I guess I could pretend, but who would I be kidding? I will buy the next one in hardcover, as well as the audio book by the incomparable Jim Dale, and when it is possible to pre-order number 7 I’ll do that as well. When it comes to HP, “she had me at hello”.
Although I would agree that OoP seemed a little under-edited as well. I think this is due to two reasons. One is Famous Author Syndrome, where the editor is afraid to cut anything for fear of harming a feather of the goose that lays the golden egg. See Stephen King for a major example of this.
The other reason is that Harry, in OoP, is self-centered, angry, and a general pain. In other words, a typical adolescent male under stress. Thus time spent developing him is not going to fly by as easily as when he is nobly rescuing Ginny from Voldemort’s latest incarnation. But I think this was a ballsy decison by JKR to make Harry into a normal kid, instead of an unrealistic knight of virtue and heroism. And the revelation of his father’s treatment of Snape was braver still - a real, genuine crack in the hero-worship that has been building over the books. Harry is confronting what most people do in their teen years - the realization that their idols always have feet of clay. Same for Harry’s feeling of being betrayed by Dumbledore. He needs to learn to stand on his own feet, as we all do sooner or later.
But I thought the handling of the relationship between Cho and Harry was right on the money. Neither of them were really “in love” with the other person, only with an idealized version of what they thought they saw. Cho was the prettiest girl at school. Harry was the Boy Who Lived. Their relationship could not possibly survive when it became clear that neither was perfect.
But you better believe I am going to be lined up to get number 6, and 7 as well. But I will be disappointed if there is an 8 or 9. The series will have to be seriously retro-actively re-written if that happens, and I think it will spoil the whole arc of the series. It is building to a climax. Delaying the climax to pad the series will ruin it.
Ye’all are fools. While Book 4 did feel bloated, Rowling’s world is interesting enough that looking back it hardly matters, and you appreciate all the extra size. The books are not just self-contained stories: they are also an exploration of a world, and like Tolkien, if you are a completist searching for every detail, the more the better.
But for goodness sakes: Book 5 was fantastic. One can argue whether it was as good as three, because three had that really heartwrenching scene at the end when Harry realizes who cast the Patronus was… and wasn’t. But Book 5 is touching, painful, and funny. Umbridge is a fantastic caricature of a nasty arrogant buerrecrat: political satire for the ages. The only tough part about it was that it was slow in the beginning. But again, in the end, more was better.
Listen to the audiobooks: it’s a big fascinating world, and the longer, the better.
Compare that to Narnia, which is a snorefest of preachy, one dimensional characters and plots, and I don’t see any room for pining for “The Horses’ Uncle’s Nephew & His Pal Jesus”
Isn’t it possible to like both Narnia and Harry Potter? It’s not like kids are only allowed to read one fantasy series.
As for Ginny’s development, it seemed to me to be exactly spot-on for the put-upon youngest child of a large, overachieving family. She’s out to prove that everythingher brothers can do, she can do better, and sibling rivalry can be an awfully powerful motivation at that. Spend every waking hour trying to outdo your siblings, and you just might succeed.
He also gave his entire contest winnings to the Weasely twins, so that they could open up their store. He and Cedric worked together to try and get to the end of the maze. He worked hard to get Hagrid and Dumbledore reinstated, he saved Ginny in CoS. He’s ALWAYS doing things for other people.
Yeah, the Cho thing sucked, but then, I wasn’t crazy about Cho anyways. She was always telling Harry that she did this and this with Cedric, and then crying when he mentioned he wanted to talk to Hermione. Hello, double standard much? Neither of them were ready for a relationship.
PoA was my favorite, but I enjoyed all of them. Besides the typical escape from the Dursley’s was funniest in GoF-the Ton Tongue taffy? Oh MAN!!! I just love the Weasleys, I want to be adopted by them. And the characters in OotP are so cool-especially Tonks.
Dammit, people anymore are so never satisfied. I love Harry Potter, and I adore the movies-the music is great, and the casting was DEAD ON. (Those kids are so cute, especially Rupert Grint and the little boy who plays Neville. Just soooo cute!)
I’m really looking forward to Book 6 because I think we’re really going to see Neville start to shine. I love Neville, he’s such a sweetie!
Harry being a pissed off teenager-after all that’s happened to him, I think he’s long overdo for it! Yeah, he was a brat-that’s quite a change from the sweet little boy he used to be. He’s NOT the Perfect Prince-he’s a normal kid, in an abnormal world.
I say cut Rowling from slack-she was a single mom who just started writing this little book for kids. She had no idea it would be such a hit. No, she’s no Harper Lee, but c’mon.
Yeah, but that’s part of what grates on me. After all that’s happened to him, you’d think he’d be more mature.
Like his reaction when Ron was made a prefect. Now, bear in mind that I’m American, and therefore didn’t grow up with this tradition. But there are plenty of things for American students to aspire to (captain of a team, lead in the school play, editor of the school paper), even if they don’t involve wielding authority over fellow students.
Harry’s sulking (and yes, I remember that he didn’t bring this up to anyone else) is focused on the fact that he’s done humpty-million brave deeds, and that should qualify him to be a prefect. Whereas I say, if someone’s distinguished himself so well outside of the traditional pecking order, who needs a prefect position to prove his worth? It just seems so petty. And I really think it’s inconsistent with the character. The Boy Who Lived should by now accept that he has higher goals, instead of fretting about who gets to wear a badge. And I don’t think a “normal kid” is what’s called for here.
I agree that it is petty, but I don’t think it’s improbable. Especially since, if you think about it, Harry has not actually received all that much recognition for his humpty-million brave deeds. He’s gotten lots of attention for being “The Boy Who Lived”, but that’s for something that happened when he was a baby and that he doesn’t feel responsible for. Some of the brave deeds he does feel responsible for had to be kept secret or were hushed up by the MoM.
Harry’s also been unfairly blamed for things that weren’t his fault, treated like a nutcase, and naturally feels guilt over Cedric’s death. Professor Snape and some of the other students have always said that Harry was just coasting on the strength of his reputation as The Boy Who Lived and was really no one special at all. So I can buy that Harry would want some external validation from Dumbledore. A prefect’s badge would be a sign to all of Hogwarts that he was genuinely trusted and respected.
I do, however, wish that when Dumbledore discussed the issue with Harry he’d emphasized more strongly that Ron was truly deserving of the position.
But it makes perfect sense that he’s petty about it. He’s spent most of his life as a worthless and despised footstool, and only at Hogwarts has he had a place to shine. But even there he’s not exactly popular. Plus, he’s hurting that nobody seems to trust him, leaving him in the dark after a traumatic experience and an ongoing threat. He feels as if Dumbledore has abandoned him as a mentor, and not giving him the prefect badge is a symbol of that for him. His emotions make perfect sense, and they are explained this way in the book too. Plus, Harry KNOWS that he’s being petty, and dislikes himself for it. I’d say that’s real, complex maturity building right there. He’s not grown up yet.
I think only at the end of Book5 does HARRY actually realize that there is more to being “the Boy Who Lived” than just a past event. Even though he’s tangled with Voldy before, he never dreamed that he would have to be the one responsible for killing him. We, the audience, of course expected that, but until now, Harry seems to have thought that Dumbledore would be the one to take care of everything.