PoA 1: Owl Post

[pauraque_bk]

As I mentioned before, I'm going to be re-reading PoA slowly and posting my thoughts on each chapter. This is easily my favorite of the five books, and I love it dearly; I want to savor it one more time before I see the film. I'll be reading the UK paperback edition, so that's what page numbers will refer to.


PoA 1: Owl Post

Harry Potter was a highly unusual boy in many ways. For one thing, he hated the summer holidays more than any other time of year. For another, he really wanted to do his homework, but was forced to do it in secret, in the dead of night. And he also happened to be a wizard. (7)

This is the last time JKR will open a book with this type of simplistic fairy-tale exposition. It really isn't necessary here, given that she immediately goes on to describe his homework, which would probably get that whole "wizard" point across. The opening of GoF is different and brilliant, presenting a new situation and a suspenseful mystery. The opening of OotP uses the same at-the-Dursleys' formula, but is written much better, showing us the situation through action and dialogue.

PoA is a transitional book, taking a huge leap foward from CoS in complexity of plot and character. It asks us to accept as the high point of the story an emotional climax rather than a physical, violent one, and we do. But it does show lingering "kid's book" tendencies that sometimes drag on the action.

[...]his essay, 'Witch-Burning in the Fourteenth Century Was Completely Pointless -- discuss'. (7)

For his essay topic, Harry is asked to expound on the "right" way of thinking about witch-burning rather than dare consider the actual reasons Muggles feared magic. Reads as a jab at the WW's inability to see the Muggle POV -- the very inability that allowed Voldemort to come to power.

Bill's taken us round all the tombs and you wouldn't believe the curses those old Egyptian wizards put on them. Mum wouldn't let Ginny come in the last one. There were all these mutant skeletons in there, of Muggles who'd broken in and grown extra heads and stuff. (13)

Eh? Wizards have the concept of mutation, apparently. Perhaps describing Apparition into a sealed tomb, since we Muggles haven't ever come across multi-headed skeletons in tombs we've opened.

I'm on holiday in France. [...] -- but then Hedwig turned up! (14)

Are owls charmed, or inherently magical? Do they have super-speed, or powers of Apparition?

P.S. Ron says Percy's Head Boy. (14)

Ron and Hermione communicate regularly over the summer, it seems.

Broomstick Servicing Kit (14)

Snerk. Oh Hermione, you dirty girl...


And that's about it. I'll use LJ cuts as I start to get long-winded on later chapters, which should address any concerns over spoilers if there are people out there who haven't finished the book.

Comments

[muridae-x.livejournal.com]

This is easily my favorite of the five books, and I love it dearly; I want to savor it one more time before I see the film.

Mine too. And I agree with you wholeheartedly about it being a transitional book. The first two novels had interesting ideas, particularly the notion that what you see on the surface isn't necessarily all there is to see, but were still a little too simplistically "kid's book" to entirely suck me into the universe. That started happening for me a little when Harry got sucked into the diary in CoS. Then I got to PoA and it was a revelation. Complexities and complications crept in, and it just seemed a much juicier read.

The advance in writing complexity has continued with each book, but GoF's TriWizarding Tournament just rubbed me up the wrong way. All the impracticalities of having all those students from two other schools camped out at Hogwarts for an entire school year were an irritant that kept getting in the way of the story for me. OotP, on the other hand, I loved for all the ways it answered things that I'd speculated about during the long wait between books, about the characters - especially Sirius - and the way events were likely to develop. But ultimately it felt like it was feeding and answering the fan in me rather than the reader. My love for PoA is a purer love: that of a reader who enjoys the fact that it's a story that you can wind up and let go its own way, and then watch as it all falls into place like clockwork.

[pauraque]

I definitely think PoA coheres the best as a stand-alone novel. "Clockwork" is a good description of the way its plot runs -- carefully set-up and inexorable, each interaction building to the next.

OotP boasts the best writing in terms of style, but it does depend on "fan reaction" for its effectiveness. If you hadn't read the previous books, you wouldn't get much out of it.

I have mixed feelings about GoF. It has a fantastic beginning and a truly scary end, but... in a way, everything that happens in between is pointless. The Tournament is an end in itself (if a somewhat unsatisfying one) and doesn't build in any real way to the ending. There are a thousand ways Voldemort could have lured Harry into that graveyard, and the one JKR chose has no real emotional or psychological resonance. Why a tournament? Why the body-switching trick? What does it *mean*? As a novel, I think GoF is saved by the power of the final chapters, but there just wasn't any reason for the middle acts to be as long and meandering as they were.

Heh, I'm only on chapter 1 of PoA and already I'm thinking about doing a similar re-read of the other books. I'm incorrigible. :)

[caesia390.livejournal.com]

On GoF:

Ron is Dumbledore!!! The entire plot is time snapping back on itself!!

In other words, I'm holding out in the hope that it will all make sense some day....

[muridae-x.livejournal.com]

Eh? Wizards have the concept of mutation, apparently. Perhaps describing Apparition into a sealed tomb, since we Muggles haven't ever come across multi-headed skeletons in tombs we've opened.

But it can't be that the only way into those tombs with the mutant multi-headed Muggles is by Apparating, since Ron, Ginny and the twins aren't old enough to take their Apparation test yet and therefore wouldn't be able to see any of the tombs if that was the case.

They could, however, be hidden from the majority of Muggles by the same sort of conceal that hides Diagon Alley. If so, it's possible that the mutant Muggles aren't pure Muggle at all, but rather Muggle-borns who have some wizarding ability which allowed them to find their way through a crack into the wizarding world.

Why, if so, they didn't get caught by the system and get offered a place at Hogwarts or wherever at the age of eleven is another question. Perhaps they had parents who thought the letters were a hoax and just tore them up, no matter how many owls got sent?

[exbentley]

Perhaps describing Apparition into a sealed tomb, since we Muggles haven't ever come across multi-headed skeletons in tombs we've opened.

I always thought this was done in the same way that they stop people from running onto the grounds of Hogsmeade, and the like - some kind of Muggle repelling charm - "oh look a corridor that would be interesting to go down but I should probably o and turn the stove off first what was I thinking about again?"

Or maybe wizards have just made sure they're in charge of digs and excavations, and keep the Muggle tourists under control. I always thought some of those tour guides looked a bit shifty...

Are owls charmed, or inherently magical? Do they have super-speed, or powers of Apparition?

No Apparition - well, maybe the Post Office ones do - but Errol often turns up looking pretty battered, and I'm sure there's other references to owl interceptions (especially in the next book) that give the idea that the owl has to travel all the way.

The only magic I could think JKRs owls have is some kind of locator device, enabling them to find the person (Ron, Hermione, Sirius) no matter where they might be, and an extended ablity to fly for long distances (though even Hedwig gets weary and/or irritable at times.)


You're giving me the urge to do this myself - or at least reread PoA. Also: highly appropriate icon. :)

[slinkhard.livejournal.com]

PoA seems to be lots of people's favourites.
Do you think you could explain why? It's not mine, and I don't really 'get' why it's so popular.

[pauraque]

Yes, it does seem popular. I can't speak for everyone, but if you look up and down this thread, neotoma and muridae_x mention reasons they like the book.

One of the reasons I like it is that it holds together the best as a whole story. Almost everything that goes on pulls you forward to the Shrieking Shack scene -- the mentions and sightings of Sirius, the mounting tension between Lupin and Snape, the antagonism between Crookshanks and Scabbers, Hermione's tiredness, Lupin's illness -- the whole book is made up of these threads, so that when you get to the end and look back, you see that nothing was wasted, and none of the revelations came out of thin air.

That's what I *don't* see in GoF for example, which relies on a random surprise (the Portkey) to get to the climax of the story -- a climax which has much more to do with events and revelations of PoA and PS/SS than anything that happened in GoF.

The other primary reason I like PoA is a matter of personal preference: I prefer a cathartic emotional climax like the Shrieking Shack scene to a physical battle like with the Basilisk. It's more interesting to me, and I think it was done well in PoA. I also tend to find the adult characters very interesting, so I appreciated that they were developed so well in PoA.

Which book is your favorite?

[slinkhard.livejournal.com]

I didn't like PoA's focus on the adult characters; although of course this is a matter of preference. I can see now, though, how the narrative is probably the most structured though. Thanks.

I think my biggest problem was the Time Turner resolution.
It seems a cop-out, frankly, and doesn't make logical sense when examined (which, imo, time travel stories never can.)

Favourite...I hope that JKR hasn't really hit her stride yet, because I have problems with all the books so far.
I like CoS's story the best, I suppose, although it's fairly simplistic.
I wouldn't like to guess which book has the best writing, though, or character development, as JKR is very spotty, imo.

[pauraque]

I have mixed feelings about the Time Turner device, which I agree can't make sense. Not to mention, once the Shrieking Shack scene is over the story has already peaked, and the longish sequence after that is a bit exhausting. I do, however, like the image of Harry's encounter with himself -- the Harry=James imagery.

[slinkhard.livejournal.com]

I'm uncomfortable with that, but I'm not sure why.
Maybe it's because it reminds me of the Lion King? ;)

[chresimos.livejournal.com]

My favorite book is probably CoS, with PoA close after. I really, overall, enjoyed them about equally. CoS was the book where I started really getting into (ie, succumbing to the unputdownableness of) the series, and PoA had the interesting characters, the past-revelations, and the psychological climax, as P said. Both had me dancing around in excitement over the action. But the Time Turner incident irks me immensely, for the reasons you mentioned - time travel is horribly complicated and it was like she was just throwing it in for a twisty ending without thinking it through. For that reason I give CoS the preference.

Also, GoF is the one I like least, but everybody else seems to adore it! It has a fantastic beginning and a truly scary end, but... in a way, everything that happens in between is pointless - this is just what I feel. It was too long and disorganized, the middle wandered, leaving everything to HIT you at the end, exposition emotional scene exposition exposition. PoA accomplishes that 'and this is the bit that explains all the stuff that happened throughout the year' more engaging, without chapter upon chapter of rant. And in the end, nothing is really resolved!(Oh, no, Voldie's back, didn't see that one coming.) Plus I resented Cedric's death because I thought JKR was moving the books in a more adult direction that I didn't think they could sustain; fortunately OotP proved me wrong there. I still miss the happy sparkly days of the more childish, early books, though. *sigh*

[slinkhard.livejournal.com]

I thought GoF was generally entertaining, but in all of the books there tends to be huge gaps in logic.
This books' largest plot hole was the portkey and hence the entire tourament - THAT was the plan?
Crouch had a million other opportunities, even with Voldemort recovering for most of the book.
And a tournament that has most of it's tasks hidden from its audience?

"OotP proved me wrong there. I still miss the happy sparkly days of the more childish, early books, though. *sigh*"

I haven't reread ANY of the books since the first time because of Teh Angst!11
PoA, for example, with the whole line about 'I can hear the Dementors killing my mum'...
But GoF and OotP really stepped it up!
I wasn't as content as you with OotP, for many reasons, however.

[pauraque]

And in the end, nothing is really resolved!

If I had to hazard a guess as to why people adore GoF, I think this is it. As a novel, GoF doesn't work -- it lurches to an awkward halt, leaving everything unresolved, mysterious, and up in the air.

As fuel for fan fiction, it is ideal.

[maidenjedi]

I'm with you on GoF. In fact, I'm rereading it right now, and I keep letting my gaze wander over to where OotP is sitting on my bookshelf.

PoA is my favorite, and I think that had a lot to do with why GoF didn't sit so well with me. The adult themes and the decidedly darker tone of PoA was largely missing from GoF, I think, at least until the end of the TriWizard Tournament and all that happened during and immediately following it.

I like the increasingly wider world that Harry inhabits, and I like seeing that world through other characters' (read: older) eyes. Harry is not the most trustworthy "narrator" (and he can't be, and I wouldn't *want* him to be...but I still like getting a feel for his world beyond what *he* experiences, probably why I like fanfic so much).

[lycoris.livejournal.com]

NO! NO! DAMN YOU! I swore to myself that I wouldn't read ANY HP books until after my exams and after I'd seen PoA because otherwise the book would be too fresh in my mind! And now YOU ARE SUCKING ME IN! And yet I want to see what you have to say. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

*tries to hide*

[pauraque]

Hee. *looks innocent*

[lycoris.livejournal.com]

I KNEW it was deliberate! YOU FIEND IN FRIENDS CLOTHING! ;)

[nicolthewhore.livejournal.com]

the thing i love about JKR's writing is that it shows that harry is getting more mature through the series. the first two books are kids books, definitely, and the third book has elements of a kids book, but i think that's intentional, because harry is very young and the wizarding world still seems like a fairy tale to him, even if he is living it. its not until the 4th book that things begin to get really scary, and when cedric dies, i think it hits harry that its not all a game, and so the fifth book is much more ... jaded, i guess, even though it follows the patent JKR formula (start on harry's birthday, go through the school year, end the book at the end of the school year).

also, your Peter/Marauder fic is done. (http://www.livejournal.com/users/nicolthewhore/36488.html) ^_^

[pauraque]

Yes, it does work that way, as a parallel to Harry's growing sophistication.

And hey, nice icon.

[nicolthewhore.livejournal.com]

*snerk* thaaaaaaanks. you too. :D

[neotoma.livejournal.com]

Prisoner is my favorite Harry Potter book. It has the tightest plot, nice writing, and some really twisty revelations.

It is interesting to see how little attention Muggles are paid too in the first chapter -- and how Bill's job harks back to Victorian treasure-hunting, instead of modern archaeology.

[pauraque]

Yes. I've read quite a bit about historical Egyptology, and Bill certainly puts me in mind of that.

[neotoma.livejournal.com]

No kidding. I took some archeology and anthropology courses, and Bill's job is nothing like what my classmates were doing.

He's breaking into tombs, destroying the protective magic, and then pulling out whatever was hidden -- for his job with a *bank*.

They were carefully digging up ruins and geeking over potshards and grindstones.

If Bill ever winds up talking to Muggle archaelogists, they're going to think he's a pothunter, and be rather hostile because of it.

[chresimos.livejournal.com]

Yay.

I greatly appreciated the beginning of PoA for not doing all the repetitive, getting-the-newbies-up-to-speed paraphrasing of PS that went on in CoS.

Also, if I knew of one of those delightfully illegal sites with PoA's full text on it, I would point you to it to save you the trouble of typing? Alas, there be none.

[pauraque]

I have the text of the five books (if I bought them, it isn't illegal, is it?), but it's from the American versions.

[porntestpilot.livejournal.com]

The third is my fav as well. This is an interesting idea. I'll try to catch up now.