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July 22, 2007
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: some semi-coherent ramblings
This post does not contain any spoilers, at least not intentionally. True to the nature of this blog advertised in its subtitle, I am merely going to list some random observations about the book:
- It is VERY action-packed! Not only do Harry, Ron & Hermione encounter the Death Eaters a number of times, there is a major battle scene at Hogwarts which is where practically all named characters in the series who have not appeared in the book already are brought in to fight. The amount of action in the narrative means that it would be GREAT to watch on screen when the movie eventually comes out.
- The stories behind most of the easily caricatured characters, such as Dumbledore and Snape, are revealed. There is a lot more to their character than previous books have let on. I am only disappointed by the pacing of these details. All too often in the previous books, things happen in Harry's favor for no palpable reason. Rowling has held back several crucial details of how the wizarding world works until this last book. Apart from forcing readers to reason retroactively about previous Harry Potter books, this approach ends up stuffing the last book with so much information that it becomes hard for readers to process.
- It is VERY detail-oriented. It is certainly impressive how seemingly insignificant details from earlier books in the series take on huge roles in the development of the plot. Keeping all these details consistent is no small feat. If you want to speculate about the plot before reading the book, the Hints from Rowling section in an earlier revision of the book's Wikipedia article reveals several bits of information directly relevant to the plot (warning: don't try to visit the current Wikipedia article -- it's full of spoilers). Having said that...
- There are a number of what I'd probably call cul-de-sacs in the plot that may have been relevant in earlier revisions but seem a bit out of place in the final version. For instance, towards the end, Ron--along with Hermione--pulls off a very unconvincing feat to procure an object or objects that have no real relevance for the rest of the book (sorry I am being so obtuse--no intentional spoilers here). There are also a number of aspects Rowling glosses over even though they were set up to be important from previous books. For instance, readers looking to learn more about the 'theology' (no better word for it) behind Horcruxes will be disappointed.
- Readers who are also Lord of the Rings fans will notice a number of parallels between the two stories, although this is hardly the first time we've talked about it on this blog. Goblins in the Harry Potter series, who guard the vaults at Gringotts, are a LOT like dwarves, complete with superior metallurgical skills. The battle of Hogwarts is not unlike the battle of Helm's Deep, where a whole bunch of magical creatures are thrust into a huge climactic battle. The Deathly Hallows share a lot of similarities with the One Ring, complete with their potentially corrupting influences, although the book obviously does not make too much of these similarities.
- For all the outrage from religious groups about the godlessness of the series, there are significant parallels to Christian mythology in the last book. Even if we set these parallels aside for a moment, this book, more than any other in the series, emphasizes the importance of active, moral choices.
- For a number of characters that are brought into the main narrative, they are mentioned once or twice, after which they plain disappear! Although there is a somewhat lame epilogue—which reads more like a bit of fan fiction than anything else—there is very little information about how dozens of characters end up later in life.
Now that my curiosity about the story is satisfied, I'll wait until the paperback version comes out to buy a hard copy.
Posted by Vishy at July 22, 2007 11:35 PM