Are we having fun NOW? How about NOW?

[msbeadsley]

No: HPFGUIDX 80668

Wanda wrote:
> >
> > Having fun?  Are WE having fun anymore?  Speaking for myself, I 
> > have to say no.  For me, the fun died on June 21, when OotP was 
> > released.  And so much of the discussion of that book, and 
> > speculation of what it will lead to, make me think that very few 
> > readers are having fun anymore. >>>

Yoda wrote:
> I loved OotP, I think that the dark tone was very appropriate.  
> When I was trying to contemplate what might happen after reading 
> GOF, I remember thinking that the next book would have to be darker 
> and Harry would probably be changed significantly by the the events 
> in GOF, and I hoped that JKR would be up to the task of writing it 
> that way.  I'm in the same mind as people who feel that the first 
> two books are in no way on the same level with the later books.  To 
> be fair they are better than a lot of other books, but it's kind of 
> like re-reading Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles, Interview with the 
> Vampire is the book you have to get through to get to the good 
> stuff.  

Me:  
That's interesting.  I wonder if there's a general correlation, with 
people who really liked OoP thinking of PS/SS and CoS as just sort of 
background. Comments?

And I've read most of Rice's vampire stories and still love 
Interview. I retain a great fondness for both Interview and PS/SS as 
the introductory volumes in well-crafted, absorbing fantasy worlds.  
I also like Louis as he starts out in Rice's saga, as well as having 
been utterly charmed by the degree of whimsy in the first two HP 
books.

Yoda:
> I hope that I am responding to what you really meant to say, when I 
> say that I think that the level of empathy inspired by OotP shows 
> what a good writer JKR is.  I think that the best books are the 
> ones that suck you in and cause you to live the events along with 
> the characters.

Me:
I actually found myself getting thrown *out* of the story by the 
appalling things happening to Harry.  When I thought about it, what 
occurred to me was that something I hadn't even been aware of before 
was missing: that very subtly sympathetic tone in the narrative voice 
which had lulled my subconscious into a continued suspension of 
disbelief. I had to claw my way back into the story repeatedly.

Empathy is one thing. This felt like having an injured friend try to 
bloody my nose and break my collarbone so I'd truly understand what 
he was going through.

Yoda:
> Harry went through a very tramatic experience and then came back to 
> find that the general public did not believe him.  He has had his 
> sense of security taken from him after being spirited away from 
> Hogwarts and betrayed by someone he trusted (fake Moody).  So it 
> makes sense that if we are to appreciate what he is going through 
> our sense of security will be removed too.

Me:
Harry was absolutely entitled to be hurt, angry, frightened, 
frustrated, disillusioned, and insecure. I really *wanted* to have 
empathy for him. It just didn't work for me; IMO, it was so over the 
top that I was busy having my *own* reactions to what was happening 
to him that how *he* felt...well, how *did* he feel?  Perhaps I need 
to force myself to read it through continuously a third time. :-)  
The narrative voice wasn't there reassuring me that the *author* 
cared; something I wouldn't even have known was *there* if I hadn't 
missed it so much in Book 5.  I think JKR got too busy setting the 
stage for the next two books in the series and left Harry, and us, 
twisting in the wind.  Just IMO, of course.  Or maybe JKR withdrew 
from Harry along with Dumbledore?  It's something else that's 
occurred to me.  (Since I can't chalk it up to writer's block; dang, 
and I was *so* fond of that theory.)

Yoda:
> I was so impressed with OotP because of the character development 
> involved, and finding out what a cool person Ginny really is, and 
> the fact that it reads like a well written novel, I like it because 
> you can't speed through it.  

Me:
I'm sorry, but I'm confused.  "Reads like a well written novel" 
and "you can't speed through it" don't necessarily jibe, IMO. Isn't a 
truly well written novel one you can read at whatever pace suits 
you?  With your speed merely determining the level of detail you 
catch?  Although the character development is, IMO, one major saving 
grace in the book.

All in all, I feel somewhat as if OoP was a mostly unpleasant, large 
expository *lump* which had good bits, mostly concerning characters, 
labeled "insert comic relief here" or "insert ray of hope there."

Sandy, aka "msbeadsley" really wishing for a wand and two minutes 
alone with "She Who Must Be AK'd"