[Report This]Date: 02/27/2008 12:16 am Title: If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
An astonishingly good story. It brought me to tears, but not tears of sadness, tears of hope. Although the poem that inspired this is hardly a hopeful work, your story is. Even poor Remus, whose Gryffindor courage was not enough to allow him to face life any longer, has found, after suicide, a companion with whom he may now face 'the next great adventure' (as Dumbledore called death.) This is an incredibly moving tale, very original and well executed. It really is beyond my praise, but I wanted to praise it anyway. Thank you for sharing this star of hope amongst the misery. Bright Blessings! Pookah
[Report This]Date: 04/30/2005 07:13 am Title: If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
This was incredible. A haunting theme of "I am not needed" throughout. And no, they were not needed, Harry, Severus and Remus, at least, not as they were pre-Voldemort, But could they reinvent themselves for lives after Voldemort? In one case, no: the ghosts of his past haunted him too greatly, ghosts which rose to the surface once the distractions of the war were over. In another case, I think so, since he has found a younger, but living and hopeful, verision of his "ghost" and a purpose in exploration. The third? Hard to tell. He is still sitting on that fine line -- he, too, is haunted by ghosts of the past, with two men he cared for and couldn't save. However, unlike Remus, Harry has a good, firm tie with the present world, the post-Voldemort world.
Author's Response: Thank you very much, for your reviews and your insight! It's always terribly reassuring when someone's reading of a piece is so much in line with what I was trying to write. I'm very glad you enjoyed it.
[Report This]Date: 04/30/2005 06:58 am Title: GAS! Gas! Quick, boys! -- an ectasy of fumbling
This chapter gave me the creeping willies from beginning to end. Those dreams, especially, gave me goosebumps. Nicely done!
[Report This]Date: 04/30/2005 06:46 am Title: Bent double, like old beggars under sacks
Wow, good, if chilling, start. This is a very believable "Voldemort is now dead" aftermath story.They are all a mess, struggling for some normalacy in their lives. Very sad, and I don't know who to pity the most.
[Report This]Date: 04/29/2005 06:48 pm Title: If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
I read the story again to make sure I was reading this chapter properly - you're right, it did throw me off a bit to see the first part again. I'm glad Severus is getting his dream jungle, away from the memories of war, although the renegade Death Eaters will ensure he and Draco are still contributing to the fight. And Harry will be contributing in his own way, with Hermione's help. Still, as awful and horrific as war is, it doesn't appear that there was another way to rid the world of Voldemort. They did what they had to do.
Gallipoli was a horrific tragedy - such tremendous loss of life. I don't know much about Australian and New Zealand history, but I've read that this battle helped forge those nations (and Turkey), and that Gallipoli means as much to y'all as Gettysburg means to Yanks. So in memory of all of them: "The world ... can never forget what they did here."
Thank you for sharing this story, Karen!!
Author's Response: Thank you for reviewing! I very much appreciate it when readers stop to drop me a line. Gallipoli was pretty much the baptism of fire for New Zealand and Australia as colonial nations. Turkey, which has, of course, been around for millenia in one form or another, used its Gallipoli victory as the starting point for its new hsitory as an independent republic. It really was a momentous battle, and because of that I don't think it'll be forgotten for a very long time.
[Report This]Date: 04/27/2005 01:18 pm Title: GAS! Gas! Quick, boys! -- an ectasy of fumbling
This is really interesting. I think I like it. It seems as though they are all three distraught. Their own personal demons damning them to a life of eternal hell. Pretty dark, but well written.
Author's Response: I've always been very interested in post-war trauma and not just in Potterfic; many of my favourite conventionally published works have post-war settings. I won't spoil the ending here, but I hope you enjoy it! Thanks for the review!
[Report This]Date: 04/27/2005 02:20 am Title: GAS! Gas! Quick, boys! -- an ectasy of fumbling
Does Dumbledore have problems too, or has he learned how to deal with the aftermath of war (since he has experience with post-Grindelwald erea)? I'm glad Severus and Draco are enjoying the plants; I just hope they're not going to get killed by those renegade Death Eaters. Thanks for the new chapter!
Author's Response: Thanks for your review! I'm afraid that almost half of that chapter wasn't supposed to be there - I divided it into into three chapters, to fit the three verses of the poem, but had some trouble with the uploading. I've re-edited and submitted the final chapter, so if the first section of chapter three seems familiar, it's because it is! Sorry for the confusion; I hope you enjoy the end!
I couldn't say one way or the other as to whether Dumbldore had problems, but I'm fairly certain that after Grindelwald, he learned some coping strategies.
[Report This]Date: 04/26/2005 12:18 am Title: Bent double, like old beggars under sacks
I love the way you've used the lines from "Dulce Et Decorum Est" to inspire a complex story. I've read this over several times, and I still love it!
Author's Response: Thank you very much! It's a beautiful poem, and it was a challenge to try and make something from it.