Umbridge, detention, scars, and plotlines, oh my!.

[lupinlore]

No: HPFGUIDX 125869


--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "horridporrid03"
<horridporrid03 at y...> wrote:
> 
<SNIP>

> 
> Betsy:
> I'm curious as to where this fear comes from, Lupinlore.  I've seen 
> you raise this issue before, but I don't recall any examples being 
> given of where JKR has failed to fully address Harry's emotional 
> state in relation to the trials he's gone through.  
> 
> To my mind, JKR hasn't swept anything under the rug.  Harry was 
> haunted by Cedric's death throughout OotP.  His disgust with the 
> Dursleys rose to such a pitch he was ready to openly cut all ties 
> with them and leave.  Harry hasn't blown off the treatment he's 
> received from Snape, and part of his hostility towards Umbridge was 
> shaped by his being tricked by Crouch!Moody.
> 
> I *do* think Harry and Dumbledore will reach a mutual agreement that 
> allows them to work together (especially since the new covers came 
> out) but I think this will *only* occur because Dumbledore will be 
> completely honest with Harry, as he promised to be at the end of 
> OotP.  But I don't think this means Harry will easily forgive all 
> the adults around him.  And I don't think this means that his 
> relationship with Dumbledore will be the same as it was in PS/SS.
> 
> JKR hasn't taken the easy route before.  Why would she do it now?
> 
> Betsy

Well, I certainly hope you are correct, Betsy.  And perhaps I am
rather pessimistic because after waiting three years post-GoF I found
OOTP to be a sloppy, half-baked mess that badly needed another six
months of work followed by about three heavy sessions with the editor.
 But I suppose everybody is allowed one mess-up.  Harry is allowed his
mess-up year and JKR should be allowed her mess-up book.

I'm also pessimistic because I've seen many series start out very
strong and then descend into rambling, inconsistent, self-indulgent
shambles.  I call it a bad case of NOLOSAS (No Longer a Starving
Artist Syndrome).  Steven King's Dark Tower began with three wonderful
books followed by a so-so book finishing with three intolerably
self-absorbed, 800 page tomes of self-referential drek.  The Wheel of
Time had three good books before descending into an interminable seven
volume marsh of inpenetrable and inconsistent plot twists.  The Sword
of Truth had a couple of good books then went off the edge in a like
way.  I hope that JKR recovers, but OOTP was too similar to the "off
the precipice" books of other series for me to have a great deal of
confidence.

One good sign is the length of the book (HBP that is).  At 200 pages
shorter than OOTP it is still a long book but one hopes better
planned, more tightly plotted, and more thoroughly thought out.

Fingers crossed.


Lupinlore