July 24, 2007

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Just finished it moments ago. All in all I liked it, but I think the series peaks in books 3-5, and I think the last third of it suffers from some rather severe structural problems. And I truly loathed the epilogue, but thankfully that was brief. But I won't post any spoilers up here. If you want to talk details, we can do that in the comments. All in all, an appropriate ending I guess.

Posted by armand at July 24, 2007 09:46 PM | TrackBack | Posted to Books


Comments

It's clearly, painfully, a first draft that was just sent to print with no substantive editing. It's a satisfying ending to the series, but as a piece of literary fiction it's a mess.

I liked the epilogue, but I'm kind of a sucker for that sort of thing. And I find it amusing that slashfic involving two of the characters introduced in the epilogue (I'm being deliberately opaque here) was already all over the web on Saturday afternoon.

Posted by: jacflash at July 25, 2007 10:50 AM | PERMALINK

Some people are clearly obsessed.

I can be a sucker for that sort of thing, but I want it to add something that we don't already know. The couples we see still existing we've seen coming together for years - and it's not remotely surprising to know they actually get together (well in the real-world it would be surprising that couple formed in one's mid-teens are still together decades later, but this isn't the real world). All I really learned in that section is that one unpopular character happens to still be around, and that for some reason the House system and is still at Hogwarts, completely unchanged despite the finale.

Posted by: Armand at July 25, 2007 11:51 AM | PERMALINK

Yes, it surprised me as well that they maintained the sorting hat system.

Posted by: ryan at July 25, 2007 12:37 PM | PERMALINK

I have yet to read a single one of these things.

Posted by: binky at July 25, 2007 12:53 PM | PERMALINK

Well they are (clearly) quick reads for those so inclined. Well, quick if you are willing to spend an entire day or two on them.

Some other quick thoughts - I love that we finally we Molly in a different light, the bit with Trelawney better be in the movie (fantastic image), and speaking of the movie - think Harry will be naked in that? Obviously Radcliffe's not too shy. And the more I think about it the more I'm really shocked (and not in a good way) by something Hermoine did early on in the book, and irritated by how Rowling structured the turns and revelations regrading Snape - that really wasn't presented well (structurally).

Posted by: Armand at July 25, 2007 01:20 PM | PERMALINK

She has never explained just what the hell Hermione sees in Ron. Never. I don't get it.

Posted by: jacflash at July 25, 2007 03:36 PM | PERMALINK

Isn't he a scruffy lost puppy type? That's all it takes for some girls...

Posted by: binky at July 25, 2007 04:04 PM | PERMALINK

I think that both of your points are on target. We learn much less about the inner Hermione than we do about Harry or Ron. And yeah, he's scruffy and such ... but it would be nice to know that that's why she likes him.

Related to this (perhaps), Dana Goldstein has been blogging over at TAPPED and the Prospect today on Harry Potter and feminism.

Posted by: Armand at July 25, 2007 04:09 PM | PERMALINK

Btw, I forget where I saw the link, but I think it's well worth looking for Eve Tushnet's thoughts on the book, if you are interested in this topic.

And since I was praising Buffy here the other day, I think that the contrast in the treatement of what Hermione does to her loved ones and Willow and Tara's big fight that comes after Anya's "Who doesn't look good with a harp?" comment is quite striking. And in a way that makes the ethics of Buffy much more palatable than those of Hermione.

Posted by: Armand at July 25, 2007 08:10 PM | PERMALINK
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