OOP: Give OoP a chance! (Was: I Didn't Care For OoP -- So Sue Me!)

[Cindy C.]

No: HPFGUIDX 65978

I wrote:

> In my case, I'm actually feeling a bit intimidated about saying 
>what I *really* think about OoP lest those who liked the book take 
 offense.  

Dicey asked:

 
> You're talking about me, aren't you?  Admit it.  


No, I really wasn't.  My remarks were based on an off-list I had with 
someone else who also didn't care for the book.  This person wrote a 
fine (but negative) review but is reluctant to post it here because 
those who did like the book might play a little rough.

There is some historical basis for being concerned about criticizing 
any of the books or characters on this list, though.  We've certainly 
had instances in the past where some members reacted rather 
defensively about criticism of their favorite characters.  Which is a 
shame, IMHO.


> Because the criticisms seem unfair to me.  

See, I don't understand how criticism can be "unfair."  Wouldn't it 
be strange for me to read someone's positive reaction to OoP and 
pronounce it "unfair?"  We all read a book.  Whether we like it or 
not will be a subjective thing.  So unless someone's criticism of the 
book is factually inaccurate, how can it be "unfair?"


>I loved OoP: I finished on
> Saturday evening, spent all day Sunday musing over it, and concluded
> that it was wonderful.  I thought its development of thematic 
>material was brilliant, and there were many memorable scenes.

I have to tell you that I really envy you.  

I desperately wanted to like OoP.  I had waited years to read it.  I 
want the series to be successful.  Yet by the middle, I had that 
tense, thin, forced smile on my face one gets when forced to mingle 
with people one doesn't like much.  ;-)  IMHO, the fact that someone 
like me who is heavily biased in favor of the book and wanted to like 
it can conclude that it was a disappointment suggests that maybe the 
problem was the book itself.  

Nevertheless, some people seem to have liked the book, or even loved 
it.  Fine by me.  I think it would be inappropriate of me to discount 
their satisfaction -- "Oh, you just like the book because you're a 
JKR groupie, so you'd like the alphabet if you thought JKR wrote 
it!" -- and attribute it to anything other than the simple fact that 
they liked the book.  

 
> But it seems like OoP is being judged against the wrong measuring
> stick.  Nobody likes it because it wasn't enough like the first 
>four.


That's not my criticism of OoP.  I didn't like it simply because it 
Wasn't A Very Good Book.  In fact, that has been my criticism of CoS, 
too.  GoF was very different from PoA, yet both were excellent and I 
liked them both quite a lot.  OoP was not excellent, IMHO.

>  It's an orange that is being criticized for not being an apple.  

No, it's an orange that is being criticized for being dry and 
sour.  ;-)

<snip JKR interview where she says she had to put some things in 
because of what is coming in 6 and 7>

It doesn't surprise me that in a series, the author must plant or 
foreshadow certain things in earlier installments so that they can be 
used later.

The issue, though, is whether the author manages to do this in a 
convincing way that blends in with the book or whether it sticks out 
like a sore thumb.  In the first four books, JKR did these things 
beautifully -- the mention of them was either very subtle or was 
integral to the plot in that book.  Sirius Black in PS/SS blended 
in.  Polyjuice blended in.  Nifflers blended in.

OoP was different, though.  Things just seemed to be stuck in there 
without any relation to the plot of OoP.  Examples abound, so I won't 
list them here.  But OoP would have been better, IMHO, had JKR worked 
harder to make these bits flow with the story.


>OoP is
> the way it is because books 5, 6, and 7 are three parts of one whole
> story arc.  Taken together, they will function as one huge book with
> all the cool stuff that was present in the first four books; you'll
> just have to read all three of them to get it.


Yes, but we don't know that, do we?  ;-)

Seriously, I think each book in a good series of books should be 
compelling and should stand on its own.  It is certainly possible to 
write a trilogy in which part 1 makes no sense, but it is certainly 
better in MHO to write part 1 as a first-rate stand-alone work.  If 
you have to explain away puzzling things or pointless scenes or 
underdeveloped characters by saying, "Wait 'til the next book!" then 
I think the author hasn't done her job as well as she could.  


> So IMO, if you say you didn't like OoP, you're saying that you 
>didn't want to read just the first part of a trilogy.  

No, I'm saying that I wanted to read a well-written, well-conceived 
first part of a trilogy that hangs together and is a pleasurable 
reading experience.  OoP didn't get there for me.


I wrote:

> Cindy -- who will try to force herself to read OoP again and will 
>try to take notes about exactly what went so very wrong
 
Dicey replied:

> Well, if you do that, you'll only reinforce your negative view of 
>it.  Why not try to read it with different eyes?  Try to see the 
>thematic impact of OoP in the context of the whole series.  

Oh, I will.

But at most, recognizing the thematic impact will only make me think 
that OoP had thematic impact.  It won't make me think the dialogue 
was better.  Or that the characters where developed.  Or that the 
climactic scene was exciting.


>If what OoP has to offer isn't your goblet
> of pumpkin juice, then it isn't.  No dishonor there.  
> 
> Just don't blame OoP.


But . . . what else should I blame if I didn't like OoP and thought 
it a middling book?  Surely it's not *my* fault that JKR wrote some 
lame dialogue and didn't develop the characters!  ;-)

Seriously, what is troubling me is that the starting point in this 
discussion is that OoP is wonderful, so those who don't like it have 
only themselves to blame.  "You just don't understand!" we are told.  
Oh, we understand plenty, believe me.  Personally, I think there's 
plenty of room to criticize OoP, and those who are doing so are being 
reasonable in sharing their disappointment.  

Cindy -- who hasn't even been able to bring herself to start reading 
the book over yet