Writing, Media & Blogs: September 2004 Archives

Here's an email I sent to a friend about Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. It's ugly and probably doesn't flow well or even make sense in places. I'm too lazy to clean it up, but I thought you all might be interested, nonetheless.

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I just finished it, and I thought the end was really depressing. Sirius just died out of nowhere! I completely foresaw that Harry was being tricked, and I liked all the layers. Hermy talks him into checking on Sirus before leaving which gets them caught; the house-elf betrays them, which was obviously going to happen from the very beginning; and then the Department of Mysteries trap. That all worked well. But the way Sirius showed up and then died without a word or on-screen struggle left me feeling a bit empty, like it wasn't really resolved.

Which makes me think that Sirius will be back. Also, I think the arch was introduced so that Voldemort can be fed into it in book 7.

I liked how neatly some other plot points were tied up, but Dumbledore's exposition could have been replaced with action. So Harry has to stay with his aunt for his own protection? Why not demonstrate that to us, show the dementors impotently circling his house? Dumbledore had to explain too much that could have been shown instead of told.

I liked all the tension between the three kids near the beginning and middle of the book, and it was really frustrating to me, as I'm sure was intended. I liked the development of Harry and Cho's relationship, and I'm glad it ended. It wouldn't have made any sense if it had developed into some long-term thing just-like-that, but it makes a ton of sense as a short-term crush that falls apart, as do most real relationships. Harry's going to end up with Ginny, right? I figured that from the first time she was introduced, and I like how it's playing out.

I also like Luna Lovegood. She was a great character, and fun to get to know. Neville needs to develop more... he had so many opportunities to do something right near the end of this book, and he kept screwing up anyway. I want him to succeed eventually, please!

I liked how Harry forgot about Snape, because I did too. I really liked the scene where Harry saw Snape's memory Harry's father and Sirius, it made Snape into a very sympathetic character. Although, to be honest, I'd always sympathized with Snape. I'm going to be VERY upset if Snape turns out to be a baddie, despite Dumbledore's assurances. Actually, I kinda want Snape to take Harry in near the end of the series. That would be nice.

Meanwhile, why doesn't Lupin have more to say to Harry about Sirius' death? Lupin is the only one left of the four friends, and he seemed close to Harry in the earlier books. (Book 3?) I don't want Harry and Dumbledore to get all tight, because Dumbledore is hardly a character at all, he's just a force of nature.

I liked the Death Eaters, although they could be developed more individually. Malfoy and Bella are cool, but since the books avoid POVs other than Harry's we don't get to see much of what they do.

Anyway, book 5 was my favorite so far. I need to re-read 4 because I think I've forgotten much of what happened in it.

I should post this, but it'd be too hard to clean it up and make it readable.

Reader Bruce Cleaver mentioned Rees's First Law of Quotation but got it a bit wrong. Though not in the law itself, Nigel Rees does mention Mr. Cleaver's preferred default sources: Winston Churchill and Mark Twain.

Hence, Rees's First Law of Quotation: `When in doubt, ascribe all quotations to George Bernard Shaw.' The law's first qualification is: `Except when they obviously derive from Shakespeare, the Bible or Kipling.' The corollary is: `In time, all humorous remarks will be ascribed to Shaw whether he said them or not.'

Why should this be? People are notoriously lax about quoting and attributing remarks correctly, as witness an analogous process I shall call Churchillian Drift. The Drift is almost indistinguishable from the First Law, but there is a subtle difference. Whereas quotations with an apothegmatic feel are normally ascribed to Shaw, those with a more grandiose or belligerent tone are almost automatically credited to Churchill. All quotations in translation, on the other hand, should be attributed to Goethe (with `I think' obligatory).

Shaw, Churchill, Wilde, Lincoln and Twain are, in fact, fixed in the popular mind as practically the sole source of witty and quotable sayings. But what is alarming is the way in which almost any remark not obviously tied to some other originator will one day find itself attributed to one of these five.

I myself have had great success attributing dubious bits of wisdom to Benjamin Franklin.

The Harry Potter books are excellent, but there are a couple of aspects that are really nonsensical.

First off: Quidditch. Is it just me, or is this game really stupid? The rules are absurd, and magic or no there's no way anyone would enjoy playing it. I could go into great detail, but if you've read any of the books then I'm sure you already know what I'm talking about; if you haven't, then complaints about quaffles and snitches won't make any sense anyway. (Or, if you really want to read a scathing analysis, check out Quidditch Sucks by jmachinder.)

Secondly, what's the deal with the Ministry of Magic? I'm reading Order of the Phoenix at the moment, and I'm astounded by how much power the Ministry has. They can change school rules on a whim? Hire and fire teachers? Conduct inquisitions and secret trials? Prohibit teachers from saying anything to students that isn't school-related? Ban all clubs and associations? Is there no limit to the Ministry's authority? Within the wizarding world, the Minister of Magic is apparently omnipotent. Maybe this is a particularly British perspective on government, but it rings false to this American. No citizenry, much less a population of wizards, would stand for such fascism.

Effect and affect are two of my favorite words to use properly. Both can be used as either a noun or a verb but they are not in any way interchangable, as this usage note explains.

Affect and effect have no senses in common. As a verb affect is most commonly used in the sense of “to influence” (how smoking affects health). Effect means “to bring about or execute”: layoffs designed to effect savings. Thus the sentence These measures may affect savings could imply that the measures may reduce savings that have already been realized, whereas These measures may effect savings implies that the measures will cause new savings to come about.