View Single Post
Old 07-22-2007, 03:42 AM   #3 (permalink)
Durro
Gryffindor
Book 7 Theorist
Gnome
 
Durro's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Brisbane, Australia
Posts: 385
Default

Well, the long wait is over and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows has been released at last. Despite a last minute flood of some accurate and some grossly incorrect spoilers flowing across the internet, the majority of true fans maintained a self imposed media blackout in eager anticipation of discovering the answers to some long awaited questions for themselves.

Was Snape good really ? Would Voldemort, Harry or both die ? Would Neville avenge his parents ? What did the prophecy really mean ? What and where were the horcruxes ? What are the Deathly Hallows ?

The list was seemingly endless and the various debates across Snitchseeker forums were often intense, passionate and entertaining. But at last, JK Rowling has presented her final installment of the Harry Potter series and many of the debates are now settled. Given that it's just over 24 hours after the book's release, I won't post (too many) spoilers, as some will undoubtedly still be in the process of working their way through the 608 or so pages, depending on which edition they are reading. So read on, at your own peril.

In Deathly Hallows, JK Rowling has written by far her most intense, dark and violent book of the series. Harry has matured, and so has the apparent target age of the reading audience, as this is a book for teenagers and adults - not for younger children. DH is a brooding affair in which a tormented Harry expresses doubts about his relationships, his own abilities and his monumental task at hand. The wizarding world is under a cloud of fear and confusion, which intensifies as the Ministry is taken over by Voldemort's minions and lackeys.

The high death toll begins its inexorable climb right from chapter one with a character despatched in a fairly gruesome manner with some gestational assistance from Nagini. From there, the book is strewn with the carnage of almost relentless attacks and ambushes, with some minor characters killed off first and as the book progresses, more and more of the major characters. these include some of the "favourites" and some that were seemingly too talented to succumb to the opposition. There are more than a few surprises along the way. JKR's much publicised and talked about killing of 2 characters and one getting a reprieve was obviously talking about 2 extra characters being killed off, as by my count, there are literally dozens and dozens of deaths. Some occur individually and some are group massacres such as when a furious Voldemort finds out that one of the locations of his horcruxes has been compromised and a group of hapless Goblins and Wizards receive the full force of his vented fury. DH has a number of gruesome injuries inflicted upon its cast of characters and not even children are spared from death in the main text and in the climactic battle of Hogwarts at the end.

There are also a number of dark themes running throughout the book, such as the discrimination and internment of muggle-born wizards & witches, reminicent of the Nazi's reign of terror and racist policies. The statues in the Ministry of Magic have been replaced with disturbing effigies to the new regime's attitude toward muggles and the evil Delores Umbridge returns as something even worse than her earlier High Inquisitor role, dispatching muggles borns and other "undesirables" to the clutches of the Dementors at Azkhaban. The wizarding world falls under the rule of a totalitarian regime, with arrests without cause, discrimination and elitism creating a climate of fear. Propaganda and disinformation cloud the issues of the day and the masses are fed lies and deceit. The parallel use of Azkhaban with real life SS concentration camps or Soviet Gulags may be disturbing to some mature readers.

It may be surprising to some readers to find out that not every nice character is squeaky clean nor every dark character what they seem. Reputations are sullied and some "bad" guys are seen in a better light, if not actually redeem themselves. Of note is when Harry learns some troubling information about one of his heroes who, as a youngster, had some different philosophies from those shown in latter years. Harry has conflict with Hermione and Ron leading to a regretful split. Harry also has a confrontation with an ally about his commitment to his new family and questions his integrity. This leads to a physical fight and parting of ways under unhappy circumstances. All in all, Harry is tormented internally and this leads to uneasy and sometimes downright antagonistic relationships with fairly much everybody. Hopes of a reconciliation with Ginny are raised and then quickly dashed early on. In the end, Harry does gain a profound understanding of his situation and as predicted, he is put in the situation where he has to choose between what is right and what is easy. And does so at his own great expense and sacrifice.

JK Rowling has written a mostly fast paced and enthralling book. The start doesn't waste time in capturing your attention and the ending is spectacular in both the scale of its action and in the revelations it produces. It does bog down in the middle a little, and perhaps the reader may share Ron's frustration at the trio's endless wanderings through camp sites with little planning or answers forthcoming. But this temporary stagnation is soon left behind as one horcrux riddle is solved under unusual circumstances and another becomes apparent in a flash of inspiration under even more unusual circumstances. From there, the pace accelerates and the ending is .... well, wait till you read it.

The final chapter describes in tantalising brevity what happens to some of the major characters 19 years on. As endearing as it is, it did leave me questioning what happened to other survivors, such as some of the teachers at Hogwarts, some of the baddies, and some of the ex-students. But we do find out about what happened to the surviving trio member(s) and/or their offspring. I was left wanting more and perhaps there may be a companion book published to tell more of the epilogue ? Otherwise, there will be endless debate and desire to find out about what happened to Professor whatshername or some other character.

All in all, it satisfies the many many questions that were raised in the first 6 books, and leaves only a few more fairly minor ones by the end. JKR wraps it all up nicely and the result is an interesting and exciting book. It is well written as we've come to expect, with twists, surprises and revelations coming thick and fast. JKR actually uses two "swear" words in the book, for the first time that I can recall in the series, but they are appropriate in context from the characters that utter them. Mrs Weasley's challenge to Bellatrix at the end was one of them and will go down as a great one liner - especially if reproduced in the movie version.

Speaking of which, and unfortunately for younger fans, the resulting movie will most likely be a mature rated one, given the nature of the material. I don't think that given the torture scenes, injuries and deaths, that it would escape an M rating or whatever is the equivalent wherever you are. This won't be one for the kiddies.

All in all, it was a great end to the series and an enjoyable read. Well done JKR !

Durro

Last edited by Durro; 07-22-2007 at 07:12 AM. Reason: more bits
Durro is offline   Reply With Quote