Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

MiracleMax · #1 07-23-2007, 10:10 AM

FOR THOSE WHO HAVE READ THE BOOK ONLY!

So, what did you all think? I was done by 4 on Sunday, but would have been finished sooner had I not been sick and gone to the county fair Saturday night. Apparently a friend of my sister got the book at 10 Saturday morning and was done by 3. Crazy. How long did it take you to read it?

Are you happy with the ending? I guess Rowling was right, there is a "definite conclusion" for Harry, and I guess I liked it, although it seemed so abrupt.

I know we were talking about this a little in the predictions thread, but I thought we could use a place for those of us who have read it to discuss without always having to use spoilders or be careful about what we say.

*emeleel* · #2 07-23-2007, 10:16 AM

Copied from the predictions thread:

Most hated death? I think I shall beat her about the head for killing off Fred. Charlie, maybe Bill, and even Percy if he'd managed to make up with the family first, but not one of the twins.

Not real thrilled with killing off a married couple with a newborn baby, either - could have lived with losing either Remus or Tonks, especially Tonks, but to kill them both off seemed unnecessarily cruel.

Most obvious or annoying plot hole? Loved, loved, loved Neville pulling the sword of Gryffidor from the Sorting Hat, but where in the samhill did it come from?

I'm assuming it magicked itself out of Griphook's possession since he didn't really have a right to it, but why was it in the Sorting Hat?

Still pondering? Not quite what to make of Dumbledore's history. I like having a backstory to him, and one that makes him a more flawed human, but I wasn't expecting quite THAT flawed.

*emeleel* · #3 07-23-2007, 10:25 AM

Something hubby kept complaining about: that too many characters changed too much. The Dursley's, eh, I kind of agree, but I don't think they acted as strangely as he was saying. I'll have to re-read that chapter. I nearly had to pick my jaw up off the floor when Lupin walked out on a pregnant Tonks, though! Good grief!

I really didn't see a lot of other character changes, though. Ron was a little more high-strung than usual, but not unexplainably so.

phoenixx · #4 07-23-2007, 11:45 AM

Good lord was the ending the wrong ending for the series. She completely chickened out.

*emeleel* · #5 07-23-2007, 11:51 AM

Time: I've always felt all of the books had an odd time construct, being spread across 9-10 months, but you're right, it was very noticeable in this book.

Can't agree with you on the ending, though.

phoenixx · #6 07-23-2007, 11:54 AM

From the other thread:

Quote:

emeleel said

Oh, and um - wasn't one of the teasers that JKR told people was that somebody unexpected was going to do magic, who'd never done magic before? Did I blink and miss that?!

I was surprised Mrs Weasley did magical combat - usually she only does it at home. Other than that... Crabbe and Goyle did magic, and I can't recall them ever doing magic before, just bullying people. I'll have to give the rest a thought.

*emeleel* · #7 07-23-2007, 12:05 PM

I finally found the quote:

Quote:

Will there be, or have there been, any "late blooming" students in the school who come into their magic potential as adults, rather than as children? By the way, I loved meeting you, and hearing you speak, when you came to Anderson's in Naperville. I can hardly wait until you tour again. Ahhh! I loved the event at Anderson's. It was one of my favorites. That is completely true. No, is the answer. In my books, magic almost always shows itself in a person before age 11; however, there is a character who does manage in desperate circumstances to do magic quite late in life, but that is very rare in the world I am writing about.

However, that was from an interview that took place in *1999*. I have a feeling that was a point that got dropped somewhere, but she never rebutted it later.

**MrsNormanMaine**[$] · #8 07-23-2007, 12:08 PM

Read it this weekend...

In general I liked it and felt that it completed the story and the story arc. The only death I felt was unnecessary was Fred's but at the same time, he's a character we care about and killing him off reminds us that life isn't fair. I think the deaths of both Remus and Tonks were necessary to leave an infant Teddy orphaned with Harry as godfather to complete that circle.

Loved the last part of the book when the entire cast gathers at Hogwarts for the final battle against Voldemort and we get all sort of threads pulled together, if a trifle quickly.

It's going to be a tricky one to make into a 2 1/2 hour film...

MNM

*emeleel* · #9 07-23-2007, 12:10 PM

Weeeelllll... okay, maybe as a complete-the-circle kind of thing, but I still don't like it.

MiracleMax · #10 07-23-2007, 12:19 PM

I didn't mind it in general, it just seemed really abrupt to me. Like I said, it is a definite conclusion, but does leave openings for me should she choose - ie what happened in those 19 years, as wells as the adventures of the kids at Hogwarts now.

**pippadaisy**[$] · #11 07-23-2007, 12:38 PM

Leslie, I disagreed. Vehemently. Commented back to you in my review.

phoenixx · #12 07-23-2007, 01:26 PM

You won't be able to make me agree her ending was not a cop out. It was a complete cop out, and won't prevent legions of people from begging her to write more, because people can not accept loss, death or endings. Plus her crap ending left NINETEEN YEARS "open" for crappy fan fic writers to play with, among other things, like the Deathly Hallows themselves not being fully destroyed. I SHUDDER at the thought.

*emeleel* · #13 07-23-2007, 01:31 PM

Fan fic is going to happen no matter what, and if people like fan fic, they're going to read it. Look at the plethora of Star Wars and Star Trek fan fic that's out there - it's practically endless.

If you don't like fan fic (and I don't, in general), then it doesn't matter.

MiracleMax · #14 07-23-2007, 01:32 PM

One small thing I was glad that was explained was the Bloody Baron. I always wondered how he died and why he was covered with blood. I don't remember the other ghost (Grey Lady? I can't remember now and don't have the book with me at work) ever being in the stories before though.

*emeleel* · #15 07-23-2007, 01:34 PM

The Grey Lady was *briefly* mentioned, I think in the first book. She's one of those teeny, weeny little details that the rabid fans know about.

Oh, and about the ending - did anybody REALLY think think that Harry would die in the end? Forget what you want, did anyone really think that would happen?

MiracleMax · #16 07-23-2007, 01:42 PM

One of those little details I just don't remember, I guess. I've read all the books enough times, you'd think I'd have picked up on those little things. I think my problem is that I don't think the tiniest thing mentioned in passing is going to be a huge thing 6 books later.

Honestly, I didn't see how she could actually kill Harry. Part of me wondered if she would just to prove everybody wrong, so to say, but I didn't think she really would. Sure, there were lots of times when I saw it coming, but then realized I still had X number of pages left and it just couldn't happen, so I was alright. I did have my doubts about Ron when he left Harry and Hermoine though, I thought he was a goner for sure.

phoenixx · #17 07-31-2007, 05:24 PM

Did y'all see this????

The Sun Online - News: Headmistress is a Harry Rotter

*emeleel* · #18 07-31-2007, 06:25 PM

Quote:

"The school felt this reading would not spoil the children’s enjoyment of the book.”