reactions while reading HP7 4/4

[salinea]

chapter 29 to the very ending.



♥ Augusta Longbottom

You gotta love watching Snape duel.

♥ Percy. Althought it's almost as rushed as Peter's death. I think JKR set herself up for way too many redemption and now she has trouble fitting 'em all

Poor Crabbe and Goyle, they get lines and all they get to be is poor caricatures

Yeah, well, I knew one of the twin would die >_>;;

..... yeah, I knew that would happen too ;_;

Okay, Lily just called him Sev XDDDD c'mon please! XDDDD *gigglefits*

"Would you like me to do it now? asked Snape his voice heavy with irony. "Or would you like a few moments to compose an epitath."

XD awesome!

Snape's Patronus, yeap, still laughing. XD

Okay that would be me retching out from all that Snape/Lily. Urgh.

What the fuck? Did Remus and Tonks die and I MISSED it? Can't even find it back. The fuck.

*singsongs* Harry pulled a Buffy. Okay, I knew that too.

♥ Narcissa

"No, he was cleverer than you, said Harry, "a better wizard, a better man." and a better pirate! Ooops. Wrong fandom.

I love that Harry is just like Tom : he talks about his plans as they happen. Someday that boy will have a great future as Evil Overlord.

Okay, can we all just agree to ripp off and burn the epilogue out of the book, possibly drown the ashes in the sea abysses and sent into outer space and pretend it doesn't exist? I can live with Snape/Lily and the Lupin/Tonks and their baby but there's a certain amount of sugarcoated clichéed I will not bear.


And that's it.

Have to go run give back the book now.

Comments

[quietliban.livejournal.com]

*singsongs* Harry pulled a Buffy...

So I'm not the only one thinking it...

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

well, it was one of my bet of things that would happen.... that harry would die temporarly à la Buffy. So I was thinking it before the book in those terms. So it might influence my assessment ^^

[cygna-hime.livejournal.com]

*bitches about the Severus/Lily* No wonder the fans can't write genfic; apparently friends aren't important enough to switch sides to protect. No, you must have had a mad unrequited passion to draw you to the side of Light! (I really need to think about getting me one of those.)

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

well, they never actuall said, in the text, that it was romantic love :p

yeah, that's just a silly reason to replace a moral compass. Totally vomit worthy.

[pixychelle.livejournal.com]

You didn't miss Tonks and Remus dying. It's NOT THERE. Harry just kind of glances over, sees the bodies, and carries on. They died for no discernible reason other than JKR wanting a bunch of bodies, and Harry barely reacts.

That's pretty much at the top of my list for bitchery once I come down off my Neville "I'm too badass for your story" Longbottom high. Even worse than Snape's death, which at least served some kind of story purpose.

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

ah, that makes sense. Well, not, but why i missed it. WTF JKR, WTF. I don't mind the characterization, I mind the fact she had nothing to do with those characters plot wise so she got em married, knocked up, and died. *headpalm*

Neville totally rocked. I forgot to mention it because I was busy squee at his granny but I really can't wait at all the fanfics set in Hogwarts while the trio's away. So much fodder!!!!

[pixychelle.livejournal.com]

And didn't even bother to show the deaths. Remus was a major character in at least one book, and both of them were significant secondary characters. Colin Creevey's death got more attention, for crying out loud, even if it mostly served to highlight Oliver and Neville.

Haha, well, I forgot to squee over Augusta because I was so busy squeeing over Neville, so it all evens out. :D

[winter]

Remus and Tonks got the short-shrift, YES. I insist they were bumped off just so Harry could have the Marauders with him, minus Peter and plus Lily.

(Though really, much love for the Malfoys. Survivors FTW!)

Come to think of it, how old are JKR's kids? Because that epilogue sounds like something a six-year-old would come up with.

[alighiera.livejournal.com]

What the fuck? Did Remus and Tonks die and I MISSED it? Can't even find it back. The fuck.

My reaction exactly.

As for ripping out the epilogue... gladly if we can also take the last chapter with it and end the book on page 564.

So much love for the Malfoys and Longbottoms.

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

I don't get JKR someimes. Oh well, I bet Harry was mistaken and they were just injured. Feeling right peachy now ^^

*giggles*

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

(Though really, much love for the Malfoys. Survivors FTW!)
Yay! I thought for use Lucius and/or Narciss would be goners, so nice to be proven wrong!

Come to think of it, how old are JKR's kids? Because that epilogue sounds like something a six-year-old would come up with.
OMG! That would make so much sense!

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

so no Harry coming back? Yeah, the ending wasn't great. I wouldn't call it bad either, but somewhat pompous and anticlimatic.

So much love for the Blacks, Malfoys, Lovegoods, Longbottoms ♥

[alighiera.livejournal.com]

For me the climax was Harry going to his death. Everything afterwards was just tacked on and lost all dramatic impact. Plus, I refuse to even think about the epilogue.

Of course, mustn't forget the Blacks and Lovegoods! I'd have been glad to get a hundred pages more if they had been on the minor characters.

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

You'd have been happy with Harry dead? i think that's a bit gloomy ending. Works in some cases, but for HP, I don't think it would have worked thematically very well.

We totally needed more closure for so many minor characters *sighs*

[bronze-ribbons.livejournal.com]

Oh well, I bet Harry was mistaken and they were just injured.

*am amused*

My new theory is that those corpses were decoys. Remus got himself killed on a secret solo mission, and Tonks lives another decade or so to raise Teddy... and that's why we see Remus's ghost but not Tonks's later on. Heh.

Thanks so much for the updates. I'd wondered how DH!Lupin would come across to you -- you've historically read him as far more flawed than most of my friendslist, so I was guessing your assessment of his characterization might be different. (So far it's quite mixed on whether he's IC or not. I've never liked canon!Lupin as much as fanon!Lupin, so I can only say that the excerpts I read were not to my taste. *rueful smile*)

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

I don't think Lupin was OOC. I was a bit fraggled by the quickness of the mariage+baby but in and of itself that's not OOC. I liked his outbreak, It worked with how I see Remus.
However I was very disapointed in the way he and Tonks had little plot purpose.

What are people on your flist criticizing exactly? Do you have link?

[bronze-ribbons.livejournal.com]

I don't remember anything detailed enough to link, but the basic issue appears to be whether Remus would be really be that dense, clueless, and irresponsible. (Some say no way, others point out that he's proven himself to be a coward before.)

I confess it doesn't sit well with me personally -- in part because two of my favorite moments in OotP are when Remus reminds Molly that there are people who care about Harry, Ron, and Ginny besides herself -- but you know the kinds of Lupins I tend to write and rec, and I've never not read the series through a Snupin lens, so I've been curious about how the DH scenes play to people to whom Lupin comes across as far more weak, passive-aggressive, etc. (or to whom he simply doesn't matter). *wry smile*

I also dislike the excerpts I've read because Lupin's self-identifying declamations struck me as hokey and illogical -- enough that I decided just to wait for my turn with a library copy. Perhaps I'm not being fair - there's lots of other things in the series that fail in style and/or sense, after all (musigneus has had to deal with me ranting about Pensieves too many times to count) - but I have to be in the right headspace to accept them as presented, and at the moment, I'm not. :-/

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

I think Remus is repressed, avoidant and prone to self-pity. He has been very irresponsible before, definitly. I can see him freaking out about Tonks' children because he'd never thought he can be a good dad. Remus seriously hates being a werewolf. I saw the passage working with that. I can totally forgive it, though.

but you know the kinds of Lupins I tend to write and rec
A wide range of? I remember some delightfully ambigous Remus by you ^^ I still think that Remus is also kind, intelligent, witty and has his own brand of stength. It's not uncompatible.

Honnestly I need to reread the scene (I haven't the book right now sadly), because when I read it it did come across as fishy/that Remus may have had a hidden purpose. Which is great because that's a good fodder for fics. (Once I arrive to reconcile myself with Snape's thing for Lily, I might write a Remus/Tonks/Snape story out of it).

I've never not read the series through a Snupin lens,
I might be luckier there. I tried reading the book separately from fandom issues.

Anyway you shouldn't read it until you're in the right headspace definitly ^^

[alighiera.livejournal.com]

I'd have liked to see Harry sacrifice himself so the price of victory would have been plain. But it's not something that could have been done in this case. Must not traumatize 95% of the reader base.

Somehow I have the feeling that the HP fandom is scribbling away like mad right now.

Probably just a one comment too much, but...

[(Anonymous)]

I really didn't like the book. Nor did my beta and the same thought the majority of people on FF.net I asked about it. It's a pity because I really was looking forward to the book - but the thing is, I expected the same as in the last one's case - something completely unexpected. Oh, I actually liked the end of HBP. Rowling however never managed to impress me with this book - there are some good moments, sure, but there are so many more bad!!!!

The epilogue - why the hell had she to include it at all?!?!?!? I am pretty sure that Harry would never call his son Severus BTW, rather Albus Sirius or simply Sirius. And why even call his son this name if he is not even able to speak of Snape aloud? Whispering - how perfectly suiting to his previous attitudes towards the man... )-:

And how did she manage to write both Dumbledore and Lily so badly? Those pensieve memories were partly really terrible - had it occure to you that it was Lily, the kindest witch ever (????), who sent Snape to Voldemort? I would act precisely like he did - I still remember how it was to be 16 and how I acted back then when offended - yes, clearly you do just what you are accused of to make the people accusing you hurt as much as you were! So no abuse of Marauders, no neglet from Dumbledore's side - but Lily's sentence: Go, where you belong to! How the hell could he still loved her after it?????????

Snape's death also - so terribly unnecessary. But that was not only his, right? I wonder what Rowling meant about two people dying 2 years ago - I recall 50 nameless victims and about 10 major and minor characters of the good side.

Also, the business with the wand and Dumbledore's relativies could have very well not been included at all - it would be only for the best.

Agreed also that the story needed closure - like Snape also appearing in afterlife or having a portrait up in the office at the end and they having finally the chat.

O.K., no more rambling - not a good book. I guess I very much prefer what e.g Katling wrote in her Trinity (see on FF.net) - that would be much more acceptable for me. Well, except of those costumes, I guess. (-:

iva1201-knihy@yahoo.de
Iva1201 at FF.net

Re: Probably just a one comment too much, but...

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

hey! Cool to see a strange commenting here (I mean that ^^)
I don't agree with everything you said, but you're perfectly entitled to not liking the book. I have a lot of reservations myself even though I overall liked it.

The epilogue - why the hell had she to include it at all?!?!?!?
Yeah :(

And why even call his son this name if he is not even able to speak of Snape aloud?
I didn't read the scene like this. I think he was whispering more for the sake of his son's privacy - children as so easily embarrassed - and because of the secret he was telling him about chosing how to be Sorted.

had it occure to you that it was Lily, the kindest witch ever (????), who sent Snape to Voldemort?
Okay, that's the part I strongly disagree with. Yes, 16 year old can act rashly, offensively for the sake of getting back at people. Definitly. But that doesn't mean Lily's the one to blame there. Severus made his choice. He had a lot of attenuative circumstances for them, and I forgive him easily, but I really don't think we can blame someone like Lily for them. At the very most I'd blame Dumbledore because he was the adult responsible in place, the one who failed to ensure Snape and other kids wouldn't go this road on his watch (and the one who should have prevented the kind of bullying Snape had to put with).
Lily's decision was the right one. If you were Black and you friend called you a "nigger", regardless of the circumstences, you can't just forgive them and go on calling them friend. Not unless you have very little self respect. Not unless they realize exactly what's wrong with it (Snape didn't, not for long years after Lily's death at least).
Besides, Lily too was a 16 year old. Why should you held he more responsible for her words than you do Severus'? They were both teenagers. They had both reasons to be angry.

Snape's death also - so terribly unnecessary.
I disagree. Snape's death had some very good plot reason. Some people wrote essays on the subject. That it was integral to Voldemort's death because otherwise he would never have tried to duel with Harry, because he wouldn't have been confident in his wand.

I actually loved Dumbledore's story here. Was it necessary? I don't know. I think it brings a greater resonnance about the real stakes of good and evil. People doing bad things and realizing it as a part of being good. It's a large thematic frame of HP.

Agreed also that the story needed closure - like Snape also appearing in afterlife or having a portrait up in the office at the end and they having finally the chat.
I rather agree with you with that. :)