(no subject)
The day has finally arrived, boys and girls! Two years of waiting has finally paid off in the form of the 607-paged Half-Blood Prince which I devoured in 5 hours yesterday and which I have mixed feelings about. So I am going to do what any hardened fandomer would do and I am going to review it. Spoilers ahoy! (No, seriously. If you read behind the cut without reading the book then don’t say I didn’t warn you).
Right then, where to start? Firstly I have to confess to being disappointed when I first beheld HBP by the apparent dearth of pages when compared to its chubbier predecessors. It didn’t inspire confidence in a book that had been so long awaited but I suppose in allowing her characters to mature sufficiently to satisfy her older audience, JKR was compromising for the thousands of children out there who have still only just finished OOTP, having started on the day it came out.
I do think that her writing has matured in this book and all of the more trivial occurrences at Hogwarts are this time centred around the love lives of the inhabitants whereas before we bore witness only to the formation of elf-loving societies and the trials and tribulations surrounding Quidditch. Finally the characters seem to have grown up and to be honest it’s dashed refreshing. Whereas in OOTP the only hint of puberty was the occasional mention of an Adam’s apple and the dreaded and dirty, dirty word ‘kiss’ was used as scarcely as possible, in HBP JKR seems to be a little braver in her depictions of the frequent bouts of snogging that are erupting throughout Hogwarts. I had fully expected the Hermione/Ron pairing to blossom forth but instead was left a little confused as to why they spent much of the year not talking to each other and instead both buggered off with different, insipid people. In this case I feel JKR simplified their emotions far too much, implying throughout their exchanges that Ron and Hermione are incapable of bearing each other’s jibes without flying into rage blackouts and pouncing on the nearest thing that moves in order to send each other into fits of unquenchable jealousy. Still, it was nice to see a hormone or two floating about Hogwarts.
Although many of us slashers had seen it coming and hoped beyond hope that JKR wasn’t going to effect something so clichéd, she finally united Harry and Ginny in a way that sent slashers everywhere spiralling into despair. Now, I never want to be accused of het-bashing, and I fully support the rights of all het fans to enjoy their het free from bashing but it doesn’t mean I have to like it. Why oh why, JKR?! The idea that Ginny’s scent was the one that attracted Harry the most was quite sweet but I personally find the idea nauseous and was pleased, so very pleased, when the broke up at the end. Harry/Ginny is NOT a good ship (in my personal opinion although that of others may differ and I in no way want to be considered as though I am bashing those opinions so please don’t narrow your eyes like that…).
STILL! THERE IS HOPE! Whereas at the end of OOTP I was left feeling dismal and despairing because of the lack of Malfoy action throughout the book I am now feeling most heartened. The Malfoys were FINALLY fleshed out a little bit and we were able to perceive the dynamic between Narcissa and Draco and even Narcissa and Lucius to a small degree. Narcissa’s sheer desperation to ensure the safety of her son, ‘Severus - oh Severus - you would help him? You would look after him and see he comes to no harm?’ is a touching way to introduce her into the story and her unconditional defence of Lucius also suggests that the Malfoy family unit is more tight-knit than many of us had hitherto believed. Draco’s character in HBP has been given a lot more depth. I intensely disliked JKR’s description of him as ‘stamping’ on Harry’s face, thinking her to have made him unnecessarily vicious in such a situation but when Harry comes upon him crying I was delighted because it showed a trace of humanity for the first time. The scene at the top of the tower was well written as well because JKR made it very clear several times that Harry clearly perceived that Draco in no way intended to kill Dumbledore. She implied that Harry saw that Draco was able to be redeemed, giving all us H/D shippers hope!
As for the death of Dumbledore, I wasn’t really that surprised. I wondered whether he might be the one who was going to snuff it, torn between him and Ginny. It makes me wonder what the next book is going to be like without such a strong figure in the background and I think perhaps that the seventh book is going to be much more about Harry striking out on his own and not bowing to the authority of someone else. The description of Dumbledore’s funeral was lovely, with all the animals and people coming together and in it I thought I saw shades of the Lord of the Rings, or that might have just been me. Dumbledore’s charred hand was an especially gruesome, eerie touch to extend throughout the book and I quite like it because if anything stirs up curiosity it’s something just a little bit gross.
This book seems very much a prelude to the seventh one and I found the ending of this one to be utter shite. It smacked of an ending just cobbled together at the last minute because JKR had had enough of the story and was eager to finish it quickly. I’m not a fan of drawn out conclusions but the short, slightly cheesy ending JKR gave us was much less than satisfactory. Let’s hope book seven allays all our misgivings and provides us with a happier, more definite ending. God, I hated Hermione in this book, she really got on my nerves. If you were Harry or Ron, wouldn’t you just have killed her?
Yet again JKR has flooded Harry’s character with grief, guilt and loss, which seems to befall him every year. If it were real life I think we all know that he’d be in a psychiatric ward by now, after years of abuse, the knowledge that there’s a mass murderer after him, the continued loss of those he loves, abuse from the media and frequent physical and mental trauma. Still, this is fantasy, and that means anything can happen. This, of course, is the premise that slashers work on. HBP gave me hope for the future of H/D, even if all my current stories must now be labelled AU.
What are your thoughts?
*************
SQUEE! ONLY ONE MORE TO GO!
Right then, where to start? Firstly I have to confess to being disappointed when I first beheld HBP by the apparent dearth of pages when compared to its chubbier predecessors. It didn’t inspire confidence in a book that had been so long awaited but I suppose in allowing her characters to mature sufficiently to satisfy her older audience, JKR was compromising for the thousands of children out there who have still only just finished OOTP, having started on the day it came out.
I do think that her writing has matured in this book and all of the more trivial occurrences at Hogwarts are this time centred around the love lives of the inhabitants whereas before we bore witness only to the formation of elf-loving societies and the trials and tribulations surrounding Quidditch. Finally the characters seem to have grown up and to be honest it’s dashed refreshing. Whereas in OOTP the only hint of puberty was the occasional mention of an Adam’s apple and the dreaded and dirty, dirty word ‘kiss’ was used as scarcely as possible, in HBP JKR seems to be a little braver in her depictions of the frequent bouts of snogging that are erupting throughout Hogwarts. I had fully expected the Hermione/Ron pairing to blossom forth but instead was left a little confused as to why they spent much of the year not talking to each other and instead both buggered off with different, insipid people. In this case I feel JKR simplified their emotions far too much, implying throughout their exchanges that Ron and Hermione are incapable of bearing each other’s jibes without flying into rage blackouts and pouncing on the nearest thing that moves in order to send each other into fits of unquenchable jealousy. Still, it was nice to see a hormone or two floating about Hogwarts.
Although many of us slashers had seen it coming and hoped beyond hope that JKR wasn’t going to effect something so clichéd, she finally united Harry and Ginny in a way that sent slashers everywhere spiralling into despair. Now, I never want to be accused of het-bashing, and I fully support the rights of all het fans to enjoy their het free from bashing but it doesn’t mean I have to like it. Why oh why, JKR?! The idea that Ginny’s scent was the one that attracted Harry the most was quite sweet but I personally find the idea nauseous and was pleased, so very pleased, when the broke up at the end. Harry/Ginny is NOT a good ship (in my personal opinion although that of others may differ and I in no way want to be considered as though I am bashing those opinions so please don’t narrow your eyes like that…).
STILL! THERE IS HOPE! Whereas at the end of OOTP I was left feeling dismal and despairing because of the lack of Malfoy action throughout the book I am now feeling most heartened. The Malfoys were FINALLY fleshed out a little bit and we were able to perceive the dynamic between Narcissa and Draco and even Narcissa and Lucius to a small degree. Narcissa’s sheer desperation to ensure the safety of her son, ‘Severus - oh Severus - you would help him? You would look after him and see he comes to no harm?’ is a touching way to introduce her into the story and her unconditional defence of Lucius also suggests that the Malfoy family unit is more tight-knit than many of us had hitherto believed. Draco’s character in HBP has been given a lot more depth. I intensely disliked JKR’s description of him as ‘stamping’ on Harry’s face, thinking her to have made him unnecessarily vicious in such a situation but when Harry comes upon him crying I was delighted because it showed a trace of humanity for the first time. The scene at the top of the tower was well written as well because JKR made it very clear several times that Harry clearly perceived that Draco in no way intended to kill Dumbledore. She implied that Harry saw that Draco was able to be redeemed, giving all us H/D shippers hope!
As for the death of Dumbledore, I wasn’t really that surprised. I wondered whether he might be the one who was going to snuff it, torn between him and Ginny. It makes me wonder what the next book is going to be like without such a strong figure in the background and I think perhaps that the seventh book is going to be much more about Harry striking out on his own and not bowing to the authority of someone else. The description of Dumbledore’s funeral was lovely, with all the animals and people coming together and in it I thought I saw shades of the Lord of the Rings, or that might have just been me. Dumbledore’s charred hand was an especially gruesome, eerie touch to extend throughout the book and I quite like it because if anything stirs up curiosity it’s something just a little bit gross.
This book seems very much a prelude to the seventh one and I found the ending of this one to be utter shite. It smacked of an ending just cobbled together at the last minute because JKR had had enough of the story and was eager to finish it quickly. I’m not a fan of drawn out conclusions but the short, slightly cheesy ending JKR gave us was much less than satisfactory. Let’s hope book seven allays all our misgivings and provides us with a happier, more definite ending. God, I hated Hermione in this book, she really got on my nerves. If you were Harry or Ron, wouldn’t you just have killed her?
Yet again JKR has flooded Harry’s character with grief, guilt and loss, which seems to befall him every year. If it were real life I think we all know that he’d be in a psychiatric ward by now, after years of abuse, the knowledge that there’s a mass murderer after him, the continued loss of those he loves, abuse from the media and frequent physical and mental trauma. Still, this is fantasy, and that means anything can happen. This, of course, is the premise that slashers work on. HBP gave me hope for the future of H/D, even if all my current stories must now be labelled AU.
What are your thoughts?
*************
SQUEE! ONLY ONE MORE TO GO!