Not Writers Block After All---Was Re: Are we having fun?

[annemehr]

No: HPFGUIDX 80664

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "msbeadsley" <msbeadsley at y...>
wrote:
<snip> The first four books had a 
> lovely "flow" to them; reading them was effortless.  Even when bad 
> things happened to Harry, the narrative voice (not to be confused 
> with the viewpoint character's:  the point of view is Harry's; the 
> narrative voice is *the author's*) had a certain resilence to it that 
> reassured us; in OoP that seemed to me to be sadly lacking.[...]  
> I want to know that Harry feels punished and frustrated and feel him 
> feeling it, but I don't want it presented in a way that leads me to 
> internalize that, myself; life does enough of that in real life, 
> thank you.  IMO, a better written book would have communicated every 
> bit of what Harry was going through and left it Harry's without 
> making it mine[...]

Annemehr:
But, usually that's just the sign of a good book, that you can
internalize it, isn't it?  And you're not alone, I felt Harry's hurts
myself, too.  To tell the truth, I'm on my third (and much slower)
reading, and I keep tearing up -- for many of them, not just for Harry.

msbeadsley:
> Come to think of it, if it had that effect on me (as someone old 
> enough to be a grandmother): what happens when a fairly young child 
> ends up plunging happily into OoP, expecting that narrative buffer 
> between reader and viewpoint character, and ends up staring bleakly 
> into the void?  Should the fifth book come with a PG-13, or is that 
> element simply going to escape very young readers?

Annemehr:
Well, my 8yo seems to have only taken it as a series of interesting
events.  Not much different for my just-turned-11yo, either, as far as
I can tell (the 13yo is pretty close with a lot of her feelings).  In
fact, of my whole family (extended, too), I seem to be the one who
takes it the most to heart (much like many in this group -- that's why
I'm here).

Of course, it helps me that OoP just felt so *true* to me -- often
painful, certainly, but right.  Harry *had* to be affected by what's
happened to him.

It helps that I *think* this is his nadir; his dark night of the soul.
 It also helps that I want a book with evil in it to have
*consequences* to the evil.  People are damaged; yet they find they
still have reason to live.  This last point, even Harry has had the
chance to see through Neville, Susan Bones and Luna.  I hope that he
will find this is true also for himself.

I don't think I have been really reading these as "children's books"
since I finished PoA, even when I went back to the first two.


> Sandy aka "msbeadsley" who is considering using her soapbox as 
> kindling for a nice, warm bonfire

You want to hold on to that soapbox!  I'm looking forward to lots more
posts from you!

And Wanda, I have thought about it, and I may be having less fun (not
no fun) at this point, but I am still very intensely interested in the
story, and still thinking it's all worthwhile.  It's just that the
stakes have been raised -- it feels more serious.

Annemehr