Pottering around
May. 1st, 2002 09:16 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tahnanWoke up early this morning. Stupid sleep schedule. Anyway, I'm nearly done with Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, and it's much better than the movie, although there are a number of things that annoy me. The two biggest things, though, involve--OK, brace yourself--games and puzzles.
Both are at the end of the book, but I don't think these spoil anything, and anyway, sheesh, go read the book, it's only been out for how long now? So anyway: first, the chess game. Ron specifically took the role of a knight and Harry of a bishop. "Harry moved three spaces to the left" might describe a bishop's move, liberally interpreted--but Ron's "I take one step forward" cannot, under any circumstance, be a knight's move.
Second, the potions. Rowling uses what's actually a fairly clever little logic problem. And then she doesn't give the reader enough information to solve it! Not even enough to come close--the problem is clearly solvable, and there's nothing wrong with Hermoine solving it, but it involves knowing what the bottles look like and she doesn't describe that. The missing information is so important that even knowing the answer, thanks to what Hermione says after she solves it, it's still impossible to reconstruct the problem. (There's a lovely little page about this at http://www.zhasea.com/logic/snape.html.)
I wouldn't be so annoyed by these if they weren't stupid, avoidable mistakes. If I read these to my children (once I have children), there's going to be some verbal editing, I tell you.
Both are at the end of the book, but I don't think these spoil anything, and anyway, sheesh, go read the book, it's only been out for how long now? So anyway: first, the chess game. Ron specifically took the role of a knight and Harry of a bishop. "Harry moved three spaces to the left" might describe a bishop's move, liberally interpreted--but Ron's "I take one step forward" cannot, under any circumstance, be a knight's move.
Second, the potions. Rowling uses what's actually a fairly clever little logic problem. And then she doesn't give the reader enough information to solve it! Not even enough to come close--the problem is clearly solvable, and there's nothing wrong with Hermoine solving it, but it involves knowing what the bottles look like and she doesn't describe that. The missing information is so important that even knowing the answer, thanks to what Hermione says after she solves it, it's still impossible to reconstruct the problem. (There's a lovely little page about this at http://www.zhasea.com/logic/snape.html.)
I wouldn't be so annoyed by these if they weren't stupid, avoidable mistakes. If I read these to my children (once I have children), there's going to be some verbal editing, I tell you.
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Re: Spoilers
Date: 2002-05-01 12:12 pm (UTC)I did do spoilers, though in my own defense, so did Tayefeth; anyway, is there any way to go back and edit my own comments?
(On that other note... Hi! (This is, btw, in case it wasn't clear, and it probably isn't, Kaz/Derrick/one of your current housemate's ex-housemates.))