on rereading OotP
Dec. 6th, 2007 07:11 pmI started rereading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix early in November, but I'm still only about halfway through it. I'd forgotten what a difficult book it is to read -- not because it's bad or boring, in any way, but because I identify with Harry and he spends most of the book feeling like he's blindfolded, handcuffed, trapped in a box, and ready to explode. That doesn't even remotely resemble a pleasant feeling, so, since I don't have the driving need to find out what happens next that carried me through the first time I read the book, I can't cope with more than one or two chapters at a time.
(My dirty little secret as a writer of HP fanfic is that I've actually only read OotP one and a half times (not counting this read-through), HBP once, and DH one and a quarter times. And yet I've cheerfully written fanfic based on those three books, or at least incorporating information from those books. *is sheepish* This is one of the things I'm trying to fix by rereading them, as well as ironing out some plot and prop stuff for "Strange Likenesses.")
So far, OotP sprawls and meanders in a lot of ways, and there are some plot points that need a fair bit of handwaving to smooth their rough edges, but it makes an emotional whole that is, to me, extremely convincing. I admire that.
(My dirty little secret as a writer of HP fanfic is that I've actually only read OotP one and a half times (not counting this read-through), HBP once, and DH one and a quarter times. And yet I've cheerfully written fanfic based on those three books, or at least incorporating information from those books. *is sheepish* This is one of the things I'm trying to fix by rereading them, as well as ironing out some plot and prop stuff for "Strange Likenesses.")
So far, OotP sprawls and meanders in a lot of ways, and there are some plot points that need a fair bit of handwaving to smooth their rough edges, but it makes an emotional whole that is, to me, extremely convincing. I admire that.