OOP: Disappointing AND Excellent

[Phyllis]

No: HPFGUIDX 66441

Debbie (elfundeb) wrote:

> I found myself initially disappointed with OOP. Oddly, one of my 
> sources of dissatisfaction was the number of things I'd predicted 
> correctly, which took away any sense of excitement at the unfolding 
> of events. 

Oh, I agree completely. I read the first four books before I joined 
HPfGU and started analyzing and theorizing, and I was wondering 
whether I inadvertently denied myself the pleasure of discovery in 
OoP by working a lot of the plot points out ahead of time. Oh, 
well...

Debbie:

> I feel comfortable, though, that this ending will not be repeated; 
> the parallels between the ending of each book and the 
> correspondingly numbered obstacle to the philosopher's stone seemed 
> more apparent than ever this time around. 

Great idea - I've never made that connection before!

Debbie:

> I didn't find the darkness of OOP disturbing. In fact, I thought 
> GoF was a darker book in many ways. 

Once again, I completely agree, and am at a loss to explain why OoP 
is being referred to so often in the media as a darker book. IMO, 
what made GoF a darker book was the extent of our exposure to 
Voldemort, the lengths he went to do obtain Harry's blood for his 
recorporation potion and how close to death Harry was in the 
graveyard. Voldemort only makes a brief appearance at the end of OoP 
and Harry is hit with the AK out of nowhere - there was not as much 
Harry-Voldemort lead-up like there was in GoF to get our hearts 
racing.

~Phyllis