(no subject)

[icarus]

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*

Comments

[fleurdeliser.livejournal.com]

Good points m'dear. I came to that same realization a few months after joining the fandom and decided that I didn't honestly care who ended up paired with whom.

In some ways, I also agree with no_remorse. I don't necessarily agree with the rather negative assessment of the book as I rather enjoyed it, but on other points it's spot on. If we let ourselves become so convinced of some of these theories that we leave no room for the possiblity of being wrong, then we're bound to be disappointed. Whether Snape is evil or not, I've decided that I don't care. He's still one of JKR's most brilliant and complex characters, evil or not.

-Nessi

*waves*

[(Anonymous)]

This will shock anyone who knows me, but I don't care about the romantic pairings in the book itself. Canon romance doesn't matter. AT ALL.
On the other hand, I had a minor hissy fit (privately -- if you call having a fit AT work private...*cough*) when I read no_remorse's comment on Snape/Book 7.
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)

[thereallyle.livejournal.com]

Hmm... true, and also, how can anyone expect sixteen-year-olds to show idealized romance? At that age, love is just a monster in your pants, sometimes. x_X *scurries off to post two cents*

[els-chan.livejournal.com]

Beautifully put. This is so going in my memories.

[dustandroses.livejournal.com]

Umm...I know you're all caught up in the new book and all, and that's cool, I understand. But I just wanted to remind you that the rest of us are still out here somewhere, and we'll be glad to see you if you come back to play with us sometime, okay? *g*


How's WG doing? Has he finished the first book yet?

[harveywallbang.livejournal.com]

this is a nice blunt way of smacking people back into reality. i wish everyone could read it.. *sigh*
btw, neville's birthday is the 30th, harry's the 31st. not the same days...

and heh, i never looked a the U-NO-POO, like that.. you know shit... if that's what she meant by it, she was probably cacklking for days after coming up with it.. i know i would. perfect amount of vagueness with a hidden insult. heh.