Detective Mysteries, PS/SS, why it worked.

[rachelrenee1]

No: HPFGUIDX 32399

Cindy wrote:

> I'm listening to PS/SS again because, to tell you all the truth, I 
> never really understood it.  I just can't figure out what the heck 
> Snape is doing regarding the stone.  Snape is bullying Quirrel for 
> what reason exactly?  All the teachers provide an impenetrable 
> obstacle to protect the stone, only the obstacles are so simple 
that 
> Quirrell, the kids, and Dumbledore can negotiate them fairly 
easily.  
> So I guess if PS/SS isn't a suspense tale, and it isn't a clever 
> mystery, then why did I enjoy it at all?  I'm still trying to 
figure 
> that out.


I was trying to figure that out after I saw the movie.  I mean, after 
all the editing and such Snape and Quirrel were minor cameos, at 
best.  And Voldemort was almost a side-thought.  So I started 
wondering if the book was like that, and reread it.  It was, in many 
ways.  Not the huge extent of the movie.  Mainly, Snape is painted a 
few times as a greasy, ugly bully.  Voldemort is mentioned as a real 
meanie at the beginning.  Hummm, so assuming this is a regular 
children's book (as I did before The Man With Two Faces chapter)  I 
just take the bait and figure, sure, why not?  It must be Snape and 
he *is* Voldemort.  Forget how he came back, forget why he is 
masqurading as a potions teacher, forget how he shamed his way in, 
etc.  

So then I began to wonder, why on Earth this book hooked me?  The 
reason is actually pretty simple in my case.  The first half or more 
of the book is a beautiful, soaring sugar puff of a children's book.  
It is not Baby-Sitter's Club.  It is not Goosebumps.  It is smart and 
fun.  Diagon Alley and the Dursley's are almost written by Roald Dahl 
in their childlike fun, horror, and exageration. Downtrodden, yet 
noble, Harry is told he is, in fact a wizard.  And he is not just any 
wizard, he is a celebrity.  Wow, what a dream-fufillment plot.  Pure 
escapism for me.  I grew to know and love Harry, Ron, Hermione.  
(Dumbledore and Hagrid were getting to be personal friends as well.) 

So there I was coasting along, lapping up this wonderful treat, but 
not thinking much of the conclusion, mainly because I was lumping it 
into most adolecent literature.  I was not banking on any 
intelligence in the solving of the mystery.  Then, bang, it is 
Quirrel.  That was icing on the cake.  The plot twist just shocked 
and pleased me.  I mean, face it, we live in a world of sitcoms and 
TV drama.  Laugh at the punchline, please.  We know it was totally 
obvious and you said it before the actors did, but oblige us, won't 
you, because it all we're gonna offer you.  I was not expecting Harry 
Potter to be any differnt, but then it was and what a pleasant 
suprise.  And the fact that I kept expecting red herrings and 
misdirection with the next books and yet she still kept smacking me 
upside the head with the unexpected was exhilerating.

So, I think that is one of the reasons that PS/SS works, in a 
nutshell.  The biggest red herring it has going for it is that it is 
labeled "Childern's Fiction."

--Rachel