Readers' response Was: Re: DD's dilemma + Owl post

[dumbledore11214]

No: HPFGUIDX 126393


Lupinlore: 
Personally, if she does not address these issues, or worse, provides 
some pat or off-the-cuff answer, I'll probably throw the books in the 
dumpster and regret having wasted my money.  That is just me, of 
course.  But it is a genuine expression of my feelings about the 
matter, which are not politically correct, or over-analyzing, or 
anything else.  They are just an expression of the jarring discord I 
feel with what I read and the author's stated intent.
  
Jen:
It *is* hard for me to understand the 'jarring discord' you 
feel from the characterization of Dumbledore and the situation with 
the Dursleys. But I won't try to change your mind! Like you said, 
you have a right to feel it and find the books somewhat diminished 
by it. There are possible scenarios which would mightily diminish 
the series for me, like ESE!Lupin. No matter how expertly Pippin 
argues this plot twist, I would not buy that JKR has prepared us for 
a twist such as that. 
<SNIP>
If JKR comes back to say, 'no, he actually *is* evil' I will feel 
duped and it will take some mighty acrobatics on my part to make 
peace with it. But I probably will go through the exercise.
 
 
 
Alla:

Hi, Jen! The funny thing is that I actually thought that I love OOP 
after I got over the initial shock and I think I owe it to the 
discussions on this list that I now love it MUCH less than I thought. 
Some of the posters here can be very convincing. No, I don't think 
that I hate it, but I do not enjoy the last book as much as I was 
thinking.
 
Going back to your earlier points - yes, just as Lupinlore says I 
want much better explanation, although I don't think that I feel as 
strongly as he does about throwing the books away, if no explanation 
will be given. After all, no matter how much we discuss the first 
four books, it did not make me enjoy ANY of them any less.
 
Oh, and yes about ESE!Lupin. :o) JKR wished him a Happy Birthday, so 
it makes me even more confident that he is not. :)
 
Jen: 
That's exactly where the emotional connection is, Ginger. The 
Escape. And even better was Harry's deep desire to find another life 
via the unknown man on the motorcycle who appears in his dreams. 
Heart-wrenching. And the dreams came TRUE. That's what I love. That 
Hagrid appeared one day, and Harry had the guts & the desire to 
ditch it all for a life he knows nothing about, but one he's 
*certain* will be better than the Dursleys. As he says in the 
celluloid version of POA: "Anywhere is better than here." Amen, 
brother. 
 
 
Alla:
 
Oh, of course. No matter how much I want to slap Dursleys, I don't 
want them out of the story. I do agree with you that emotional moment 
of escape would not have played out as strongly as if Dursleys were 
nice, BUT that was when story was much more rooted  in fairy tale and 
I would not have Harry of PS/SS to be any other way.
 
But when I read about Harry at the end of OOP, who tries to tell 
Dumbledore that "she never loved me" and Dumbledore shuts him up in 
the middle of the sentence, THAT Harry is not rooted in fairy tale as 
much as he used to be ( for me anyway). I see a portrayal of hurt 
child, who is a realistic enough to demand answers and hopefully 
receive satisfactory answers. 
 
Am I being confusing?
 
JMO,
 
Alla.