Post-DH musings (No Spoilers)

[gioiamia]

So, I finished the book.  Wow.

I've posted my initial thoughts on it over at hpbook7thoughts .  I know we'll have lots of discussions going on over there in the days to come about it.

Last night I met up with angelicus and muffinkath7 over at Angel's house where we hung out and gabbed before going out to eat and gab and then stand in line for the book and gab.  I left them at the

Comments

[kalenodonnell]

I read it in two hours.

Loser.

[gioiamia]

No, you may have skimmed it in 2 hours, but I will never believe you read 759 pages in 2 hours. Whore.

[kalenodonnell]

Lol, oh you of little faith. I actually have read that much in that little time before. What? I'm a fast reader. But nah, haven't read the book yet. I doubt I'll even get my hands on a copy til I get home from ComicCon. Too busy trying to keep pace with my own particular brand of insanity.

Glad it seems to have lived up to your expectations though! And damn you for sleeping rather than reading! Your unexpected weakness (or strength, whatthefuckever) threw off my carefully calculated diabolicalness! No wonder you didnt respond to my text message sent at 4 am yesterday morning! I had it all figured out, SURE you would be right around halfway through the book by then, just the right amount to be appropriately pissed off by my sending of: "And then, at the end, Harry DIES! SPOILERS!!!!"

Ah well, better luck next time.

Waitasecond, this was the last book.....Curses! Foiled again!

[gioiamia]

Yup - saw your absurd text message when I turned on my phone tonight. I rolled my eyes at your silliness, tossed the phone aside, and kept reading.

Weirdo.

It's a shame you don't actually give a damn about the book. Otherwise I could completely spoil it for YOU now.

Oh yeah, except I'm not a bitch. That's YOUR role. *snicker*

[angelicus]

OMG, Miss. You-two-aren't-cool-enough-to-stay-up-all-night-reading-the-book-so-I-have-to-go-home didn't stay up all night reading?! *gasp* You Are Lame. :p

Kath is further along than me but we've both started it.

[gioiamia]

Well I MEANT to stay up all night reading it! But it turns out that... yeah, okay, I'm really lame. I just needed to sleep. ;-D

[janajoh]

I finished, and I have SO many questions.

[gioiamia]

I'm hoping JKR hits her website soon, because I'm realizing more and more how many questions I still have!

[harmony_bites]

I loved the book. Sure, I have nitpicks, and the book makes my beloved ship *cough* a bit of a challenge w/o going AU. But I think it was the best of her books. I loved Harry especially more than in any other book. He grew so much. And Neville rocked! And Snape... *sob*

[gioiamia]

I loved the growth we saw in both Harry and Neville!

And Snape really floored me, honestly! For so many years fans have been theorizing that Snape was in love with Lily. It became almost cliche, for which reason I seriously doubted it. But she took that basic idea and made it really come alive. It was so much easier to understand him now. I LOVED that!

Did you notice McGonagall screaming "Coward!" at him as he fled, just as Harry had at the end of HBP?

[harmony_bites]

I wasn't a Snape fan before HBP, so that book wasn't a shock to me as it was to Snape fans--it's what actually convinced me he was a white hat. But as the release date approached, I couldn't help but have a lingering fear I had misread Rowling

[gioiamia]

I'm very confused in some ways about JKR's insistence that Snape is a "deeply horrible man." I'd love to hear her reconcile that with what we saw in the pensieve memory. All I can think is that the reality of what he suffered did not mean me wasn't still cruel and petty and vindictive towards children. He had a sucky life and horrible disappointments, but he chose to become a DE and, as a result, lost Lily. He chose to let his loss turn him into a bitter, angry man.

I've known people who are good role models from a distance, but in person they're really hard to be around because they just aren't NICE. My guess is that their history will record Snape that way.

And you know, I feel much better about Dumbledore than I have in awhile. If you go with the ying-yang approach, Snape and Dumbledore are a good illustration of that idea. Dumbledore had his hidden flaws, as we finally really understand here, but he was a good, honorable man. Snape was ultimately good and honorable, but BOY did he have some obvious flaws!

[mstomato2day]

I read it in A LOT more time that you. What can I say? I'm a slower reader. Finished it this morning :).

[gioiamia]

And? And?! What'd you think?!

[mstomato2day]

Loved it.

[gioiamia]

Yay!