[HPforGrownups] Re: What JKR Finds Important (previously Kids and Grownups)

[Kethryn]

No: HPFGUIDX 115935

<snipped out Lupinlore>

>>Ilana:

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I'm not certain if personal experiences of reading the book are off topic or not--I haven't seen too much of it come up--but I'd be interested to hear if others had the same impression of OOP as I did.  It seems to me that JKR included a lot more moodiness (outbursts of anger, suppressed rage, and worry) for Harry in the final book than we saw in the previous books.  It was almost melodramatic--too much--reminding me of something like Raskolnikov in Crime and Punishment (not to imply similarity of guilt or character, but of authorial technique.)  My question is do you feel this was a device to create distance between the reader and Harry, rather than to continue and sustain unwavering empathy?  Did anyone out there feel claustrophobic reading OOP--like JKR was pushing Harry's view to the point that you couldn't see the story unfold clearly?

Thanks for your insights!

Ilana     
 
Kethryn now -

In answer to your question, I don't think that claustraphobic is quite the word I would choose.  Rather, OotP reminds me, no matter how much I would rather not remember, of when I was 15.  At 15, I was moody, irritable, persecuted, and, oh yeah, kept in the dark and fed a lot of ...you know.  Of course, most of my being "kept in the dark" was because I had my nose stuffed so far into a book, the world could have ended I wouldn't have noticed.  So taking my experiences and wrapping them back into OotP, I was able to see the story unfolding clearly from Harry's point of view (and from his emotions).  Very powerful stuff there.  I just don't think JKR gets enough credit for being able to transport her readers like that...I read a heck of a lot and HP (and a very select few other books) has the power to transport me so quickly and so absolutly to another world, it takes days for me to come back to myself.  And, even when I do come back to myself, I am still at Hogwarts.

Kethryn who feels really really sorry for the people who can't love HP like she does.

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