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No Remorse agrees with the wankers and she's absolutely right.
JKR is not writing a romance. Unlike 99% of fanfic writers.
Let's recall what we're reading: an action/adventure/suspense story.
The disappointment that the pyramid of clues hinting at Harry/Hermione suddenly collapsed and came to a screeching unsatisfying halt at Ginny-who?/Harry tells us a great deal. I'm afraid that we all need to reread the first two books to prepare ourselves for book seven.
JKR has never been brilliant at writing subtleties of interpersonal relationships. Her plots are suspenseful "who-done-its" with predictable endings. She cleverly hides the clues to the plot in plain sight, a la "Where's Waldo?"
Her strengths are in mocking, cleverly, our world. Rita Skeeter with her Quik-Quotes-Quill. The U-NO-POO ("You know shit!") and "constipation sensation that's sweeping the nation" that mocks the post-9/11 paranoia.
We should credit her for what she's done well. But where the fanfic writers have taken flight is where these interpersonal areas have been left blank. If they're blank, maybe they're not the focus of the books. Ginny/Harry is paper thin because it's unimportant.
Now I for one, like to find depth and insight in Percy's situation. "It turns out that Arthur was wrong -- look, he survived Fudge and is still there! He must be at least competent! What strength and integrity that he didn't come crawling back, begging for forgiveness!"
And it's there. But....
The reality is, he's placed where he is because JKRs going to need him there for the next book. He's fighting with his family not because of some subtle characterisation (the portrait of a young man who's been treated like a house-elf finally standing up for himself...) but because JKR needs him mad at his family for some aspect of the plot (why belabor it for two books otherwise?).
That's what we're going to get in the last book. Plot. Hidden clues coming from nowhere:
"Augh! Forgot about Wormtail's hand!"
and
"Oh wow, I never considered that Percy was an Imperius plant, just like the one in the Prime Minister's office in HBP, an obvious mirroring of his ignoring Crouch's condition in GoF. Oh, will he live the rest of his life at St. Mungo's now? Well, good thing JKR made sure we'd never like that git!"
and
"Oho, Neville's birthday being the same as Harry's is important!"
and
"Who would have thought Harry's blood being 'valuable' was meant so literally?"
and
"Aha! A clue to the situation with Snape was hidden in his rhyme in book one!"
What we won't find is what we've come to expect from fanfic: profound subtle emotional depth.
Harry Potter is not a romance. It's an action/adventure/suspense story. So let's not hope for something that JKR never set out to write. And then we won't be disappointed.
Yes, I'm avoiding my flood of fic ideas. *scurries off guiltily to write*
JKR is not writing a romance. Unlike 99% of fanfic writers.
Let's recall what we're reading: an action/adventure/suspense story.
The disappointment that the pyramid of clues hinting at Harry/Hermione suddenly collapsed and came to a screeching unsatisfying halt at Ginny-who?/Harry tells us a great deal. I'm afraid that we all need to reread the first two books to prepare ourselves for book seven.
JKR has never been brilliant at writing subtleties of interpersonal relationships. Her plots are suspenseful "who-done-its" with predictable endings. She cleverly hides the clues to the plot in plain sight, a la "Where's Waldo?"
Her strengths are in mocking, cleverly, our world. Rita Skeeter with her Quik-Quotes-Quill. The U-NO-POO ("You know shit!") and "constipation sensation that's sweeping the nation" that mocks the post-9/11 paranoia.
We should credit her for what she's done well. But where the fanfic writers have taken flight is where these interpersonal areas have been left blank. If they're blank, maybe they're not the focus of the books. Ginny/Harry is paper thin because it's unimportant.
Now I for one, like to find depth and insight in Percy's situation. "It turns out that Arthur was wrong -- look, he survived Fudge and is still there! He must be at least competent! What strength and integrity that he didn't come crawling back, begging for forgiveness!"
And it's there. But....
The reality is, he's placed where he is because JKRs going to need him there for the next book. He's fighting with his family not because of some subtle characterisation (the portrait of a young man who's been treated like a house-elf finally standing up for himself...) but because JKR needs him mad at his family for some aspect of the plot (why belabor it for two books otherwise?).
That's what we're going to get in the last book. Plot. Hidden clues coming from nowhere:
"Augh! Forgot about Wormtail's hand!"
"Oh wow, I never considered that Percy was an Imperius plant, just like the one in the Prime Minister's office in HBP, an obvious mirroring of his ignoring Crouch's condition in GoF. Oh, will he live the rest of his life at St. Mungo's now? Well, good thing JKR made sure we'd never like that git!"
"Oho, Neville's birthday being the same as Harry's is important!"
"Who would have thought Harry's blood being 'valuable' was meant so literally?"
"Aha! A clue to the situation with Snape was hidden in his rhyme in book one!"
What we won't find is what we've come to expect from fanfic: profound subtle emotional depth.
Harry Potter is not a romance. It's an action/adventure/suspense story. So let's not hope for something that JKR never set out to write. And then we won't be disappointed.
Yes, I'm avoiding my flood of fic ideas. *scurries off guiltily to write*
*waves*
(Anonymous) 2005-07-25 04:31 am (UTC)(link)On the other hand, I had a minor hissy fit (privately -- if you call having a fit AT work private...*cough*) when I read
I don't think that JKR is subtle. She's never been subtle. But I also
think that she spelled out in no uncertain terms (and repeated for good measure) that Snape is not EEEBIL. And I'm writing a detailed essay, with lots and lots of quotes that prove my point that she whacks with an anvil.
(err.. since i can't login, this is <lj user="kagyakusha" blathering here, btw)
Re: *waves*
Oh no, I don't think Snape is ever-so-evil. She's been pulling the ol' Snape switcheroo since book one. That's actually predictable at this point.
Icarus
Re: *waves*
^^
I want to re-iterate that i totally agree on the pairing thing!
(although, my eyebrow may shoot up if Harry does marry Trelawney)