![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Hallowed something or other?
I was up until the wee hours of the morning, until *just* before sunrise (at 5:30am) reading. I haven't had a read like this in a while - you know the type, where you finish one chapter, and say to yourself (even though it's way past your bedtime) that aw, one more chapter won't hurt. And then two, three, four hours later, you hear birds starting to chirp outside your son's bedroom window, where you're holed up reading because your son stumbled into your room at 4am and took your spot on the big bed.
There's a heckuva lot of infodumping going on in just about every chapter. It's not bothering me too much, since I keep page-turning in order to learn more about what the heck has been going on in the Potter-verse. I'm sure there are plot holes, but on this first read-through, I'm not noticing anything too blatant. There are moments in the text where I shake my head, and knowing as little as I do about Potter fandom, I can see pointed dialogue between characters explaining their relationships to each other - not that I particularly *care* about who ends up with whom as long as the story keeps me entertained. I am appreciating the wrapping up of story-lines and subplots, and like how certain characters pop in and out. There's a lack of deftness in the character development of ALL the characters, major and minor, unless it's romantic relationship-related. Neville is one of the exceptions, as is Harry...but Harry himself hasn't struck me as being much different from the earlier books at all.
As I'm reading through Hallowed, I keep thinking, "Rowling should have given more up during the writing of the earlier books." Or at least book 6. It's nice having many of the mysteries resolved - I don't feel cheated, much, not really. And I can't complain too much about the structure, because Rowling had me up for most of the night wanting to know what happens! There is an undertone of "must.get.this.pumped.out" in the words and the pacing and the reliance on all the infodumps; but I'm not experienced enough to say exactly how Rowling could have gotten around all the pages of explanations.
At least Ron is still Ron, still jealous, still hotheaded; the twins are still hysterical (especially in the scene where they all turn into Harry-copies); Hermoine has softened up a bit, although she's kept her main characteristics - she reminds me a lot of Sam Carter on Stargate, matter of fact, because although she keeps saying, "It's NOT POSSIBLE!!!" she still pulls rabbits out of her hat and gets the guys out of major fixes more often than not. In fact, Hermoine is more proactive than Harry, it seems like. I get the feeling that if Dumbledore had allowed her in on the secrets, Hermoine would have solved it faster than Harry, who tends to go off half-assed like a bloodhound tracking a square of Hershey's chocolate in a Ghiradelli chocolate factory.
I'll have to reread the series entire, because even though Harry and Ron make the Hero and Sidekick pair of yore, Hermoine's presence gives the books an added dimension and makes them pop. (IMHO) She's brainy, she clever, she does the work, and although she doesn't end up with Harry (she gets Ron) that's fine, I guess. Ron has a bigger learning curve than Harry, and Harry, he needed to marry into the huge Weasley family: what would he have done with Hermoine's parents, whom we've met only once, I think, during the course of the books?
Anyhow, after reading all the spoilers from when the book first dropped into the bookstores, I don't feel spoiled in the plot (I went on and read ahead, like I always do anyway) since I think the ride is fun enough.
Now, if I could get my kids into this series. They love Delia Sherman's Changeling, and Neil Gaiman's Coraline...but the complaint with BOTH of those books from my eleven year old is how slow they start out; and the first Harry Potter book takes forever for the plot to really get going. But that's the nature of fantasy. The world has to be set up first, and the rules explained and kept consistent.
Now, off to finish the book!
I was up until the wee hours of the morning, until *just* before sunrise (at 5:30am) reading. I haven't had a read like this in a while - you know the type, where you finish one chapter, and say to yourself (even though it's way past your bedtime) that aw, one more chapter won't hurt. And then two, three, four hours later, you hear birds starting to chirp outside your son's bedroom window, where you're holed up reading because your son stumbled into your room at 4am and took your spot on the big bed.
There's a heckuva lot of infodumping going on in just about every chapter. It's not bothering me too much, since I keep page-turning in order to learn more about what the heck has been going on in the Potter-verse. I'm sure there are plot holes, but on this first read-through, I'm not noticing anything too blatant. There are moments in the text where I shake my head, and knowing as little as I do about Potter fandom, I can see pointed dialogue between characters explaining their relationships to each other - not that I particularly *care* about who ends up with whom as long as the story keeps me entertained. I am appreciating the wrapping up of story-lines and subplots, and like how certain characters pop in and out. There's a lack of deftness in the character development of ALL the characters, major and minor, unless it's romantic relationship-related. Neville is one of the exceptions, as is Harry...but Harry himself hasn't struck me as being much different from the earlier books at all.
As I'm reading through Hallowed, I keep thinking, "Rowling should have given more up during the writing of the earlier books." Or at least book 6. It's nice having many of the mysteries resolved - I don't feel cheated, much, not really. And I can't complain too much about the structure, because Rowling had me up for most of the night wanting to know what happens! There is an undertone of "must.get.this.pumped.out" in the words and the pacing and the reliance on all the infodumps; but I'm not experienced enough to say exactly how Rowling could have gotten around all the pages of explanations.
At least Ron is still Ron, still jealous, still hotheaded; the twins are still hysterical (especially in the scene where they all turn into Harry-copies); Hermoine has softened up a bit, although she's kept her main characteristics - she reminds me a lot of Sam Carter on Stargate, matter of fact, because although she keeps saying, "It's NOT POSSIBLE!!!" she still pulls rabbits out of her hat and gets the guys out of major fixes more often than not. In fact, Hermoine is more proactive than Harry, it seems like. I get the feeling that if Dumbledore had allowed her in on the secrets, Hermoine would have solved it faster than Harry, who tends to go off half-assed like a bloodhound tracking a square of Hershey's chocolate in a Ghiradelli chocolate factory.
I'll have to reread the series entire, because even though Harry and Ron make the Hero and Sidekick pair of yore, Hermoine's presence gives the books an added dimension and makes them pop. (IMHO) She's brainy, she clever, she does the work, and although she doesn't end up with Harry (she gets Ron) that's fine, I guess. Ron has a bigger learning curve than Harry, and Harry, he needed to marry into the huge Weasley family: what would he have done with Hermoine's parents, whom we've met only once, I think, during the course of the books?
Anyhow, after reading all the spoilers from when the book first dropped into the bookstores, I don't feel spoiled in the plot (I went on and read ahead, like I always do anyway) since I think the ride is fun enough.
Now, if I could get my kids into this series. They love Delia Sherman's Changeling, and Neil Gaiman's Coraline...but the complaint with BOTH of those books from my eleven year old is how slow they start out; and the first Harry Potter book takes forever for the plot to really get going. But that's the nature of fantasy. The world has to be set up first, and the rules explained and kept consistent.
Now, off to finish the book!
