Did anyone else feel let down by OOP?

[Dicentra spectabilis]

No: HPFGUIDX 64091

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "ron_wizardchess_weasley"
<RonWeasley_is at m...> wrote:
> I was just not impressed by OOP the way I was by the first four 
> books. Maybe it was the lack of sleep between going to work and 
> trying to stay up late when I got home to read it but... I was 
> finding that eventually the only reason I kept turning the pages was 
> to find out who died. In fact the only part of the book that I did 
> really enjoy was Neville. The way that he is finally starting to show 
> his true potential is a long time a comin'. Overall I felt let down 
> and disappointed. Did anyone else feel the same way? Let me know.

I'll just pipe in here and say that I absolutely loved OoP, and for
many of the reasons that people cite as the let-down.  I loved that
OoP was totally different from the others: no big plot twist at the
end, no sudden revelation, no Hardy Boys mystery, no sweet innocent
Harry.  It's about time he gets pissed for what he's been through.

Yeah, I was turning the pages to see who died, too, but I've also
spent 18 months on this list speculating about what will happen or
what we'll find out about whom.  And as fun as those theories were,
I've hoped that none of our predictions would be correct.  And none of
them were (except for the easy ones such as Prefect!Hermione, Harry
Gets Kissed, and MWPP Bullied Snape).

I thought the end sequence was extremely suspenseful, I was thrilled
to get Sirius's backstory, I loved seeing the twins' gift for mayhem
become a good thing, I thought that Too Much Umbridge was exactly the
point: she was an oppresive presence.  It doesn't work if she's not in
our faces 24x7.  

As for the length, I suppose you could argue that stuff could be cut,
but now that the series is more theme- than plot-driven, being tightly
written is less important than taking the tortuous journey through
Harry's mind and the politics of the WW.  Harry's growing up; life is
more complicated.  It's only logical that the books become complicated
too.

I think I would have been disappointed if OoP had stuck to the
formula: start on Harry's birthday, Something Significant happens
during the Halloween feast, red herrings aplenty, wry little asides by
the narrator, Big Plot Twist at the end wherein someone's true colors
are revealed.  She's done it four times already.  I'd rather have her
depart from the formula than do it over and over and over.

As for the lack of humor, that's exactly the point.  Voldemort's back,
and That's Not Funny.  She told us she was going to show us what Evil
is, and you can't do that and wink at the reader at the same time.  

As much as I loved and adored the innocence and wonder of the earlier
books, that innocence serves to contrast with the darkness into which
the series is descending.  

My biggest disappointment was that Harry's kiss took place offscreen.
I was looking forward to experiencing it with him.  And I was kind of
let down by the Everything that Dumbledore revealed, but now that I
think about it, it's not as big a letdown: we all knew that
Voldemort's obsession with Harry would make it so that either Harry or
he died--it's a literary imperative; otherwise, why tell Harry's story
if he's not going to defeat Voldemort--but Harry didn't know.  The
weight of knowing that his life will end in murder one way or another
is really going to mess with his head.  Making the literary imperative
part of the reality of the Potterverse isn't something we banked on.

At any rate, many reviewers have been calling it The Empire Strikes
Back of the series.  I have to agree.

--Dicentra, who is enjoying the second read, too