I’ll come back from vacation briefly to confess that I spent most of yesterday reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Verdict: I thought it was quite good, not without the inevitable rough patches but overall probably the best book of the series. Harry himself is still an insufferable git, willing to think the worst of his closest friends at the slightest provocation, but the teenage-angst stuff is kept to a minimum.
Best line, at least in context:
“NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!”
I got a bit misty in places, including that one. Rowling does a much better job at tugging on heartstrings here than in previous installments.
Let’s allow spoilers in the comments, so don’t read them if you don’t want to be spoiled.
I think I disagree Mark. The characters don’t resemble anything I knew past the age of 11 or maybe 12. Worse, they stay at that mental age throughout the entire series.
Part of this I think is b/c she is writing for a younger audience, so they can comprehend things and some of the more delicate topics are sort of hinted at rather than pronounced explicitly.
For a more accurate portrayal of what it feels like to be 13, at least for a guy, try Stephen King novellas or Catcher in the Rye.
Nate,
The motivation for my post lay in comments I had heard prior to reading the book: that some Christians objected to the series and were attempting to have it removed from libraries, for instance, because they claimed the books were atheistic. Thus, I was somewhat surprised to hear Harry say, “Thank God” – not because of concepts I had formed from reading but because of the expressed opinions of others.
The contention in my post was that the books were not atheistic, not that they were theistic. Your term “agnostic” fits nicely within the range of my claim. As to the phrase “less than ‘agnostic'”, I’m not sure which side of agnostic is more and which side is less.
In any case, I enjoyed the book virtually without reservation.
Haelfix,
Those of us in our “second childhood” can relate also. Such universality!
Brian,
“Less than agnostic” was probably poor wording, but I meant it on the scale of 0 to Atheistic, wherein zero would presumably be “The Inferno” or “Everyman”; there is a god, he drives everything and you better listen up! And presumably Agnostic is somewhere in the middle. But, definitely bad phrasing.
Anyway, I get a riled up when religion is inserted everywhere. As Salon points out, the strength of the books is very much that they are strong ‘domestic fantasy’; I think that on some level they’re combining the sort of fantasy that Lackey is known for (and typically consumed by girls) and the sort of fantasy that Tolkien spawned (and is much more often consumed by boys). There is still a hero, a quest, and a villian (traditionally boy story elements), but the things that matter are relationships, society and identity (more often girl story elements).
I think the books were great, and substantively different enough that claiming others did it better is silly.
De gustibus non disputandum est.
Gordon: When I was reading Bloom’s book on how Shakespeare “invented us”, I mentioned to my wife that Bloom wrote that Falstaff was the greatest character in all literature. She replied “Well he must be big and fat himself then.” Bingo: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Bloom . I think that’s a pretty good example of Bloom’s general level of perspicacity.
Haelfix: I share your admiration for King and Salinger as chroniclers of childhood. Have you read “Hearts in Atlantis”? A truly great book, IMO (though my wife claims that King doesn’t get the girls right).
Mark: Bloom may be fat, but I agree with his assessment of Rowling—
adequate dreck. Pratchett is much better.
Bloom had better shed afew pounds or the New Scientist will have Gores
comrades after him for AGW:
“How the obesity epidemic is aggravating global warming”
http://environment.newscientist.com/channel/earth/mg19426105.600-how-the-obesity-epidemic-is-aggravating-global-warming.html
They’re still there…. Sitting on the train, on park benches, at the cafes and bars… Beady little eyes staring into the big fat book with the gory colours on the front.. Still there, silent, vapid, like the victims of the “Invasion of the body snatchers”. I to am silent. I to must conform. I want to scream “It’s a childrens book for crying out loud, you know Harry is going to be alright, the last thing JK Rowling wants is a million bawling ten year olds”…. But I’m quiet. I know that if I scream their eyes will shift to me, their mouths will start to move, and in a low, monotonous tone they will all being to chant “Well, it’s quite grown up and well written, and the story is quite spiffing….”, the same chant they have uttered since book one. I don’t want to hear it again, although the fire burns within me. I stay quiet……..
gfl,
Your post is too good, too hilarious. I can’t top it. I’m speechless.
Forgot this before, but can’t resist posting it now I’ve remembered: re the people that have been discussing whether HP is religious/agnostic/whatever, I could not believe my eyes when I saw the following dialogue between Xenophilus and Hermione (about the Resurrection Stone):
H: “Well, how can it be real?”
X: “Prove that it is not”
H (outraged): “But that’s -I’m sorry, but that’s completely ridiculous! How can I possibly prove it doesn’t exist? Do you expect me to get hold of -of all the pebbles in the world, and test them? I mean, you could claim that anything’s real if the only basis for believing in it is that nobody’s proved it doesn’t exist!
X: Yes, you could. I’m glad to see that you’re opening your mind a little.
For a moment I thought, WTF, Harry Potter has suddenly become one of those endless Cosmic Variance or Science Blogs discussion threads about atheism! Seriously, haven’t we all read this very dialogue with some minor variation dozens of time here?
I think it is clear, by the way, that Rowling comes out endorsing Xenophilus while at the same time understanding fully Hermione’s logic -not that I am myself endorsing Rowling on this.
I thought that exchange between Xenophilius and Hermione was funny – similar to some of the humorous sequences in Alice in Wonderland.
My niece recently called me from the Harry Potter midnight line at her neighborhood Barnes & Noble. She’s 18 now, but she read the first book when she was 10 or 11. She’s part of the original Harry Potter generation, the one that grew up with Harry and his friends.
There aren’t many books or events that capture quite as many eyeballs as a new Harry Potter release. Wandering around Seattle the other day, we saw a dozen copies in arm, and later we ran into a camper heading out in Olympic National Park with the book strapped to her backpack.
In my opinion, the book was a ripping yarn. Rowling is a good plotter, with a lot of attention to detail and character. She also has a great sense of humor, particularly when it flows from the characters.
As for the rivals:
C.S. Lewis was just too Christian for me. I kept moaning whenever Ass-Lion showed up.
His Dark Materials was great, but he had too much to say in just three books. He should just trash the last one, or even the last two, and rewrite it as three or five separate books and let things develop properly.
Lord of the Rings was magnificent in scope, but it would have been better with characters. Tolkien built a very convincing world, and I felt that the movies really brought it to life. I really didn’t expect that.
Kipling’s Stalky and Company was awfully moralistic. Stalky and friends might outwit the teachers, but the head would always slap them down on principle. Maybe this plays better in England, but Americans like a sense of due process.
I’ve been recommending Lloyd Alexander’s Prydain series for those who need a post-Potter rebound fix. The characters are a lot of fun. The plotting is good, and Alexander always delivers.
I’ve never been able to get into Catcher in the Rye, and I keep running into people who’ve had the same problem. It’s just too hard to empathize. Maybe I was never a proper adolescent?
I thought this book was awesome. Best of the 7 definately, I like how at the end you like snape, which is difficult after hating him for so long… And I gotta say my heart skipped a beat when harry found out he is supposed to die. Im just glad that he didnt actually have to. Im satisfied with the outcome, I just wish there were more books to be written in this great series.
“I suspect it would be hard to even substantially support the claim. She draws from too many sources to attribute it all to Tolkien”
Nate:
I see your point, but I was referring to the willingness of publishers to print the book. And, even though they would probably think it was a good read in itself, would people in bookstores have picked it up without the genre of fantasy made so credible, even classical, by LOTR?
“and the sort of fantasy that Tolkien spawned (and is much more often consumed by boys)”
You are absolutely correct about that. I kept re-reading LOTR before I was married – then when my daughter was old enough I bought her a beautiful edition of The Hobbit. She turned up her nose at it. Her sister implied that the girls at school insisted Tolkien was all about how boys were better than girls.
But when the movie came out she kept raving about it. She kept sending me emails and IM’s referring to it and I could tell that she had gone back and read the books since she could relate to them after seeing the movie. LOL
(She got me back, however, by turning me on to the Harry Potter series. Now I keep re-reading them the way i used to devour Tolkien. And I, also, like the movies better. Ahhh, daughter are there to remind you how much you miss in life by not being female. 😉 )
For any of u who were wondering, Rowling did an interview where she elaborated on the epilogue. It states:
“The epilogue does not directly state that Ron and Hermione are married, but Rowling states that indeed they are. Harry and Ron are both Aurors; Harry is the department head, and Hermione is “very high up” in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.
Luna Lovegood has become a naturalist of sorts, searching the world for odd and unique creatures.
At Hogwarts there is now a permanent Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher; Voldemort’s jinx on this position was broken with his death. There is also an unknown headmaster, as Professor McGonagall had gotten too old. Rowling did not identify either the Headmaster or the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.”
Hope this helps, you guys, but you’re absolutely right: it would have been nice to find out about George and the other Weasleys, Kreacher, or even Hagrid and Grawp instead of Draco whom I personally could care less about. But at least she elaborated on Harry, Ron, Hermoine and gave some insight about Luna’s life.
And does it bother anyone else that we never hear another word about Cornelius Fudge? What the hell happened to him from book 6 to book 7? He just disappeared! She couldn’t please everyone, I guess. Overall, I loved the book, I just think the epilogue could have been a bit more detailed and definitely should have included more characters.
I loved it. I really did. I didn’t want it to end so I read it as slow as possible!!! LOL I agree with sum of the statements made here: about Snape being good, I always knew he was as well, even till the very end when the teachers turned on him. I also got that feeling about Harry/Jesus thing towards the end as well…I really don’t know what to say here about that I don’t want to offend anyone, but I still liked it, I also agree that this is probably the best book yet, J.K was back to her old brilliance (you really are bloody amazing, lady!!!) and OH my gosh!!! I was sure that one of the fab 3 was going to die if not all of them!!! but they all survived and got married and had kids!!!! My heart melted when the names of the potter children was revealed…Albus, James and Lilly…awwwwww. I always knew he would end up with Ginny I just didn’t think JK would take it that far!!! and Ron and Hermione, well we all kind of knew that was coming from very early on but I wonder why they named their children, Hugo and Rose (Is that right?). The only thing I was a bit upset by was why didn’t she mention anything about adult Luna towards the end?? Did she get married? Did she have children? What did she end up doing in the end? Besides that I would have to say it was one of the best books I have read in a long time 🙂
Have just finished book and have asked 4 other people who are totally confused about the Elder Wand ownership. Can anyone else enlightened me about how come Draco Malfoy got ownership of this wand when he did not actually defeat Dumbledore. Agree that the middle part of the book was a bit long-winded
I found the whole “dying and coming back to life” thing with Harry quite cliche, and yet, interesting. Jo Rowling (or should I say Harry) really manouvered her (his) way out of that sticky spot rather cleverly. I had an enormous lump in my throat when McGonagal cried Harry’s name at the site of his body in Hagrid’s arms, and Ron, hermione and Ginny’s cries.
The film will be unbelievable sad due to the numerous deaths.
Dobby’s death came as a tragic shock to me, he was a secret favourite of mine. Molly weasley is, officially, my favourite character of the book. Her line before striking Bella Lestrange is spot on.
Thoroughly heart broken at Fred’s demise.
Loved “nineteen years later,”
Didn’t Love Harry’s choice of names for his children “Albus Severus potter”?
Why not call him “Bob Tim jones Potter?” Seriously, over kill!
Another thing I forgot to add.
This note is not intent on offending anyone, and neither am I.
How similar are “Harry potter” and “The Bible” ?
How Dumbledore and Harry are so similar to God and Jesus in little doses, how wormtail betrayed harrys parents (and harry, in a sense) how “devilish” voldermort is.
its narnia all over again!
” Laura – “I just think the epilogue could have been a bit more detailed and definitely should have included more characters.”
There’s a reason she killed off so many characters …
Draco controlled the wand because the owner didn’t need to be killed, just defeated, for the wand to be won. He disarmed and cornered Dumbledore at the end of book 6, so it became his.
I enjoyed the book, but could have done without the epilogue. I firmly believed in Snape being good, but did anyone else think that, after 7 years of Harry loathing Snape, it was a bit of a leap to calling him “the bravest man [he] ever knew?” I was kind of hoping for some sort of funeral/reconciliation scene in which Harry came to terms with things, like his relationship with Snape. Plus you’d think that after all the houses contributing to the defeat of Voldemort, there would be a little more house unity 19 years later.
i enjoyed the last book, even through the critical analyses of how the middle portion was useless and meandering, and the countless numbers of people suggesting how harry potter and Jesus share similarites, you have to admit rowling has been endowed with the talent of writing a story.
i do believe that snape should have had a bigger role, as well as ginny..however, the book was still magnificent even with the lack of involvement from the two.
i cant wait until the movie for the deathly hallows comes out because i know it is going to be amazing. personally, i think the movie should not cut out anypart of the book, even if it becomes 5 hours long because i know that everyone would still watch it.
Just want to comment on some things that have been said. Tania wonders why Ron and Hermione’s kids are called Hugo and Rose. I don’t know about Rose, maybe somebody has an idea, but Hugo made me think about a famous Hugo, Victor Hugo, and we do know about a Victor in the books who used to be pretty close to Hermione…
About the religious connection, what stroke me is the “blasphemous” one with Voldemort: “Before the night is out,Potter will have come to find me”. All in all, I don’t think there are religious undertones to the HP series, or I guess you could find some in any book….
I agree with most that has been said, JKR didn’t always do a good job with the book, though it’s pleasing to read. Personally I thought the Dudley thing was promising but then the Dursleys disappear from the story so it was all in vain.
Oh Gosh! I forgot!!!!!!!!! It’s July 31st! HAPPY BIRTHDAY HARRY! 😉
I’d just like to take a moment to point out another series of books which appears to have slipped under the radar amidst all this talk of Lewis and Tolkien.
Many years ago, whilst I was still at school, our class read a book called The Dark is Rising, by Susan Cooper. This book is actually the second part of the series of the same name, a series which I immediately set out to find in our local library. The series is a loose expansion of Arthurian legend, set in modern times and featuring – strangely enough – a small boy who discovers his magical inheritance on his eleventh birthday.
In my opinion The Dark is Rising stands far above the works of Rowling, although you have to admire the way that Harry Potter has encouraged kids to start reading again. It’s also making its way to the silver screen later this year, and I strongly encourage you all to go and read the book before its theatrical release.