My Deathly Hallowz, let me show you them
Jul. 29th, 2007 04:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
progIt neither exceeded nor fell short of my expectations, he said limply.
I enjoyed it, but not as much as the penultimate volume, which I found to be my favorite of the series. I found myself pushing through to the end largely just to be done with it, and get along with reading all my friends' commentary before it got too stale.
* Rowling's cosmology is pretty effed up, especially where the veil between the living and the dead is concerned, and I'm sad that she leaned as heavily as she did on it here. Harry continues his more-or-less annual visits with his departed parents, and Dumbledore is basically a starwarsy "Force Spirit" through the whole final book. (I was worried for a moment during the final confrontation that Voldy would pull a Vader and regret everything before being blasted, becoming a happy friendly ghost forever, and was relieved when he told Potter to stuff it instead.)
Anyway, it makes the notion of ultimate sacrifice through death less powerful to have so many dead people running around, is all.
* It was interesting to learn how young the Potters were when they died. I had imagined them as being twice as old as that. Maybe this was personal projection. (Yes, this was probably revealed in an earlier volume, but if so it wasn't explicit enough for me.)
* I have read much grumbling about the epilogue. I too feel kind of meh that the only revelation was that the paired-off characters went forth to marry and have lots of magic babies. I mean, that's fine, but the things I really wanted to know were absent.
It may seem a bit overspecific but I feel robbed to not learn how George turns out. How well does he recover from half his persona getting snuffed out at 20 years old? What becomes of his sense of humor? Heck, does he manage to keep the business going? They were favorite characters and I'm sad that their story didn't feel complete.
* Seriously, is there no birth control in the wizarding world? Geez, Remus. (He did mumble about werewolfs usually not breeding, but didn't seem especially surprised that it happened in his case. If the idea of having a baby upset him so much that he'd seriously consider running away from it, you'd think he'd show a bit more prudence, hm?)
* No tension at all between two teenagers spending weeks alone in a tent, each thinking that their respective lover (or would-be lover) has likely gone for good? Whatevs.
* Whenever I read "Voldy" it looks like "Volity". This makes for funny summaries.
I enjoyed it, but not as much as the penultimate volume, which I found to be my favorite of the series. I found myself pushing through to the end largely just to be done with it, and get along with reading all my friends' commentary before it got too stale.
* Rowling's cosmology is pretty effed up, especially where the veil between the living and the dead is concerned, and I'm sad that she leaned as heavily as she did on it here. Harry continues his more-or-less annual visits with his departed parents, and Dumbledore is basically a starwarsy "Force Spirit" through the whole final book. (I was worried for a moment during the final confrontation that Voldy would pull a Vader and regret everything before being blasted, becoming a happy friendly ghost forever, and was relieved when he told Potter to stuff it instead.)
Anyway, it makes the notion of ultimate sacrifice through death less powerful to have so many dead people running around, is all.
* It was interesting to learn how young the Potters were when they died. I had imagined them as being twice as old as that. Maybe this was personal projection. (Yes, this was probably revealed in an earlier volume, but if so it wasn't explicit enough for me.)
* I have read much grumbling about the epilogue. I too feel kind of meh that the only revelation was that the paired-off characters went forth to marry and have lots of magic babies. I mean, that's fine, but the things I really wanted to know were absent.
It may seem a bit overspecific but I feel robbed to not learn how George turns out. How well does he recover from half his persona getting snuffed out at 20 years old? What becomes of his sense of humor? Heck, does he manage to keep the business going? They were favorite characters and I'm sad that their story didn't feel complete.
* Seriously, is there no birth control in the wizarding world? Geez, Remus. (He did mumble about werewolfs usually not breeding, but didn't seem especially surprised that it happened in his case. If the idea of having a baby upset him so much that he'd seriously consider running away from it, you'd think he'd show a bit more prudence, hm?)
* No tension at all between two teenagers spending weeks alone in a tent, each thinking that their respective lover (or would-be lover) has likely gone for good? Whatevs.
* Whenever I read "Voldy" it looks like "Volity". This makes for funny summaries.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2007-07-29 10:30 pm (UTC)also, i didn't completely get everything that happened at the end. the things that did or didn't happen, based on harry's deeper motivation for doing them, and what the prophecy said, and what dumbledore had set up omnisciently beforehand, and who had taken whose wand, etc., etc., seemed a bit riddled with inconsistencies.
this isn't to say i didn't like some things. i was satisfied with the characters of snape and dumbledore, for example. and it was fun to read. but... meh.
Me too!
Date: 2007-07-30 03:32 pm (UTC)* I agree that the last book wasn't edgy enough for me, although there were a lot of deaths. I liked the epilogue, because it told me enough about the protagonist to get closure. Would I have liked an Animal House montage or a LoTR-like denouement? Sure, but I don't need for every epic story.
* I don't expect the Potterverse to have a consistent cosmology. What's really the difference between talking portraits and ghosts? I read all of these as "plot devices" and try not to stare at them too hard.
* Remus was unexpectedly immature. I don't really know why Rowling likes to have Harry's mentors act like irrational children just before they get offed. Is it just to make Harry feel bad? Weird.
* For the life of me, I can't understand why Potter and Hermione didn't go after each other, but that's chemistry for you. I suspect that being a mudblood, she enjoys being the better magician in her relationship with Ron.
The main attraction to Potter for me is Rowling's charming writing. Her prose is a like a old wooly sweater. It's not the height of fashion, it's not cutting-edge, it's just folksy and redolent with English charm. The Rowling's plot elements and inventions aren't overwhelming new, but that's not necessary for a book to be enjoyable. I think Pullman's /Dark Materials/ series is more inventive and edgier, but I enjoyed it less.
Re: Me too!
Date: 2007-08-01 04:41 pm (UTC)When Ron comes back to the Forest of Dean and the locket plays on his jealousy, Harry says something like "no way, I love her like a sister, that's all". Which leaves the question of why Ron doesn't just love her like a sister, but whatever.
My main disappointment was with Hermione. She was pretty much a non-entity in this book, just tagging along and being a worry-wort as usual. I think she deserved a better storyline. Maybe they'll punch up her role in the movie.