Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

[GhostGirl]

Okay, folks...away we go.

 

I plowed through this book at light speed...and was amazed by the new information contained within this final installment.

 

I have to admit I was expecting a different ending...and the epilogue was just a TAD too neat and tidy for me.

 

How did you feel about the ending? What about the real story behind Snape's actions, beginning way back when he started at Hogwart's? And what about the Harry-as-horcrux angle? We had suspected that might be the case, but this "accidental" splintering of Voldemort's soul when he tried to kill baby Harry?

 

So, I have tons more thoughts to share, but I'll stop with those for now. Let us know what you think, and please bring up things you'd like to explore further.

[Red Baby Dragon]

I was actually really pleased with myself for what I had predicted.

 

My long-standing theory wat that R.A.B. was Sirius's brother, and the horcrux the locket they threw away in the fifth one, and that turned out to be true. I also was sure that Snape had killed Dumbledore on Dumbledore's own orders, even though I had no basis for this at the time. There was also a time where I thought Harry might actually be a horcrux, but I decided he couldn't be. Guess I was wrong on that account, though.

 

I was very satisfied with the ending - I was afraid it would leave a lot of loose ends, but it didn't. All in all I was very pleased with the book.

[Slime]

I didn't mind the epilogue as much as some other readers did. It wasn't exactly necessary, and it should have expanded on some of the other characters, but it worked fine for what it was intended to do.

 

The book itself was DARK!!!

 

Makes Star Wars Episode 3 look like Inspector Gadget.

 

I couldn't believe that casualty list at times. The language I could handle, but some parents may want to actually keep their kids from reading this volume for a little while.

 

I'm disappointed that Harry was actually a Horcrux, and not just because my theories were totally wrong (on all counts). It didn't make logical sense to me that a small part of Voldemort's soul could survive in a vessel containing the one power known to harm him, but oh well. The Battle of Hogwarts was great reading. The characterization in the book was also terrific. I've heard some complaints about some Out Of Character issues, but I think it can be attributed to the fact that the characters are truly growing and evolving as people on top of the seriousness of the situation (Hermione's explanation of what she did to her parents was some of Rowling's best plot development yet).

 

I liked it

[GhostGirl]

I don't know...maybe I've grown too cynical. That's why the epilogue was a little too precious for me. Not terrible, though.

 

I agree about what Hermione did...totally unselfish and a really cool addition to the plot.

 

I loved the idea of the locket bringing the wearer down...and reading about Harry, Ron, and Hermione camping and moving around was great.

 

And yes, the Battle of Hogwarts was awesome...I kept trying to visualize it on the big screen.

[PuppetKing2112]

I thought the actual ending of the book was great. Couldn't have asked for a better ending. I had no problems with it.

 

But the epilogue...god, what a freaking predictable, corny, Disney way to end it. The book would have been much better without it. But on the bright side, now at least the story is indisputably FINISHED, and there will never be any bad spinoff TV series.

 

One thing is, this book is going to be hard as f**k to turn into a movie.

Edited July 22, 2007 by PuppetKing2112

[PuppetKing2112]

My mom got the audiobook on CD. I'm going to start listening to that now. I usually pick up more things my second time through these books (and I, like GG, read this book at light-speed and had it finished before the Rush show last night), and the guy who read them, Jim Dale, is really fantastic with voices and stuff. HP fans really should listen to the books, he does all of them.

[GhostGirl]

QUOTE (PuppetKing2112 @ Jul 22 2007, 03:42 PM)

I thought the actual ending of the book was great. Couldn't have asked for a better ending. I had no problems with it. But the epilogue...god, what a freaking predictable, corny, Disney way to end it. The book would have been much better without it. But on the bright side, now at least the story is indisputably FINISHED, and there will never be any bad spinoff TV series. One thing is, this book is going to be hard as f**k to turn into a movie.

I agree completely about the epilogue.

 

And as far as the movie goes, they need to get over the 2 hour thing and make the last 2 movies at least 3 hours...that'll help.

[Slime]

on the down side, David Yates is directing the 6th movie

[Kudzu]

Yeah, the epilogue was a bit too Disney for me. C'mon, Harry seriously named one of his kids after Dumbledore and Snape? Draco Malfoy has a son named Scorpius perfectly set up to be Albus Severus Potter's rival? I like circular plot structure, but that's just overdoing it.

 

Loved the way the character arcs were resolved. Ron really had some much-needed development, Harry was every inch the Chosen One in the second half of the book, Snape was handled very well, Dumbledore was finally made human even posthumously, and Molly Weasley killed Bellatrix Lestrange. I felt like Moody, Lupin, and Tonks deserved death scenes if Dobby and Fred got them; on that same note, the book really announced that it was serious when the stalwart Hedwig got blasted within the first fifty pages. That was sad.

 

I'm not one to gush about romance, but the Ron/Hermione thing was just handled really perfectly and resolved in a way utterly befitting the characters. On the other hand, I was glad to see not an overabundance of Ginny in the story, because I was much happier to read about Harry facing his destiny and going on an epic quest to defeat evil than shoving his tongue down li'l Ginny's throat.

 

I wish Harry hadn't used the Cruciatius Curse on Amycus Carrow. I think at that point in the book, we were supposed to start cheering for want of seeing pain inflicted on the bad guys at last, but it hit too close to home with current events and the like for me to appreciate it much.

 

The Bathilda Bagshot thing was creepy as hell. And I too really liked Hermione's story about how she protected her parents. It's little touches like that, really make the story seem special.

[madra sneachta]

I have mixed feelings about the ending. I agree there is a whiff of the "Albus Potter and the Lucrative Spin-Off" about it, but I wasn't too put off by it. Interestingly, JKR has said in the past that the last word in the book would be "scar". Is that a suggestion that the "All was well" was tacked on later aftrr someone was granted a reprieve.

 

I'm glad to see the final development of Neville's character (although I fully expected him to be the one to dispatch Bellatrix. However, the (Aliens inspired?) scene with Molly and Bellatrix was excellent, and Neville's refusal to capitulate when all seemed lost was wonderful.

 

Having predicted in the 'hype' thread that Snape would prove a good guy and "take a bullet" for Harry, I feel slightly vindicated. I also predicted that Harry would make reparations for James' treatment of Snape, so I've unilaterally decided that naming his second child "Albus Severus" and telling him that Snape was "probably the bravest man he ever knew" qualifies enough to give me a score draw on that one.

 

Interesting, given that parceltongue and snakes are so central to the story that Harry and Ginny's second child has the initials ASP!!!. I absolutely agree with Kudzu that the deaths of Remus and Tonks was dealt with in a very throwaway manner, suggesting to me that they were the ones who died in order to give someone else a reprieve, but no story was written for them. The last we saw of them was Tonks running out into the courtyard, and then their bodies lying beside Fred. I re-read that piece about four times convinced that I'd missed something.

 

One question the ending left me with - Who is headmaster at Hogwarts?. We know Neville is Professor of Herbology, but who's the boss?.

 

I'm assuming Mc Gonigal, seems the obvious one.

 

Who knows..........perhaps we'll find out in a few years.

 

[owlswing]

I have to say reading the last of the Harry Potter books was very bitter sweet.

 

Although I liked the book she left a lot to be resovled and answered in the last 150 pages, thus cramming a lot at us at once leaving out what I feel should have been added.

 

Fred, Lupin & Tonks - it was never felt by any one in the book. No where in those end pages does it mention George and having his twin die. A bit of a let down there.

 

The whole Dumbledore thing. Too much was spent trying to make him look bad. Kinda valadates Harry's feeling towards him in Book 5. I do like that they answered the question as to why Dumbledore never accepted the ministry postion.

 

In the end with Harry talking to Dumbledore and having things explained and hashed out was a highlight for me, something I felt was missing in book 6.

 

Molly in the end was fantastic - one for the Mom's! Neville proved to be a true hero also.

 

Although it was not the end I expected I had to think about it and think about the kids, not just those in the book but those who got me reading it. The end was as some of you say is Disney like but it also showed the kids that once you leave a parents home and may feel that protection of love is gone it isn't. It's always in you in the choices you make. As Harry did in going for the Horxcures and not the Hallows.

 

I think it taught a good lesson that choices can be unselfish and made for the greater good!

 

In the end she turned back to the first set of readers and ended it for them. As a mom, Aunt & friends of a few kids reading this book that makes me happy.

 

 

 

 

[GhostGirl]

Great points, people...esp. the lack of sorrow for Fred, Lupin, and Tonks...and even Hedwig. Puzzling, to say the least.

 

It was great to talk to you last night, owlswing! I was dying to talk about the book, too.

[Slaine mac Roth]

Personally, I have no real complaint about HPVII. True, at times, I felt that the pacing was a little slow at the beginning resulting in the end being rushed but, when looked overall, it was a well written pice that ended the series off in rousing fashion. Even the epilogue which, as some have pointed out, tried a little hard to give us a happy ending, didn't detract from my enjoyment.

 

If I have any complaint its simply that its all; over now. I need to find something else to look forward to.

[GhostGirl]

QUOTE (Slaine mac Roth @ Jul 23 2007, 10:53 AM)

Personally, I have no real complaint about HPVII. True, at times, I felt that the pacing was a little slow at the beginning resulting in the end being rushed but, when looked overall, it was a well written pice that ended the series off in rousing fashion. Even the epilogue which, as some have pointed out, tried a little hard to give us a happy ending, didn't detract from my enjoyment. If I have any complaint its simply that its all; over now. I need to find something else to look forward to.

This is true, Slaine...I feel sort of empty now.

[Slime]

The complaint that Tonks, Lupin and whomever else didn't get "proper" death scenes makes no sense in light of what Rowling was trying to accomplish. She wasn't going to have each and every good guy death feel meaningful and huge, and not just because of space restriction. Her point throughout the book (made very well, I think), was that this is WAR, and people are going to just die. The death is not glamorous, or always brilliant, or even done during heroicism. People just die, both good guys and bad guys. Hedwig was caught in the crossfire, Lupin and Tonks were doing their duty, and Fred Weasley was doing what he chose to do, and so on. Besides, if everybody got a hugely dramatic death scene, it would be less and less meaningful every time it happened. Not to mention that there were more than enough dramatic death scenes.

[GhostGirl]

QUOTE (Slime @ Jul 23 2007, 11:17 AM)

The complaint that Tonks, Lupin and whomever else didn't get "proper" death scenes makes no sense in light of what Rowling was trying to accomplish. She wasn't going to have each and every good guy death feel meaningful and huge, and not just because of space restriction. Her point throughout the book (made very well, I think), was that this is WAR, and people are going to just die. The death is not glamorous, or always brilliant, or even done during heroicism. People just die, both good guys and bad guys. Hedwig was caught in the crossfire, Lupin and Tonks were doing their duty, and Fred Weasley was doing what he chose to do, and so on. Besides, if everybody got a hugely dramatic death scene, it would be less and less meaningful every time it happened. Not to mention that there were more than enough dramatic death scenes.

Yeah...well, partly that's true.

 

I don't think I wanted death SCENES for them...just a bit of mourning/remembrance from the characters left behind. Esp. since Tonks and Lupin have a baby boy.

[PuppetKing2112]

QUOTE (Slime @ Jul 22 2007, 05:26 PM)

on the down side, David Yates is directing the 6th movie

Why is that a down side? I thought he did a wonderful job with Order of the Phoenix. MUCH better than the disaster that was the Goblet of Fire movie.

[GhostGirl]

QUOTE (PuppetKing2112 @ Jul 23 2007, 12:11 PM)

QUOTE (Slime @ Jul 22 2007, 05:26 PM) on the down side, David Yates is directing the 6th movie  Why is that a down side? I thought he did a wonderful job with Order of the Phoenix. MUCH better than the disaster that was the Goblet of Fire movie. Absolutely.

[Kudzu]

QUOTE (GhostGirl @ Jul 23 2007, 11:31 AM)

QUOTE (PuppetKing2112 @ Jul 23 2007, 12:11 PM) QUOTE (Slime @ Jul 22 2007, 05:26 PM) on the down side, David Yates is directing the 6th movie  Why is that a down side? I thought he did a wonderful job with Order of the Phoenix. MUCH better than the disaster that was the Goblet of Fire movie. Absolutely. +2

[owlswing]

QUOTE (GhostGirl @ Jul 23 2007, 12:24 PM)

QUOTE (Slime @ Jul 23 2007, 11:17 AM) The complaint that Tonks, Lupin and whomever else didn't get "proper" death scenes makes no sense in light of what Rowling was trying to accomplish. She wasn't going to have each and every good guy death feel meaningful and huge, and not just because of space restriction. Her point throughout the book (made very well, I think), was that this is WAR, and people are going to just die. The death is not glamorous, or always brilliant, or even done during heroicism. People just die, both good guys and bad guys. Hedwig was caught in the crossfire, Lupin and Tonks were doing their duty, and Fred Weasley was doing what he chose to do, and so on. Besides, if everybody got a hugely dramatic death scene, it would be less and less meaningful every time it happened. Not to mention that there were more than enough dramatic death scenes. Yeah...well, partly that's true.   I don't think I wanted death SCENES for them...just a bit of mourning/remembrance from the characters left behind. Esp. since Tonks and Lupin have a baby boy. I can see that dwelling on some deaths aren't necessary. In the cases of Lupin and Fred who have been a part of Harry's story from the start and in Lupin's case before Harry was even old enough to know I think a the story would have been more complete.   While we are talking about the death of those close to Harry...why was it in the end when he turned the stone over 3 times did only, James, Lily, Sirrus and Lupin come to him?   Others that have given Harry the support to get to that point would have been meaningful. Just imagine the chills if a ghostly form of Hedwig flew and landed on Harry's shoulder.   ...On another note...I know I said this briefly but after some thought I'm really glad they finally let Molly give it to someone! It now seems as if that part is so important as we have always been told it was Harry's mothers love that shielded him. As the only living mother, protector of her children, Harry and most of the members of the Order for ages it just proved how strong and powerful a mothers love can be!   GG - I too was so glad to talk to you, I really need to.   I'm sad in a way today as if something has moved on never to come back. Odd isn't it. I guess it's thinking of the kids in the story grown and knowing that my niece who got me started reading these books is grown and moving on.

[priest_of_syrinx]

I loved the part in the beginning where Aunt Muriel said about Xenophilius Lovegood:

 

"He looks like an omelet."

 

 

I don't know why I found it so funny...

[rushengal]

I fully enjoyed it.

I can't wait for people at work to finish it up so I can discuss it with them (not in front of customers of course)

 

The ending (I feel) kind of dropped off at the end, and the Epilogue left some of my questions unanswered.

 

Other then that, I absolutely loved it.

I had a few theories about it before it was released, and I was right about two of them, Harry the Horcux and the death of Snape.

 

I was rather interested to read about Snape's history, and his feelings towards Lily, this was kind of shocking, seeing Snape's attitude towards Harry throughout his education at Hogwarts.

 

Now... a friend of mine told me that she heard rumors of an 8th book, that was like an epilogue.

I think this would be a nice idea, answer some of the left over questions.

 

I give this a 9.5/10

Looses .5 for the ending drop off.

[PuppetKing2112]

QUOTE (rushengal @ Jul 23 2007, 03:55 PM)

Now... a friend of mine told me that she heard rumors of an 8th book, that was like an epilogue. I think this would be a nice idea, answer some of the left over questions.

Not happening.

[rushengal]

QUOTE (PuppetKing2112 @ Jul 23 2007, 08:21 PM)

QUOTE (rushengal @ Jul 23 2007, 03:55 PM) Now... a friend of mine told me that she heard rumors of an 8th book, that was like an epilogue. I think this would be a nice idea, answer some of the left over questions. Not happening. Oh, I highly doubt her coming out with an 8th book, its just a nice idea though, if she was to shock us all, and release it.   Not expecting it though.

[priest_of_syrinx]

QUOTE (rushengal @ Jul 23 2007, 08:07 PM)

QUOTE (PuppetKing2112 @ Jul 23 2007, 08:21 PM) QUOTE (rushengal @ Jul 23 2007, 03:55 PM) Now... a friend of mine told me that she heard rumors of an 8th book, that was like an epilogue. I think this would be a nice idea, answer some of the left over questions. Not happening. Oh, I highly doubt her coming out with an 8th book, its just a nice idea though, if she was to shock us all, and release it.   Not expecting it though. It'd probably be really dull because Voldemort is gone...   I wish she hadn't written the peaceful epilogue so she could've created a conflict for Harry's post-Voldemort life and made a couple more good books.   EDIT: On the other hand, she could just make an entirely new series.

Edited July 24, 2007 by priest_of_syrinx