Rachael
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Post by Rachael on Jun 17, 2008 23:48:43 GMT -5
Harry Potter 7 killed Harry Potter for me.
*wants to go back to a year ago, before HP7 came out*
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Post by AshVersion2 on Jun 18, 2008 15:45:31 GMT -5
Why did it kill it for you?
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Rachael
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Post by Rachael on Jun 19, 2008 18:16:27 GMT -5
I'm going to copy and paste a previously written rant:
Basically, I thought up until the end of the seventh book that Harry Potter was unique, that it was different, that it was truly special. And it was truly special to me. It was the series that turned me into an obsessive reader. I had read 5 and 6 whilst walking through Costco (A US warehouse west coast chain like Sam's Club), barely watching where I was going, transfixed to the pages.
And I got the seventh book while I was on vacation at my grandpa's house, and I went at midnight to get it. I read it walking out of the bookstore. I read it getting into the car. I read it driving in the car, catching a few words every time we drove under a street light and I could actually see the letters. I got to my grandpa's house and I sat up and read, read, read, read, read. Fell asleep without wanting to a couple of times.
I finished it. Wasn't thrilled with it, but okay with it at that point.
But the more that I've thought about it, the more I realized that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows ruined Harry Potter as it was, books 1-6.
Personally, I found that it sucked the imagination out of the books. It fell back on cliches and stereotypes. The characters became Mary Sues. It showed no sacrifice, no maturity in writing, no dynamics.
The plot was a mess, the storyline muddled, the themes skewed.
It annoyed me to no end that:
--Harry and Co used the Unforgivables with no remorse or punishment on their part. In my mind, this makes them just as bad as the "bad guys," but apparently not.
--the characters who died received no attention. Only Dobby got any remote attention. But, nope. All of the other characters: "NOOOOO!!! HEDWIG!!!..... oh well" responses. And I'm sorry, but that's not how grief works, even when you are under stress
--how Ron just forgave Harry and came back at that convenient moment
--how Harry conveniently blurted out VOLDEMORT
--how when Voldemort died, he was just shoved off to the side and that was that and sunshine returned to the land and everything was just dandy, minus world wars, bad guys still on the lose, the deaths and mutilations of several thousand people, etc.
--how many plot holes there were. It's been a while since I've read, but all those shaky things about Sirius's house and everything... no good
--how so many of the events just don't make sense. Seriously, if you're trying to transport Harry somewhere, there are better ways to do it than make a huge scene out of the Seven Harrys and all that
--the cliched little fight there at the end with Voldemort, and Harry's triumphant return... and Dumbledore's tear-filled little speech about him being a man
And I could go on, but I haven't read the book in almost a year and frankly I've tried to forget about it, especially the last three words of it.
Harry Potter 7 proved that the Harry Potter series is nothing more than an over-hyped, extremely long, witty rendition of so many other stories and novels.
Rowling wanted to end 7 the way she wanted to end it. Part of me respects that, because it means that she wasn't going to cave into public or studio pressures. But in my mind, you have a responsibility when you're a writer to write like a writer, not like a reader. You may want everything to end all fine and dandy, but that's not how life is.
Harry Potter 7 obliverated the integrity of the other six Harry Potter books in every single one of its 759 pages. ((Unless, of course, one of those pages has Peeves on it, in which case everything is good ))
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Haley
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Post by Haley on Jun 19, 2008 23:38:45 GMT -5
....Oh, dear....
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Post by AshVersion2 on Jun 23, 2008 12:19:04 GMT -5
Wow. Point made.
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Haley
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Post by Haley on Jun 23, 2008 14:52:30 GMT -5
*whispers*
I really liked that one...especially upon reread...
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Post by AshVersion2 on Jun 23, 2008 14:57:39 GMT -5
*whispers back* I really liked it the first time - haven't re-read it yet.
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Haley
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Post by Haley on Jun 25, 2008 1:09:53 GMT -5
(It was good. I finished it outside, in the rain, just as a storm broke out over the lake, so a pretty powerful ending )
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Post by AshVersion2 on Jun 25, 2008 9:34:17 GMT -5
(Yeah, I was just sitting in my room. My face was making the rain, lol.)
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Haley
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Post by Haley on Jun 25, 2008 12:59:13 GMT -5
(That was me the first time around. I finished it at ten o'clock in the morning, fell asleep, then woke up around three PM, half-delirious
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Post by AshVersion2 on Jun 25, 2008 13:58:00 GMT -5
(I was forced to tear my eyes away from it and go to the cinema just as I got to the chapter 'The Battle Of Hogwarts' - I exposed myself to the outside world! Nothing happenmed though, thank God.)
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Haley
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Post by Haley on Jun 25, 2008 22:38:04 GMT -5
(I think that constitutes child abuse
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Post by AshVersion2 on Jun 26, 2008 15:45:14 GMT -5
(So do I. I got so scared on the way to and from the cinema.)
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Haley
Rank 1 (Still a Newbie)
eclectic personality
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Post by Haley on Jun 26, 2008 17:34:16 GMT -5
I would have plugged my ears or something. Though you never know what you're going to see. And walking around with your hands in your ears looks a bit weird
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Post by AshVersion2 on Jun 27, 2008 8:54:08 GMT -5
Exactly. It was a threat to my health and mental well-being. Anything could have happened.
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