The Saga Concludes With Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Written: Jul 24 '07 (Updated Jul 25 '07)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: beautifully written, brilliant conclusion
Cons: some storylines are underdeveloped
The Bottom Line: The agony of knowing that no more volumes will follow...
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| bilbopooh's Full Review: |
I type these words with a heavy heart: The Harry Potter saga has finally come to a close. Yes, I waited eight and a half years for the last installment of J. K. Rowling's seven-part epic to arrive, but now the final page has been turned, and I'm left with an aching sense of finality, in anticipation of which I delayed my reading of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows as long as I possibly could. Obviously that wasn't very long; I couldn't risk having key plot elements leaked to me upon my return from our annual family reunion camping trip, during which I had steadfastly refused anything but a taste of a few tantalizing chapters, so I sequestered myself and, with little interruption aside from a night of fitful sleep, read straight through to the end. And now it's over. Rowling has given us a world to which we can return again and again, and no doubt I will. But I'll miss the thrill of not knowing just where the journey will lead.
In six months of re-reading the first six volumes in the series, questions bubbled up, the answers hovering just out of reach. Deathly Hallows resolves many inquiries while leaving others shrouded, ripe for speculation and imaginative wanderings. It is unique among the books, with Harry far too preoccupied with the daunting task he has been set to return to Hogwarts for his final year. And indeed, he couldn't if he wanted to, as Voldemort has infiltrated the school as surely as he has the Ministry of Magic, and Harry Potter is Undesirable Number One - the most wanted wizard in the world.
Ron and Hermione, his steadfast friends through so many adventures, remain with him at this critical time, despite his objections. Gone are the days of worrying about Quidditch practice, essays and love potions. Voldemort is seizing power, and Harry, Ron and Hermione can only hope to defeat him by living on the run and attempting to work out the cryptic clues left by their dearly departed headmaster. Though he no longer is among the living, scarcely a chapter goes by in which Dumbledore does not figure prominently. It is a book rich in revelations about the venerable professor, about whom we knew considerably less than we thought.
With flashbacks, second-hand memories and excerpts from books and articles, we are deluged with exposition providing long-withheld insight. In Rowling's world, one can never take for granted that a character is just who he or she seems to be. Allies turn up in unexpected places; long-familiar names are finally attached to freshly revealed faces; both bravery and betrayal seep out in critical character-revealing moments. The usual twists and turns are intensified. I expected some of the developments but was blindsided by others. This is edge-of-your-seat, can't-stop-once-you-start reading.
There are deep mysteries to solve, thrilling action sequences, new characters to meet and old ones to greet warmly as old friends, never knowing, particularly as the pages toward the front of the book begin to outnumber those to the back, when some beloved character will speak for the last time. Rowling has drawn them all so richly that significance hangs heavily upon each death, and I don't think I'm giving too much away in revealing that her hint of two major deaths struck me as grossly misleading. I suppose I can guess at which two were singled out as "major," but each one is a crippling blow. We've reached all-out war by the seventh book, and Rowling doesn't flinch in showing us all its ugly details.
That isn't to say, however, that all is death and despair as the intrepid trio travel, clinging to one another and accepting help from a variety of sources as they grapple with the enormity of their mission. There is light and laughter, love and life pulsing through the book as powerfully as ever before, even intensified at times by the very knowledge of the doom threatening to consume everything. Though we may not escape the sense of foreboding entirely, there are pockets of profound joy, of bonds of affection strengthened by adversity, of sheer, unbridled delight at life's simple pleasures.
Even more importantly, there is a powerful thread of goodness at the core of this novel. We see each of our heroes mature: Ron becomes more empathetic, Hermione more open-minded, and Harry... Well, he has a lifetime of learning to squeeze into one short year, and while some of his lessons are far more painful than the sadistic detentions with which Dolores Umbridge had hoped to subdue him in Order of the Phoenix, they steel him for his final battle, which above all else is a test of his will, of his spirit, of his soul.
Many aspects of the book took me by surprise, from the titular reference to the identity of the Hogwarts headmaster in this final year. The dark history involving the Hitlerian wizard Grindelwald caused my insides to churn; conversely, I experienced a thrill of ecstasy when Harry stumbled upon one of the last missives written by his mother. While I was pleased to see nearly every significant character from books past turn up at some point, I must confess I was startled by how little we saw of some of them.
After being singled out over the last two years as the character upon whom the events of the final book might well hinge, Severus Snape is curiously absent from the vast majority of the book, and his interaction with Harry is so minimal as to be nearly negligible, though just when I'd almost given up on him playing a crucial role in Harry's last battle, Rowling delivered. I just wish there had been a bit more dialogue between Harry and Snape. Then again, I also would have liked quite a bit more one-on-one time with Draco Malfoy, Peter Pettigrew and Petunia Dursley.
The trouble with the format of this book is that Harry, Ron and Hermione spend so much time in isolation, completely separated from the rest of the Wizarding world. As such, there aren't all that many opportunities for him to come into close contact with all these secondary characters, and since the bulk of what we see is from his perspective, there's little chance to explore them on their own. Because Harry is not at Hogwarts, we feel extremely cut off from what is happening there, and several characters who are omnipresent in other books show up so late in the game I was starting to wonder if we were going to see them at all. These latecomers make a powerful impact, however, particularly the formidable Minerva McGonagall and brave Neville Longbottom.
Still, there are stories that seem to drop. While we get a glimpse into the future with an epilogue, this post script spans only a few short pages and is insufficient to answer questions about what happened to all but a very few select survivors, and even among these we only learn the profession of one. And what of the magical world at large? How has it changed in the nearly twenty years since what should have been Harry's last year at Hogwarts? There's also the matter of the fallen, and those who bow out in the heat of the climactic confrontation seem neglected, with no time to linger on their deaths properly. I was especially disappointed in how little we saw of the aftermath of one particular character's demise, as it would have had an especially deep impact on certain survivors. We never really got to mourn this person properly or were given any evidence of a lasting memorial, which would have been all too easy to slip in.
On the whole, however, the ending is satisfying, as satisfying as any conclusion to such a treasured series can be. Beautifully written, with copious amounts of love and perspiration compressed into every word, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is more than a brilliantly detailed, expertly plotted adventure. It's sustenance for the spirit, and I have consumed it hungrily. Now I gaze at the eerie form of Voldemort's skeletal hands protruding from his cloak on the back cover, and a part of me wishes I could Obliviate myself and meet Harry anew, absorbing his seven-year quest for the first time. Countless others will take that journey, and they will find within the books' pages a layered tale that may just adjust the way they perceive the world. Some magic is real. Thank you, Ms Rowling, for helping to open our eyes.
Harry Potter Parodies:
Suicide is Painless
Mary Was an Only Child
Invisible
Gilligan's Island
I Got a Name
Santa Claus is Comin' to Town
Carolina in My Mind
Take Me Home Country Roads
Open Arms
Poems:
In Defense of Harry
Butterbeer
Fred and George
Not Worried
The Pride of Gryffindor
A Visit From Hagrid
Remember Cedric
Snape's Secrets
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
bilbopooh
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Member: Erin McCarty
Location: Erie, PA
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