My thoughts on Harry Potter


Well, I'm finally done with the book, and I've got to say: Wow. I really enjoyed the book, from start to finish. Now I'm just irritated I won't be able to read the next one for a while.

I don't know if anyone else felt this way, but I got very frustrated when Harry did stupid things and got angry for seemingly no reason, and I really felt quite pleased anytime his relationship with Cho went well. Based on this, I would say Rowling did a very good job manipulating the reader, which is of course what all authors want to do (at least I do).

Unfortunately I already knew that Sirius would be the one who died because of a moron who let it slip out, but I was still engrossed in the flow of the story. The transition that Harry has gone through is pretty damn significant - all I can think of now is how the Radcliffe actor who played him in the first two movies really does not match up to the image of Harry I've had in my head. Interestingly enough, I often don't have definite pictures in my mind of how people look in stories I read - more like general blurry pictures, actually. However, after watching the two movies, some of the characters in the story began to look like the actors who portrayed them:
McGonnagol: At first, I didn't think this choice made sense at first - but now, it does, Maggie Smith is a very good actress.
Snape: Honestly, I don't think I could have not used Alan Rickman even if he had played Hagrid.
Hagrid: ... I mean, come on. He IS Hagrid.
Draco: Perfect.
Hermione: I had a very very different image in mind before the movies - but I liked her performance so much, she replaced that older, perhaps more true to the story image. Chalk that up to Emma Watson's skill.
Ron: Also perfect casting.
I can also say Sirius looks nothing like Gary Oldman in my mind, and neither does Lockhart look like Kenneth Branagh.
My vision of Harry is so complex and "real", IMO, that the actor who portrayed him merely seems bland and two-dimensional in comparison.

And that's my two cents.

-J