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mizarchivistSo, I picked up the 8th Harry Potter on Sunday, started reading it slowly yesterday/this morning, and I am not likely to continue.
why? Let me tell you under this cut for those who want to read it unsullied by my grumpiness...
First, it's tough because it's a play script rather than a novel, so limited from the start. It's harder to develop the characters and let it have a slower pace. We had the expectation from 1-7 that it was 1 year passing/book. Not this time!
The really big reason why I can't is because grown up 40 year old Harry is not a remotely compelling character. As my colleague noted this morning: he's a high school jock who married high school sweetie, and took his easiest career path of law enforcement. In what I've read so far, he's not remotely intersted in doing the hard work of being an adult. Do the paperwork. Interact meaningfully with your kids, even if it's hard. Don't skate on the fact your friend is the leader of the wizarding community to be less accountable to his obligations. So, he's failing up. Another story of a lazy white hetero cis white man with harping back to the glory days rather than focusing on the hard work in front of you? I really don't think I need to read that. I have worked too damn hard this year on improving my own infrastructure to see a fictional version of what I don't want to interact with in real life.
I'll be putting the book down and finding something else.
why? Let me tell you under this cut for those who want to read it unsullied by my grumpiness...
First, it's tough because it's a play script rather than a novel, so limited from the start. It's harder to develop the characters and let it have a slower pace. We had the expectation from 1-7 that it was 1 year passing/book. Not this time!
The really big reason why I can't is because grown up 40 year old Harry is not a remotely compelling character. As my colleague noted this morning: he's a high school jock who married high school sweetie, and took his easiest career path of law enforcement. In what I've read so far, he's not remotely intersted in doing the hard work of being an adult. Do the paperwork. Interact meaningfully with your kids, even if it's hard. Don't skate on the fact your friend is the leader of the wizarding community to be less accountable to his obligations. So, he's failing up. Another story of a lazy white hetero cis white man with harping back to the glory days rather than focusing on the hard work in front of you? I really don't think I need to read that. I have worked too damn hard this year on improving my own infrastructure to see a fictional version of what I don't want to interact with in real life.
I'll be putting the book down and finding something else.
