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

[kiricat2001]

No: HPFGUIDX 66000

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Cindy C." <cindysphynx at c...> 
wrote:
> Cindy C. 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.  


> Someone else had written:

> >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.
> 

And, now Cindy's response:

> 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.  

I think Cindy raises some interesting issues.  While I haven't seen 
any overtly hostile reactions to people writing less-than-stellar 
reveiws on OoP here or elsewhere, I also admit I haven't read every 
single post.  One of the people on another list of which I'm a member 
made a very similar comment, in that it struck her that the reactions 
of some people to negative reviews seem to regard criticism of the 
book as almost heretical.  

It's similar to the way people will argue about characters.  I 
believe that as people read through the series, they will, for the 
most part, judge the characters as they have always judged them.  For 
instance, if you've always liked Sirius, you will cut him slack for 
the bullying scene in the Pensieve.  If you've never liked him, 
you'll jump and scream "AHA! I always knew he was a total bastard! 
See?  I was right all along!"  If you like him, you'll attribute part 
of his behavior or flaws in OoP as lingering residue from a long 
imprisonment.  If you've never liked him, you'll say, "Yeah, Azkaban 
was bad. But, get over it, already."

Canon, plus its interpretation, or some filling in of the blanks, can 
be given to suport either side of the discussion. For the most part, 
I think people tend to respect each other here, even if things start 
to get a little heated. But, I do find it disturbing that there is 
even a small group that may feel intimidated by the weight of the 
majority to the point that they hesitate to make their criticisms of 
the book known.  

Marianne