OK…so now I have officially given in to the temptation – I have to write what I feel about the Deathly Hallows! If any of you haven’t read the book – then I suggest you stop right here…there be spoilers ahead!
So what do I feel about it? Depressed. Depressed that the darn thing got over so fast. Depressed that the distance between Manchester and London was so short that Rowling could only think up enough material for 7 books. Depressed that I might never read about Harry, Hermoine, Ronald, Albus, Severus, Remus, Sirius, Arthur, Prewett (Mrs. Weasley), Ginevra, Dobby, Luna, Neville, Tom, Draco, Lucius, Kingsley, Alastor “MadEye”, Minerva, Dolores, James, Lily, Tonks, Kreacher, Dudley, Petunia, Vernon, Percy, Fred, George, Bill, Charlie, Fleur, Viktor, Rubeus, Bellatrix, Argus, Filius, Cornelius, Seamus, Nearly-headless Nick, Bloody Baron, The Grey Lady, The Fat Friar, Moaning Myrtle…phew. Each character had become my friend – my companions through 7 books and 5 movies (the movies never did them enough justice though).
Ok so how do I really feel about the book? The best since Azkaban. Dark. Deep. Meaningful. Focus on Harry and only Harry. You can see that Rowling breathes Harry (or vice versa). She knows the character inside out and outside in. And you see a part of yourself in Harry’s thoughts. The boy who lived – and the boy who went through more in his teenage years than most of us will do in our lifetimes. A boy – very human – very gifted. Like each one of us. A boy who finally saw the purpose of it all (don’t know how many of us will be that lucky!). Harry’s story will live on long past this book or the movies.
7 books later I have three favorite characters (apart from Harry) – Hermione, Severus Snape & Neville Longbottom…with Snape taking the top honours along with Harry. The Harry-Snape-Dumbledore twist gave the story an entirely new dimension. Snape’s story brought a tear to my eye – and was the strongest evidence of love in all 7 books. (If you haven’t read no. 7 yet – then you must be wondering what this is all about!) The ending is a little too “Matrix-like” – reminded me of Neo talking to the Oracle at the end of part 3. Voldemort had a fitting end – though I was a bit disappointed at his intelligence. He went down rather tamely I should say.
I know this is a disjointed post – but I am just so full of thoughts about this beautiful story. To summarize – Rowling didn’t kill Harry – as we were all dreading and the even better news? She left the story open for sequel! 🙂 I really hope she writes one – if she doesn’t then I will. Have already formed some broad outlines for possible plots…:) Will discuss it in future posts.