gwendolyngrace (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
gwendolyngrace) wrote2005-06-26 09:24 pm
gwendolyngrace) wrote2005-06-26 09:24 pm
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Thoughts on "Re-listening" to OoP....
Before I get on with this post, I will report that Jugglers, Tumblers and Bards was a lot of fun, wicked hot, incredibly but blissfully exhausting, and it was wonderful to be back home for a weekend and see everyone, especially a certain recently bald knight (who has some entertaining bruises provided by His Majesty himself). The advantage of living out of kingdom is that every time I go back for an event, I have a great time, even if I have an awful time, because it's home. (This event was far from an awful time, however!) The disadvantage is that leaving makes me terribly homesick, despite the fact that I really do enjoy my new life out here in the wilds of New Coppertree, AKA the Greater AEthelmearc Co-Prosperity Sphere.
But now, some thoughts about Order of the Phoenix....
Last month, for my trip to War Practice, I began listening to Order of the Phoenix in order to refamiliarize myself with it in preparation for Half-Blood Prince. I got about 2/3 of the way through the book on tape that trip, and this past weekend was my opportunity to finish it. It worked out well, timing-wise, as I finished up about 45 minutes from home, which left me just enough time to call![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
etakyma from the road for a bit and catch the very end of the Playground on ERS once I was back in signal range (Only to get home and realize that what got left in Joel's van was...the bag with the stuff I needed from Mom - what a t00b I am!).
But anyway.... Order of the Phoenix is the book with which I am least familiar in the series. I read it in approximately 13 hours the weekend it came out, listened to it on tape on the trips to Pennsic and other events/places that summer, and other than referring to a page/scene here or there, haven't really read it again since. Much like Attack of the Clones, my attitude was that I know the synopsis and the salient points; I didn't need to scrutinize the details.
From the battle at the Ministry through the end of the book, I'm sorry to say, it was just as painful as the first two times again. It was rather like reopening the wound. (Then again, you can factor in the "driving away from my spiritual 'home' (i.e., AEthelmearc)" and even moreso "driving away fromgrouchyoldcoot" depression, and also the PMS-y element, and this may explain a lot.) Maybe had I been able to re-read it more often, it wouldn't feel so fresh and would lose some power in the telling - I just don't think I have the energy or inclination for the 1,000 repetitions, like I do for PoA. Perhaps it's the Remus-identification thing [compounded by 3--well, 2--dogs demanding attention from the werewolf over the weekend (the cats recognized the cat-totem, but it took longer for them to remember me)], but the aftermath was so raw and the grief so real that despite my bitter hatred for the book's plot and, well, frankly, almost all of her character development choices along the way, I had to recognize JKR's ability to bring out grief and its corollary, intense love, so well.
I was incensed all over again by how ludicrous it was that no one thought to tell Harry, nor that he was able to perceive on his own, that his dreams were deliberately planted visions by Lord Voldemort. I mean, even on my first read, at around 1:00 in the morning, I had figured that out. Obviously, if he can see inside Voldy's thoughts, Voldy could theoretically be able to see into Harry's - and that obviously also makes him vulnerable to false images and data. That no one pointed this out or bothered to *explain* why Occlumency was so vital pushes me beyond the bounds of my disbelief. And once again, I found it impossible to accept that Dumbledore, with his vast understanding of human emotion, couldn't see the turmoil Sirius and Harry were each in, for their separate reasons, and did nothing even indirectly about helping either of them. I still hate Grawp; I still love, love, love Snape in this book, and in general I find my opinions haven't changed much.
I was struck by Lupin this time, too, in part because I recently debated with someone on the whole R/S issue - this person argued that they really didn't strike him as having been close friends at all, much less lovers (WTF? say I) - so I was alert for the few clues as to Lupin's reactions in the wake of Sirius' death. Of course, any shipper knows that the problem in interpreting them is that his reactions are a. from Harry's POV; b. somewhat muted, due both to circumstances (his priority was Harry, then Neville and the others - perhaps in his own form of delay tactic?) and his penchant for repression; and c. probably largely unseen, due to the fact that the action quickly leaves the Death room and follows Harry and then Dumbledore, first upstairs in the Ministry atrium, and then to Dumbledore's office.
Part of me really wants to investigate Lupin's actions immediately following Harry's pursuit of Bellatrix, and part of me screams "NO! To write about it is to accept it! Deny canon! Deny it! That is not Sirius. That's a Sirius-impostor!" But of course, that's the visceral reaction that stems from the fissure between OoP and BtL, more than anything else. In other words, it's not that I *don't* accept canon - I have no real choice about that - but that accepting it doesn't necessarily mean I have to play by its rules. After all, I did eventually write a couple things that took OoP into account. I wonder if I'll feel an instant rejection every time, or whether that, too, will fade as the story plays out and we come to know how it all fits together.
Overall, listening to it again merely intensified my reactions to reading/listening to it the first time and made me all the more anxious/nervous/petrified of the next chapter in Harry's story.
Hm. I dunno. Perhaps I will drabble later. For now, I should reassemble my bed. Ugh.
But now, some thoughts about Order of the Phoenix....
Last month, for my trip to War Practice, I began listening to Order of the Phoenix in order to refamiliarize myself with it in preparation for Half-Blood Prince. I got about 2/3 of the way through the book on tape that trip, and this past weekend was my opportunity to finish it. It worked out well, timing-wise, as I finished up about 45 minutes from home, which left me just enough time to call
etakyma from the road for a bit and catch the very end of the Playground on ERS once I was back in signal range (Only to get home and realize that what got left in Joel's van was...the bag with the stuff I needed from Mom - what a t00b I am!).But anyway.... Order of the Phoenix is the book with which I am least familiar in the series. I read it in approximately 13 hours the weekend it came out, listened to it on tape on the trips to Pennsic and other events/places that summer, and other than referring to a page/scene here or there, haven't really read it again since. Much like Attack of the Clones, my attitude was that I know the synopsis and the salient points; I didn't need to scrutinize the details.
From the battle at the Ministry through the end of the book, I'm sorry to say, it was just as painful as the first two times again. It was rather like reopening the wound. (Then again, you can factor in the "driving away from my spiritual 'home' (i.e., AEthelmearc)" and even moreso "driving away from
grouchyoldcoot" depression, and also the PMS-y element, and this may explain a lot.) Maybe had I been able to re-read it more often, it wouldn't feel so fresh and would lose some power in the telling - I just don't think I have the energy or inclination for the 1,000 repetitions, like I do for PoA. Perhaps it's the Remus-identification thing [compounded by 3--well, 2--dogs demanding attention from the werewolf over the weekend (the cats recognized the cat-totem, but it took longer for them to remember me)], but the aftermath was so raw and the grief so real that despite my bitter hatred for the book's plot and, well, frankly, almost all of her character development choices along the way, I had to recognize JKR's ability to bring out grief and its corollary, intense love, so well.I was incensed all over again by how ludicrous it was that no one thought to tell Harry, nor that he was able to perceive on his own, that his dreams were deliberately planted visions by Lord Voldemort. I mean, even on my first read, at around 1:00 in the morning, I had figured that out. Obviously, if he can see inside Voldy's thoughts, Voldy could theoretically be able to see into Harry's - and that obviously also makes him vulnerable to false images and data. That no one pointed this out or bothered to *explain* why Occlumency was so vital pushes me beyond the bounds of my disbelief. And once again, I found it impossible to accept that Dumbledore, with his vast understanding of human emotion, couldn't see the turmoil Sirius and Harry were each in, for their separate reasons, and did nothing even indirectly about helping either of them. I still hate Grawp; I still love, love, love Snape in this book, and in general I find my opinions haven't changed much.
I was struck by Lupin this time, too, in part because I recently debated with someone on the whole R/S issue - this person argued that they really didn't strike him as having been close friends at all, much less lovers (WTF? say I) - so I was alert for the few clues as to Lupin's reactions in the wake of Sirius' death. Of course, any shipper knows that the problem in interpreting them is that his reactions are a. from Harry's POV; b. somewhat muted, due both to circumstances (his priority was Harry, then Neville and the others - perhaps in his own form of delay tactic?) and his penchant for repression; and c. probably largely unseen, due to the fact that the action quickly leaves the Death room and follows Harry and then Dumbledore, first upstairs in the Ministry atrium, and then to Dumbledore's office.
Part of me really wants to investigate Lupin's actions immediately following Harry's pursuit of Bellatrix, and part of me screams "NO! To write about it is to accept it! Deny canon! Deny it! That is not Sirius. That's a Sirius-impostor!" But of course, that's the visceral reaction that stems from the fissure between OoP and BtL, more than anything else. In other words, it's not that I *don't* accept canon - I have no real choice about that - but that accepting it doesn't necessarily mean I have to play by its rules. After all, I did eventually write a couple things that took OoP into account. I wonder if I'll feel an instant rejection every time, or whether that, too, will fade as the story plays out and we come to know how it all fits together.
Overall, listening to it again merely intensified my reactions to reading/listening to it the first time and made me all the more anxious/nervous/petrified of the next chapter in Harry's story.
Hm. I dunno. Perhaps I will drabble later. For now, I should reassemble my bed. Ugh.
no subject
However, I would say that I am a RABID fan of the 'Rowling is a Joseph Campbell afficionado' camp. I read the HP books and I see all kinds of ways that Harry fits into the bildungsroman/Journey of the Hero pattern. And in this pattern, death is a necessity. I also look at the fairly miserable existance that Sirius is living in OotP (I've just broken out of prison after 12 years and...now I get to be cooped up in this old house that I hate. JOY.) and wonder if perhaps death isn't a kind thing to happen, at least in his case.
I'm digressing a bit. In the 'Journey of the Hero', a key element is the 'Descent into the Underworld' section. I'm convinced that because Harry so wants to contact Sirius again...not to mention his parents...and maybe even have some closure with Cedric Diggory... there is going to be a portion of either books six or seven where Harry does pass through the Veil and goes to meet with those who have passed on, in order to receive crucial information from them. And then somehow return from the land of the dead -- because that return and reintegration into the land of the living is another essential part of the Campbell/Universal Myth structure.
In any case, I too re-read OotP again so that I could be ready for HBP. And the first few times I read it (when it first came out), I was focusing on Harry...but this time I was looking at the people around him. I think we've really come through the most difficult section of the novel series (i.e., Harry's anger, frustration, paranoia, stupidity and bullheadedness). Because Harry had to go through a waiting period, not doing anything. And that would frustrated anyone, particularly a 15 year old boy who's used to facing things head on.
Now that Harry's been brought up to date on things, and the War is about to begin, I think he's going to be given much more to do, much more opportunity to act instead of being cagily guarded on the sidelines. And let's face it, that's what Harry prefers. So for that reason particularly, I'm counting the days until July 16.
no subject
As far as the death itself goes, again, trust me, I'm intimately familiar with Campbell's theory and with numerous examples of his source material (e.g., Gilgamesh, Orpheus, etc.), and I'm very aware of the overtones in the books. (And if I weren't, I've got my Nimbus - 2003 CD-ROM with our three+ papers on the subject to remind me.)
But in a way, the idea that a journey to the underworld is *necessary* for Harry is just as disappointing to me - because I was rather hoping for something new and different, and if the books turn out to be a recitation of Campbell, then they are neither - they have a marvelous compilation of interesting ideas and twists, but at their heart, then, they are a retelling of an already old story.
And while that in and of itself is neither a bad thing nor negates the accomplishment of the series, it leaves me feeling a bit glum, hum-drum, and "oh, well," about the whole thing. Then again, even Pullman had to use some Campbell theory to complete His Dark Materials, and that was a ground-breaking series in young adult lit, so all hope is not lost.