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So Sad to Say Goodbye
fiction reader, a fan of clever plots, a writer, avid reader
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JUL
23
2007
Having said that, let's get down to business. My husband and I each pre-ordered copies of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" from Amazon.com weeks ago. Yes, we're both in our thirties, but adulthood cannot quell this affection I have had for Harry Potter over the years and I was not about to wait for my husband to finish the book before I got my hands on it. And to be fair, he decided that waiting for me simply wouldn't do either.
Our books arrived on our doorstep at 4:30PM on Saturday the 21st. Even my new computer had to wait, as I cracked open my package and began reading. Our house grew eerily quiet over the next twenty-one hours, as we read, slept, ate, talked about the book, and read some more. I didn't want a single word of the book to be spoiled, so I set about reading it as fast as I could, while dreading that it had to end at the same time.
About the Book
This book is the last in the 7 book saga about Harry Potter, the young wizard who attends Hogwarts and who seems to be on a collision course to face Lord Voldemort, a deadly evil wizard. This is one of the longest books in the series, coming in at 759 pages.
Have I mentioned there might be spoilers?
The book opens as they always do, during the break before the next school term begins at Hogwarts. But this time things are eerily different: Harry isn't going back to school and Dumbledore is gone, dead by Snape's curse toward the end of the "Half Blood Prince". The book opens with a dark and ominous tone, and the tone is never shaken throughout the book.
Ron and Hermione agree to accompany Harry on his quest to find the remaining Horcruxes, magical items that Lord Voldemort has used to hold shards of his soul in his quest for immortality. The beginning of the book starts off with a terrifying chase scene and an immediate loss of life. Frankly, one of the lost characters toward whom I had the greatest affection, received far less coverage in the text than I thought fair. It simply has to be the editors' fault.
The story lulls as Harry, Hermione and Ron escape back to Sirius' old abode, and it lags just a little bit more when they find themselves doing some impromptu magical camping - for many chapters. I was interested in the story, and it was still a page turner, but I missed Hogwarts, there was no getting around it.
And then the moment comes, when Harry's search leads him back to Hogwarts, and through seemingly impenetrable charms. The doom and gloom lifted for me, even though the story takes so many dark and painful twists at this point. Harry back at Hogwarts was like putting on your favorite sweatshirt. He was home.
And throughout the journey we learn the answers to so many questions: We discover what the Deathly Hallows are, and just why Snape killed Dumbledore. I had feared Dumbledore, long one of my favorite characters, would be sidelined by death, but we learned so much more about him in this book than in any other book. So many characters develop that it's breathtaking. The motivations behind the darkness become clear, and suddenly there was so much more than just good/evil presented in black and white.
Rowling layered her characters carefully, and chose this moment to unveil all the greys that motivated so many of them. Suddenly we understand. And in spite of all my spoiler warnings, I just can't bring myself to write about exactly what happens. I can't bear to have anyone read the important stuff from me and not from Rowling herself.
And in the End...
The Beatles weren't wrong about needing "love" and there is a lot in this book about not just needing love, but understanding love. A simpler author could have written a story about a boy wizard who won on the power of love, and nothing else. But Rowling makes her story far more complex by exploring about how the lack of truly comprehending love can make one weak.
Cat's Bottom Line
The story of Harry Potter is a tale for all ages. I read stories of 21 year olds who bought the book and wept because they read the first book when they were eleven, and viewed this as permanent closure on their childhood. I read the first book when I was twenty-five, and at thirty-five, Harry Potter may not have defined my era of adulthood cleanly, but he still left a resounding mark. Rowling delivers in this final, fantastic tale about an orphaned, abandoned boy who achieved greatness while staying true to himself. It's a classic end to a delightfully complex and challenging tale. If you haven't read Harry Potter, then go out and buy the first book and get on it already! And if you have, then you may well appreciate the closure this final chapter gives as much as I did. Highly recommended, and every book in the series is retroactively recommended!
Last edited on Jul 23, 2007
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is recommended by Cat |
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