Ten Little Chances to be Free (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
tenlittlebullets) wrote2007-07-21 08:47 pm
tenlittlebullets) wrote2007-07-21 08:47 pm
Entry tags:
lol intarwebz, still ded as everyone reads DH
So, I finished it. Nothing earth-shattering, but a nice satisfying conclusion.
So who'da thunk all the fan theories would be right after all? RAB is Regulus Black, the locket was lying around the house, Mundungus nicked it off Kreacher... Snape was a triple agent and Dumbledore's death was planned all along, not to mention Snape had the hots for Lily... Harry was the last Horcrux and had to die to make Voldemort mortal, then got resurrected because of some shenanigans with Voldemort using his blood... (Okay, I have no idea if the resurrection bit was a common theory, but it was my pet theory. Though at the rate Harry was throwing around Unforgivables over the course of the book, I half-expected him to AVK Voldemort himself.) Moving on to things everyone and his brother hadn't guessed already:
- Jesus, JKR, pacing issues much? Way too much time with the trio camping out in the rain, not enough attention given to major character deaths near the end. And, while I suppose the whole thing with the Hallows was adequately developed, I feel like it could have been fleshed out more--ditto the themes of death and grief, and of belonging to a family.
- Speaking of, I may be a sap but I totally adored the graveyard scene.
- The King's Cross chapter, though, just made me think of the two last Matrix movies, only less tl;dr.
- Harry? The rules for Evil Overlords apply to heroes too. The final showdown is not the time to explain your Cunning Plan, and the only reason you didn't get cursed mid-sentence is because Voldemort is far too traditional an Evil Overlord not to respect the propriety of Final Showdowns.
- I wanted Neville to be the one to pwn Bellatrix once and for all, but the line "NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!" totally makes up for my disappointment on that count.
- This book really isn't for kiddies, is it? The random swearing and the death count, yeah, there's that, but the whole Ariana subplot and Fenrir practically breaking out into "Hello Little Girl" mid-sentence and Bella draping herself over Voldemort all the time... totally not for kiddies.
- Dumbledore, you bastard. It's kind of easier to forgive him, though, when the narration acknowledges that he's a flawed and manipulative character instead of insisting he's wise and all-knowing and a generally nice guy.
- Ooh look, she finally cleared up the dates! Since I am a bad fan and I have not read Chamber of Secrets in ages, I am not sure whether this means once and for all that Tom Riddle was still at Hogwarts when Dumbledore pwned Grindelwald, but--hello, connection that was not acknowledged in the text, and which fanfiction authors can now shamelessly take advantage of!
- Dumbledore/Grindelwald OTP. And Harry, you keep noticing that men are handsome, but don't seem to particularly notice girls' appearances until your girlfriend whom you haven't seen in months flings herself at you. I don't think you're straight.
- I have to say that while Harry has a long track record of doing things that are flagrantly illegal and questionably moral in the name of saving the world, I never expected to see him actually rob a bank. Outside of fanfic, I mean.
- The epilogue had a couple of cute moments, but on the whole... fucking lame. Probably born of a combined desire to let the audience know what the happy ending entails, and end the book with something slightly more dignified than "Kreacher, get me a sammich."
By the way--I read the first third or so outside on a bench in a park, and when I get to about chapter three, I am suddenly interrupted by a kid who looks about the age to still be expecting his Hogwarts letter, and who asks me in a tone of utter politeness and perhaps some trepidation where I bought the last book. SO CUTE, and also the first time I've ever been called Madame. Maybe HP7 is the end of my childhood after all. ;)
So who'da thunk all the fan theories would be right after all? RAB is Regulus Black, the locket was lying around the house, Mundungus nicked it off Kreacher... Snape was a triple agent and Dumbledore's death was planned all along, not to mention Snape had the hots for Lily... Harry was the last Horcrux and had to die to make Voldemort mortal, then got resurrected because of some shenanigans with Voldemort using his blood... (Okay, I have no idea if the resurrection bit was a common theory, but it was my pet theory. Though at the rate Harry was throwing around Unforgivables over the course of the book, I half-expected him to AVK Voldemort himself.) Moving on to things everyone and his brother hadn't guessed already:
- Jesus, JKR, pacing issues much? Way too much time with the trio camping out in the rain, not enough attention given to major character deaths near the end. And, while I suppose the whole thing with the Hallows was adequately developed, I feel like it could have been fleshed out more--ditto the themes of death and grief, and of belonging to a family.
- Speaking of, I may be a sap but I totally adored the graveyard scene.
- The King's Cross chapter, though, just made me think of the two last Matrix movies, only less tl;dr.
- Harry? The rules for Evil Overlords apply to heroes too. The final showdown is not the time to explain your Cunning Plan, and the only reason you didn't get cursed mid-sentence is because Voldemort is far too traditional an Evil Overlord not to respect the propriety of Final Showdowns.
- I wanted Neville to be the one to pwn Bellatrix once and for all, but the line "NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!" totally makes up for my disappointment on that count.
- This book really isn't for kiddies, is it? The random swearing and the death count, yeah, there's that, but the whole Ariana subplot and Fenrir practically breaking out into "Hello Little Girl" mid-sentence and Bella draping herself over Voldemort all the time... totally not for kiddies.
- Dumbledore, you bastard. It's kind of easier to forgive him, though, when the narration acknowledges that he's a flawed and manipulative character instead of insisting he's wise and all-knowing and a generally nice guy.
- Ooh look, she finally cleared up the dates! Since I am a bad fan and I have not read Chamber of Secrets in ages, I am not sure whether this means once and for all that Tom Riddle was still at Hogwarts when Dumbledore pwned Grindelwald, but--hello, connection that was not acknowledged in the text, and which fanfiction authors can now shamelessly take advantage of!
- Dumbledore/Grindelwald OTP. And Harry, you keep noticing that men are handsome, but don't seem to particularly notice girls' appearances until your girlfriend whom you haven't seen in months flings herself at you. I don't think you're straight.
- I have to say that while Harry has a long track record of doing things that are flagrantly illegal and questionably moral in the name of saving the world, I never expected to see him actually rob a bank. Outside of fanfic, I mean.
- The epilogue had a couple of cute moments, but on the whole... fucking lame. Probably born of a combined desire to let the audience know what the happy ending entails, and end the book with something slightly more dignified than "Kreacher, get me a sammich."
By the way--I read the first third or so outside on a bench in a park, and when I get to about chapter three, I am suddenly interrupted by a kid who looks about the age to still be expecting his Hogwarts letter, and who asks me in a tone of utter politeness and perhaps some trepidation where I bought the last book. SO CUTE, and also the first time I've ever been called Madame. Maybe HP7 is the end of my childhood after all. ;)