Defend OOTP against my horribly Muggle mind!

[quigonginger]

No: HPFGUIDX 76429

In message 76343 Golly wrote of disappointment in OoP.  For brevity's 
sake, I am snipping.

Allow me to go OT for a moment and draw a lesson from one of my 
favourite works of literature.  In Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Suess, 
the moral is that giving in to peer pressure is good, even when one 
is pressured to partake in something that is so unnatural that common 
sense would dictate that it would be harmful.

Of course, I am being facetious.  My point is that what makes 
literature great to one person is not necessarily that for which 
another is looking. As you can see on the list, the same sentance may 
be interpreted differently by many different people.

The thing I like most about JKR seems to be that which you like 
least.  I adore her almost conversational style of writing.  I have 
tried reading Tolkien.  I read the Hobbit and got lost several 
times.  I finally gave up.  This in no way means that JRRT is a bad 
writer, it just means that he is above my level of understanding.  My 
cousins are LOTR fans, and as they are highly intelligent people, I 
respect JRRT as an author.  I have the same trouble with a lot of 
adult literature.  Heck, I got lost in GoF and had to go back and 
reread the Graveyard scene over and over.

My favourite books have always been the Chronicles of Narnia, the 
Trixie Belden mysteries, Roald Dahl, and numerous other "children's 
books".
  
I am not a complete idiot.  I graduated from college with honours.  I 
can get through a text book, but for some reason, I can't get through 
literature unless it is written as if someone were speaking it to 
me.  I honestly hadn't read a real book for years until I fell in 
love with HP.

I love her unusual descriptions like a "Hedwig-free sky".  They amuse 
me.  She is funny and clever.  I love the way she respects the 
variety of her audience by being vague with language or ideas that 
may not be suitable for the very young or tolerable to the very old.  
She lets the readers read at their own comfort level.  Exactly what 
did Ron tell Draco to do that Harry was sure he would have never said 
in front of Mrs. Weasley?  It could be anything from "stick it in 
your ear" to the very young, to "go **** yourself" to those with more 
mature minds and vulgar vocabularies.

I guess, in a nutshell, I'm glad she has the style she has or I'd 
still be struggling through CoS.

You had mentioned that the themes of racism and abolition of elves 
had only been brushed.  I agree with that completely.  I am, however, 
holding back judgement until the series is finished.  We don't know 
yet how these may play out.  They may be cards she is holding for a 
very big BANG.

In rereading OoP, I found myself less distracted by the differences 
between this and the first four.  The first time through, it was 
jarring.  It was not at all what I expected.  Now that I have read 
and reread (and reread...) I have had time for it to digest, and I 
like it much better.  I am not saying it will be the same for you.  
It is possible that the qualities you seek in literature are not in 
this book, and it will always be just a stepping stone between four 
and six.  

Ginger, who has respect for those who listen to their own heads and 
have the courage to post that with which they know others may not 
agree.  May we all be allowed our own opinions, and may we all allow 
others to do the same.