[HPforGrownups] Why down on all the characters?

[Irene Mikhlin]

No: HPFGUIDX 179267

Jeanette wrote:


  Is it because we invested a lot of time and emotion on the story and 
feel cheated either that it is over or that it didn't end in the way we 
wanted?

  Either way, it's not pleasant reading these days.  Before there was 
always some interesting theory or insight being played with between 
posts; surely we have not run out of ideas spawned by the incredibly 
rich world JKR created.

Irene:

For me it's not because it didn't end in the way I wanted. I was pretty sure it was not going to, it didn't stop me from enjoying the first six books.
I didn't expect it to end my way, but I (reasonably?) expected it to end in a way consistent with the story and the world which appeared to be incredibly rich.
I'm so bitter and disappointed because it did not. Contrived plot devices, stupid hallows that jumped at us out of nowhere, plot holes, aborted or reversed character development, the world itself is not consistent and does not appear to be that well thought-out as it seemed.
All that on a purely technical level. The morality of the story is another bag of disappointment altogether. 

If you ask me how is that possible that one disliked book devalues for me the previous six, which I've enjoyed so much and defended from friends who called it "pulp", here is the explanation.

Imagine a painter who says that he is revealing his big picture to us pixel by pixel. It does not make sense at first, and you can't see where it's going, but some fragments look very pretty and intriguing, and it's great fun to imagine possible connections between them. So, in the end everything is revealed (with lots of ado, I must say) and the picture does not look that great! You liked what seemed to be some random doodles in the hope that when all the pixels are there, it will make sense and look coherent. But if it did not, then it's OK to critisize the random doodles. They had no value on their own, the value was based on future expectations which did not materialise.
Remember little Mark Evans fiasco? >From a clever clue it turned to a blooper? Lots of clever clues and possible connections in the first six books evaporated, and nothing much is left.

Irene