What's fun about the HPs? (was: Request for new topics)

[gelite67]

No: HPFGUIDX 152503

> > Siriusly Snapey Susan wrote: 
> > Am I truly in a small minority of people who still really LIKES 
the 
> > Potterverse? still guffaws at some of JKR's clever turns of 
phrase? 
> > still marvels at her creativity? still shakes her head that this 
> > writer can have us arguing after SIX books about whether a 
character 
> > is evil, good, neither or both? 
> > 
> > Am I in a small minority of people who still actually LIKES Harry 
> > himself? 

<Snip>
> bboyminn responded: 
> 
<snip>
Certainly, I like the jokes and the quirks, but what
> really makes me laugh out loud is recognising life. When I read
> something and I get that 'Oooh, I know just what you mean. Been 
there,
> done that.' feeling.
> 
 <snip?
> 
> So, yes, I get the joke, I see the comedy, but what really gets me 
are
> those 'everyday, every life' moments of self-recognition.
> 
> Just passing it along.
> 
Angie here: 

First, I'm in shock to think it is only a minority that still likes 
the series and still likes Harry....

Second, I still marvel at JKR can keep my interest, but she has 
mastered the art of keeping us guessing, hasn't she? I can usually 
see something coming a mile away in ordinary books, but the only 
thing I've been able to figure out so far in this series is the 
Harry/Ginny relationship. (I absolutely loved the way she used the 
love potion to reveal to the careful reader that Harry was finally 
going to realize his feelings for Ginny, even before Harry knew it - 
now that was clever!). 

I suppose JKR's true genius will be revealed in Book 7,in the manner 
in which she ties (some of) the loose ends together.  I mean, yeah, I 
wanna know whether Snape is good or evil, but I'm equally looking 
forward to finding out how she reveals that to us.

This series resonates with me because JKR so ably shows that emotions 
are universal, whether experienced in the WW or the Muggle world.  
The best way I've heard the series described is that it is about the 
relationships between people who happen to do magic or who happen to 
be wizards, something like that. Let me say it again:  It's about the 
relationships, not the magic.  The magic is simply a very clever 
foundation on which those relationships are established.

Third, for me, it is precisely those "everyday, every life moments of 
self recognition" (wonderful, Steve) with which JKR depicts the WW 
that makes me laugh out loud (very few authors or even movies do 
that), groan with angst, or feel exhultant.  In other words, it's 
because we relate to those moments that they have such meaning, that 
they make us laugh or make us remember.  That sounds almost 
redundant, but it's true:  we couldn't appreciate those moments if we 
didn't recognize them and relate to them.

If we are the character's ages, we can relate b/c we're either going 
thru what they are now (or have recently) or know someone who has.  
Adults can relate to the adult characters as well as the younger ones 
b/c we've been through those awkward teenage years.  

Fourth, I still like Harry, mostly because he's not perfect.  He's 
insecure, prideful, temperamental and a lot of other things that we 
would be if we were in his shoes.  But you know that he's going to 
try and do the right thing.  Not because he has to, but because he 
chooses to -- because it's the right thing.  I think a lot of so-
called adults could learn from Harry in that respect, myself 
included.