sure I'm in the minority here, but I like that they died "off-screen" because, well, death is often senseless and cruel, and it often happens when you're busy elsewhere (though I will admit that I had to go back and reread bits to confirm that I hadn't missed either of their deaths due to skimming and/or paging sticking together). I like that they don't really get to deal with it right there because that felt true, and there are nineteen unaccounted for years for them to truly grieve and cope. What can I say? I am a cruel and heartless woman.
I liked the Dumbledore backstory. I like that he was overly proud and felt stifled by his family, that he was a basically good-intentioned person with a hell of a lot of flaws that he never really managed to truly conquer. (I like that there will totally be a whole boatload of Dumbledore/Grindelwald fic, right?) I knew that we had to have One Last Harry & Dumbledore Meeting, I knew it had to happen near the end, but it did seem a bit exposition-heavy there, with Snape's memories and Dumbledore in the afterlife all coming right on top of each other like that. There was just so much she needed to get out, and only so much space in which to do so, I guess.
I like that the Snape's "one true love is Lily" canon doesn't invalidate my reading of Snape as essentially gay. He met her as a child. It seemed like an essentially non-sexual love (though that may be JKR"S basic inability to write romance in anything approaching a believable manner), and I can therefore continue to believe in my Snape, who loves Lily but also loves Lucius, who will always love Lily, his childhood ideal, the girl he approached on a playground, but who also has terrible romances and affairs with men.
I like that Lucius and Narcissa very obviously love Draco, that they (and Narcissa in particular, who, by the way, I absolutely adore) are fierce in their love of their child. I like that Molly Weasley called Bellatrix a bitch. See? I'm not completely anti-family! I love that there are parents in this series who love their children, who do their best by them and treasure them and may be overbearing at times and may fuck up, but are honestly trying to do what's best by them. And I absolutely and totally love that Lucius and Narcissa, "big bad Slytherins of dubious morality" though they may be, truly love their son.
I tend to read through the action sequences very quickly, mostly because that sort of thing isn't necessarily my cup of tea, but I found the one at the Ministry genuinely enjoyable. The one at Gringotts I found less so, as it was just a bit too similar, though the escape on the dragon who didn't know they were there was fun. Um, the Battle of Hogwarts felt a little too formulaic in some ways, but, again, I say this as someone who isn't really into that sort of thing.
I really don't understand how Harry and Hermione never once had an awkward "we are teenagers camping out alone" moment of attraction, let alone never acted on it. I really, really don't understand how the trio as a whole never had such a moment, and that they never had a "we're going to die!" quickie-style threesome. But, then, JKR's treatment of teenage sexuality has never been, shall we say, particularly believable, especially in Harry's case (he only ever seemed honestly interested in Draco, and I say this as someone who doesn't particularly ship those characters).
So, yes, I liked it, and it totally makes me want to, if not write, then at least read HP fic again.
In short: I can't believe it's all over.
*Says the girl who still hasn't seen OotP.
Um. I liked it. I, like so many others, could've done without the Epilogue of Heteronormality, but, hey, tangleofthorns is going to write (me) Neville/Viktor futurefic of love, herbology, and other stuff. It's going to be awesome, people, I swear. It's just. Did they all need to get married and reproduce? We don't even know what Harry does for a living. We don't know anything about these people except, well, they have the names of our main characters (even if they're pretty much unrecognizable in every other sense) and gave their children ridiculous names. While this does give us, as fanfic writers, lots of room in which to maneuver in terms of everything except those basic details, it still felt a) pastede on yay, b) out of character (yes, yes, I know, she's the creator, they're her characters, it can't be OOC, whatever; it just felt flat and unrealized and false, and I actually don't mind Harry/Ginny and I like Ron/Hermione, so take of that what you will), c) vaguely (I don't want to say "offensive," necessarily, but) offensive to those of us who don't subscribe to the theory that happy = married + children. Why can't a children's book offer other options? Present different lifestyles? The closest we get here is Neville Longbottom, who is apparently a Hogwarts Professor of unknown marital status (and, in all honesty, I was half-expecting a, "and tell his wife thanks for the flowers!" there).
No, JKR doesn't mean anything malicious by any of this. It's just her way of saying farewell to beloved characters, to make peace with them and move on, &tc. Which sort of makes it worse. I think. I admit that I'm biased and knee-jerky about this whole issue, as someone who is not straight and does not necessarily value marriage and children above all else, and it's the sort of thing that feels like it could be avoided with a few simple words. (Yes, I know it's not that easy. Yes, I know that there's more to it than just having the writer tack on a "Harry and Ginny both work as aurors, and Hermione's climbing the ranks at the Ministry while Ron runs a pre-school," and a "Neville and Viktor are basically married, even if Neville's at Hogwarts and Viktor travels around the continent as a Quidditch promoter," but still. It feels like it should be that simple, which is maybe my point. I don't know. I'm tired, and rather inarticulate at the moment.) It's not even a sexuality thing, really, no matter how much that rankles (because we really don't get enough information, and, for all we know, Neville really is gay and, yes, yes, that is totally my personal canon now). It's more that we don't know anything about these people other than the fact that they're a) married and b) have [#] children named [x, y, z], some of whom are of Hogwarts age. Which seems to trivialize anything else they've done with their lives, post-war. (Then again, it gives us more to play with, right? And there's my momentary lapse into "looking at the bright side.")
And, wow, did I spend way too much time on the fucking epilogue there. The rest of this will be much shorter, I swear, and much less wanky. So, yes, moving on. Because I really did mean it when I said that I liked this book.
Hermione, Ron, Luna, and Neville truly kicked ass in this one. Just to say.
I like that people died, often ignobly and meaninglessly. I like that Hedwig died. I like that Remus and Tonks died (it sort of made the "we're having a baby!" stuff slightly less lame), and I'm pretty sure I'm in the minority here, but I like that they died "off-screen" because, well, death is often senseless and cruel, and it often happens when you're busy elsewhere (though I will admit that I had to go back and reread bits to confirm that I hadn't missed either of their deaths due to skimming and/or paging sticking together). I like that they don't really get to deal with it right there because that felt true, and there are nineteen unaccounted for years for them to truly grieve and cope. What can I say? I am a cruel and heartless woman.
I liked the Dumbledore backstory. I like that he was overly proud and felt stifled by his family, that he was a basically good-intentioned person with a hell of a lot of flaws that he never really managed to truly conquer. (I like that there will totally be a whole boatload of Dumbledore/Grindelwald fic, right?) I knew that we had to have One Last Harry & Dumbledore Meeting, I knew it had to happen near the end, but it did seem a bit exposition-heavy there, with Snape's memories and Dumbledore in the afterlife all coming right on top of each other like that. There was just so much she needed to get out, and only so much space in which to do so, I guess.
I like that the Snape's "one true love is Lily" canon doesn't invalidate my reading of Snape as essentially gay. He met her as a child. It seemed like an essentially non-sexual love (though that may be JKR"S basic inability to write romance in anything approaching a believable manner), and I can therefore continue to believe in my Snape, who loves Lily but also loves Lucius, who will always love Lily, his childhood ideal, the girl he approached on a playground, but who also has terrible romances and affairs with men.
I like that Lucius and Narcissa very obviously love Draco, that they (and Narcissa in particular, who, by the way, I absolutely adore) are fierce in their love of their child. I like that Molly Weasley called Bellatrix a bitch. See? I'm not completely anti-family! I love that there are parents in this series who love their children, who do their best by them and treasure them and may be overbearing at times and may fuck up, but are honestly trying to do what's best by them. And I absolutely and totally love that Lucius and Narcissa, "big bad Slytherins of dubious morality" though they may be, truly love their son.
I tend to read through the action sequences very quickly, mostly because that sort of thing isn't necessarily my cup of tea, but I found the one at the Ministry genuinely enjoyable. The one at Gringotts I found less so, as it was just a bit too similar, though the escape on the dragon who didn't know they were there was fun. Um, the Battle of Hogwarts felt a little too formulaic in some ways, but, again, I say this as someone who isn't really into that sort of thing.
I really don't understand how Harry and Hermione never once had an awkward "we are teenagers camping out alone" moment of attraction, let alone never acted on it. I really, really don't understand how the trio as a whole never had such a moment, and that they never had a "we're going to die!" quickie-style threesome. But, then, JKR's treatment of teenage sexuality has never been, shall we say, particularly believable, especially in Harry's case (he only ever seemed honestly interested in Draco, and I say this as someone who doesn't particularly ship those characters).
So, yes, I liked it, and it totally makes me want to, if not write, then at least read HP fic again.
In short: I can't believe it's all over.
*Says the girl who still hasn't seen OotP.