What Next?
And done! Never fear; spoilers are well-delineated below. Here, all I will say is that it was everything I had hoped it would be – incredible, shocking, absolutely fantastic, and a fitting end to the series.
I was struck yet again at how much of an epic it really is – how it's not just about this one book, or any single book, but the amazing scope of all seven together, spanning seven years and hundreds of characters and an entire world of details. Just...wow.
I am experiencing some sadness that it's over. I had to keep reminding myself of all the other great books that would be written in coming years, and all the great things that I haven't ever read (though as I do love these books so much, the thought also occurred to me that maybe THIS particular epic really is the very best thing I will ever read in my entire life).
And I might have liked to savor it more. However, with the threat of spoilers dogging me at every turn, I felt I had no option but to read it within the first 24 hours, out of sheer self-defense. And so I did, and 100% spoiler-free did I remain. I'm so glad that I did, too...so glad that there were points where my jaw literally dropped with shock, that I experienced the whole thing as it was intended. (The way that maybe one day, twenty or thirty or fifty years from now, some kid will happen upon the books in a library with no idea what they're about. Imagine how that would feel, to read them with no preconceived notions and like they're your own special discovery.)
With that in mind, if you haven't read it yet – even if you haven't read a single Harry Potter book yet and have been wondering what the heck I'm talking about, just in case one day you can be convinced to try them – stop reading now. Spoilers are below, after this picture of vintage Baby A (circa September 2006) and a lot of non-spoilery blather about how I'm all tired and stuff.
I don't know that I have a lot of coherency left in me to discuss it with any degree of eloquence or accuracy or thoroughness. I almost killed myself with work in the days leading up to the release just so I wouldn't have to work all weekend. It was almost comical how this weekend, this (to me) most important weekend of all weekends all year, is the one that would have been my most work-filled ever. And just when I thought I was done on Friday at 7:30 and ready to head off to my Harry Potter party, I ended up having to run around town like a fool trying to convince various people to do something for me. (I can't give the details, but let's just say that while I behaved within the bounds of professional ethics, I nevertheless had to do things that should more properly be in the purview of a private investigator than my poor little self, who is almost devoid of all ability to engage in subterfuge but who CAN cry at the drop of a hat, and who mobilized said talent to great effect.)
Long story short, I have slept about ten hours total in the last four days. So I'm really, um, whaddaya call it, that thing where the sleep would be good and all?
Aaaaanyway, I finally made it to Harry Potterapalooza and happily procured my book at midnight.
And then I read and I read and I read and I read. I stopped to sleep, and then I meant to read some more but Baby A was there so instead I swam and hugged dollies and read aloud stories about Christmas fairies and watched Premonition, which is a really crappy movie that has nothing to do with Baby A except that she was there...and then finally I read and read and then it was morning and I was still reading.
Basically, this means that I read the entirety of the book between 1-5 a.m. Saturday and 1:30-6 a.m. today. Which means that I read the whole thing, but in a fog of the not-quite reality that accompanies severe sleep deprivation. Strangely, I think that may only have enhanced the experience; in that dreamlike state, feeling emotionally raw from my week and really the last few months to begin with, I really felt it. I cried in several places...God, the death of poor Hedwig in frigging chapter 3 really got me (death of pets being a sore point for me on a good day), but wow, when that happened, it really drove home to me that J.K. Rowling meant business – all bets were off, and this was it...the book where the things that don't happen in books that feature beloved characters CAN and DO happen.
That was my sense of the whole book, in a way. I wrote once before about Spider-Man 2, and how I loved the way that it broke the rules and went to places that superhero movies aren't supposed to go. I think the same was true of Deathly Hallows. You're not supposed to kill the pet. You're not supposed to have a hero who, for the first third of the book (or more) has no idea what to do and is almost paralyzed into inaction by that fact. You're not supposed to maim and kill central characters. And you're definitely not supposed to kill off the hero, but for a while there...for just a little while...I really thought it was going to happen, and my heart raced and my stomach churned as I tore through the pages.
I was blown away by the complexity of the plot and the characters, and how masterfully done everything was...every loose end, every stray character, everything that might have niggled at me had it not been addressed, was highlighted and drawn to a satisfying conclusion.
I still have questions. I'm interested to read others' takes on things (after I post this, I plan to zip off and read what others have to say, since I didn't want their views to color mine before I had a chance to say what I really thought). I also didn't want anyone's dissatisfaction to impact my wonderful feeling of WOW, since I'm sure they will have at least some valid points, but for now I'm just happy. And one day I'll read the entire series again, and I'm sure I'll pick up things in book 7 that escaped me this time – but that won't be for a long time. I don't want to "use up" the books, if that makes any sense.
I'll probably have more to say about it, especially once I've gotten some sleep and stop seeing things at the edge of my vision that aren't really there. Until then, I can only say that it was everything that I needed it to be.
6 comments:
I just posted something on Jocelyn's site in response to her review that I wish I had mentioned in my own:
As for Snape, I have to admit I was expecting something more -- I was shocked when he died, not BECAUSE he died, which as you note we all expected, but because I wasn't expecting it then, in that manner, without some great and fantastic sacrifice and revelation. The next chapter somewhat assuaged my feelings. I had not suspected the extent of the history between him and Lily, but I loved what it meant about Snape (who has always been my favorite). I loved seeing the details of his years as Dumbledore's most loyal compatriot laid bare. He was, in the end, everything those of us who loved him believed him to be.
I am glad that I never believed he would survive book 7...or else it really would have crushed me. This way, it was as it only could be.
I've now finished the book as well. I've never been as big a fan of the hairy potter as Triple has, but I've always found the books entertaining. Book 7 was no different. I did feel that she really added a lot of filler and the book could have been leaner.
My gripes: the Hogwarts battle felt like a replay of LotR's Two Towers' 'Battle of Helm's Deep' in that the good army is besieged, it looks really bad, and then the good reinforcements arrive just in time. That said, the actual final battle between Harry and Riddle seemed to be a let down - I was hoping for a dramatic battle ranging throughout the castle, instead one spell and it was over. Regarding Hogwarts, I thought it had more powerful magic protecting it from outsiders, yet it feel in a few hours, without Voldemort in the battle. I thought that house-elves had some powerful magic, but at the end, they only attacked with kitchen knives?
One question: where did Neville get the sword from? Last I read, Griphook the goblin was running away with it in the fault.
The most shocking moment for me wasn't the death of Hedwig or Dobbie or any of the others. It was Rowling using the swear word Bitch. I nearly dropped the book.
Despite the grips above, I did like the book. I would be interested to read more about Neville and Luna and the others' adventures at Hogwarts during their seventh year. Maybe Rowling can follow Ann Rice's lead and put out books that deal with the side characters more in depth. I'd also like a Rosencrantz & Guildenstern-like take of the 7 years. That would be fun.
Ags-
I didn't make the connection between LOTR and the Hogwarts battle...maybe because, to be perfectly honest, I didn't have that sense of reinforcements arriving just in time. And the theme of the underdog army prevailing despite overwhelming odds is so common in literature, and history for that matter, that it really was nothing more than I expected (although again, I actually didn't necessarily feel that the good guys were at such a disadvantage)....
Neville got the sword because of MAGIC. Yeah, I know, cop-out. I get that he was proving that he, too, was a "true Gryffindor" at the end, but it makes me wonder about what role Griphook played in returning the sword, if any.
I'm surprised that you were so surprised by the term "bitch," after the repeated, gleeful use of that most shocking of all obscenities: "effing"! Oh my goodness gracious no!
It sounds to me, Ags, like what you're wanting is some good old-fashioned fan fiction, however much you might object on principle. :)
P.S. All of Anne Rice's vampire books after #4 are terrible. I'd rather never hear from J.K. Rowling again than suffer that kind of letdown.
I'll give you the sword appearing when needed most. As for reinforcements, it mentioned that all of the parents of students appeared, as well as the centaurs finally getting in on the act. True, it's been done many times other than LotR, but it struck me - with dawn approaching, things looking the bleakest, hold-up in their castle, etc...very similar. Given that Rowling is telling everyone what happens next (Harry's head auror, Herminie is a lawyer, Ron's joined George in the joke business), I don't think she'll be writting any more books about these characters.
I knew we were in for it when she killed poor Hedwig. I threw the book across the room and started sobbing, the only words I could get out were, "It's not fair! She doesn't even have any magic!" I always loved Hedwig. (Side note: Somewhere around book 3 a big white owl landed outside of my balcony one night and sat and stared at me for 20 minutes. Given that I live in a big city, this was a strange occurrence. It took quite a bit of convincing by my husband that unfortunately no, my letter had not finally come and there would be no pumpkin juice and the sorting hat in my immediate future. Did I just admit that? Oh well.)
I figured out pretty early on that Harry was one of the Horcruxes, which made me really, really scared that he was going to get it in the end. And I was also hoping that maybe the sword was a horcrux for Dumbledore and that in the end he would come back and everything would return to some sort of normalcy. I suppose the scene with Harry and Dumbledore at the end gave me a little bit of that, but still, I was hoping...
And what the hell is with her killing Fred?! Kill Percy, for godsake! He is the lesser Weasley!
I was in love with this book and I plan on rereading them all eventually. I have heard that Rowling is kicking around the idea of writing an encyclopedia where she will be able to develop some of the lesser characters and story lines. But she really could have written another and another and another in the series and I would have been much happier.
How can it be over?! Boo!
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