bitchy_merlin (
bitchy_merlin) wrote2007-08-05 02:36 pm
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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
So I meant to post this about a week ago...
And it's finally here! Sit back, relax, andscoff at enjoy a taste of my reactions to and thoughts on HP7.
Well, frankly, my first thought was "holy crap, this is the seventh book! Once I'm done this, there will be no more Harry Potter." And then I channeled Shoebox "What am I to do? Where am I to go? WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF LIFE?!"
After which, I finally settled down to read. And what a read it was.
Holy goodness. I just-- MAJOR INCOHERENCY, PEOPLE!
Here, I'll try to organize it. Please note: these points are not in any sort of order from least to greatest, ot anything like that. I just typed what I thought.
DISLIKES:
- the Snape/Lily stuff (aka 3/4 of the Prince's Tale chapter). I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU SAY, LILY BELONGS WITH JAMES! JAMES! JAMES, I TELL YOU, JAMES! IN NO WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM DOES LILY END UP WITH SNIVELLUS! EVER! SHOEBOX AND THE OTHER 6 BOOKS SAY SHE ENDS UP WITH JAMES, SO SHE
ENDS
UP
WITH
JAMES!
ok, got that outta my system. Whew. I don't care what Snape's Patronus says.
- all that Dumbledore backstory of irrelevance. Seriously, it's called Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, not Dumbledore's Life that Incidentally Features Some Random Bloke With A Scar. Boring. Except for maybe the bit about Grindlewald. Cue the rise of the AD/GG shippers. Run.
- that Goblin dude the Trio teamed up with. Didn't like him, but that doesn't mean much, as he was only a minor character.
- The Epilogue. IMHO, it was a poor excuse for an ending to that stellar series. I mean, really. If you're writing a world-famous series that spans almost 20 years, wouldn't you want to make sure everything is as good as you can make it, instead of just slapping on something that reads like it was written by a homophobic 14 year old and calling it a day? Anyway, I don't mind Harry/Ginny, and I'm glad Neville got to be Herbology Professor (highlight of Epilogue), but it was definitely not my favourite piece of writing from JKR.
-->OTOH, the characters' names made my laugh. Does JKR know she's created a ship called ASS? Or that if Harry's kids were to commit incest, it would be like history repeating itself? AND WHY DID RON AND HERMIONE NOT NAME THEIR BOY FRED?! Gosh.
- Tonks and Lupin. This was, perhaps, the most disturbing aspect of Deathly Hallows, IMHO. Was JKR trying to force-feed us heterosexuality? I mean, really. First off, Lupin is sssooooo not her type. Secondly, I might not even have minded this pairing as much, but where did their personalities go? It's as if they're just two completely different characters all of a sudden. Speaking as a devoted fan of Remus Lupin, that was a crushing blow. I bet they just had comfort!sex after D-dore's death, then they were forced to have a shot-gun wedding. Remus, when will you learn? Anyway, they're both dead now, so I guess that 's solved, although, REMUSXSIRIUS FOREVER!! <3 (blatant shipper. Beware.)
- The lack of amazingly glorious death scenes. SRS BZNZ. How did Lupin die? How did Tonks die? Why did Harry not feel any grief for them? Why didn't Lupin get to avenge Sirius by killing Bellatrix? HOW DID HE DIE??? The saving grace of this, of course, is Fred's death scene. If Fred had just appeared dead at the end of the battle, like Lupin, I would have blown a gasket. Grrrrrrrr....
And now:
Anyway, all in all, brilliant book. Wonderfully twisty and a perfect finish (ignoring epilogue) to this spellbinding series.
And it's finally here! Sit back, relax, and
Well, frankly, my first thought was "holy crap, this is the seventh book! Once I'm done this, there will be no more Harry Potter." And then I channeled Shoebox "What am I to do? Where am I to go? WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF LIFE?!"
After which, I finally settled down to read. And what a read it was.
Holy goodness. I just-- MAJOR INCOHERENCY, PEOPLE!
Here, I'll try to organize it. Please note: these points are not in any sort of order from least to greatest, ot anything like that. I just typed what I thought.
LIKES:
- the Trio. Honestly, I absolutely adored Harry, Ron, and Hermione in this one. Harry's emo was turned down a notch (or maybe I'm just still recovering from OotP --> the book, not the movie), and the R/Hr dynamic was so cute! Especially the kiss between them? Aaaaawwwwww! I'll admit, I was a bit disgruntled when Ron left/was a jerkface, but Hermione's angsting over it was superb, and went a ways towards making up for it. Then, the Horcrux scene, when Ron came back and saved Harry? OMFG, that was brilliant! Amazing! Ron FTW! My love for Ron returned, tenfold. Yes, I am a hopeless romantic, why do you ask?
- Fred and George. *curls into ball on floor, sobbing inconsolably* WHY, JKR, WHY?!!?!?! HOW COULD YOU DO THAT ?! WHY DID YOU DO THAT? OH, NOW POOR GEORGE IS ALL ALONE, AND HOW DO YOU EXPECT HIM TO LIVE LIKE THAT, MISSING HALF OF HIMSELF?! Oh, God, the irony! The twins were effing fantastic in this book, with thehole whole "Saintlike" and 'ear 'ear! and then JKR goes and kills Fred in a particularly nondescript death scene. Go figure. Not to mention, the twins were awesome in Movie!OotP, and I think when movie!DH comes out, I'll be crying like a baby, a la PotC:AWE. Fred+George FOREVER!
- Harry's "death scene". Wow. That was... touching. And desperate. And beautiful, which is a word I'd never normally associate with Harry Potter. It was just incredible. Indescribable, but I'll try my best. I loved how the Snitch said I open at the close. and no one could figure out what it meant until the last moment. But my favourite part by far was when it all clicked into place for Harry, and he realized that "I am about to die." God, that just brought it all home to me, and I was staring blankly at the page thinking This is it. This is it, this is the End. I can't believe it. Harry's about to die. This is it. I think that was one of my favourite lines, right there. --> Another thing I absolutely melted over was when Harry was walking toward Voldemort to meet his death, and he saw Lily and James and Remus and Sirius. Loved that part, especially because it showed the Marauders and Lily at their happiest and *clears throat* It specifically stated that one Remus John Lupin looked younger than we know him to be. Ergo, he was probably attending/just out of his own time at Hogwarts, which (because Shoebox IS my canon) he must've spenthaving sex with Sirius. Ha! Even if he had a kid via Tonks, HE WAS HAPPIER WITH SIRIUS!! And now they can be together in Wizarding heaven FOREVER! LOVE!
- the whole Harry/Draco dynamic. Seriously, has JKR been at the slashfic again? That could've been taken right out of one. Proof: In most slashfics, Harry goes about his day, and then he suddenly realizes "Hey! When did Malfoy become Draco!?" Viva DH. And again, when Harry cringes at the use to which Draco was now being put. Dude. Seriously. How many times have I seen a dom/sub fic that has Harry cringing at the abuse Malfoy has so obviously sustained? Again, viva DH. Plus the "Malfoy was holding Harry so tightly it hurt" while riding on Harry's BROOMSTICK!? Real subtle, JKR, real subtle.
- Snape. I know fanfic has a way of portraying him as the unsung hero/whatever, and that tends to blunt the impact of his nasty, bitter personality, and his rather questionable hygiene. But his memories? Pure gold. Although the Snape/Lily was a squick (see: Dislikes), but he was adorable. My favourite part of this was when Snape was berating D-dore about the ring that killed D-dore's hand, followed by the part in which D-dore lets slip that despite Snape being charged with protecting him, Harry is going to DIE. Cue spazztastic!Snape. Rock. And the
"Oh, come now, Severus, how many people have you watched die?"
"Lately, only those whom I could not save."
Almost broke my heart. Really, Snape, you cruel, heartless, noble, wonderful, amazing individual! If I were the type to cry over this, I would have cried over this. It was stunning. I loved it.
- the Snape/McGonagall interaction. Because Snape/McG = one of my OTPs. Brilliantly snappy lines from each of them. You could SO tell there was more going on between them. LOVE <3
- McGonagall herself. Win at life.
- Lupin's death. Before DH, I could never imagine myself saying this, but it's true. I'm glad Lupin died. I was a bit peeved that he didn't get a glorious death scene/kill Bellatrix, but I am glad he died. I don't know, he just didn't seem to fit anymore. He seemed a bit... off. I mean, I'm sure his shot-gun wedding with Tonks would shake him, but I'm glad he died, nonetheless. Now he can be together with Sirius forever! <3
- Snape's death scene. So. Fucking. Sad. *wibble* I was prepared for it, I mean, but it was still so... It was kind of like having an out-of-body experience, I imagine: where you can see what's happening, and you know something is about to happen, but you don't know what it is or how to stop it before it's too late. Augh, that hurt. I didn't even like him in the 6th book. But in this one, just.... somuchlove. Forever.
- the Trio. Honestly, I absolutely adored Harry, Ron, and Hermione in this one. Harry's emo was turned down a notch (or maybe I'm just still recovering from OotP --> the book, not the movie), and the R/Hr dynamic was so cute! Especially the kiss between them? Aaaaawwwwww! I'll admit, I was a bit disgruntled when Ron left/was a jerkface, but Hermione's angsting over it was superb, and went a ways towards making up for it. Then, the Horcrux scene, when Ron came back and saved Harry? OMFG, that was brilliant! Amazing! Ron FTW! My love for Ron returned, tenfold. Yes, I am a hopeless romantic, why do you ask?
- Fred and George. *curls into ball on floor, sobbing inconsolably* WHY, JKR, WHY?!!?!?! HOW COULD YOU DO THAT ?! WHY DID YOU DO THAT? OH, NOW POOR GEORGE IS ALL ALONE, AND HOW DO YOU EXPECT HIM TO LIVE LIKE THAT, MISSING HALF OF HIMSELF?! Oh, God, the irony! The twins were effing fantastic in this book, with the
- Harry's "death scene". Wow. That was... touching. And desperate. And beautiful, which is a word I'd never normally associate with Harry Potter. It was just incredible. Indescribable, but I'll try my best. I loved how the Snitch said I open at the close. and no one could figure out what it meant until the last moment. But my favourite part by far was when it all clicked into place for Harry, and he realized that "I am about to die." God, that just brought it all home to me, and I was staring blankly at the page thinking This is it. This is it, this is the End. I can't believe it. Harry's about to die. This is it. I think that was one of my favourite lines, right there. --> Another thing I absolutely melted over was when Harry was walking toward Voldemort to meet his death, and he saw Lily and James and Remus and Sirius. Loved that part, especially because it showed the Marauders and Lily at their happiest and *clears throat* It specifically stated that one Remus John Lupin looked younger than we know him to be. Ergo, he was probably attending/just out of his own time at Hogwarts, which (because Shoebox IS my canon) he must've spent
- the whole Harry/Draco dynamic. Seriously, has JKR been at the slashfic again? That could've been taken right out of one. Proof: In most slashfics, Harry goes about his day, and then he suddenly realizes "Hey! When did Malfoy become Draco!?" Viva DH. And again, when Harry cringes at the use to which Draco was now being put. Dude. Seriously. How many times have I seen a dom/sub fic that has Harry cringing at the abuse Malfoy has so obviously sustained? Again, viva DH. Plus the "Malfoy was holding Harry so tightly it hurt" while riding on Harry's BROOMSTICK!? Real subtle, JKR, real subtle.
- Snape. I know fanfic has a way of portraying him as the unsung hero/whatever, and that tends to blunt the impact of his nasty, bitter personality, and his rather questionable hygiene. But his memories? Pure gold. Although the Snape/Lily was a squick (see: Dislikes), but he was adorable. My favourite part of this was when Snape was berating D-dore about the ring that killed D-dore's hand, followed by the part in which D-dore lets slip that despite Snape being charged with protecting him, Harry is going to DIE. Cue spazztastic!Snape. Rock. And the
"Oh, come now, Severus, how many people have you watched die?"
"Lately, only those whom I could not save."
Almost broke my heart. Really, Snape, you cruel, heartless, noble, wonderful, amazing individual! If I were the type to cry over this, I would have cried over this. It was stunning. I loved it.
- the Snape/McGonagall interaction. Because Snape/McG = one of my OTPs. Brilliantly snappy lines from each of them. You could SO tell there was more going on between them. LOVE <3
- McGonagall herself. Win at life.
- Lupin's death. Before DH, I could never imagine myself saying this, but it's true. I'm glad Lupin died. I was a bit peeved that he didn't get a glorious death scene/kill Bellatrix, but I am glad he died. I don't know, he just didn't seem to fit anymore. He seemed a bit... off. I mean, I'm sure his shot-gun wedding with Tonks would shake him, but I'm glad he died, nonetheless. Now he can be together with Sirius forever! <3
- Snape's death scene. So. Fucking. Sad. *wibble* I was prepared for it, I mean, but it was still so... It was kind of like having an out-of-body experience, I imagine: where you can see what's happening, and you know something is about to happen, but you don't know what it is or how to stop it before it's too late. Augh, that hurt. I didn't even like him in the 6th book. But in this one, just.... somuchlove. Forever.
DISLIKES:
- the Snape/Lily stuff (aka 3/4 of the Prince's Tale chapter). I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU SAY, LILY BELONGS WITH JAMES! JAMES! JAMES, I TELL YOU, JAMES! IN NO WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM DOES LILY END UP WITH SNIVELLUS! EVER! SHOEBOX AND THE OTHER 6 BOOKS SAY SHE ENDS UP WITH JAMES, SO SHE
ENDS
UP
WITH
JAMES!
ok, got that outta my system. Whew. I don't care what Snape's Patronus says.
- all that Dumbledore backstory of irrelevance. Seriously, it's called Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, not Dumbledore's Life that Incidentally Features Some Random Bloke With A Scar. Boring. Except for maybe the bit about Grindlewald. Cue the rise of the AD/GG shippers. Run.
- that Goblin dude the Trio teamed up with. Didn't like him, but that doesn't mean much, as he was only a minor character.
- The Epilogue. IMHO, it was a poor excuse for an ending to that stellar series. I mean, really. If you're writing a world-famous series that spans almost 20 years, wouldn't you want to make sure everything is as good as you can make it, instead of just slapping on something that reads like it was written by a homophobic 14 year old and calling it a day? Anyway, I don't mind Harry/Ginny, and I'm glad Neville got to be Herbology Professor (highlight of Epilogue), but it was definitely not my favourite piece of writing from JKR.
-->OTOH, the characters' names made my laugh. Does JKR know she's created a ship called ASS? Or that if Harry's kids were to commit incest, it would be like history repeating itself? AND WHY DID RON AND HERMIONE NOT NAME THEIR BOY FRED?! Gosh.
- Tonks and Lupin. This was, perhaps, the most disturbing aspect of Deathly Hallows, IMHO. Was JKR trying to force-feed us heterosexuality? I mean, really. First off, Lupin is sssooooo not her type. Secondly, I might not even have minded this pairing as much, but where did their personalities go? It's as if they're just two completely different characters all of a sudden. Speaking as a devoted fan of Remus Lupin, that was a crushing blow. I bet they just had comfort!sex after D-dore's death, then they were forced to have a shot-gun wedding. Remus, when will you learn? Anyway, they're both dead now, so I guess that 's solved, although, REMUSXSIRIUS FOREVER!! <3 (blatant shipper. Beware.)
- The lack of amazingly glorious death scenes. SRS BZNZ. How did Lupin die? How did Tonks die? Why did Harry not feel any grief for them? Why didn't Lupin get to avenge Sirius by killing Bellatrix? HOW DID HE DIE??? The saving grace of this, of course, is Fred's death scene. If Fred had just appeared dead at the end of the battle, like Lupin, I would have blown a gasket. Grrrrrrrr....
And now:
LINES OF MERIT:
- "CHARGE!"- McG heading into battle. 'Nuff said.
- "I am about to die." -- Harry, heading to his death. Almost made me cry.
- "Saintlike" -- George to Fred. Made me laugh.
- Snape looked into her eyes. -- Snape talking to McG. Made the little shipper inside me scream in ecstacy. - "Look... at... me...." -- Snape's final words. I SO TOTALLY GET IT. Made something inside me die.
- "Would you like me to do it now?" asked Snape, his voice heavy with irony. "Or would you like a few moments to compose an epitaph?" -- GOLD. PURE GOLD!
- "Don't be shocked, Severus. How may men and women have you watched die?"
"Lately, only those whom I could not save." -- Do you understand the awesomeness that will be the seventh movie? Those lines said so much in the space of so little.
And I think, I think, that's it for Line of Merit for now... which is not to say that some won't pop up later, so stay tuned!
- "CHARGE!"- McG heading into battle. 'Nuff said.
- "I am about to die." -- Harry, heading to his death. Almost made me cry.
- "Saintlike" -- George to Fred. Made me laugh.
- Snape looked into her eyes. -- Snape talking to McG. Made the little shipper inside me scream in ecstacy. - "Look... at... me...." -- Snape's final words. I SO TOTALLY GET IT. Made something inside me die.
- "Would you like me to do it now?" asked Snape, his voice heavy with irony. "Or would you like a few moments to compose an epitaph?" -- GOLD. PURE GOLD!
- "Don't be shocked, Severus. How may men and women have you watched die?"
"Lately, only those whom I could not save." -- Do you understand the awesomeness that will be the seventh movie? Those lines said so much in the space of so little.
And I think, I think, that's it for Line of Merit for now... which is not to say that some won't pop up later, so stay tuned!
Anyway, all in all, brilliant book. Wonderfully twisty and a perfect finish (ignoring epilogue) to this spellbinding series.