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pegkerrStill absorbing. I'm re-dipping into chapters, mulling. Reading the book was exhausting and yeah, depressing, but I definitely haven't given up on JKR yet. I was reading the storm of comments on ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
epicyclical's entry I appreciated a comment resmiranda made: JKR seems to say that even though love hurts so badly it feels it will kill you, it is still more powerful than evil.
It seemed to me that JKR was taking a huge risk with this book on several fronts. Some may argue that it was just incompetently written; that's why it was so (needlessly) bleak. Well, I don't think it was needlessly bleak. Perhaps needfully bleak. I'm willing to reserve judgment on some things, waiting to see how she plays out what she's set up in this book. For example, the prophecy thing could kill the whole series, unless she finds a way to subvert it, for Harry to be something other than murderer or victim. And I hope she does. She said in CoS that it is our choices that make us what we are, more than our abilities. I don't want her to get trapped into determinism there-are-no-choices-after-all now.
I remember talking with Tim Powers once about why he was so brutal to his characters. They often end up with missing limbs, eyes, etc. I asked him why he did that, and he said he did it because he wanted there to be real consequences to their decisions. He wanted what happened to them to really hurt.
Just got off the phone withkijjohnson, who to my delight, has read it, too, and so we had a long, long talk about it. And in speaking with her, my thoughts crystallized even more. Kij said this book really raised her respect of Rowling as a writer, and yeah, I agree. As much as this book hurt like hell, I think Rowling did the right thing, and I think she took a helluva risk. Because this book is entirely about what I care about most as both a reader and a writer: choosing the heart of flesh over the heart of stone. It was all right there in the scene in Dumbledore's office:
Bingo. If the fiction I love is about the process of choosing the heart of flesh over the heart of stone, then what this book is about is an unflinching warning: if you choose the heart of flesh, then the cost is pain. Rowling didn't flinch away from making it utter blinding, bleak pain. That was so brave of her. She knows that many of her readers want an escapist romp. They want to go to Hogwarts because it's fun. She knows she may lose some of that audience, but she's showing us a kind of respect in saying, "this isn't all about fun."
Perhaps the next book will be Harry being tempted to choose the heart of stone, to freeze out Ron and Hermione, not telling them the truth. He feels the barrier between himself and other people. He has to find a way to break that barrier. Which is why the next two books, I suspect, may have a great deal to say about whether Harry can ever bring himself to love again. His temptation will be to choose stone: to turn away from any other potential sexual relationship, Hermione or Ginny or even Luna or whoever. Will he be able to bring himself to love again?
Writing this all out has helped enormously. I know that many in the fandom disagree, and feel angered and disgusted and betrayed by this book. I feel it is her Two Towers; I am anxious to see whether she's going to fall flat on her face in the next two (as I said, the prophecy thing could really trip her up.) But so far, I think, she has shown she knows what she's doing. And more and more, especially with this book, she is continuing to write the type of fiction that means the absolute most to me.
Yes, I will read the next. I'll be in line at midnight. I hope this time I'll be able to be in the same room as at least one good friend at the time, so we can read it together.
A good entry frommaybethemoon on death, dying and reactions. See also cygnusfap's entry, which I applaud.
Peg
epicyclical's entry I appreciated a comment resmiranda made: JKR seems to say that even though love hurts so badly it feels it will kill you, it is still more powerful than evil.It seemed to me that JKR was taking a huge risk with this book on several fronts. Some may argue that it was just incompetently written; that's why it was so (needlessly) bleak. Well, I don't think it was needlessly bleak. Perhaps needfully bleak. I'm willing to reserve judgment on some things, waiting to see how she plays out what she's set up in this book. For example, the prophecy thing could kill the whole series, unless she finds a way to subvert it, for Harry to be something other than murderer or victim. And I hope she does. She said in CoS that it is our choices that make us what we are, more than our abilities. I don't want her to get trapped into determinism there-are-no-choices-after-all now.
I remember talking with Tim Powers once about why he was so brutal to his characters. They often end up with missing limbs, eyes, etc. I asked him why he did that, and he said he did it because he wanted there to be real consequences to their decisions. He wanted what happened to them to really hurt.
Just got off the phone with
kijjohnson, who to my delight, has read it, too, and so we had a long, long talk about it. And in speaking with her, my thoughts crystallized even more. Kij said this book really raised her respect of Rowling as a writer, and yeah, I agree. As much as this book hurt like hell, I think Rowling did the right thing, and I think she took a helluva risk. Because this book is entirely about what I care about most as both a reader and a writer: choosing the heart of flesh over the heart of stone. It was all right there in the scene in Dumbledore's office:"I don't want to talk about how I feel, all right?"
"Harry, suffering like this proves you are still a man! This pain is part of being human--"
"THEN--I--DON'T--WANT--TO--BE--HUMAN! ...I DON'T CARE! ... I'VE HAD ENOUGH, I'VE SEEN ENOUGH, I WANT OUT, I WANT IT TO END, I DON'T CARE ANYMORE!" . . .
"You do care," said Dumbledore. "You care so much you feel as though you will bleed to death with the pain of it."
Bingo. If the fiction I love is about the process of choosing the heart of flesh over the heart of stone, then what this book is about is an unflinching warning: if you choose the heart of flesh, then the cost is pain. Rowling didn't flinch away from making it utter blinding, bleak pain. That was so brave of her. She knows that many of her readers want an escapist romp. They want to go to Hogwarts because it's fun. She knows she may lose some of that audience, but she's showing us a kind of respect in saying, "this isn't all about fun."
Perhaps the next book will be Harry being tempted to choose the heart of stone, to freeze out Ron and Hermione, not telling them the truth. He feels the barrier between himself and other people. He has to find a way to break that barrier. Which is why the next two books, I suspect, may have a great deal to say about whether Harry can ever bring himself to love again. His temptation will be to choose stone: to turn away from any other potential sexual relationship, Hermione or Ginny or even Luna or whoever. Will he be able to bring himself to love again?
Writing this all out has helped enormously. I know that many in the fandom disagree, and feel angered and disgusted and betrayed by this book. I feel it is her Two Towers; I am anxious to see whether she's going to fall flat on her face in the next two (as I said, the prophecy thing could really trip her up.) But so far, I think, she has shown she knows what she's doing. And more and more, especially with this book, she is continuing to write the type of fiction that means the absolute most to me.
Yes, I will read the next. I'll be in line at midnight. I hope this time I'll be able to be in the same room as at least one good friend at the time, so we can read it together.
A good entry from
maybethemoon on death, dying and reactions. See also cygnusfap's entry, which I applaud.Peg