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talkingtotheskyI've just finished my second readthrough of this book. I went and sat out in the garden at around 11am, sat under a parasol to keep the sun off me. I've been reading it for several weeks now, after my Mum told me she had never read the seventh book and I offered to read it to her on Sunday afternoons. We've been doing this for five weeks now, and yesterday we reached chapter thirty-one, The Battle of Hogwarts. My mum doesn't know Fred's dead yet, we're a couple of pages away. Still, I got home last night and I think I knew I wouldn't be able to wait another week before continuing to go through it with her. I wanted to relive it for myself (I know how foolish this is, with exams all this month, but that should give you some idea of how much this series means to me).
My mum was never too bothered about Harry Potter. I daresay she read the first six books in order to understand what the hell me and Dad were always on about. I think some of the antagonism between my mother and I stems from my frustration with the fact that she has never understood quite what reading (in general, not just Harry Potter), and indeed writing, means to me. She maintains that reading is a pointless activity, it isolates rather than allows you to engage with others. For me, reading IS engaging - all the words on the page have come, ultimately, from someone else's mind, from their imagination, and this to me is both a more intimate and more universal exchange of knowledge and emotion than through conversation. When talking face to face with someone, we may alter what we say according to how we think the other person will react, how proud we are (or, to put it another way, how scared we are of showing our true emotion) and what our general aims are. In writing, this is different. It is an expression of one's thoughts not just to one person, but to many (and in JK Rowling's case, literally millions). It is not entirely untempered, I admit, editorial processes may remove certain aspects, but essentially the same words are delivered around the world. We then take that and our own imaginations, our own experiences shape our reactions to it, in the same way we would during a conversation. So why, then, if you have something to say, not just do a radio broadcast or a recording and broadcast the information globally that way? In the spoken word, the intonation, the emphasis someone places on certain words or phrases will vary according to their interpretation. So reading is a method more personal (in that it has been untainted, largely, by another person's view of it) and more open to interpretation than any other. For me, anyway. I admit that I have never tried to explain this to my mum, fearful as I am of her disagreement - as I am sure many of you may have doubts. Which is fine, I just...sometimes when something is so close to your heart you can't bear to have it questioned.
This is how I felt about the slow disintegration of Dumbledore's reputation throughout this book, both in the first and second read-through. It made me desperately sad to find that the twinkly-eyed, eccentric, wise old Headmaster that I had so looked up to was actually a selfish and - to put it bluntly - manipulative bastard. The Trio's meeting with Aberforth Dumbledore in the Hog's Head (chapter twenty-eight, The Missing Mirror) was a real eye-opener for me, not just because it was humbling to finally hear the truth about Ariana, but because for seven years I'd entirely missed one huge thing about Dumbledore: he was human. Both Harry and I - and I suspect most people who read the series - had put Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore up on a pedestal so high that to watch the fall - years after that fateful night on the top of The Lightning-Struck Tower - is heartbreaking. And, let's face it, a bloody marvellous piece of writing.
Another thing I'd entirely missed on my first read-through back in 2007 was the paths through history of the Hallows - in particularly the Elder Wand. Harry's last revelation before his defeat of Voldemort - that first Draco Malfoy, then he, Harry, was the master of the Elder Wand, not Voldemort, had completely been forgotten about by me and was just as much of a shock the second time around. I had not understood it all. Now I think I get it a little better, but whether I will be able to explain it sufficiently next Sunday remains to be seen.
I couldn't help but be stunned also by how much Harry has changed over the course of these books. With all the reminders to past books layered throughout this one, I can certainly see why JKR says number seven is her favourite. The Chamber of Secrets, Priori Incantatem, the boat trip across the water towards Hogwarts, even Hagrid's little pet dragon Norbert - all the best bits that so captured your imagination when you were a kid fondly remembered in the last few chapters.
Back in 2007, I hated exactly what I'm doing now. Personalizing everything, making it mine, when for all intents and purposes I have no right to. Back in 2007, even before I read the book, I had already begun to drift away from Harry Potter fandom, because quite naturally I had moved on, to shows such as Doctor Who, Torchwood and Life on Mars. But then when I read the book I went running back, desperate to talk about the series with others and never stop talking. When I got there though, there was uproar. Seemingly everywhere I looked, there was disappointment and anger about the ending to the series, in particular the 'Nineteen Years Later' epilogue. Everywhere people were writing "fix-it fic" in order to say how they thought things should have ended, and slagging off the original. I was staggered. After years of excitement and speculation, suddenly all I could see was betrayal. The fans were turning their back on the series right when I had expected they would celebrate. To finally have the answers, resolution, closure for Harry and his friends. Alright, fine, there were deaths that I wished hadn't happened - Lupin, my favourite character* - but I certainly wasn't about to start saying that I hated the book or JKR. Sometimes I think we forget, particularly when our hearts are so invested in something as this, that it was never really our world to begin with, it's hers, and we have to thank her for sharing it with us. And it's a credit to her writing just how many people have identified with that world so strongly that we feel it belongs to us.
And for those of you who are still wondering just why the hell any of this even matters, it's just fiction after all, I leave you with a quote from the great man Dumbledore himself:
'Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?'
*As a side note, this is what happened when I told Mum who my favourite character was:
Me: Since Lupin's my favourite character -
Mum: *visibly shudders* Urgh.
Me: What?
Mum: He's a bit of a strange choice.
Me: Why?
Mum: Well, he's a werewolf, isn't he? *shudders again*
I love you, Mum. *headdesk*
(15:48)
My mum was never too bothered about Harry Potter. I daresay she read the first six books in order to understand what the hell me and Dad were always on about. I think some of the antagonism between my mother and I stems from my frustration with the fact that she has never understood quite what reading (in general, not just Harry Potter), and indeed writing, means to me. She maintains that reading is a pointless activity, it isolates rather than allows you to engage with others. For me, reading IS engaging - all the words on the page have come, ultimately, from someone else's mind, from their imagination, and this to me is both a more intimate and more universal exchange of knowledge and emotion than through conversation. When talking face to face with someone, we may alter what we say according to how we think the other person will react, how proud we are (or, to put it another way, how scared we are of showing our true emotion) and what our general aims are. In writing, this is different. It is an expression of one's thoughts not just to one person, but to many (and in JK Rowling's case, literally millions). It is not entirely untempered, I admit, editorial processes may remove certain aspects, but essentially the same words are delivered around the world. We then take that and our own imaginations, our own experiences shape our reactions to it, in the same way we would during a conversation. So why, then, if you have something to say, not just do a radio broadcast or a recording and broadcast the information globally that way? In the spoken word, the intonation, the emphasis someone places on certain words or phrases will vary according to their interpretation. So reading is a method more personal (in that it has been untainted, largely, by another person's view of it) and more open to interpretation than any other. For me, anyway. I admit that I have never tried to explain this to my mum, fearful as I am of her disagreement - as I am sure many of you may have doubts. Which is fine, I just...sometimes when something is so close to your heart you can't bear to have it questioned.
This is how I felt about the slow disintegration of Dumbledore's reputation throughout this book, both in the first and second read-through. It made me desperately sad to find that the twinkly-eyed, eccentric, wise old Headmaster that I had so looked up to was actually a selfish and - to put it bluntly - manipulative bastard. The Trio's meeting with Aberforth Dumbledore in the Hog's Head (chapter twenty-eight, The Missing Mirror) was a real eye-opener for me, not just because it was humbling to finally hear the truth about Ariana, but because for seven years I'd entirely missed one huge thing about Dumbledore: he was human. Both Harry and I - and I suspect most people who read the series - had put Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore up on a pedestal so high that to watch the fall - years after that fateful night on the top of The Lightning-Struck Tower - is heartbreaking. And, let's face it, a bloody marvellous piece of writing.
Another thing I'd entirely missed on my first read-through back in 2007 was the paths through history of the Hallows - in particularly the Elder Wand. Harry's last revelation before his defeat of Voldemort - that first Draco Malfoy, then he, Harry, was the master of the Elder Wand, not Voldemort, had completely been forgotten about by me and was just as much of a shock the second time around. I had not understood it all. Now I think I get it a little better, but whether I will be able to explain it sufficiently next Sunday remains to be seen.
I couldn't help but be stunned also by how much Harry has changed over the course of these books. With all the reminders to past books layered throughout this one, I can certainly see why JKR says number seven is her favourite. The Chamber of Secrets, Priori Incantatem, the boat trip across the water towards Hogwarts, even Hagrid's little pet dragon Norbert - all the best bits that so captured your imagination when you were a kid fondly remembered in the last few chapters.
Back in 2007, I hated exactly what I'm doing now. Personalizing everything, making it mine, when for all intents and purposes I have no right to. Back in 2007, even before I read the book, I had already begun to drift away from Harry Potter fandom, because quite naturally I had moved on, to shows such as Doctor Who, Torchwood and Life on Mars. But then when I read the book I went running back, desperate to talk about the series with others and never stop talking. When I got there though, there was uproar. Seemingly everywhere I looked, there was disappointment and anger about the ending to the series, in particular the 'Nineteen Years Later' epilogue. Everywhere people were writing "fix-it fic" in order to say how they thought things should have ended, and slagging off the original. I was staggered. After years of excitement and speculation, suddenly all I could see was betrayal. The fans were turning their back on the series right when I had expected they would celebrate. To finally have the answers, resolution, closure for Harry and his friends. Alright, fine, there were deaths that I wished hadn't happened - Lupin, my favourite character* - but I certainly wasn't about to start saying that I hated the book or JKR. Sometimes I think we forget, particularly when our hearts are so invested in something as this, that it was never really our world to begin with, it's hers, and we have to thank her for sharing it with us. And it's a credit to her writing just how many people have identified with that world so strongly that we feel it belongs to us.
And for those of you who are still wondering just why the hell any of this even matters, it's just fiction after all, I leave you with a quote from the great man Dumbledore himself:
'Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?'
*As a side note, this is what happened when I told Mum who my favourite character was:
Me: Since Lupin's my favourite character -
Mum: *visibly shudders* Urgh.
Me: What?
Mum: He's a bit of a strange choice.
Me: Why?
Mum: Well, he's a werewolf, isn't he? *shudders again*
I love you, Mum. *headdesk*
(15:48)
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no subject
Date: 2009-06-01 05:27 pm (UTC)Oh, I would be so angry with my mum if she said that about Lupin to me! ): My mum and I get into frequent arguments about EVERYTHING, and if she'd said that, I will literally have started yelling at her about how intolerant that is, blah blah blah, but I'm really ridiculous about these things. It would also have made me feel really uncomfortable, because for me, things like this, things like being a werewolf-- they obviously represent being different, and I often relate that to things like... sexual identity and stuff, and I would get even more worried that my mum might be homophobic or something and then I think too much about how I'm going to come out to her about my bisexuality, etc. etc. Because she's never really expressed her views on any GLBT stuff. :| But I digress.
Weirdly, I'd never looked up to Dumbledore. I don't know what it is about his character, but there was something about him that really irked me and nothing at all about him that interested me. Which was slightly unfortunate. I liked him more in fanfics, for god's sake. To be honest, it wasn't actually until Book Seven that I finally thought I might actually like this character in canon. I think it's the fact that we finally got to see a more human side to him, and we learnt about his tragedy, so I could relate in some ways. That and the relationship between him and Grindelwald-- friendship, unrequited love, whatever. That really, really interested me and for the first time I thought, you know, this is a real person, with real failures and real passions. So Book Seven worked really well for me like that.
I hated the epilogue. There were some things about it that were okay, but there were other things about it that just made me really upset. I have never liked Harry/Ginny. I could put up with them as a nice teenage romance-- that happens, I can see it happening, but I couldn't put up with them getting MARRIED. I just cannot see a relationship like that lasting so long, because there's hardly any depth to it. JKR failed to convince me that they truly did love each other. Ron/Hermione, on the other hand, I'd wanted to happen from the very beginning. I think they honestly deserved each other, and they deserved the happy ending they got, after all that they'd been through together.
However, apart from that and one or two other things (LUPIN AND TONKS omg way too rushed and also unconvincing like Harry/Ginny but slightly less so, and WHY DID THEY HAVE TO DIE DAMMIT), I loved Book Seven. PoA will always be my favourite, I think, but Book Seven comes a close second. It made me fall in love with characters I thought I could never fall in love with (Dudley, Kreacher), and it was just... really clever and overall a great finale to the series. I loved how the friendship between the trio was really, really clear and strong in this book, with Ron abandoning them and then coming back. And I've always been so, so grateful to JKR for dedicating to us, to those who have stuck with Harry till the very end. That dedication really struck me the moment I opened the book, and I think I almost burst out crying then. And I will never tire of that Dumbledore quote, either.
I so need to reread this book right now.
(Sorry I rambled. >>)
no subject
Date: 2009-06-01 06:57 pm (UTC)You can learn a lot more through people's writing than their speech. Speech is, to an extent, crafted according to their environment and what has been instilled into the person as acceptable. However, when it comes to writing, there's a certain amount of 'anonymousness' with it which means people tend to write freely and without the constraints of speech. (I may have a report on this somewhere for English Lang this year =/)
My parents both read; but not to the extent I do. Neither can understand my love of buying the books and reading them more than once (I think they believe the sensations/feelings can't be replicated again) and both of them despise the works of Shakespeare and I'm in love with them. It just shows the apple can fall quite far from the tree.
Harry Potter was something I discovered by complete accident because my Mum was encouraging me to read independently. She just happened to see it and bought it for me-- before it got really popular =) My copy of PS is first edition and so well thumbed it is unbelievable. It was the first series I followed from beginning to end, which makes it such a milestone to me and yes, we all like to see it really personally.
But in a way... All books are personal. Writers don't actually write for themselves, they write for an audience. Also, we all interpret a book differently and have a different experience of it; it is really personal. Of course, sometimes it becomes to personal but alas this is what fandom/obsession does to people.
I will also confess that I went up-in-arms when I read the epilogue. I was on holiday at the time, and 'borrowed' a computer to go off and rant about it because I felt it was appauling. Perhaps this is a flaw of my teenage self-- I did take it as an insult.
Maybe for some this 'happily ever after' was perfect. For me, it just was too sweet... And I've always found it better when a story doesn't dictate the future so you can make up your own 'nineteen years later' and that way no one can be sure what happened and then no one would have been upset/outraged like many were.
That's just my opinion though. I know a lot of people that, although they didn't like the epilogue, liked the closure it brought.
no subject
Date: 2009-06-01 07:20 pm (UTC)I'm glad both your parents are really supportive of your reading, it's so important. I helped out for a while in my school library last year and the number of people who were actually sitting in the library who didn't like books was astounding. They'd basically just sit there with a book closed on the table in front of them so they could pick it up and pretend to be reading when the Head Librarian shouted at them, but otherwise would just spend their time gossiping. Reading just isn't as cool as video games, clearly. :(
There were always books in my house when I was little, I made my way through the entire Letterland, Mr Men and Little Miss, Roald Dahl and Noddy collection, and then started all over again. As soon as I finished one I'd pick up another.
But as I got older I was allowed less time to read, and so the only time I got any reading done was when I went to visit my Dad. It was during a weekend with him when I heard about Harry Potter and was promptly hooked from the age of seven onwards. My dad saw how entranced I was and started reading them himself. He was always a very slow reader and I was always very fast, and so we had this running thing of me walking in and saying "I know something you don't" and him covering his ears and going "no, don't tell me!"
Lately I've been more engrossed in television than books, what with Life on Mars, Doctor Who and Torchwood, but my Dad's kept reading and he now knows more about the Harry Potter series than I do - and I knew a lot! I'm somewhat famous in my school for being the person who could answer any question about Harry Potter. Terribly uncool, but I don't care. :D But nowadays I'd have to refer them to my Dad instead!
As for the Lupin comment, believe me, I know. Luckily I'm somewhat used to this sort of thing from my Mum, and know when it's worth getting into a fight over it and when not. Usually not. And yes, we had the GLBT discussion. And holy hell, did we have a row about it. She takes the basic stance of 'Those sorts of people can do what they like, as long as it's nowhere near me and I don't have to see it'. And then, her exact words: 'I'd be extremely disappointed if you told me you were a lesbian.' So I'm never touching that subject again. :P I yelled at her for being closed-minded and ignorant, but that's her stance and she's sticking to it. I'm going to leave it alone for a couple of years and if/when I find someone hopefully she'll see how happy I am regardless of gender and start to revise her opinion somewhat.
I'm glad Book 7 allowed you to identify with him more. Even though I knew he had been keeping secrets from Harry the whole way through, I thought: "it's okay, he's doing it to protect him" and then Book 7 came along and showed me the serious consequences of doing it this way and the trouble it caused Harry. It really changed my perspective of him. But this is exactly what I'm saying: we've both read exactly the same words and come up with entirely different conclusions about a character. And that's brilliant. :)
Oh gosh, I agree with you about Harry/Ginny as well. I didn't believe in them at all. JKR's main strength is adventure/fantasy, not romance. But it didn't spoil my enjoyment of the epilogue. I was happy to see that life was carrying on, that Harry finally had a happy family. It didn't matter to me about how well it had been developed or how plausible it was. I was just happy that Harry was happy. And alive. :P
Lupin/Tonks never convinced me in canon, but I loved it in fanfiction and so it didn't bother me too much either. Again, I was glad to see Remus being an ecstatic father, glad that he'd also had a chance at a family. Before it was cruelly ripped away from him again, grumblegrumble. :P
PoA will always be my favourite too! I'm glad it's made you want to reread, reading Seven today has made me want to start at One again and read them all!
Thanks again for the lovely long comment, I really appreciate it. :)
no subject
Date: 2009-06-01 07:41 pm (UTC)THAT'S what I was trying to say. Thank you for condensing my rambly paragraph into an easy to understand sentence. :)
I secretly love Shakespeare while most of my friends are hitting their heads against the desk with frustration and boredom. But then I love words and language no matter where it comes from, so an older version of English doesn't really confuse or irritate me like they say it does them.
I understand what you're saying about the epilogue, I didn't think it was perfect but I didn't hate it either. I did raise my eyebrows a little at 'Albus Severus' but it didn't bother me all that much. And yes, the final sentence of the last chapter would have worked as a better closing line than 'All was well.' But like I was saying to [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com], I think I was just so glad to have that closure, plausibility or quality of writing didn't really matter. I'm like this with Doctor Who as well - I rarely go up in arms about episodes that others really detest and find huge flaws with. Maybe I'm just too easy to please. :P
Thanks for reading and commenting. :)