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HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS
Jul. 21st, 2007 09:02 amWhy don't people like the epilogue?
The series needed to end. You couldn't honestly think there wouldn't be an epilogue. Structurally speaking and publishing-wise, an epilogue was definitely needed. I think JKr struck a nice balance between crushing any further Harry Potter publications and not crushing Harry Potter fanfiction. And if you did not expect that ending...where have you been for the past seven books? The anvil-sized hints? Everyone knew H/G and R/Hr was go back in book 5. It's an alchemical deep-magic myth-type story. The story's a pretty standard type.
The epilogue's not badly written; it's simply not as spare as the rest of the book. Which is as it should be. This is normal life now, not fighting a desperate guerilla war to defeat an evil oppressor. There should be more details, less wrenching emotion, and the fact that the scene was more reminiscent of the beginning chapters was entirely appropriate.
As for the names...Percival. Ginevra. Bilius. Arcturus. Narcissa. Five names, Dumbledore had. These are not your standard Western names.
Dumbledore's a real person now, instead of some slightly-creepy cult/mentor figure.
I think the very last line perfectly sums up Harry's view of his life. The shadow that destroyed his youth and childhood is gone. Life is good. The fact that people don't like the actual Harry's point of view isn't surprising though, given how many fics completely rearrange his personality.
Lament! For I have only gone to one Harry Potter publishing-date party, and can never do so again. Lament! An icon of the modern age is over, and I must find something new to look forward to in my life. Lament! Lament, Lament.
I loved the epilogue.
The story needed an ending. This series has been building, and building, and building. It needed closure to keep it vital and alive; to do other than write an epilogue would leave a bleeding wound draining the life out of the books into esoteric reams of fic. This is the Story that Never Ends; It Just Goes On and On, my friends.
The books ended just like they began. Harry through Harry's eyes, without really noticing what else is going on around him. After they leave the station, he'll find out what Hermione and Ginny were talking about, and who Ginny saw on the way in and what they wre doing and who said what about whom - Harry wasn't paying attention to that just then, just like his kids and the ]I]entire station[/I] was completely ignored. I've been saying it for years: Harry is an unreliable narrator. He doesn't see everything, we don't get told everything he sees, and what he thinks he sees isn't necessarily the way things really are.
I believe that Snape was loyal to the ideals of the good. He was a bitter, petty, vengeful, spiteful little man, whose final acts were to ensure that
1) Wizarding Britain would survive intact,
2) Harry's questions would all be answered, and
3) He (Snape) would get some recognition.
That suggests some pretty serious dedication to the light.
You don't kill your mentor because of a long-dead obsession. Snape's had a decade and a half to grow up since Lilly's death. There was doubtless some maturing in that time. His affection for Dumbledore (look carefully at that seen where he heals Albus up. That's love and friendship) and his desire to stop Voldemort (whom he betrayed of his own initiative; he wouldn't have done that if he actually believed what Voldemort was spouting. Snape's whole Death Eating career sounds a lot more like being abandoned by other avenues than anything else) were probably quite strong as well.
All the earlier characteristics - pride, bitterness, a need to prove himself - are there too. But in the memories Snape gave Harry, Snape's relationship with Lilly was the most important factor, because Harry needed to understand why he betrayed the Dark Lord, and why he kept on betraying him. The other characteristics that Snape displayed earlier simply weren't as important right then.
Characters are not as two-dimensional as a single situation portrays them, just as your behavior at work is not the only way you behave. The whole spectrum of experiences has to be considered.
I've been up for nearly 24 hours now, so I'm going to be so I'm coherent for D&D at 3 today.
The series needed to end. You couldn't honestly think there wouldn't be an epilogue. Structurally speaking and publishing-wise, an epilogue was definitely needed. I think JKr struck a nice balance between crushing any further Harry Potter publications and not crushing Harry Potter fanfiction. And if you did not expect that ending...where have you been for the past seven books? The anvil-sized hints? Everyone knew H/G and R/Hr was go back in book 5. It's an alchemical deep-magic myth-type story. The story's a pretty standard type.
The epilogue's not badly written; it's simply not as spare as the rest of the book. Which is as it should be. This is normal life now, not fighting a desperate guerilla war to defeat an evil oppressor. There should be more details, less wrenching emotion, and the fact that the scene was more reminiscent of the beginning chapters was entirely appropriate.
As for the names...Percival. Ginevra. Bilius. Arcturus. Narcissa. Five names, Dumbledore had. These are not your standard Western names.
Dumbledore's a real person now, instead of some slightly-creepy cult/mentor figure.
I think the very last line perfectly sums up Harry's view of his life. The shadow that destroyed his youth and childhood is gone. Life is good. The fact that people don't like the actual Harry's point of view isn't surprising though, given how many fics completely rearrange his personality.
Lament! For I have only gone to one Harry Potter publishing-date party, and can never do so again. Lament! An icon of the modern age is over, and I must find something new to look forward to in my life. Lament! Lament, Lament.
I loved the epilogue.
The story needed an ending. This series has been building, and building, and building. It needed closure to keep it vital and alive; to do other than write an epilogue would leave a bleeding wound draining the life out of the books into esoteric reams of fic. This is the Story that Never Ends; It Just Goes On and On, my friends.
The books ended just like they began. Harry through Harry's eyes, without really noticing what else is going on around him. After they leave the station, he'll find out what Hermione and Ginny were talking about, and who Ginny saw on the way in and what they wre doing and who said what about whom - Harry wasn't paying attention to that just then, just like his kids and the ]I]entire station[/I] was completely ignored. I've been saying it for years: Harry is an unreliable narrator. He doesn't see everything, we don't get told everything he sees, and what he thinks he sees isn't necessarily the way things really are.
I believe that Snape was loyal to the ideals of the good. He was a bitter, petty, vengeful, spiteful little man, whose final acts were to ensure that
1) Wizarding Britain would survive intact,
2) Harry's questions would all be answered, and
3) He (Snape) would get some recognition.
That suggests some pretty serious dedication to the light.
You don't kill your mentor because of a long-dead obsession. Snape's had a decade and a half to grow up since Lilly's death. There was doubtless some maturing in that time. His affection for Dumbledore (look carefully at that seen where he heals Albus up. That's love and friendship) and his desire to stop Voldemort (whom he betrayed of his own initiative; he wouldn't have done that if he actually believed what Voldemort was spouting. Snape's whole Death Eating career sounds a lot more like being abandoned by other avenues than anything else) were probably quite strong as well.
All the earlier characteristics - pride, bitterness, a need to prove himself - are there too. But in the memories Snape gave Harry, Snape's relationship with Lilly was the most important factor, because Harry needed to understand why he betrayed the Dark Lord, and why he kept on betraying him. The other characteristics that Snape displayed earlier simply weren't as important right then.
Characters are not as two-dimensional as a single situation portrays them, just as your behavior at work is not the only way you behave. The whole spectrum of experiences has to be considered.
I've been up for nearly 24 hours now, so I'm going to be so I'm coherent for D&D at 3 today.
