OK, what is missing from OoP and Thestrals

[ellejir]

No: HPFGUIDX 69068

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "darrin_burnett" 
<bard7696 at a...> wrote:
>" I'm re-reading GoF right now -- didn't get to it before OoP came 
out,  but got to the other three -- and I'm finally getting a grip on 
what is missing from OoP.
> Early set-ups leading to powerful twists."
> 
I know what you are talking about, but I wonder whether the change is 
a deliberate attempt by JKR to "break the formula".  Alot of the 
criticism of her books (much of which seems to have a real flavor of 
sour grapes, IMO) describes them as formulaic.  OoP definitedly does 
have a looser, more rambling feel to it, but since I love rambling 
around in JKR's world, I'm not complaining.  Instead of the "set-
up/zing" plot of the other books, we get alot more character 
development (angry, head-strong, adolescent Harry; cool, more 
confident Ginny; Ron finally coming into his own (loved him becoming 
a prefect!); James as a school bully (the latter for better or 
worse.))
Another common critical complaint about the books is that Harry has 
always been too much of a "blank slate", without much personality of 
his own.  In OoP, that is definitely not the case.  Although the 
change is a bit jarring at first, I think that his anger and 
frustration are believable in the context of what he has been through 
in the first 4 books.  Can't let Ron and Hermione have *all* the fits 
of bad temper in the series!      Elle