Harry Potter and the Endless Camping Trip (a new perspective)

[va32h]

No: HPFGUIDX 173281

I've seen many complaints about the Worst Camping Trip Ever! (on this 
and other forums) and while I can't disagree that those parts were 
boring, I wonder if there was a reason for them to be boring?

My husband has been in the military his entire adult life, and had 
several tours overseas to various...ah...arenas of conflict shall we 
say. 

Many of his letters home talked about the endless frustration of 
being encamped. Not knowing exactly what was going on, constantly 
anticipating an attack, soldiers tend to be anxious, irritable and 
foul-tempered. According to my husband, the chief way to relieve 
boredom is to pick fights with each other. (The second most popular 
way to relieve boredom, according to him, is indiscriminate sexual 
activity).

Anyway, after reading DH and many of the comments about the excessive 
camping scenes, I talked to him about it, and he agreed that it was a 
fair thematic representation of that aspect of war. The tendency 
toward risky behavior is also accurate - after a few weeks or even 
months of patrolling, loading and unloading equipment, setting up and 
tearing down camp, getting shot at is a welcome break in the 
monotony. Soliders would actually volunteer for dangerous missions 
because they'd rather be doing something dangerous than nothing at 
all. 

I don't know if JKR intended to make a comparison between the trio's 
situation and that of a solider, but it is there. 

I also think that all the camping scenes allow us to really feel the 
frustration that the trio are experiencing. They don't know where 
they are going or what they are doing - we don't know where JKR is 
going with her narrative. Hermione and Ron are disappointed in Harry, 
they thought he knew what he was doing. I confess I was disappointed 
with JKR - I thought this book had been planned for 17 years, why all 
the filler? The trio are frustrated and bored, the readers are 
frustrated and bored. In short - the camping trip is a metaphor for 
our experience of reading DH. 

Now is that an interesting coincidence or utter brilliance on the 
part of JKR or neither?

va32h