The Fundamental Message of the HP books? (was Re: Appeal of the story ...)

[va32h]

No: HPFGUIDX 175610

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Judy" <judy at ...> wrote:
*snipped everything but this*

Anyone feel like re-writing the ending to the book? :-)

va32h:

Yes, I do, and I am, Judy! Actually, I'm writing my own entire version, 
because, like you, I really cannot stomach the one that we've been 
given. 

I'll admit, I am one of the naughty people who read the leaked version 
online. And I spent at least 3 days insisting it was merely an 
elaborate fraud by someone who knew enough about Jo's world to put 
together a pastiche of her earlier books, but fundamentally 
misunderstood Jo's message. 

And then July 17 came, and I heard from HP fans in the UK who verified 
that it was real, and it turns out that the joke was on me - I was the 
one who had fundamentally misunderstood Jo's message. Or had assumed 
that their was a message. 

And I was furious. I thought she'd deceived us, and in some ways was 
mocking us. "Oh you stupid fans who pore over the books looking for 
alchemy and allusions and motifs and some great treatise on the nature 
of love. Get a life! They're just books and here I'm going to prove it 
by creating the most hackenyed, contrived book possible."

It reminded me of the skit on Saturday Night Live, when William Shatner 
attends an ST convention and finally explodes at the fans "Look at you, 
you're grown men, in costumes! Have you ever even kissed a girl!"

And I was mad at myself too. For wasting so many hours and so much 
energy on this....this....pile of word vomit. It was a very emotional 
period. 

I had promised my daughter and her best friend that I would take them 
to a midnight party; and I'd made these elaborate costumes, and I'd 
even let my daughter temporarily dye her hair red, as she was Ginny. 
(as an aside - I was the "coolest mom ever" that week, a title I shall 
cherish forever!") Well I couldn't bring myself to don my own Mrs. Figg 
costume, but I took the girls, and within ten minutes of arriving at 
our Barnes and Noble, I felt...healed. 

Our B&N did an amazing job. They must have had volunteers from a local 
fan group, because the detail and the care was just incredible. We all 
received Marauder's Maps detailing the activities. The store was 
transformed into various teachers' offices and other parts of Hogwarts 
and Diagon Alley. The crowd was huge, included all ages, and most in 
costume. I saw a resplendent Dumbledore, a *perfect* teen Snape, an 
older gentleman who must have been at least 70, dressed as the 
conductor of the Hogwart's Express and engaging in a lively 
conversation with a little girl in Gryffindor robes. "Trust Snape" 
and "Snape is a Bad Man" contigents staged debates throughout the store 
(and everyone politely ignored that it was the Borders promo materials 
they were using!). 

Oh it was wonderful. And my faith was restored. Not in JKR - but in us. 
We are the ones who made the magic, we fans, we readers. JKR built a 
wonderful house, but we are the ones who live in it. We are the ones 
who make it alive. 

Well I have re-read the book, and I am no longer angry about it. Still 
irritated, but that sense of outrage has faded away. There are parts 
that I actually quite like. The Forest Again, The Silver Doe. 

But I also firmly believe that JKR lost sight of her own series. Either 
it got away from her or she just became tired of it - but I don't 
believe that Deathly Hallows is a fitting end to the series. I don't 
believe it captures the spirit of Harry Potter as I have come to know 
it, and I don't care what JKR says about her series anymore. Her story 
is not just *her* story, she's shared it with us and it's ours now too. 

So, just for me, to give me peace of mind, I am writing my own personal 
version of Deathly Hallows. And to prove (to myself, I suppose) that it 
isn't about characters dying or pet theories not being right, I am not 
completely reimagining it. Everyone who died in the real DH with die in 
my version, and I will even keep the two theories I hated the most 
(LOLLIPOPS and Harrycrux). But I am going to fix what I think went 
terribly, terribly wrong. Sure, it will only happen inside *my* head, 
but why should that mean it is not real?

Anyway, if you are similiary unhappy with DH, I suggest you try writing 
your own version too. It's very cathartic. 

va32h