there's nothing wrong, it's just for play
Jul. 23rd, 2007 03:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
reflectedeveSo my internet connection at home has been out for the last week, and today I am finally getting the chance to immerse myself in peoples' reactions to Deathly Hallows. (I caught about an hour last night, hence my previous post, but that wasn't enough to really read these things.) It's the usual emotional tangle, between various kinds of joy and disappointment and disproportionate rage. Some people have some very interesting, thoughtful things to say, and quite a few are pretty incoherent.
I've only been around for the last three Harry Potter book releases, but the pattern's easy to recognize. I won't be able to form a remotely objective, analytical opinion of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows for quite awhile. I'm too emotionally invested in the characters, the world, the fandom . . . the phenomenon of the Harry Potter series. I very much enjoy the ritual; going to movie openings and book release nights, wearing a significant tie or scarf (I've never quite done full costume) and cheering with the other fans, hiding from spoilers, reading the book in one go with no sleep to make sure that I find it all out for myself . . . but the whole thing leaves me too overwrought to think, and everyone else's reactions are just as overwhelming.
I have to sit back and laugh at myself, a little, because this already proves that I'm taking the whole thing too damn seriously, doesn't it? (Ah well, the fun's well worth that.)
At this point . . . I certainly enjoyed reading Deathly Hallows, but I also think I'm trying too hard to like it. It certainly wasn't the book I wanted, though that's neither here nor there . . . maybe at some point I'll be able to scrape together my thoughts enough to write an essay about why I disagree with JKR's decision to abandon the Hogwarts frame for this one last book. I don't know. Probably I won't find the time.
On the other hand, when I've listed my favorite books (for profiles and surveys and such), the Harry Potter series hasn't actually made the cut in a long time. Having just recently reread the entire thing, I can say that I continue to thoroughly enjoy the first five books, and bits of the sixth. PoA, GoF and OoTP are particularly beloved with me. They are fun books, and they have moments of brilliance, but . . . I think that what really keeps me around in Harry Potter is what a fantastic fandom it is. The books create a broad universe, populated with an immense cast, and myriad themes and possible interpretations. All of this gives us a great deal of room to play; and though this is hardly unique (so many fantasy series could be said to do the same), I can't really think of many universes that have so many players. (Well, I can think of a few, but for various reasons I'm much less interested in them, or less impressed with the fannish output.)
(Well, it doesn't hurt that I've been involved with the books for six years, either. There's an element of personal history and nostalgia. But, anyway.)
I can't think of another book series that generates this kind of reaction, this much celebration and gathering, both off the internet and on it. Of course, this can and does have very negative consequences. Harry Potter fandom has gained a reputation for being the most insane fandom (and the "wankiest"), and I can't really contradict that. The amount of "hype" it has generated could be considered slightly obscene. But if you can get around that, there is just so much creativity being generated; so much discussion; so many people involved.
So while I'm not at all sure that Deathly Hallows was a "good" book, right now what I want more than anything is more fanwork. Essays, fiction, art, even wank. It's all kind of exhiliarating, and now that the series is over and canon is closed, there are all kinds of new possibilities opening up. While my life has moved to a point that necessarily puts fandom in the backseat, it's still my favorite hobby, and I can't see that I'm going to stop enjoying this bit of it anytime soon.
One thing you can definitely say about Deathly Hallows, particularly if you ignore the epilogue: it leaves quite a lot of space to play in.
Oh, and I've added a new Harry Potter tag to my memories. I'll be saving peoples' responses there, some of the ones that I like or find interesting. In case people are looking for recs or whatever. Most of those posts contain spoilers.
I've only been around for the last three Harry Potter book releases, but the pattern's easy to recognize. I won't be able to form a remotely objective, analytical opinion of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows for quite awhile. I'm too emotionally invested in the characters, the world, the fandom . . . the phenomenon of the Harry Potter series. I very much enjoy the ritual; going to movie openings and book release nights, wearing a significant tie or scarf (I've never quite done full costume) and cheering with the other fans, hiding from spoilers, reading the book in one go with no sleep to make sure that I find it all out for myself . . . but the whole thing leaves me too overwrought to think, and everyone else's reactions are just as overwhelming.
I have to sit back and laugh at myself, a little, because this already proves that I'm taking the whole thing too damn seriously, doesn't it? (Ah well, the fun's well worth that.)
At this point . . . I certainly enjoyed reading Deathly Hallows, but I also think I'm trying too hard to like it. It certainly wasn't the book I wanted, though that's neither here nor there . . . maybe at some point I'll be able to scrape together my thoughts enough to write an essay about why I disagree with JKR's decision to abandon the Hogwarts frame for this one last book. I don't know. Probably I won't find the time.
On the other hand, when I've listed my favorite books (for profiles and surveys and such), the Harry Potter series hasn't actually made the cut in a long time. Having just recently reread the entire thing, I can say that I continue to thoroughly enjoy the first five books, and bits of the sixth. PoA, GoF and OoTP are particularly beloved with me. They are fun books, and they have moments of brilliance, but . . . I think that what really keeps me around in Harry Potter is what a fantastic fandom it is. The books create a broad universe, populated with an immense cast, and myriad themes and possible interpretations. All of this gives us a great deal of room to play; and though this is hardly unique (so many fantasy series could be said to do the same), I can't really think of many universes that have so many players. (Well, I can think of a few, but for various reasons I'm much less interested in them, or less impressed with the fannish output.)
(Well, it doesn't hurt that I've been involved with the books for six years, either. There's an element of personal history and nostalgia. But, anyway.)
I can't think of another book series that generates this kind of reaction, this much celebration and gathering, both off the internet and on it. Of course, this can and does have very negative consequences. Harry Potter fandom has gained a reputation for being the most insane fandom (and the "wankiest"), and I can't really contradict that. The amount of "hype" it has generated could be considered slightly obscene. But if you can get around that, there is just so much creativity being generated; so much discussion; so many people involved.
So while I'm not at all sure that Deathly Hallows was a "good" book, right now what I want more than anything is more fanwork. Essays, fiction, art, even wank. It's all kind of exhiliarating, and now that the series is over and canon is closed, there are all kinds of new possibilities opening up. While my life has moved to a point that necessarily puts fandom in the backseat, it's still my favorite hobby, and I can't see that I'm going to stop enjoying this bit of it anytime soon.
One thing you can definitely say about Deathly Hallows, particularly if you ignore the epilogue: it leaves quite a lot of space to play in.
Oh, and I've added a new Harry Potter tag to my memories. I'll be saving peoples' responses there, some of the ones that I like or find interesting. In case people are looking for recs or whatever. Most of those posts contain spoilers.
