tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19053670.post3345308735461352832..comments2023-10-31T05:03:38.910-07:00Comments on Letters from a broad...: Rereading Harry Potter, Part 1C. L. Hansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12698855413639518095noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19053670.post-14968332743134961212011-01-03T10:15:33.441-08:002011-01-03T10:15:33.441-08:00Hey Chaplain!!!
I feel the same way! I absolutel...Hey Chaplain!!!<br /><br />I feel the same way! I absolutely appreciated it more in retrospect than I did at the time, largely for the reasons you state.C. L. Hansonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12698855413639518095noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19053670.post-47245631271746227032011-01-03T09:52:44.327-08:002011-01-03T09:52:44.327-08:00I've loved the HP series since it first appear...I've loved the HP series since it first appeared in the USA and, upon seeing the latest movie, recently re-read all of the books. I'll be reading your critique, and those of your commentators, with interest. <br /><br />The first time I read the series, OotP was my least favorite book of the series. Upon my recent reading, though, I came to appreciate the way it starts tying together threads that had been hanging loosely before. It makes more sense to me within the context of the completed series than it did before I knew which direction it was going.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19053670.post-57023219025662632462010-12-31T14:44:17.099-08:002010-12-31T14:44:17.099-08:00Hey Carla!!!
Yes, there's a lot of interestin...Hey Carla!!!<br /><br />Yes, there's a lot of interesting stuff in this episode, as I'll be discussing. I'm not saying it's <i>exclusively</i> filler. I'm just saying that it's leaning a bit closer in the direction of filler than I would have cared for.C. L. Hansonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12698855413639518095noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19053670.post-20614525584821501862010-12-31T12:05:34.687-08:002010-12-31T12:05:34.687-08:00I thought OotP should have been called Harry Potte...I thought OotP should have been called <i>Harry Potter and the Angst of Being a Teenager</i>.<br /><br />Of course, I'm sure if Harry had never gone through an annoying teenager phase I would have complained that he wasn't realistic enough.<br /><br />So, what does OotP accomplish as far as the big picture is concerned? I think she does address some very interesting questions:<br /><br />The whole prophecy plot raises huge questions about the nature of telling the future. In PoA and GoF, we see that there are real prophecies. OotP throws what we "know" into question, as we are confronted with the idea that a prophecy isn't a given, that the outcome can depend on whether or not somebody it refers to actually hears it, in short, that the future is not certain. There is no such thing as "destiny," only cause and effect, as Dumbledore points out in the end. Tyrants create their own worst enemies in the people they oppress. Eventually, somebody is going to take them out.<br /><br />OotP also features a progression toward a time when things that Harry has held dear and trustworthy turn on him, and become his enemy. Hogwarts, instead of a place of refuge, becomes a place of oppression. For the first time, his enemy isn't a dark wizard either - as Sirius points out, the world isn't split into good people and deatheaters.<br /><br />I think Harry's strengthened psychic link to Voldemort also functions as an even bigger clue as to him being the final horcrux in the final two books. We see a bit of it in CoS, when Dumbledore talks about the curse giving Harry powers from Voldemort, etc, and of course at the beginning of GoF with the dream in the Riddle house, but it is more emphasized in Harry's more frequent voyages into Voldemort's mind in his sleep.<br /><br />The occlumency lessons too are a wonderful chance to develop Snape's, Lily and James', and Sirius and Lupin's characters. I think we also get a clue there about Snape's relationship with Lily.<br /><br />And of course, we find out that Harry is "the chosen one," though as stated before, what that means isn't certain.<br /><br />I wouldn't say that OotP is just filler between GoF and HBP. We learn a lot of crucial information about the characters, the past, and what is to come in the future. What I think makes OotP a great book is the character development, the disillusionment about Harry's parents, Sirius, and Snape.Carla Schmidt Hollowayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12947846629735463824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19053670.post-81811307975756520882010-12-31T11:34:27.254-08:002010-12-31T11:34:27.254-08:00Hey Holly!!!
Yes, exactly, it's quite relevan...Hey Holly!!!<br /><br />Yes, exactly, it's quite relevant. I think that to some degree it doesn't make sense to call the forces in Rowling's universe "magic" -- for exactly the reasons you describe. Yet, it's still kind of interesting as an alternate universe.C. L. Hansonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12698855413639518095noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19053670.post-81478627738174436452010-12-31T11:28:50.867-08:002010-12-31T11:28:50.867-08:00Hi CL--
I would guess you're referring to thi...Hi CL--<br /><br />I would guess you're referring to this statement<br /><br />Most of all, I wanted to read something magical. By that I don't mean something along the lines of Harry Potter, which to me is thoroughly mundane even if it does have a few spells and flying broomsticks thrown in. (The most mundane thing about it is its morality: deception and cheating are fine if Harry does it, because Harry is Good, while deception and cheating are wrong if Harry's foes do it, because Harry's foes are Bad, which is why they're Harry's foes.) No, I wanted to be transported to a world beyond this one.<br /><br />in this post http://selfportraitas.com/archives/2010/05/the-fantasy-qua.html<br /><br />I agree with you that the magic seems like another form of technology. However, one of the things I remember from my undergraduate education is this argument from a book called <i>Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition</i> by Frances A Yates: Magic only works as magic if it's mysterious and unexplainable. If its functions and processes are understood, it's called science or technology. <br /><br />Not entirely sure that's relevant, since I only read the first two books and that was years ago, but thought I'd mention it.Hollyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16506658008234465418noreply@blogger.com