HPATDH just came out this weekend. We picked it up at 2:10 AM on Saturday morning. I finished reading it at 8:00 PM, which time also included two hours of sleep, an hour of chores, four hours of absolutely disgusting clean-up of toxic slime, rusted barrels, and old tires which were a breeding ground for who-knows-what at my flying field, two hours of flying and eating lunch, and of course the rest of the time spent reading. The book is currently in my daughter’s hands, and she’s about halfway through.
Maybe being able to read quickly is genetic in some form.
Anyway, spoilers follow, so stop reading if you haven’t read yet!
I was surprised at how well Rowling brought together so many lingering issues from previous books and wrapped them up. Her attempts to do this, in my opinion, gave the first half of the book a sort of “distant” feel, as the direction-less wanderings of Ron, Hermione, and Harry brought them into contact with former friends and acquaintances.
It didn’t really feel like the book had a very distinct purpose until the moment that Dobby died. Harry’s refusal to use magic to dig the grave for the sole free house-elf seemed to mark a changing point where Rowling said “OK, preamble’s done, now on with the show”.
I was appalled at how free her pen was with killing off favorite characters. I understand why she did it, though. She had to impress upon the reader the seriousness of the situation and show that it could happen to other favorite characters, too. Kind of like the “red shirts” of Star Trek fame.
I still don’t quite understand the wand-ownership deal, though. Voldemort stole the wand from Dumbledore’s corpse… at what point prior to that had Draco taken it from Dumbledore, and Harry had taken it from Draco? I’ll probably have to re-read to get that detail if someone doesn’t explain it.
I wish Snape had been able to explain himself earlier in the story. That was a very unsatisfying end. I guess death is never neat and clean, but the use of the Pensieve for memories which Snape just happened to be carrying with him at the time of his death felt like an “oh crap how am I going to fit this in?” plot device. Rowling’s a bit famous for those, and I think just about any book or movie which has more than a few episodes written after one another rather than as a cohesive unit is going to have similar troubles unifying the storyline.
Regardless, a good read which I thoroughly enjoyed.
Lots of thoughts..
My main one being that I felt it was too bloodless. Lots of death, yes.. but not a single beloved character.
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Bloodless…
Well, who were the real first-stringers?
Harry, Hermione, and Ron. Yeah, not gonna happen in a series of children’s books.
Now, second-stringers? Plenty died. And it was enough to make me go, “dude, she killed off X?”
—
Matthew P. Barnson
To retort..
HUGE SPOILERS!! STOP READING!!!
In the last three books, I’ve ceased to think of them as Children’s books.
In the same way “Ender’s Game” was a children’s book, but by Xenocide (or Shadow of the Giant) we were dealing with books for the now grown up children that read the first book.
That being said.. I did feel that the first stringers were fair game. I’m glad they lived.. but I felt that in a war you needed casualties.
The second stringers? Really.. Lupin used to be. But Hagrid, McGonagall, Ginny, Luna, Neville.. the second stringers all lived, except Snape.
It was the third-stringers.. Lupin, Mad-Eye, Fred.. we care.. but not REALLY..
Still FANTASTIC read.. I ripped it apart.. and I loved every page. I’m just a bloodthirsty bastard.
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Dead DADA teachers…
I think it’s interesting to recount how the DADA teaches fared:
* Quirrell: Dead. * Lockhart: Rendered an imbecile * Remus Lupin: Dead * Alastor Moody/Barty Crouch Jr: Dead * Moody (actual teacher who was supposed to take the post): Presumed dead, eye retained through means unknown by Delores Umbridge as a prize * Dolores Umbridge: Unknown, presumed alive * Severus Snape: Dead * Amycus Carrow: Alive
Interesting to me that only those who fully represented the will of Voldemort survived the post unscathed, though only for a single year. I don’t know if that was intentional on the part of Rowling, but it’s kind of fun to play with.
Fred and George Weasley were my favorite third-stringers in the whole series. Fred’s death and George’s disfigurement surprised me and made me kind of sad.
—
Matthew P. Barnson
Don’t get me wrong..
I’m saddened by every death.. espeically, oddly, hedwig’s. That being said, much like the final episodes of some of my favortie shows (A ST show comes to mind), the people about whom you least care drop like flies.. and the true horror of war is missed a little. Personally, i think Hagrid would have sufficed, or even neville (Who should have taken out LeStrange – it seemed that was the satisfying conclusion.. oh well).
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Anya
I’m still mad that Joss Whedon killed off Anyanka.
Bastard.
—
Matthew P. Barnson
Duude..
You should spoiler alert that.
Anyhoo.. yeah.. hated that she died. (You should see, though.. how cool Xander is in the Buffy Seaosn 8 comic by Joss Himself.)
Visit the Official Justin Timpane Website Music, Acting, and More! http://www.timpane.com
Just finished…
Standard Spoiler Alert…
I’ve just read the last few pages and I am still processing, what a thrilling last few moments that was, and a re-read is now in order, at least of some key moments, before handing it over to the wife at the end of the week. I’ve said to my wife, especially since she’s just read the fifth and sixth books for the first time, that Neville was so much the under-rated champion, and how when it came time to lead the good fight, there he was, right in the fray, right to the end, and when Rowling had him pull Godric’s sword from the burning Sorting Hat…really awesome. Still a little overwhelmed, frankly.
Now, on to those last two movies, because I want to see seven Harrys on broomsticks and thestrals and one giant flying motorcycle…
2 questions..
How did the sorting hat get the sword again.. didnt the goblins have it?
And.. there’s a sentence about harry holding Draco’s wand while facing voldemort. When did that happen?
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Sorting Hat & Wand
Yes, Griphook had the sword of Godric Gryffindor. The way I see it, Griphook had this on his mantle, sitting back and enjoying a beer with his goblin buddies while recounting the tale of how he snookered it out of those silly wizards, when the sword disapparated as the sorting hat called upon it again.
It kind of solves the mystery of how the sorting hat could hold the sword. It *doesn’t*, it just calls it from wherever it is when needed.
You have to read closely to understand the wand-thing. I think it’s a thin plot device that Rowling used to try to avoid having Harry kill Voldemort, personally. Anyway, the logic goes: * Dumbledore had taken the wand against its previous owner’s will and used it as his daily wand. * While Dumbledore was performing the full-body-bind curse on Harry in the tower in Book 6, Draco disarmed Dumbledore (taking the wand against his will). * Harry disarmed Draco in the Malfoy Mansion. Even though Draco didn’t have the Elder wand with him at the time, the wand recognized Harry as one of its masters. “The Wand Chooses the Wizard”. Voldemort, having never defeated/disarmed any master of the Elder Wand, had no such claim on it.
It’s a good read despite the glaring flaw, and I’m sure when I re-read it I’ll pay more attention to the passages talking about wand-lore. Would have been nice if Rowling had called our attention to that passage more. Regardless, it’s apparent any wand will work for any wizard. Some naturally work better than others, and those which wouldn’t work well for a wizard may work well if that wizard becomes a master of the wand by defeating its owner.
—
Matthew P. Barnson