hp

[solitary_summer]

so far...

dark, seriously dark. HP meets 1984. what i like, though, is how JKR uses the narration from Harry's POV to constantly expand her universe and make the books more complex, more morally ambiguous, just as Harry's vision and perception of the world would change. instead of the black and white fairytale magical world of the first volume, which is indeed a children's book, now we have a rather frighteningly claustrophobic portrayal of a society on its decent into fascism. whatever you want to call HP, escapism it isn't (any longer).

teenage! gumpy! angsty! moody! Potter. he. i'd even say there's maybe a bit too much angst thrust upon the poor boy, not even being allowed to play quidditch and all, but it's interesting to see the character's ambiguities. this volume's Harry, one can see why the sorting hat wanted to put him in Slytherin.

Sirius gets a (rather interesting) character. and a death eater family he ran away from, complete with ancestral mansion, fanatical house elf and insult-screaming portraits.

in fact, all the characters are slightly more fleshed out - i have the distinct impression that this is less Potter-centric than the earlier volumes, or else i'd have to re-read them. Neville. Ginny, who thankfully gets over her crush. even the Dursleys.

Cho Chang is... scary? teenage crushes are all very well, but considering her boyfriend got killed not so long ago it's a bit disconcerting to watch her act over Harry like Ginny used to.

Luna whatshername, love her. adorable.

the Thestrals.

even though the DADA professors have always been a bit of a wild card, i seriously doubt Prof. Umbridge will yet turn out to be one of the good guys. but then she's already so obviously portrayed as one of the bad guys... maybe for once a DADA teacher is exactly what (s)he appears to be...

:: goes back to reading ::