A Sense of Betrayal

[horridporrid03]

No: HPFGUIDX 172472

 >>CJE Culver:
> <snip> 
> As to HP7 specifically, I didn't find the whole Deathly Hallows 
> storyline worked particularly well. I understand what JKR was      
> trying to do, but in the end, I just didn't feel it integrated well 
> into the overall narrative.
> <snip>

Betsy Hp:
Oh my gosh, I totally agree.  We heard not hair nor hide about the 
Hallows in any of the previous books and suddenly JKR decides that 
what this great McGuffin hunt needs is... three more McGuffins.  The 
hell?  

And then to have to get through those agonizingly boring moments 
where Harry hems and haws over which McGuffin to go after... blech.  

I suppose they were invented to help Harry's decision to commit 
suicide that much easier?  What with the siren call of his beloved 
dead surrounding him.  (And yeah, *that* was another uncomfortable 
scene for me.  I actually had a "think of the children!" moment.  I 
never like it when authors force me onto a moral high horse. <eg>)

> >>CJE Culver:
> While JKR has an incontrovertible gift for story-telling,          
> unfortunately, too often her creaky prose distracted.
> <snip>
> This was particularly apparent while reading the climatic battle in 
> HP7; rather than being able to fully enjoy the story, a part of me 
> was distracted by the unpolished prose.
> <snip>

Betsy Hp:
Again I agree.  JKR's never been what I'd call a graceful writer.  
Though I'll actually take issue with JKR having an "incontrovertible 
gift for story-telling".  This last story was such a mangled mess of 
rambling plots and jerky characterizations that I think her overall 
story gets lost.  

(Honestly, I think she lost hold of the story way back in the first 
few books and this was a last gasp attempt to pull everything back on 
track.  Which ends, as those sort of things are wont to do, in a 
train wreck.) 

No, I must be fair, she does have some talent.  It was not well 
harnessed.  I'm not sure that the sudden fame and fortune did her any 
good.  I think a strong editor who wasn't too focused on the buckets 
of cash coming in may have helped shape JKR.  Instead I'm afraid her 
talent has been spoiled.

But yes, the battle scenes.  Lord, spare me badly written battle 
scenes.  Goodness, even Harry forgot what he was supposed to be doing 
for a while there.

> >>CJE Culver:
> <snip>  
> And, finally, the near deal-breaker:
> 
> Moral Inconsistency

Betsy Hp:
Hee!  I'd only argue "near".

> >>CJE Culver:
> "But I thought they were bad?"
> 
> My 11-year-old actually asked me this as we read HP7 together, and 
> I had no answer except to say I thought JKR was wrong.
>
> He was referring to the Unforgivable Curses.
> <snip>

Betsy Hp:
That encapsulates everything, doesn't it?  Turns out this wasn't a 
battle between good and evil.  It was between bad and worse.  And 
yeah, Voldemort was definitely the more brutal of the two.  But in 
their subtle evil, the "good" guys may be even more dangerous.

They aren't good by their actions.  They use the same methods their 
enemies use.  They aren't good by their endgame.  The WW is left 
exactly as it was when Harry is first introduced to it.  The only 
thing missing is the immediate threat of Voldemort.  But the constant 
pressure of hiding themselves from the Muggles, the quartering of 
their people into good, okay, questionable, and bad (as illustrated 
by Hogwarts) remains.

So yeah, I had a similar question as your son's.  Only mine was 
directed to Harry and company.  "I thought they were good?"

> >>CJE Culver:
> All of which, in light of the moral discussions I had had with my   
> son, left me feeling a bit (well, more than a bit) betrayed.

Betsy Hp:
Betrayed is a good word.  Actually, I feel like a massive fool.  
Jesus, I wasted a lot of time in this brutal, dark, and mean-spirited 
world.

Betsy Hp