What's fun about the HPs?

[horridporrid03]

No: HPFGUIDX 152459

> >>Magpie:
> <snip>
> Personally, I've never much longed to spend time in the WW         
> either. The books never captured my imagination in terms of my    
> just loving them and wanting to read them over and over etc.  I    
> was just drawn to the fandom because I felt compelled to talk     
> about them.  I think Elkins has put this better, but basically    
> it's the conflict I constantly feel about the books that makes me 
> need to talk about them and work them out.  I like doing that.

Betsy Hp:
I'm not a big fan of the Wizarding World either.  No works of 
fiction, no plays, little music, constant fear of exposure, and 
*very* uncomfortable modes of travel all add up to a big "no thanks" 
on my end.  Which is weird, because usually in books of this sort I 
*long* to drop down the rabbit hole.  But the WW does the 
astonishing and makes me quite pleased to be a Muggle.  

And another thing that I find odd: Generally I'm not a fan of books 
that force a certain morality down the reader's throat.  And yet, I 
find myself chafing at what I see as a lack of expressed morality in 
these books.  I don't want the heroes to be goody-two-shoes, but I'm 
bothered by what the "good guys" are able to do without blinking an 
eye. (Hermione's face branding is a rather large example of that for 
me.  I lost most, if not all, of my respect for her as a character 
because of her not even commenting on that.)

Have the books soured on me a bit?  They have.  At least, I'm not as 
fond of the "good guys" as I used to be.  I wouldn't want to hang 
out with them, and quite a few I'd actively avoid.  I still like 
Harry, but his darkness has always been a part of his character, and 
he seems to at least acknowledge when he goes too far.

This may be part of the story-telling craft, showing us the good 
guys at their worst, the whole darkest before the dawn, thing.  And 
book 7 may turn it all around for me.  I *was* thrilled with how JKR 
handled Draco.  So, despite JKR's very off-putting (IMO) interviews 
and articles, I still have hope that the series will end well.

Betsy Hp (eyeing the "sexy Snape" red flag, SSSusan waved, and 
contemplating going there <g>)