OotP 3

[jlh]

Pretty, pretty: My UK adult cover came today, and it is gorgeous. Wowsa. No piccies, though, and no ToC. The typeface is very pretty. Clocks in at 766.



And we open on a frustrated, sullen Harry, boiling over with anger at no one in general and everyone in particular, pacing around his room and making a huge mess and being oh, so dissatisfied and refusing to leave his room. Poor Hedwig! Oof, you know, that locked door is just upsetting, no two ways about it, though I love Harry's, "You do that."

And what to my wandering eyes should appear, but Moody, and Remus Lupin (*loves, loves*) and a brand new cast of adult characters. And I must say, high time on that score. I'd love me some of that Kingsley action. I like how they all know each other but aren't too too much with the annoying banter. This isn't the A-Team. Tonks feels young, and fun, and spirited, but could easily wear out her welcome. However, it's reasonably clear that the character she's closest to is Moody. The whole wizards-in-a-Muggle house thing has gotten old and is thankfully quickly dispatched. (Though, Lupin doesn't seem to be thinking about such things—was he Muggle-born or is he just that on task?)

And then after all this frustration, the bird flies free of his cage, literally, and it's such a great, great moment, with Harry in the midst of all these adults, flying to freedom. Well, his freedom.

Sirius' prison.


More spam later!

Comments

[iscaris.livejournal.com]

I have the UK adult cover version too -- it's lying around without the book jacket now, because it's hard to read with the jacket flapping and I didn't want to spoil the nice cover.

Tonks feels young, and fun, and spirited, but could easily wear out her welcome.

I couldn't agree with you more. Tonks was okay when she first appeared (her horrid first name notwithstanding!) and I thought they'd use her Mystique-like (X-Men) qualities to better effect. But clumsy-dork!Tonks later on got on my nerves, and she required saving in the final showdown with the Death Eaters. Unimpressive.

[jlh.livejournal.com]

But clumsy-dork!Tonks later on got on my nerves, and she required saving in the final showdown with the Death Eaters. Unimpressive.

True, but if she had been briliant she would have been even more of a Mary Sue. She's young and new at all this, so I'm willing to give her a little slack. Hopefully she'll be in book 6 more (all indications are yes) and she'll become a little more fleshed out. But yeah, the clumsy-dorkiness gets a little old.

[marysiak.livejournal.com]

ToC?

[owlman.livejournal.com]

ToC is Table of Contents. Something that seems pointless in fiction books; also may spoil the book.

[marysiak.livejournal.com]

Ah. Agreed.

[jlh.livejournal.com]

ToC's are very common in children's books, because they tend to read only a few chapters at a time. Even chapter names are uncommon in adult fiction.

They may well spoil the book (in GoF there's a chapter entitled "Padfoot Returns") though when we were standing in line looking at this ToC, nothing much spoiled us. We thought Luna Lovegood was a nice porn name. And who couldn't have guessed "The Second War Begins"?

[phoenixsong]

The only issue I had with the ToC was the chapter called "The Only One He Ever Feared." This scared the crap out of me by making me think Dumbledore was going to be the one to die, and I was annoyed at the idea that the ToC would have such a huge spoiler.

Hence my delayed reaction to Sirius' death. It didn't really hit me until it started hitting Harry, back in Dumbledore's office. And then I proceeded to cry through most of "The Lost Prophecy."

[malsperanza.livejournal.com]

So the ToC did its job, then. It provided a false spoiler that made you even more scared, misled you in a clever way. ;-)

An 800pp book needs a ToC, even if it just says, "ch 1," "ch 2," "ch 3," with p. numbers. On rereads, readers need to be able to turn to a particular place in the book easily.

I quite like the chapter titles; I figure, if the author wants to offer fake spoilers and tantalizing hints by the way she phrases them, that's one more tool of the story-telling, one more game with the reader. And by putting the titles all together in the ToC at the front, she can raise and dash and raise a million hopes in the anxious reader's breast before page 1. Hee.

[owlman.livejournal.com]

A book of that length does not need a ToC. The changes between chapters are obvious enough, as the header to each alternate page has the chapter name on it.

False teasers are worse than spoilers in my view. If I am going to be spoilt I want to at least know the truth.

[malsperanza.livejournal.com]

I can understand not liking false spoilers, but after all, that's the author's call, isn't it? Rowling has always sprinkled both real and false clues throughout her books. For example, there are clues in each book to the next book(s). Some of them are red herrings, some are real.

Yeah, I just wrote a whole long detailed essay on why I think this is an interesting issue, but realized I should post it in my own damn LJ. So I invite you to come over there, if it interests you to discuss this further.