PoA 2 :: Plugs 'n' recs

[pauraque_bk]

PoA 2: Aunt Marge's Big Mistake

Dudley had spent most of the summer in the kitchen, his piggy little eyes fixed on the screen and his five chins wobbling as he ate continuously. (18)

Others have remarked on the grotesque Roald-Dahl qualities of the Dursleys, certainly evident in this chapter. Interesting that it's Muggle "reality" that's portrayed as exaggerated fantasy, while the descriptions of things that go on in the magical world tend to be more restrained. The WW is more "normal" to Harry.

'No need to tell us he's no good,' snorted Uncle Vernon, staring over the top of his newspaper at the prisoner. 'Look at the state of him, the filthy layabout! Look at his hair!' (18)

I cracked up here. Also, clever allusion to Harry's judgmental attitude towards Snape's appearance. One of a number of parallels in the descriptions of Sirius and Snape, which we'll see later on.

'Exactly,' said Harry, looking calmly up into Uncle Vernon's large, purple face. 'It's a lot to remember. I'll have to make it sound convincing, won't I? What if I accidentally let something slip?' (21)

Ah, Harry's a manipulative little thing. I wonder if he seriously thinks Vernon would have signed his permission form? I guess he does, but it doesn't seem likely to me.

'You mustn't blame yourself for the way the boy's turned out, Vernon [...] You see it all the time with dogs. If there's something wrong with the bitch, there'll be something wrong with the pup--' (24)

Whoa! This is right up there with OotP's "enough effing owls" for shock value. I doubt they'll be able to get it into the movie, which is unfortunate, since it's Marge's best/worst line.

The main thing that strikes me about this chapter is how *awful* Aunt Marge really is. When JKR tries to get me to hate a character, it frequently doesn't work (Snape, Peter, Bellatrix... Voldemort, I guess), but occasionally she gets it really right, as with Umbridge, and as with Aunt Marge. Her obnoxiousness is consistent and excellently done, and definitely makes Harry's outburst understandable.

JKR is pretty good at doing all types of obnoxious-yet-prosaic behavior, actually, even when we end up sympathizing with the character. Draco's snottiness, Snape's relentless grudge-holding, Lupin's passive aggression... All ring very true to me. She has a good ear for it.

*

Plugs:

-genfic_hogwarts is going along swimmingly so far, which makes me happy. This might be of particular interest, by the way, to those friends of mine who may enjoy the occasional fic, but aren't really in fandom and don't have fandomish tastes.

-idlerat is attempting to organize a fandom fundraiser for MoveOn.org. This is interesting, as I've never seen an overtly political fundraiser in a fandom before. Fundraisers for disease research and charity, yes. For an election? This could be a first.

*

Recs:

You know when you read a fic with a premise you've read a hundred times before, and you suddenly realize that *this* is it, *this* is the definitive take on Krycek-in-the-silo, or Dark Lord Harry, or whatever it is?

"Blank" (PG-13) by switchknife is just such a fic. Has Sirius-in-Azkaban ever been done with such raw lyrical grace?

...he turns his head to see dark hair, whipped and tangled, a flash of teeth, joy-feral, eyes bright and hazel behind the glint of glass...


Also, the astounding nicolthewhore has written me a slick, nasty, visceral Peter ficlet called "Chilling" (NC-17, disturbing). I asked for Peter/any Marauder, and I certainly got that... and oh so much more. To say anything else would spoil it.

A dry rustling, like cloth dragging across the floor, and Peter sits up, wide-eyed, straining to hear which direction the noise came from. Something cold slithers across his shoulder, trails down his back, flits across his thigh. Peter jerks from the sudden touch, whips his head back.

"W-who..."


Why are you still here? Go read!

Comments

[muridae-x.livejournal.com]

The main thing that strikes me about this chapter is how *awful* Aunt Marge really is.

It also explains a lot about why the Dursley household is as dreadful as it is. Marge is Vernon's sister, and that poisonous virulousness towards anything that doesn't form part of their own little world would seem to be a family trait. Which, when they're together, reinforces itself as they gang up on their target.

Petunia, on the other hand, as we're beginning to discover more and more as the books go on - and particularly in OotP - isn't quite as vicious and condemnatory, even if she generally supports their viewpoint. She's Lily's sister, after all, and while we don't yet know what mix of fear of the unknown/different, jealousy, repugnance, rejection and social climbing have prompted her to so wholly deny her sister and her sister's family for what they are, we do know that she has occasional moments of weakness that Vernon does not. He leads; she takes her cues from him.*

I'm reasonably sure that she married Vernon because he was so vehemently against everything in her life that made her feel uncomfortable and/or that she wanted to turn her back on, that she felt he was the safe option. I can't see even Vernon at 20 being particularly loveable!

* Does she follow his lead a little too much? She doesn't seem to have much of a life of her own, beyond Vernon's wife, Dudley's mother. I still wonder whether one of the big reveals of book seven will be that the Evanses were a family of squibs living incognito in the Muggle world, and that Lily's big crime against Petunia was to break out of that.

(Also: I spent all of yesterday evening scanning PoA so that I can convert it to ebook format to read on the train over the next month. This is clearly All. Your. Fault. *g*)

[chresimos.livejournal.com]

Interesting that it's Muggle "reality" that's portrayed as exaggerated fantasy,

Oooh, interesting point. The other time when I've really noticed this exaggerating style is in the descriptions of Hagrid. I'm not exactly sure how big that guy is, what will all the 'eyes as large as saucers' kind of stuff that goes on, that doesn't sound accurate, but, then you think, he *is* half-giant. *shrug*

As for Aunt Marge, pretty much usually forget that she exists. As for the rest...well, on my initial reading I loathed Draco, and disliked Voldie, and even Snape on occasion. Now, however, I find it less easy to create the hate against these characters, because fandom has skewed the way I receive them. (Even Umbridge - she's horrible, but she's such a great villian that I admire the character.) It's because fanfiction is all about other perspectives, how a story shifts when you take some other character's side, makes you wonder about *their* stories, why they are the way they are, what the reinterpretations of the character can be, even if they are evil and/or pathetic. And literary potential makes everybody beautiful. :)

[aubrem.livejournal.com]

I just wanted to let you know I'm very much enjoying your reread of PoA. Are you planning a chapter a day or a chapter when you get to it?

[asphodeline.livejournal.com]

Interesting that it's Muggle "reality" that's portrayed as exaggerated fantasy
interesting to me though that what I think really hooked me to these books initially is that my own upbringing has led me to feel much more at ease with the WW than with the Muggles - but that could be a long story - things unnatural seem quite natural to me. I'm pretty much a LUna character.
clever allusion to Harry's judgmental attitude towards Snape's appearance
This is a pattern as the books progress. There is a lot of hinting towards not judging on appearances. In particular, how many times have Harry and co. been misled by Snape's actions/appearances to be proved worng? By OoTP Harry is almost (at times) feeling sorry for Snape (eg. worst memory chapter) and I feel there may be some major turning around between these two in the last two books.

[glitterdemon.livejournal.com]

Last one, I swear. You just have some amazing insights into this book, and it's my favorite, so I can't help but jump in. :)

Interesting that it's Muggle "reality" that's portrayed as exaggerated fantasy, while the descriptions of things that go on in the magical world tend to be more restrained.

I was talking to a friend of mine a while ago who has read the books but is non-fannish, and when I was telling him about the fandom and its fanfic in particular, I mentioned that there was a tendency in fic to address the abuse issues with Harry and the Dursleys in a way that was hardly even touched in canon. I told him that, personally, I have issues with the fact that we see little if any of the effect of their treatment of Harry once Harry is able to leave them. When he answered I realized I'd been looking at it much less from a literary vantage point than one of realism, when I should have been doing the former. What he said about it was, essentially, what you've said here, that it is because Harry has never identified with the Muggle world. There is less realism there than in the WW for him, so it stands that it is able to affect him less.

You or someone who commented mentioned how OotP shows this all turning on its head; Harry wants to go back to his "reality," but it turns out being worse than the limbo he lives in at the Dursleys. A desegregation b/w the WW and the Muggle world was also brought up. I haven't been able to reread OotP since it was released; I'd be interested in going back and seeing exactly how the Dursleys are portrayed (though I do seem to recall Dudley seeming much more like a real bully than a caricature of a bully). But I do remember that there seems to be a breakdown in the separation between the two worlds. Actually, throughout all the books, magic in the Muggele world has steadily more frightening and potentially permanent effects (all on the Dursleys, you'll notice): PS/SS, the Dursleys' home is invaded by letters and owls, Dudley gets trapped in the empty snake tank; CoS, Dobby ruins Vernon's business deal (and is it book canon that Vernon falls out of the window?); PoA, Marge is blown up; GoF, Dudley almost chokes to death on a Ton-Tongue Toffee; and the grand finale, OotP, in which Dudley is nearly Kissed by a dementor. In OotP, there's also the appearance of Arabella Figg, a woman whom Harry believed to be firmly entrenched in the Muggle world who turns out to have ties to both. So I think your observation is of particular notice and importance.

[lycoris.livejournal.com]

Told you I'd be here! But don't worry - I will include no movie spoilers at all!

Ahem.

Also, clever allusion to Harry's judgmental attitude towards Snape's appearance.

I never, ever thought of that. That's quite clever actually!

I think Harry genuinely thinks Uncle Vernon might sign that permission form. My view is that this wierd sort of trusting is one of his final parts of real childhood. Some part of him must know that he has no chance of actually getting that signiture but I think he's desperate and still clings to a childish dream of living with people who care about him.

When JKR tries to get me to hate a character, it frequently doesn't work (Snape, Peter, Bellatrix... Voldemort, I guess)

Do you think JKR wants us to hate Snape? I've never got that impression. I think we're meant to dislike his actions certainly and for good reason - at his worst, he's an extremely unpleasent bully and he's occasionally just petty. But I don't think we're meant to hate him. Everything we've learned about Snape makes me pity him rather than hate him. I've never felt that any character is really there for hate. Their actions are loathsome but the books seem to be preaching tolerence and lack of hate to me. An action is hateful, a person deserves more consideration. But perhaps that's just me.