OOP: Give OoP a chance! Same Song, Different Words

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 66635

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Dicentra spectabilis"
<dicentra at x> wrote:
> ...edited...
> 
> OoP is not self-contained.  ...  OoP is the way it is because books 
> 5, 6, and 7 are three parts of one whole story arc.  
> 
> ...edited...
> 
> Just don't blame OoP.
> 
> --Dicentra

bboy_mn:

I guess I could title this post "Singing the Same Song But with
Different Words".

As I read Dicentra's excellent analysis of OOP, which I whole
heartedly agree with, a few thoughts came to me, which really are just
a different way of saying what she already said.

In a sense, we have a SEVEN volume book comprised of TWO chapters.
Chapter One is 'Harry and the Wizard World', and Chapter Two is 'Harry
and Voldemort'. OOP represents the first few paragraphs of chapter two.

In chapter one, which is comprised of volumes 1 through 4, Harry is
entering the quaint wizard world and seeing all it's wonder, but all
through chapter one (vol 1 - 4 in my 'chapter' analogy), the focus is
narrowing until at the end (vol GoF) it narrows to a razor sharp pin
point, and that 'pin point' is Voldemort.

Now we really have started a whole new story. The wizaard world has
expanded from the enchantingly quaint Diagon Alley, Hogwarts, The
Burrow, and Hogsmeade, to a world much larger and far less child-like;
the Ministy, the hospital, wizard's homes. We see wizards spread
through the whole of London and probably the whole of Britain. Common
muggle streets, just like your street, where wizards live in secret.
To some extent this tells us that magic is all  around us, permeating
our everyday lives, and like everyday life, that magic is good and bad.

Deviating slightly from my chapter analogy, by reading OOP, we have
read the first few chapters of an exciting captivating book, then put
it down and wonder why we felt unsatisfied. Why? Because we didn't
read it all.

I was satisfied with OoP, but at the same time I confess, other books
in the series moved me more. Book 1 was endearing, book 3 was
suspenseful, book 4 was moving, and book 2 while very enjoyable and
satisfying, didn't move me as much as the others. Book 5 is in
between, but I reserve full judgement until I have the whole story in
front of me. Sadly, that is probably 3 years away. 

I know what I've said isn't anything new, but I think it is important
that we realize that book 5 is really the beginning of a whole new story.

Just a thought.

bboy_mn