Reviewer: Tangerine Dream Signed [Report This]
Date: 04/21/2012 10:43 am Title: Heaven/Hell

Just found this story again and still love it!! It is wonderfully written.

Reviewer: tangerine dream Anonymous [Report This]
Date: 05/21/2008 04:47 pm Title: Heaven/Hell

Just reread this again and find it just as compelling. It is interesting to see a different side to Hermione and I like the idea that she would make compromises to stay alive.

Author's Response: I'm flattered that you read this multiple times. I tend to reread things that I've written after they've been published, but I usually expect that I'm the only one doing that. It's nice to hear otherwise. It's also really great to hear that (at least part of) the audience is really "getting" the themes. The intentional ambiguity in the story's "morals and ethics" department doesn't mean the story is lacking in content. (At least I hope not. Otherwise I've really mucked it up.) I tend to get bored with those "good vs. evil, fight the good fight" stories, because I think they reflect the world a lot of us wish we inhabited, rather than the more complicated world we do inhabit. I wanted to show a Hermione who made what many Americans (especially Americans, with our cowboy-save-the-world, Patrick Henry "Give me liberty or give me death!" mentalities) would consider the cowardly or wrong choice. But I can't think of this Hermione as a coward, and I don't want to judge her for her decision. (I'm still thrilled that your review hits on what I consider the most important things this one-shot has to say.) Just in case you're interested, I think that the origins of this story (besides the obvious one-shot by Inell) are in my experience almost a year ago in Germany. I spent six weeks "working" in a nursing home in what was formerly East Germany. The residents were roughly my age (early twenties) during WWII. Almost all of the women's (late) husbands and the few men at the facility had been conscripted into service in Hitler's army, not because they were Nazis, but because they didn't see that they had a choice. The greatest part of their adult lives was spent under Soviet control working in factories and on farms. At least one of the men had studied music at a famous conservatory in Weimar prior to the war; his career in the DDR was the same factory work that less-educated people did. Meeting those lovely people, I couldn't fault them for failing to revolt against Hitler's madness. If I had been in the exact. same situation, I can't say that I would have stood in the way, either. It's not necessarily the noble thing to do, capitulating to a madman's tyranny in order to survive, but I cannot blame the people who make that choice. It's only human, after all.

Reviewer: fly_chickadee Anonymous [Report This]
Date: 04/08/2008 04:45 pm Title: Heaven/Hell

I really, really liked this-- I think it's the first one I've read where Hermione doesn't mourn her friends, but instead makes the best of it, almost, and gains the praise of Voldemort. Strangely, this appeals to me. You should do a sequel where she becomes a Death Eater, maybe. Keep writing. :)

Author's Response: I was really intrigued by the mental image I had of a Hermione who would scorn readers' (and other women's) pity. I also like the fact that readers have a lot of different takes on what this says about Hermione. Some people think she's crazy and others think she's learning to survive. I'm not sure that "learning to survive" in that world doesn't automatically require some level of insanity. I'm also glad that you picked up on Hermione's feelings about her friends. I've read a lot of fic where she hates them, or they hate her for her betrayal, but this Hermione is probably safest keeping her thoughts about her past well hidden. I do have a follow-up in mind; I've got to ask Inell if it's okay if I write it. And thanks for reviewing. It's fun to establish a presence in a fandom, and it's even more fun to have people like what I've written.