edited for right link. man, I'm tired....
I was under the impression that I was your big comfy blanky.
Oz ,'Him'
We're Literary 2: To Read Makes Our Speaking English Good
There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."
juliana - Jul 27, 2004 4:59:42 am PDT #5364 of 10002
I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I miss them all tonight…
§ ita § - Jul 27, 2004 5:11:58 am PDT #5365 of 10002
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.
Snape hating Harry has never struck me as clever. It's just...there. If I can't have a reason for it (even if it's "that's just how Snape is"), I'd at least like to know why he gets away with it in loco parentis.
Dana - Jul 27, 2004 5:25:53 am PDT #5366 of 10002
I'm terrifically busy with my ennui.
If Draco's got Muggle blood in him, seems like the Malfoy side is more likely, since Narcissa's a Black and we know an awful lot about that family tree.
Jessica - Jul 27, 2004 5:28:47 am PDT #5367 of 10002
And then Ortus came and said "It's Ortin' time" and they all Orted off into the sunset
The more I read of Harry? The more I sympathise with Snape. Seriously, I've not seen a kid in more need of a smack upside the head.
Hell, yeah. And, as irritatingly written as it was in OoP, I like that James-at-Hogwarts was kind of a jackass, and that Snape was just the nerd he picked on.
Betsy HP - Jul 27, 2004 5:39:00 am PDT #5368 of 10002
If I only had a brain...
Nobody at Hogwarts would be hired in a decent teaching institution. Well, maybe Madam Pomfret. But Snape? Hagrid? Trelawney? Forget. It.
Jumping outside the frame, Snape is a classic character in British school stories: the Cruel Teacher With Invaluable Expertise. He shows up in Stalky And Company.
If they named it properly, Hogwarts would be Dumbledore's Asylum for the Dubiously Competent.
msbelle - Jul 27, 2004 5:45:27 am PDT #5369 of 10002
I remember the crazy days. 500 posts an hour. Nubmer! Natgbsb
I just read Harry as being a kid, but with more power than most and more pressures and attention. No more annoying than many teenagery kids, but with tons more emotional angst.
If Snape was a big nerd, wouldn't Hermione be the closest to him now and if James was an ass, wouldn't Draco be the closest.
Anne W. - Jul 27, 2004 5:53:21 am PDT #5370 of 10002
The lost sheep grow teeth, forsake their lambs, and lie with the lions.
If they named it properly, Hogwarts would be Dumbledore's Asylum for the Dubiously Competent.
Snerk! Betsy, may I tag?
sumi - Jul 27, 2004 5:53:32 am PDT #5371 of 10002
Art Crawl!!!
Omigod. Now I must say that the Dumbledore is Ron scenario makes sense.
Anne W. - Jul 27, 2004 6:00:26 am PDT #5372 of 10002
The lost sheep grow teeth, forsake their lambs, and lie with the lions.
It's scarily convincing, sumi. I'll give it that. It'll be interesting to see if there's any truth to it.
Nutty - Jul 27, 2004 6:11:06 am PDT #5373 of 10002
"Mister Spock is on his fanny, sir. Reports heavy damage."
Right. The chief problem with Rowling's idea of aging the readership of her books along with the characters is that certain things that fly in a children's book are absurd and nonfunctional in a book aimed at older readers. Snape being so emotionally involved with his students is something you can chalk up to the nasty teacher in a boarding school trope, but -- taken realistically, it's also creepy and not an attribute of career longevity. And I think the realistic take becomes more and more salient the older the characters and the readers get.
Actually the reason the Potter books really lost me was that blithe adherence to genre tropes, in a situation that made them feel monstrous to me. The whole thing with Rita Skeeter, and the involuntary tabloidization of children, rang real-world alarm bells with me, and I just couldn't get past it. Same again, when nobody stepped in and said, "No, this won't do" when the Goblet of Fire had Harry's name in it.
I think, if the characters (and intended readership) were still 7 or 8, or if the tone of the novels were consistently droll and unrealistic, I could have given it a pass, but because I was being asked to take seriously (in some ways, for the first time) the danger of Voldemort, I couldn't help but take seriously the increasing instances of adults failing to act like adults.