--- In
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, "Bill Crider"
<macavityabc@...> wrote:
>
> I can't resist calling your attention to J. K.
Rowling's tip of the
hat to
> Mickey Spillane on p. 214 of the latest Harry Potter
novel.
>
> "Harry," wailed Hermione. "How could
you?"
>
> "It was easy," said Harry.
>
> Bill Crider
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been
removed]
>
Probably extending your comment too far, I noticed a similar
tone to the book. Although I wouldn't say it was so
successful, the novel does remind me of an classic hardboiled
mystery where the detective is on some winding and twisting
case for some lost object(s). The ending was also like some
mysteries where a convoluted set of facts and clues falls
almost too neatly into place.
Harry finally becomes a harder character who makes his own
decisions and shuts down others who question him. Until the
end, he becomes much more cynical, frustrated with Dumbledore
and his own strange responsibility.
There were many scenes and style elements that reminded of
this tone and inspiration. Even the classic alcohol motif was
there: "The firewhisky seared Harry's throat. It seemed to
burn feeling back into him, dispelling the numbness and sense
of unreality, firing him with something that was like
courage." (79)
In spite of this, I didn't really enjoy the book. In the
process of becoming more "hardboiled," it lost much of its
silly humor and joy, the main reason most people probably
read the series.
Todd Fine
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 01 Aug 2007 EDT