OOtP A tad disappointed (spoilage)

[shihtouji]

No: HPFGUIDX 64351

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Matthew Huston" 
<matthisattva at y...> wrote:
> To the victor goes the spoilers..
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> I finished reading OOtP and have to say that I was kind of
> disappointed in it. After a spectacular finish with GoF, I was
> thinking to my self: "Self," I was heard to say, "With everything
> we've heard, it's got to be great..."
> 
> Alas, no. Don't get me wrong the book was well written. It kept me
> reading until the last page, though that may have been to get to the
> who's-gonna-die part. I just came away empty. Part of the reason is
> the predictability of the plot, I think. It was was pretty easy to
> foretell that Umbridge had sent the Dementors after Harry about the
> time the detention part rolled around.
> 
> What bugged me the most, however was what I call the Sitcom Syndrom!
> (insert dramatic cresendo here)
> 
> Everything must be as it was at the beginning. Every sitcom starts 
as
> it always does, and ends up back with the characters *pretty much*
> back to their original pole positions at the end. I get the whole
> 'ancient protection thing' ...blah blah, but it is wearing thin, in 
my
> opinion.
> 
> I started where every good reader does, at the beginning, and was
> accepting that Harry was unhappily on Privet Drive once again, but
> when the Dementors attacked he and Big D, I was very interested. No
> such dangers had ever been so close to "home" before. Then came the
> owls delivering notes. And lo harry was expelled! To tell you all 
the
> truth, my heart lept with excitement. I hought the story was really
> going to take a facinating turn! Herry out of Hogwarts...into the
> world. Then when the Auror Advanced Guard showed up to whisk Harry
> away I was well and truely thrilled. At last! Cool characters that 
are
> real, battle hardened Aurors, here totake Harry into their world,
> teach him to channel his teen angst into a power beyond all measure!
> (insert another dramatic cresendo here)
> 
> No. Just a short visit (albeit neat-o) to the Ministry, and the new 
hq
> of the OOtP. Then it's back to Hogwarts. Oh yippy. More hatred 
towards
> Malfoy...and Snape...and pretty much anyone who crossed his path. 
Then
> at the end, when it's all said and done, we come full circle. Does
> Harry get to go with people like himself? People who can teach him,
> understand him, take him to a wizard psychologist foor his anger
> managment issues? NO!
> 
> Back to Privet Drive, so he can stew in his own emotions, dwell on
> death, and never leave the house because he might be killed.
> 
> Not only this, but other Sitcom Syndrom effects abound. The biggest 
is
> Snape. We really got to see Harry given some new info concerning the
> potions professor. Info that shoulda made Harry understand the man
> better. For a few pages it look like Harry might had a mental 
process
> worth saving...he was almost-sorta-maybe seeing it from Snape's 
side.
> Then of course, we MUST go back to him simply reviling Snape. 
Despite
> the perfectly sound explaination from Dumbledore about why Snape 
acted
> (all in Harry's extreme best intrests, to boot) the way he did, 
Harry
> has to go back to hating Snape.
> 
> I had such high hopes, that we would break out of the mold here. 
Then
> I realized that we're supposed to be seeing 7 years of wizard
> schooling. I had just hoped that the story would grow to be more.
> 
> Matthew Huston

Couldn't agree more with this.  I was hoping we would see more of the 
Order itself--once back at Hogwarts, the Order seems to be 
forgotten.  Dumbledore's Army was a nice touch, and suggested a 
comparable resistance movement within Hogwarts mirroring the 
resistance movement without, but JKR is bound by her own limitations: 
once back at Hogwarts, away from the centre of the action, she can't 
develop her new characters as well as she should.  We still have two 
books to go--I'd like to see Harry break out of his confined world 
somewhat at get more involved in the wider world.  I suspect JKR 
would, too, and that's why these books are getting so long: she's 
trying to write two (even three?) novels in one.

As for Snape: to be a little fair to JKR--maybe it's important only 
that readers understand Snape better, even if Harry misses it.  After 
all, he's a bit dim when it comes to understanding other people, as 
are most fifteen-year-olds.  I'm sure every adult reader could see 
his blunders with Cho a mile off, and squirm with remembrance at what 
it's like to botch your first real date.  Even after Hermione spells 
it out for him, Harry doesn't really get it.  Why should he?  It's 
just one more irritation for him in book filled with irritations.  
Ditto Snape.  Yes, he learns that his father was a jerk, and that 
Snape was right all along.  Yes, he should understand Snape's rage at 
Harry's looking in the pensieve, but he doesn't.  I'd be surprised if 
he did.  Harry may have a lot of good qualities, but his sensitivity 
to others is pretty hit-and-miss.  He'll learn.  If he lives.

Red Inkstone