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trinityofonePlease tell me some of the rest of y'all have done the naughty and read you-know-what and want to talk about it here. 'Cause I just don't know enough HP people. (And there's something I've never before regretted. ;-) )
ETA: So far, no actual spoilers in the comments. If/when that changes, I promise to edit with the appropriate warning IMMEDIATELY.
ETA2: I would say that there are some spoilers here now! BACK AWAY.
ETA2: I would say that there are some spoilers here now! BACK AWAY.
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(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-18 04:22 am (UTC)Not reading in advance though, and avoiding spoilers. I will be back to discuss things on sunday! :D Hope you have fun til then. *avoids the comments of this post*..
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-18 04:25 am (UTC)No, seriously. I'm waiting for Siria to come kick my ass now. *hides*
By Sunday I know there will be lots of awesome discussion. But right NOW I'm all alone and all o.0 *hopes other people have been naughty*
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-22 05:07 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-18 04:31 am (UTC)I, erm, donwloaded a certain something, and read a couple of pages, and went 'Ooooh', but I decided against reading any more than that.
Then there was the debate about the authenticity of that, which made me think, "Who would really sit there and PS that?"
I now just want to see if they prove to be genuine or not...I suspect they are, but I think it would be really funny if they did indeed turn out to be the work of someone with a lot of time on their hands and Photoshop.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-18 04:33 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-18 04:44 am (UTC)If all those photos turn out to be fake, I offer my congratulations to the person who pulled off such a massive hoax. They must have been working on that for months if so, given that almost every set of two pages have different light and shadow and are taken at varying angles.
I actually only kept it so I could compare it when I get the book. The thing that threw me was the design of the pages - I assume those are from an American copy, since I've never seen that style of page in a HP book before.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-18 05:13 am (UTC)I really wish Rowling would have learned not to take her naming schemes from ff.net, though.
Hi, my name is Sara and I read Harry Potter
Date: 2007-07-18 04:35 am (UTC)I've been staying out of the fandom, so, there are spoilers?
I can't wait till saturday though, and I'm gonna be reading real real slow. XD
Re: Hi, my name is Sara and I read Harry Potter
Date: 2007-07-18 04:38 am (UTC)Re: Hi, my name is Sara and I read Harry Potter
Date: 2007-07-18 04:47 am (UTC)(and really this icon has never been more appropriate)
Re: Hi, my name is Sara and I read Harry Potter
Date: 2007-07-18 05:10 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-18 04:53 am (UTC)If it's faked, wow, that's a lot of effort to go to.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-18 05:12 am (UTC)So...what did you think? *toes floor*
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-18 05:33 am (UTC)The first thing I saw floating around was the epilogue, and it just seemed like so much drivel (although the ships were totally expected). So I was primed to think the whole think must be faked, but having read the rest of the book, I'm having a hard time agreeing with those who say it's just not JKR's style. Nothing seriously pinged for me as wrong, and it seems a decent enough ending to the epic.
But so does a lot of fanfic, and there've been enough hints over the last couple of years for someone or a group of someones to come up with something believable.
I'm just finding the whole thing fascinating and kind of fun.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-18 05:47 am (UTC)But yeah, the rest of the book sounds so much like her. I mean, really a lot. With the actually funny stuff AND the soppy stuff, AND the bad tendencies to infodump and have lots of, "I, the Dark Lord" or "I, Remus Lupin" or "I, the Half-Blood Prince" statements. I will be really surprised if it's not real.
Either way, I can't wait to find out.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-18 04:55 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-18 05:10 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-18 05:18 am (UTC)Thanks to an extremely wonderful person, I have read it! *G* We can talk about it!
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-18 05:20 am (UTC)*resumes flailing*
Um...so what did you think?
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-18 05:31 am (UTC)I'm taking a long time to type my answer, that's all! ;D
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-18 05:34 am (UTC)*takes out garbage, contemplates dishes*
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-18 06:07 am (UTC)1. Harry
Really did give a sense of being more mature & having grown in this book (as a person and a leader) while still convincingly being seventeen and kind of dumb. Liked that the narrative at least gave a nod to him needing to learn not to rush into things without making a plan or knowing what he's doing, even if that particular bit was executed a bit anviliciously.
2. Ron
Got to be awesome, and have his heroic Joseph Campbell moment in the woods, so that's cool too. There might be people who feel like the "Ron and Harry fight" subplot has been done and is kind of repetitive, here, but I feel like it's more realistic if it's really a constant theme in their friendship that you can't just *fix* by saying "Ron, dude, you're not my funny sidekick, honest," and then Ron never thinks about it again. So I *liked* that it came up again, the way a person's neuroses really do, and I liked that Ron came back, and so on and so forth.
3. Hermione
Really seemed like part of the *team* in this book, which was really cool. *LOVED* that she stuck with Harry instead of going away with Ron just because she's in love with him-- if there's one thing that kind of gets on my nerves about this last book, it's the sort of very subtle way that the female characters are *still* treated a bit differently than the male ones-- like at the end, the son gets teased about *becoming* a Slytherin, but the daughter gets teased about *marrying* one, ARGH. Anyway, there were other bits like that (especially Harry "saving" McGonagall from being spit on, when he'd managed to keep under the Invisibility Cloak under far greater provocation) but I didn't really have a lot to quibble with in terms of *Hermione's* characterization, so that's good. Oh, and I loved that she was the one to initiate her and Ron's first kiss, which I thought was handled well.
4. Snape
Yeah, I still don't like Snape. OK, so he was in love with Lily. It didn't keep him from joining the Death Eaters. OK, so he was actually out to protect Harry all along. Didn't keep him from taking out his sad little grudge against Harry, on all the rest of the Gryffindors. I'm glad he didn't die super-heroically, like, diving in front of a killing curse to save Harry or anything, because then I would have felt like JKR was trying to manipulate me into liking him, and I still don't.
5. The Malfoys
What are we supposed to think about the Malfoys? I mean, didn't Lucius and Narcissa still torture and kill people-- in the original Voldemort era, surely they did, right? They're still Death Eaters, but we're supposed to accept that people wouldn't immediately throw them in the dungeons or something after the fight's over, just because they pussed out at the end and weren't actively killing people in the final battle? Did they end up in Azkaban? What about Draco? I need to re-read that scene where he doesn't positively identify Harry or Hermione... I just don't know what I think about Draco. (Unlike 90% of fandom, I would have liked less Draco redemption. *G*)
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-18 06:21 am (UTC)2. Liked Ron, too. And that his No. 1 fear appears to be Harmonians. ahahahaha. We hear you, man!
3. Hermione is so smart and cool—why does she cry all the time? I mean, she spent the whole book, basically, alternating between being awesome and weeping/sobbing/gasping. I mean, I guess that could be a legitimate character trait, but it really bugged me after a while.
4. I've always felt a lot of sympathy for Snape, and was TOTALLY unsurprised by how his whole plotline played out; I never doubted that he was still spying for Dumbledore, etc. I mostly just wish, as I said below, that we could have SEEN Harry reevaluate his feelings, or even have a moment of, "Yeah, Snape was a dick, but he was brave in the end," instead of suddenly being, "ZOMG SNAPE WAS THE BRAVEST MAN EVAH I SHALL NAME MY CHILD AFTER HIM." Okay!
5. I AM SO FUCKING CONFUSED BY THE MALFOYS. I feel like Rowling never really knew what to do about them, couldn't commit to having them be TOTALLY EVOL! or redeemed, and instead settled for some middle mushy place. Especially Draco. OMG JUST DECIDE. I think I really just wanted him to make a CHOICE, one way or the other, but instead he just skulks along. Maybe that was Rowling's point, but if so, I don't think she sold it strongly enough.
Also, all the switcheroo about the various wands gave me a headache.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-18 06:48 am (UTC)Hermione is so smart and cool—why does she cry all the time? I mean, she spent the whole book, basically, alternating between being awesome and weeping/sobbing/gasping. I mean, I guess that could be a legitimate character trait, but it really bugged me after a while.
Hm, I didn't really notice that, but maybe it will jump out at me on a re-read. I felt like Harry cried a bit, too.
I've always felt a lot of sympathy for Snape, and was TOTALLY unsurprised by how his whole plotline played out; I never doubted that he was still spying for Dumbledore, etc.
*nodding* Oh, yeah, totally unsurprised there. I mean, who didn't know he was in love with Lily, etc.
Actually, my issue with Snape is the same as my problem with the Malfoys, I guess. OK, so Snape loved Lily and the Malfoys love their son-- BIG DEAL. That doesn't actually make you a hero-- it doesn't automatically redeem you if you've done horrible awful things. "Yes, I killed some helpless Muggles, and had many other harmless witches and wizards sent to Azkaban to be tortured, and was basically a child-murdering Nazi... but I love my son, Draco." Er what? Are we supposed to find that touching? Or surprising somehow?
I think it's an interesting thing to put in a kids' book-- "Even bad people are capable of love, see!" But I don't really like it if the lesson is "and that automatically means more than all their bad choices, so all you have to do is be like 'I love my cat' and that's *good enough*-- you don't actually have to DO anything to be redeemed, like actually try to stop bad things from happening, or actively help people, or protect the helpless, or try to make it up to the people that you hurt." I mean, look at Dumbledore, who spent his whole life in penance for being a teenage git. I mean, obvs Snape *did* work for the cause of good, but the Malfoys (the Malfoys senior, anyway) not so much-- they were pretty much selfish and cowardly to the end.
I think I really just wanted him to make a CHOICE, one way or the other, but instead he just skulks along. Maybe that was Rowling's point, but if so, I don't think she sold it strongly enough.
Yeah, agreed. I mean, you know there are people who will be like "See! Draco, totally redeemed!" but... I would have liked to see him actually do something *inarguably* unselfish first.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-18 06:07 am (UTC)6. Dumbledore
I like that JRK addressed the whole "hey, Dumbledore is kind of sketchy" argument. Also, Dumbledore/Grindenwald, HOT NEW SLASH PAIRING, just angsty and fascist and pretty enough for fandom to completely latch onto. Woot.
7. People who died
Man, a lot more people died than I thought would, and although I was horrified and saddened by each one, I'm not *shocked* by any of them, really. I mean, you had to figure at least one Weasley would die, and Ron and Ginny aren't expendable, so it was probably going to be Percy or one of the twins. Remus had to die because he was one of Harry's father figures, although I *am* surprised that JKR killed off Tonks too. Snape, similarly-- ever since he killed Dumbledore, he was marked. But, at least she didn't kill off Luna or Neville, which would have been HORRIBLE.
8. Nineteen Years Later
(OK, so Nineteen Years Later isn't a character, what do you want from me?)
I sense a lot of "I'm ignoring the epilogue" fic in the works. Actually, I predict that within a week of the book's release there will be some apt fannish wordsmush or portmaneau to indicate that your fic or your personal canon is Deathly Hallows-compliant but ignores the epilogue. Oh, and Teddy Lupin / Victoire Weasley is my new favorite pairing. Come on, you know they're both HAWT. I see Teddy as being kind of Byronic and *attractively* broody in that way that Harry never quite managed, and of course Victoire has Fleur's veela charm crossed with Bill's scruffy rock-star sex appeal. I have decided that they're both archaeologists, and they go around having adventures like Rick and Evie in "The Mummy." ... Yeah. Um, I basically just wanted to say something that wasn't "stop naming the kids like an ff.net writer would" because everyone is already saying that and is GOING to be saying that. Because, seriously, JK, no.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-18 06:30 am (UTC)Yeah, there was even Rita Skeeter's suggestion of NAMBLA-pandy. Heh.
(And speaking of possibly inadvertently funny things—I LOVED the conversation where Hermione basically says that it's not the size of the wand that counts, it's what you do with it that matters. *g*)
7. I'm really, REALLY glad that Neville and Luna lived (though Neville/Luna is actually one ship I would have enjoyed hearing about in the epilogue, complete with unfortunate children's names). I didn't mind, story-wise, the other characters' deaths, although as I said below, I'm sad Remus and Tonks didn't get more of a send-off, and I'm very, very worried about George now. I've been doing a lot of reading about twins lately, and the idea of them being separated makes me ouchy.
8. I am one of the many lame and predictable people who can't get over the names. I think the wave of epilogue-ignoring fic will be amusing to witness, but even more, I'm anxiously awaiting (as an amused spectator) all the people who will now decide it's their mission in life to make the next generation have sex. I loved
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-18 06:57 am (UTC)I don't think you're lame and predictable! I just wanted to have something to say BESIDES "James, Lily and Albus? SRSLY?" Because.... yeah. Srsly?
Poor George. *snifs* He'll be ok, he's got the rest of the family, it's not like he's all alone. Plus, maybe Fred will come back as a ghost or something, how about that! :D
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-18 05:26 am (UTC)Some questions:
1. Real? y/n?
2. Why is Rowling so in love with infodumping?
3. Was it mostly really good and then did it go downhill with the ending, pretty much everything after the Shrieking Shack really?
4. I love Neville.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-18 05:36 am (UTC)4. Yay, Neville! And his actions fit with the whole ambiguous prophecy (maybe Trelawney did mean him after all?) and I like where he ends up, if that epilogue isn't a fake.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-18 06:03 am (UTC)Neville wins at life. I am willing to take that one small thing and be close to happy with everything else.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-18 05:38 am (UTC)1. I think it pretty much has to be real. The only way it's fake is if the publishers and Rowling are in on it. (Have you read one of the other fake versions? It starts like this: Harry slunk warily along the footpath, his head slightly bowed, eye’s darting up and down the street, glancing every now and then left and right. .... RIGHT.
2. There was quite a lot of infodumping. At least this time it was a little more dramatic than it has been in past books-- instead of just "P.S., I loved your mom," we actually got to SEE some bits. And the bits that we didn't-- well, it will be fun to see fandom go back and actually *dramatize* all the events that were merely infodumped in DH, so.
3. I think the ending suffered a bit from the fact that it all has to be from Harry's POV-- it's hard to write an epic war story that's about hundreds of complicated things going on and not be able to go into anyone else's POV. But, otherwise I liked it.
4. I started my other comment with a kind of disclaimer about how I'm really only a casual HP fan and I didn't really have any "this ABSOLUTELY MUST happen or I will be TERRIBLY DISAPPOINTED" type of expectations, but I realize now that this is clearly a lie, because if Neville had not had his MOMENT OF BADASSERY then I think there would have been a little emptiness inside me that nothing could ever fill. ;) I admit it, the only bit that actually had me shrieking, clutching the arms of my chair, going "OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD," was Neville killing Nagini. FUCKING AWESOME.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-18 06:00 am (UTC)That's my feeling, too. I know us fans are crazy, but I can't imagine any of us pulling something like this off. And you know, if it IS a Rowling/publisher sponsored fake... 1) I am amused and impressed, and 2) I will never stop laughing if it turns out somebody got paid to do this.
Have you read one of the other fake versions? It starts like this: Harry slunk warily along the footpath, his head slightly bowed, eye’s darting up and down the street
Oh man, with the punctuation like that, really? *headdesk*
There's also some sort of fake epilogue with Gabrielle being called Gabi. WTF?
I know I should expect infodumping by now, and while yeah, this was way less bad than the last three, it still annoyed me. It slowed down the narrative when it REALLY should not have been slow. Less the Snape stuff (because I was actually interested in that—poor Snape! What was so frickin' great about James Potter, anyway?), but more the stuff in the train station, and even Harry's speech to Voldemort. Also, I thought it was way weird that we only got that stuff about Snape after he was already dead, and I was disappointed that we didn't get to see Harry reevaluate his feelings toward him. I mean, obviously he did; he named his son after him. But we didn't get to SEE it, dammit. Grr.
I actually like how Harry's limited POV gave us a somewhat frenetic, scattered take on the big battle; that felt realistically war-like to me. Though I wish that 1) Remus and Tonks had gotten a better send-off, and that 2) the final confrontation with Voldemort hadn't seemed so slow and plodding and anti-climactic in comparison to the earlier frenzy.
Neville has always been my Sekrit Favorite. I LOVED his moment of badassery; it made me SO HAPPY. <3 <3 <3
Randomly, I also liked how the Percy thing was resolved. Though I am very worried for George. What will he do without his twin? *gets wibbly*
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-18 06:01 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-18 06:05 am (UTC)*hearts him forever*
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-18 06:22 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-18 06:34 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-18 06:25 am (UTC)what? where? how?
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-18 06:32 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-18 06:37 am (UTC)I guess I'll just be waiting for saturday morning. :(
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-18 06:39 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-18 05:04 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-18 07:30 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-18 09:38 pm (UTC)I want to believe...but I don't know if I do.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-22 01:32 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-22 07:50 am (UTC)I really don't understand the problem with the names in the epilogue. Sure, they kind of sound like bad fanfic names, but so do most of the names in the series! Within the context of Rowling's literal (not really the best word, but you get the idea) universe, I think it makes perfect sense.
So, yes, Albus Severus Potter is an exceptionally silly name. But Harry would totally name his kid that.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-22 12:54 pm (UTC)Just-- I am waiting for all the Big Fascist Love fics that are titled "For The Greater Good." Because of course it's going to happen. (Rowling didn't help by saying about twenty times how remarkably good-looking and blond he was.)
Also, as someone mentioned above, this lends a whole new terror to Harry Potter: The Next Generation.