Spoilers, yo.
I'm on LJ. I read. Therefore I'm required to write about The Deathly Hallows. Seriously - it's in the contract. Right after the bit about six maximum user-pics.
First off, of course Snape was good. As I've pointed out before, there's too much of a tragihero setup to waste, and as a hero, he's the only morally grey character in the book, whereas as a villain, he'd just be a straight-up jerk. JKR isn't great at shades-of-grey, but she does have a sense of story, and that kind of set-up starts story-senses tingling. This is not, however, a terribly happy "I told you so" moment for me. I was sure Snape would be good, but all I wanted was lots of page-time for him (it translates to screen time in the movie). That was totally blown - not only does he NOT get a satisfyingly heroic death, all his redemption is done in flashbacks in the middle of an otherwise awesome battle.
Regarding shades-of-grey, I'm sure someone will point out that JKR did MUCH better with them in this book. Personally, I think that book 7 of 7 (like the BORG!) is a bit late for introducing moral incertitude, but I'm glad there was at least a little. Narcissa Malfoy helping Harry because of her love of Draco was, for me, one of the high-points of the book. The series has always placed special value on parent-child relationships, and it was nice to see that this 'good' value had a hold over 'bad' characters as well. In a similar vein, it was terribly fun to see Mrs. Weasley-the-housewife turn into a mad-death-eater-SMACKDOWN-MACHINE!
I was saddened to see Lupin and Tonks kick it, especially off-screen, but I'd been expecting it since Lupin announced Daddy-hood, and sure of it since he made Harry godfather. I thought it would have been more interesting, almost, to see only Lupin die, and Tonks have to raise the child alone, but I knew it wouldn't happen -- JKR had to get her orphan-mojo on somehow.
Speaking of orphan-mojo, Harry, will you SHUT UP about the fact that your parents are dead? Ron and Hermione know. Come on. Childishly trying to throw meaningless guilt-trips on your friends? Not a good plot device. Ron totally has the right to be more worried about HIS LIVE PARENTS than YOUR DEAD ONES.
I never really liked Harry anyway, so whimpering-in-the-woods didn't take away to much. It's not that I dislike him, exactly, it's that he's a boy-shaped simulacrum made of congealed plot. Other characters have freedom to develop character, and they have. Most of my favorites (Lupin, Snape...) died, as expected, but Neville KICKED ASS.
My Dad just admitted that he's always cast Zair99 as Neville. He said that made it even more enjoyable when Neville turned all hardcore. GO TOBYN!
The Epilogue, or And Everyone Lived Heterosexually Everafter
Oh dear. Oh dear, dear dear. Despite occasional complaints, I really enjoyed the book up to the Epilogue. I like the idea of an Epilogue, but this one doesn't answer any questions about what happened in the previous 19 years, except for a lot of productive, heterosexual sex. It's like JKR decided to cast cruciatus on all slashers. Granted, many of them deserve it, but did you have to spoil the epilogue for the rest of, too? We want to know about professions, about where they live, about whether Hogwarts had to be rebuilt after the battle, about whether ANYONE in the wizarding world DIDN'T find their true-love at age 17, about whether Harry & Co. learned their lesson from Kreacher and decided to try being nice to Draco...no, it looks like they didn't.
All of these complaints have been ranted on elsewhere, but I've yet to see my biggest problem with the happy-go-hetero epilogue. I'm going to admit, up front, that this is not an issue I would ever expect to see addressed in a kid's book: Harry's mental health after his defeat of Voldemort sets in. Harry was defined by his opposition to Voldemort. It created his self-identity. With Voldemort dead, he'll have to redsicover who he is, and it won't be an enjoyable process. This is a well known but hard to describe psych phenomenon - someone blind who suddenly regains vision at age 18 (lets pretend brain wiring allows them to parse the info normally, though it wouldn't), could not just waltz out into the seeing world and forget they ever couldn't see. It's a difficult thing to work through because to most people it makes no sense. If the challenge is removed, the defining difficulty, shouldn't life be easier? There's an element of guilt about not adapting to good changes that makes it more difficult to deal with. For the last many years, Harry has had something to brood on - when he was feeling depressed or put-upon, he could muse on his great burden, on his great enemy. Now when he feels down, he'll reach for that and it won't be there. And it will be a really unsettling feeling.
I know I'm not explaining this well - anyone with a psych background out there?
Also, I keep declining poor Albus Severus' name in my head. Albus Severus. Album Severum. Albi Severi. Alborum Severorum... poor kid.
First off, of course Snape was good. As I've pointed out before, there's too much of a tragihero setup to waste, and as a hero, he's the only morally grey character in the book, whereas as a villain, he'd just be a straight-up jerk. JKR isn't great at shades-of-grey, but she does have a sense of story, and that kind of set-up starts story-senses tingling. This is not, however, a terribly happy "I told you so" moment for me. I was sure Snape would be good, but all I wanted was lots of page-time for him (it translates to screen time in the movie). That was totally blown - not only does he NOT get a satisfyingly heroic death, all his redemption is done in flashbacks in the middle of an otherwise awesome battle.
Regarding shades-of-grey, I'm sure someone will point out that JKR did MUCH better with them in this book. Personally, I think that book 7 of 7 (like the BORG!) is a bit late for introducing moral incertitude, but I'm glad there was at least a little. Narcissa Malfoy helping Harry because of her love of Draco was, for me, one of the high-points of the book. The series has always placed special value on parent-child relationships, and it was nice to see that this 'good' value had a hold over 'bad' characters as well. In a similar vein, it was terribly fun to see Mrs. Weasley-the-housewife turn into a mad-death-eater-SMACKDOWN-MACHINE!
I was saddened to see Lupin and Tonks kick it, especially off-screen, but I'd been expecting it since Lupin announced Daddy-hood, and sure of it since he made Harry godfather. I thought it would have been more interesting, almost, to see only Lupin die, and Tonks have to raise the child alone, but I knew it wouldn't happen -- JKR had to get her orphan-mojo on somehow.
Speaking of orphan-mojo, Harry, will you SHUT UP about the fact that your parents are dead? Ron and Hermione know. Come on. Childishly trying to throw meaningless guilt-trips on your friends? Not a good plot device. Ron totally has the right to be more worried about HIS LIVE PARENTS than YOUR DEAD ONES.
I never really liked Harry anyway, so whimpering-in-the-woods didn't take away to much. It's not that I dislike him, exactly, it's that he's a boy-shaped simulacrum made of congealed plot. Other characters have freedom to develop character, and they have. Most of my favorites (Lupin, Snape...) died, as expected, but Neville KICKED ASS.
My Dad just admitted that he's always cast Zair99 as Neville. He said that made it even more enjoyable when Neville turned all hardcore. GO TOBYN!
The Epilogue, or And Everyone Lived Heterosexually Everafter
Oh dear. Oh dear, dear dear. Despite occasional complaints, I really enjoyed the book up to the Epilogue. I like the idea of an Epilogue, but this one doesn't answer any questions about what happened in the previous 19 years, except for a lot of productive, heterosexual sex. It's like JKR decided to cast cruciatus on all slashers. Granted, many of them deserve it, but did you have to spoil the epilogue for the rest of, too? We want to know about professions, about where they live, about whether Hogwarts had to be rebuilt after the battle, about whether ANYONE in the wizarding world DIDN'T find their true-love at age 17, about whether Harry & Co. learned their lesson from Kreacher and decided to try being nice to Draco...no, it looks like they didn't.
All of these complaints have been ranted on elsewhere, but I've yet to see my biggest problem with the happy-go-hetero epilogue. I'm going to admit, up front, that this is not an issue I would ever expect to see addressed in a kid's book: Harry's mental health after his defeat of Voldemort sets in. Harry was defined by his opposition to Voldemort. It created his self-identity. With Voldemort dead, he'll have to redsicover who he is, and it won't be an enjoyable process. This is a well known but hard to describe psych phenomenon - someone blind who suddenly regains vision at age 18 (lets pretend brain wiring allows them to parse the info normally, though it wouldn't), could not just waltz out into the seeing world and forget they ever couldn't see. It's a difficult thing to work through because to most people it makes no sense. If the challenge is removed, the defining difficulty, shouldn't life be easier? There's an element of guilt about not adapting to good changes that makes it more difficult to deal with. For the last many years, Harry has had something to brood on - when he was feeling depressed or put-upon, he could muse on his great burden, on his great enemy. Now when he feels down, he'll reach for that and it won't be there. And it will be a really unsettling feeling.
I know I'm not explaining this well - anyone with a psych background out there?
Also, I keep declining poor Albus Severus' name in my head. Albus Severus. Album Severum. Albi Severi. Alborum Severorum... poor kid.