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elwenFinally done with the book. My brain has way too much information it needs to process at the moment. In the past 36 hours, I have: Interviewed with nine different firms. Watched the Simpsons Movie. Read the latter half of Harry Potter 7.
The first thing will need an entry to itself, but I guess I can squeeze Simpsons comments here, because I don't really have many: basically, it was hilarious and very true to the spirit of the TV show. Some secondary characters that I like didn't get any screentime, but that's kind of inevitable. It did a good job of weaving stories for all of the Simpsons family members, I thought. Other characters were more limited to brief humorous cameos, but hey, that's what the Simpsons is all about, and I enjoyed them a lot. So yeah. If you're a fan, definitely go see, but I'm sure you didn't need me to tell you that.
Now, on to the real subject of this entry. Don't expect this to be in any way comprehensive or in chronological order.
I say it again: Neville is my hero. I think it might actually have been the movies that made me start liking him so much -- the early ones, where he was little more than the butt of a lot of spells-gone-wrong jokes -- but I think he really shines in the later books, too. I was so -- I can't think of a better word than -- proud of him for thinking of nothing but Harry's instructions to get Nagini. I'm so happy he had a chance to shine, pulling Gryffindor's sword out of the hat and everything, and that he survived. Professor of Herbology, that's so perfect. Although I still think he and Luna belong together.
Speaking of Luna, I really adore her, too. One thing I really loved about this book was the small, touching moments. I'm a sap, so often those things make me cry more easily than the big moments, which just leave me in shock. When Harry looked at the paintings in her room, and how she'd written friends all over them... *sniffle*
Since I seem to be going by character at the moment... Rowling did the one thing I told everyone I really didn't want her to do: kill one of the twins. I couldn't focus on most of the chapter after that, even though everything was happening, because every few paragraphs I'd think, "Fred is dead!" and just blink for a few moments. Percy coming back was a very pleasant surprise, but . . . agh, I just ache for the Weasleys.
I liked how Rowling "softened" a lot of the "evil" characters this book, without making it all seem too moralistic or sappy or anything. The part about Kreacher and Regulus is one of my favorite parts early in the book. How Regulus sacrificed himself so Kreacher wouldn't have to drink the potion, and how Harry managed to win over Kreacher and make him happy again. Then there was what happened to Pettigrew, although the language in that scene had too many echoes of Frodo, Gandalf, and Gollum for my liking. It was a minor thing, anyway. The other two things that really stood out was how much the Malfoys cared about Draco -- that was kind of surprising -- and Snape's backstory, which I found very compelling. Especially the part about his Patronus.
Lessee... train of thought derailing here...
I think Rowling plays the dramatic irony card too much, but I guess that's just the way it goes. And maybe I approach the clues she drops too much like a Ditch Day puzzle, and then get annoyed when the solution is nothing like what I expected, because she didn't provide enough information to the readers to figure it out. Where she does, though, I always get frustrated at the trio for not figuring it out sooner. Did they really need half the book to realize that the reason they needed Gryffindor's Sword to destroy Horcruxes? Even without knowing about the basilisk's blood -- which I'd forgotten -- it seems kind of obvious. Why else do you need a sword? To prove you're the King of Gondor?
And while I'm complaining, here's another thing, which I've already mentioned to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kalquessa: dirty wand jokes. Okay, I can forgive the unintentional slips or when the poorness of the wording is more the fault of my brain than hers. But some of them were very obviously not unintentional. Come on, I can't believe that Hermione would talk about the size of a wand. The length, maybe. The powerfulness, certainly. But size? What does that even mean in the context of a wand?
...yeah, it's stupid and trivial, but I had to get it out.
To counterbalance my complaints, one thing I've never mentioned but have probably thought for a while is how neat I find Rowling's chapter titles. The way they are so mysterious before reading them, and might even refer to some tiny thing that happens at the end, but it's so much fun anyway when the significance washes over you. I'm talking about titles like "The Bribe", or "The Goblins' Revenge", or even the last chapter, "The Flaw in the Plan". It's like just another little thing that makes the books more fun.
I think those are the major things I had, or at least my brain has run out of everything but stupid one-liners for the moment.
Ah, that line that dashed the hopes of Harry/Hermione shippers forever. Poor Ron, though, being tormented by the Horcrux.
So if someone asks you whether Harry died in this book, what do you say? (Does it matter whether they frame it in terms of survival or death?)
...oh yeah, another thing I wanted to mention: my sister greatly dislikes the Epilogue and thinks it ruins the ending. I'm not completely happy with it, but I think it was as good a way as could have been used to provide some indication of what happened afterwards, without going on too long but also without just leaving us at the end of Harry's seventh year. As far as my sister's objection is with the substance, well, that's too much a matter of preference for me to argue. I agree with anyone who thinks Harry/Ginny came out of nowhere, but I think it seemed natural enough by the end. There's really no one else for Harry, and I can't imagine him being a bachelor. I think it was just a little ridiculous that they'd name all their kids after people so close to them -- doesn't it get confusing? -- but whatever. I really wanted to know who Draco married, though. Maybe it'll be in Rowling's encyclopedia.
I'm sure I'll come up with more to say later, but for now I think I'll leave it at that, and start switching my brain back into thinking-about-law-firms mode so I can get those thoughts down, too.
In conclusion, though, I think it's definitely my favorite of the books. Just so many powerful moments. And, I felt, it fit together better than some of the others.
So, let's get cracking, shall we,nendil? >=D
The first thing will need an entry to itself, but I guess I can squeeze Simpsons comments here, because I don't really have many: basically, it was hilarious and very true to the spirit of the TV show. Some secondary characters that I like didn't get any screentime, but that's kind of inevitable. It did a good job of weaving stories for all of the Simpsons family members, I thought. Other characters were more limited to brief humorous cameos, but hey, that's what the Simpsons is all about, and I enjoyed them a lot. So yeah. If you're a fan, definitely go see, but I'm sure you didn't need me to tell you that.
Now, on to the real subject of this entry. Don't expect this to be in any way comprehensive or in chronological order.
I say it again: Neville is my hero. I think it might actually have been the movies that made me start liking him so much -- the early ones, where he was little more than the butt of a lot of spells-gone-wrong jokes -- but I think he really shines in the later books, too. I was so -- I can't think of a better word than -- proud of him for thinking of nothing but Harry's instructions to get Nagini. I'm so happy he had a chance to shine, pulling Gryffindor's sword out of the hat and everything, and that he survived. Professor of Herbology, that's so perfect. Although I still think he and Luna belong together.
Speaking of Luna, I really adore her, too. One thing I really loved about this book was the small, touching moments. I'm a sap, so often those things make me cry more easily than the big moments, which just leave me in shock. When Harry looked at the paintings in her room, and how she'd written friends all over them... *sniffle*
Since I seem to be going by character at the moment... Rowling did the one thing I told everyone I really didn't want her to do: kill one of the twins. I couldn't focus on most of the chapter after that, even though everything was happening, because every few paragraphs I'd think, "Fred is dead!" and just blink for a few moments. Percy coming back was a very pleasant surprise, but . . . agh, I just ache for the Weasleys.
I liked how Rowling "softened" a lot of the "evil" characters this book, without making it all seem too moralistic or sappy or anything. The part about Kreacher and Regulus is one of my favorite parts early in the book. How Regulus sacrificed himself so Kreacher wouldn't have to drink the potion, and how Harry managed to win over Kreacher and make him happy again. Then there was what happened to Pettigrew, although the language in that scene had too many echoes of Frodo, Gandalf, and Gollum for my liking. It was a minor thing, anyway. The other two things that really stood out was how much the Malfoys cared about Draco -- that was kind of surprising -- and Snape's backstory, which I found very compelling. Especially the part about his Patronus.
Lessee... train of thought derailing here...
I think Rowling plays the dramatic irony card too much, but I guess that's just the way it goes. And maybe I approach the clues she drops too much like a Ditch Day puzzle, and then get annoyed when the solution is nothing like what I expected, because she didn't provide enough information to the readers to figure it out. Where she does, though, I always get frustrated at the trio for not figuring it out sooner. Did they really need half the book to realize that the reason they needed Gryffindor's Sword to destroy Horcruxes? Even without knowing about the basilisk's blood -- which I'd forgotten -- it seems kind of obvious. Why else do you need a sword? To prove you're the King of Gondor?
And while I'm complaining, here's another thing, which I've already mentioned to
kalquessa: dirty wand jokes. Okay, I can forgive the unintentional slips or when the poorness of the wording is more the fault of my brain than hers. But some of them were very obviously not unintentional. Come on, I can't believe that Hermione would talk about the size of a wand. The length, maybe. The powerfulness, certainly. But size? What does that even mean in the context of a wand?...yeah, it's stupid and trivial, but I had to get it out.
To counterbalance my complaints, one thing I've never mentioned but have probably thought for a while is how neat I find Rowling's chapter titles. The way they are so mysterious before reading them, and might even refer to some tiny thing that happens at the end, but it's so much fun anyway when the significance washes over you. I'm talking about titles like "The Bribe", or "The Goblins' Revenge", or even the last chapter, "The Flaw in the Plan". It's like just another little thing that makes the books more fun.
I think those are the major things I had, or at least my brain has run out of everything but stupid one-liners for the moment.
Ah, that line that dashed the hopes of Harry/Hermione shippers forever. Poor Ron, though, being tormented by the Horcrux.
So if someone asks you whether Harry died in this book, what do you say? (Does it matter whether they frame it in terms of survival or death?)
...oh yeah, another thing I wanted to mention: my sister greatly dislikes the Epilogue and thinks it ruins the ending. I'm not completely happy with it, but I think it was as good a way as could have been used to provide some indication of what happened afterwards, without going on too long but also without just leaving us at the end of Harry's seventh year. As far as my sister's objection is with the substance, well, that's too much a matter of preference for me to argue. I agree with anyone who thinks Harry/Ginny came out of nowhere, but I think it seemed natural enough by the end. There's really no one else for Harry, and I can't imagine him being a bachelor. I think it was just a little ridiculous that they'd name all their kids after people so close to them -- doesn't it get confusing? -- but whatever. I really wanted to know who Draco married, though. Maybe it'll be in Rowling's encyclopedia.
I'm sure I'll come up with more to say later, but for now I think I'll leave it at that, and start switching my brain back into thinking-about-law-firms mode so I can get those thoughts down, too.
In conclusion, though, I think it's definitely my favorite of the books. Just so many powerful moments. And, I felt, it fit together better than some of the others.
So, let's get cracking, shall we,
nendil? >=D
