Why I love Cassie; Problems of Planning and Camerawork

[Aberforth's Goat]

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You know, OoP *is* a good book. But I'm awful glad that I can keep on
reading Cassie's DV when I want to enjoy a Harry who is impulsive, obtuse,
quixotic and angsty - but most of all, barrels of fun. When it comes down to
it, that's what fanboys just wanna have. Even if they are, technically,
goats, and grownups to boot.

* * * * *

You know, the more I think about it (particularly after reading Neil's
thoughts), I think that the things that frustrated me at the end of this
book were tactical, not strategic - more camerawork than plot.

I mean, sure. On the strategy level, there are some problems. (Why didn't
the good guys just destroy the prophecy? Easy: Dumbledore felt it wouldn't
be sporting to use his brain against someone as cognitively-challenged as He
Who Does Not Have A Clue.)

But it seemed like some of Jo's camerawork simply didn't do justice to the
material she had put together for the last few chapters.

Take Sirius' death. As Neil remarked, it was anti-climactic. Admittedly, I
was reading fast - but by the time Sirius bought the farm I'd lost track of
the body count. To be honest, my inner reaction was: "Hermione: Down. Dead?
God knows. Ron: being killed by something that escaped from the matrix.
Whatever. Massive Firefight. Everybody who isn't dead ought to be. Sirius:
also down. Dead, too. Bother. Next please!"

And I don't think it was just my own callousness are narrative fatigue; she
just didn't shoot the scene in a way that would have given Sirius' death the
importance it deserved. It almost seemed like an afterthought.

And then the aftermath - the process that takes Harry through inner turmoil
to a reconciliation with Dumbledore. All the material is there - it's a
perfect setup for a classic heart-breaker with a silver lining.

The Realization: That V had been manipulating him the whole time. That
everything he had done was a complete waste. That his obtuseness and refusal
to cooperate with Snape was Sirius' death sentence.

The Recrimination: Why didn't D help him more? *He* at least saw the danger.
Why did he just sit there?

The Reconciliation: Harry meets D with a broken heart and a head full of
steam. D meets him not with an explanation but with a confession of guilt
and heartbreak of his own. H realizes that D can make mistakes too - but
also gets a feeling for how much D cares about him. There is forgiveness and
reconciliation and shared tears and sunshine in the rain. Tableau.

The material is all there - but somehow, it was shot in such a way, that I
couldn't really feel it. Did Jo invest so much energy into the sideshows
that she undersold the main act? Was she so emotionally involved that she
couldn't write straight? Was she in a hurry to finish up the goddamn book
and go do something worthwhile like changing David's diapers? Was I just
reading too fast?

To all the above: maybe.

But it's a shame. Jo's better than that. In Mungo's, she reduced me to tears
with nothing more than Neville and a candy wrapper. That's the kind of
story-telling Sirius deserved.

But I still think she's great, and so's her new book.

Baaaaaa!

Aberforth's Goat (a.k.a. Mike Gray, who has loaned his book to the
neighbors - they only had one copy, which was about to cause a divorce.)
_______________________

"Of course, I'm not entirely sure he can read, so that may not
have been bravery...."

NEWS: Check out chapter 2 of the Viagramus Curse. Fanfiction
that puts the dense back in decadence.
http://www.riddikulus.org/authors/agoat/VC02.html