Hmmm. What's your favorite *now*?

[sistermagpie]

No: HPFGUIDX 183012

 Oryomai:
> It's all the exposition that's the issue.  My friends who start now
> are people who have heard about the series before -- they're not
> expecting a list of things that Harry needs at Hogwarts.  Exposition
> is vital to a book, but it can be hard to get through.

Magpie:
I thought the beginning of the book dragged a lot. Not stuff like the 
list of what Harry needed at Hogwarts--once he finally got his letter 
it picked up again. But all that stuff with the owls and running away 
and trying to avoid them almost made me give up. Because as a reader 
I already knew the secret there; there was no suspense. I'd already 
read the first chapter that introduced the idea that Harry was 
somebody special. So I was just waiting for Harry to catch up while 
the Dursleys ineffectually tried to stop the letters. Also I remember 
yelling at Harry not finding a way to just steal one of the damn 
things and read it (even his original hesitation with the first 
letter that led to Vernon seeing it annoyed me). 

So yeah, I thought the beginning of PS was frustrating. I didn't 
enjoy the repeated slapstick joke of the Dursleys preventing the 
letters and then more letters appearing and then the Dursleys doing 
something else you know isn't going to work. 

-m