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

[nb100uk]

No: HPFGUIDX 66036

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "kiricat2001" <Zarleycat at a...> 
wrote:
> --- 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

I think the other part of this is that we've waited SO DAMN LONG for 
the book that we were close to expecting OoP to be The Greatest Book 
Ever Written.  

I personally loved it, have now read it twice and am completely happy 
with the story and more importantly JKR's writing (which seems to 
have come in for a great deal of criticism).

Many people (especially HPfGU list members!) have spent 3 years 
dissecting every word of GoF and formulating their theories and hopes 
for this book.  I think the disappointment comes, in part, from not 
having all our questions answered in one fail swoop.

Give yourselves a chance, read the book as though you weren't 
expecting ANYTHING to happen and you'll love it all over again - I 
promise!

Nina