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Deathly Hallows discussion - includes spoilers.

Posted by: Carol Lombardi

Tuesday, July 24, 2007 9:01 PM

I've been wanting to chat about Deathly Hallows since I finished it Saturday afternoon. I can't figure out how to write this without spoilers, so I'm including them.

There are spoilers in here.

Lots of them.

If you don't want to know, stop reading now.

Please.

Because I am including information about Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows that will ruin it for people who haven't read it and don't want to know.

So if you don't want to know, don't read any more.

If you continue reading beyond this point, you will run into Deathly Hallow spoilers, because I have finished the book twice.

All right then.

Anything with this amount of hype is bound to be at least a little disappointing.

My first impression was that I had accidentally picked up a book based on a Rambo movie, populated with Nancy Drew characters on meth, set during Hitler's rise to power, with the tragic wedding scene from Fiddler on the Roof plunked in there.

After some sleep and a re-read of key chapters, and ultimately a re-read of the whole book, I feel much more positive about it, although I still couldn't find the vial of insulin that should have been included with the epilogue.

I can't shake a bit of lingering disappointment that I wasn't all that emotionally involved, which is bizarre given that I was distraught in earlier books when Sirius and Dumbledore died. I don't even want to see the fifth movie, because I'm pretty sure I'll cry at the end.

Favorite scenes: Molly Weasley vs. Bellatrix Lestrange - shocking language, shocking I tell you. That passage I will most definitely re-read. Close second favorite scene: Neville confronts Voldemort and destroys the last horcrux. I love Neville. And finally, when Percy gets his head out of his, uh, bellybutton and proceeds to actually make a joke.

I also liked the redemption of Kreacher, although the lesson seems to be that it's good to be nice to powerless and unlikeable people/creatures because someday they might be able to help you out. It was big of Hermione not to say, "I told you so."

Great quote: From Aunt Muriel: "Merlin's beard, what is Xenophilius Lovegood wearing? He looks like an omelet." I have relatives who would say things like that.

Least favorite scenes: I despised the angst-filled camping adventures and parade of narrow escapes.

Most unexpected plot twist: The role of Aberforth Dumbledore. I never saw that coming but I was very happy when it showed up.

Most confusing: I didn't really get the thing with the Malfoys, who all seemed desperately in need of magical antidepressants beginning in chapter one. Nothing they did or said made any sense in light of what we knew about them from the previous books, and there was no real explanation given for the change. I can imagine several things that MIGHT have happened, particularly in light of Draco's fiasco at the end of book 6, but nothing is ever explained. Then, at the end, they're hanging out in the Great Hall and no one is pointing and yelling, "Hey, here are some death eaters - arrest them!"

More confusion: I thought in book six that Voldemort started using occlumency to keep Harry out of his mind. All of a sudden, half of our information is coming from Harry traipsing around Voldemort's head. It did occur to me that as the horcruxes were destroyed, he became weaker and weaker and just couldn't keep Harry out any more.

Still trying to wrap my mind around: Snape. My take is that he was kind of on the right side for maybe not quite the right reasons, but neither truly good nor truly evil. And while in real life pathetic people often hide behind that kind of nastiness, I didn't want him to be so pathetic that I actually felt sorry for him, which I did.

And then there's the epilogue. Just...no. Yuck. I refuse to believe that JK Rowling wrote it. I actually read it in a spoiler online, in the week before the book was released and laughed because it was an obvious fake, written by a mediocre high school student. Imagine my surprise when it showed up at the end of my book.