Harry the Sixth
At long last I picked up a copy of Harry VI, and devoured it in a week of bedtime reading (the only time I have to read much these days). So much has been said that I’ve only 3 things to add. No spoilers herein.
First: I completely disagree with the oft-stated view that the confused blur of hormones exhibited by the characters detracts from the story. I actually thought it was done very well, and hilariously, and if anything added to the plot.
Second: Harry V was, in my opinion, pure drudgery through most of its middle. It could have been 200 pages shorter (mostly from the center) with barely a plot point altered, and 300 pages shorter without me objecting. This one was hugely more interesting to me, and I loved it.
Lastly, there is a mystery, or a secret, which I have heard no one point out and which isn’t directly mentioned in the book. However, the Dread Happening which is the book’s ultimate spoiler to avoid is not, I believe, what it appears to be. Let me sum up: No, is too confusing. Let me ‘splain:
Upon a time I read a book in which the main character had a “bump of trouble” - which turned out to mean that something not quite right would give them sort of a mental speed bump, meaning that something is there to notice, even if the reason isn’t clear. After reading The Murder of Roger Ackroyd I realized I had just such a Bump and usually ignored it, thinking I was just slightly confused and had missed something. I’ve been learning to trust it in the years since. I often don’t, to my chagrin, and Rowling is really good at catching me off guard anyway. But I think something is there.
My Bump went off first at pp. 405-406 (hardbound American ed.), especially when the subject was uncharacteristically dropped. Then there was the Freezing Charm on p.584 - why was that cast, exactly? A couple of rationales could have been made; none were. But what had Dumbledore been doing with Harry in his extra lessons the whole book? Showing memories that could be observed but not affected, and observed unnoticed (of course) by the remembered; yet they were for some unexplained reason important for him to witness. What could be closer without being actual memory? And with the same reason, says I.
Then there’s pp. 591-592, especially the speech that straddles them. Curious, unexpected, and utterly unexplained. And ties in interestingly with the first citation above and the plea on p. 595…
Let’s not forget the incomparable power described on p. 511 and how it might relate, in light of my other implications, to the rather insistent disallowance of Unforgivables in pp. 602-604, and how the all-caps exclamation at the end of that bit might not deny but rather confirm my suspicions. My views on the note in the locket are mere hunches, so I won’t comment on that.
What say you?
First: I completely disagree with the oft-stated view that the confused blur of hormones exhibited by the characters detracts from the story. I actually thought it was done very well, and hilariously, and if anything added to the plot.
Second: Harry V was, in my opinion, pure drudgery through most of its middle. It could have been 200 pages shorter (mostly from the center) with barely a plot point altered, and 300 pages shorter without me objecting. This one was hugely more interesting to me, and I loved it.
Lastly, there is a mystery, or a secret, which I have heard no one point out and which isn’t directly mentioned in the book. However, the Dread Happening which is the book’s ultimate spoiler to avoid is not, I believe, what it appears to be. Let me sum up: No, is too confusing. Let me ‘splain:
Upon a time I read a book in which the main character had a “bump of trouble” - which turned out to mean that something not quite right would give them sort of a mental speed bump, meaning that something is there to notice, even if the reason isn’t clear. After reading The Murder of Roger Ackroyd I realized I had just such a Bump and usually ignored it, thinking I was just slightly confused and had missed something. I’ve been learning to trust it in the years since. I often don’t, to my chagrin, and Rowling is really good at catching me off guard anyway. But I think something is there.
My Bump went off first at pp. 405-406 (hardbound American ed.), especially when the subject was uncharacteristically dropped. Then there was the Freezing Charm on p.584 - why was that cast, exactly? A couple of rationales could have been made; none were. But what had Dumbledore been doing with Harry in his extra lessons the whole book? Showing memories that could be observed but not affected, and observed unnoticed (of course) by the remembered; yet they were for some unexplained reason important for him to witness. What could be closer without being actual memory? And with the same reason, says I.
Then there’s pp. 591-592, especially the speech that straddles them. Curious, unexpected, and utterly unexplained. And ties in interestingly with the first citation above and the plea on p. 595…
Let’s not forget the incomparable power described on p. 511 and how it might relate, in light of my other implications, to the rather insistent disallowance of Unforgivables in pp. 602-604, and how the all-caps exclamation at the end of that bit might not deny but rather confirm my suspicions. My views on the note in the locket are mere hunches, so I won’t comment on that.
What say you?