Comments | rj_anderson: Reading HP Aloud -- OotP Chapter 1

rj_anderson

Reading HP Aloud -- OotP Chapter 1

Aug 12, 2003 22:30

I read Books 1-4 aloud to my husband just a couple months after GoF came out -- he enjoys the stories but doesn't read for pleasure -- and tonight we finally started on OotP. I have great fun doing this, because it appeals to the buried actress in me: I try to do as professional-sounding and nuanced a reading as possible, including all the voices ( Read more... )

hp, ootp, theories

Comments 17

sannalim August 13 2003, 11:00:33 UTC

I, too, was disturbed by Harry's thoughts towards Dudley and his gang in this chapter. I was, I must admit, rather amused by the teasing, but I didn't like Harry's desire to magically attack the other boys. I also was disturbed by Harry's "me, me, me" attitude.

I'm not certain that Voldemort's influence over Harry's mind is gone, though. I need to read Book Five again, but it seemed to me like Harry still needs to learn Occlumency to block Voldemort out of his mind.

Someone else mentioned Snape's Worst Memory in connexion with Harry's thoughts about Dudley, and that reminded me of something I've been pondering for a bit. I think that in Book One, when Dumbledore tells Harry that Severus and James were "rather like yourself and Mr Malfoy," he was pulling a Ben Kenobi on him--telling him the truth "from a certain point of view." After reading Snape's Worst Memory, it seems to me that Harry is the Severus analog and Draco is the James analog, and not the other way 'round as we (and Harry) have assumed.

rj_anderson August 13 2003, 14:03:32 UTC

Yes, I came across the Harry=Snape and Draco=James argument a few weeks ago and fell madly in love with it. I think it's another example of just how cleverly JKR twists our assumptions against us. She doesn't lie to us, she gives us all the information we need to draw the right conclusion, but at the same time she knows that Harry's preconceptions (and ours) will lead us to identify himself with his father and Draco with Snape, rather than the correct way around.

This kind of brilliance is why I love these books...

I can't believe I didn't SEE that.... anonymous August 14 2003, 22:05:23 UTC

Aside from the fact that this theory makes this book about 150% more creepy than it already was ( ... )

anonymous September 13 2003, 04:33:15 UTC

Reading this discussion about Harry`s reactions in Order of the Phoenix only confirms what i`d suspected since the first time I read the book ( ... )

rj_anderson September 13 2003, 08:04:36 UTC

Whoa. Whoa, whoa, whoa. WHOA.

(That's a good thing, by the way.)

Alec, you just made my head hurt. Can I quote this back in the main part of the LJ? Because I would love to see what others have to say about it.

I never thought of the possiblility that Voldemort's influence could be *that* widespread. But since he's back now, stronger than ever, and we've seen all along that he has the power to cloud and take over people's minds for his own purposes... did I say whoa? Whoa.

Mind you, that's not to say I think Voldemort is responsible for all the bad/stupid behaviour of the characters in OotP in a "the devil made me do it" kind of way, but it is quite possible that his influence just made them a little more inclined to go along with their darker impulses than they might have been otherwise...

anonymous September 13 2003, 08:34:02 UTC

Oh, please do quote it. It is something I`d like people`s thoughts on ( ... )