wandwork

[dorbandb]

Rating: 7/10

I think HP was never destined to achieve fame as a "Literary
Masterpiece".  I'm sure much to Penny's dismay (tho she may or may not
agree) - the story never matured to "adult" status - regardless of the
number of us adults who enjoyed the romp.  While not a "children's
story" either, it seems the best it can be is a - THE? - Young Adult
tale for all ages.  Not bad for an unlettered, unpublished, untested 
novice, I think. Yes, it will be critiqued and analyzed by scholars -
they can't just ignore it, can they? - but, IMO, it will never be
accorded the status of Literary Masterpiece.  Just too many plot
holes, inconsistencies and, er, WTF!!! moments.  I'm ok with all that.
 It was an absolutely marvelous experience for we readers - wasn't it?
 We can *all* agree on that, I think.  Otherwise, why were we even
here?  Why does The Old Crowd even exist, if not for the glory of
HP?!?!  The Old Crowd recognized early on that the story had the
*potential* to be something really, *really* special.  Now, while some
are feeling a underwhelmed (ok, a bit ripped off, even), it seems to
me that Jo would *never* have been able to put one over on this
too-clever-by-half crowd, no matter what she wrote. You guys are just
too darn smart.  It's a little intimidating, really, to be included
amongst you lot.  But while, in the end, IMO, it didn't fulfill our
grandest hopes nor expectations, it certainly did provide hours of fun
and merriment for us all.  Regardless of its flaws, holes, unexplained
single socks and flat-out Flint's - it was a gas!  

But that has nothing whatever to do with the subject line, does it? 
No, of course not.  The subject line refers to the funniest scene in
the book, IMO:

As Ron presents Harry with a copy of Twelve Fail-Safe Ways to Charm
Witches, he extoles its virtues thusly - "This isn't your average
book...it's pure gold...explains everything you need to know about
girls...you'd be surprised, it's not all about wandwork either."
Cracked me up.  Ah, Ron - he is so not worthy of Hermione.  May they
bicker in eternal bliss.

For that quote, and so many more over the course of 10 years and 2000+
pages, I think I'll take a moment on Harry's B-day to offer a Standing
'O' for Jo. A stunning achievement for Herself, no question.  I may
stand alone, but that's ok.  To each their own.

I better get back to reading the posts - I don't want to miss any more
of the shredding....

Thanks All!!!

Brian