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Thoughts on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

So the tiny tiny percentage chance that the Carpet/JPG book (which was fully transcribed and ready for translation to pretty much any electronic format by 10am on Friday, some 14 hours before the ‘official release’) was the best fake inthe world never happened. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is going to become one of thosebig footnotes in the bittorrent/copyright debate. But enough of that. My thoughts on the final book in the series.

(Here Be Spoilers)

Harry Potter, by Mel

In terms of structure, the entire series is very much classically plotted, and a huge amount of influence fromthe form of the ‘hero cycle’ that you see time and time again. Now there’s a reason that gets re-used… it works. But it does mean that a lot of The Deathly Hallows was triggering all the Checkov’s guns that have been placed/shown/implied in the previous six books. And that, on the first reading, gives a visceral energy and logical cohesion to a book. Getting out of Hogwarts at the start to send the trio on a quest pays off.

An interesting decision to make Dobby’s death, and more specifically his burial, as the key turning point in Harry’s character development – part of me can see the sun setting on Potter, the grave at his feet, and John Williams music from Star Wars kicking in (specifically the Luke, setting sun, deciding in his head to go with Kenobi piece of music). And I know it’s a children;s stroy, so the deaths of both Hedwig and Dobby will be heart rending for them, but to not loose one of the ‘big’ characters seems make it a painless victory. Fred doesn’t count, being so close to the end, Lupin and Tonks was so glossed over as to not count, and Mad-Eye never had the attachment to the readers. There’s no emotional price for the reader to pay – something that would be there if Hagrid was to be red-shirted.

Is it a fitting end to the series? Yes, because most of the major plot has been pointing in this direction for a while, even if readers weren’t aware of it. Is it a fitting series? Well that’a bit tricker to answer.

The major elements in play through the final half of Deathly Hallows were probably the least signposted – the Deathly Hallows concept itself, beyond the Cloak of Invisibility – has never been mentioned, and we’ve only had the occasssional hint of Snape and Lily being BEst Friends Forever. If these had been “Chekov Gunned” at an earlier stage (perhaps in Book 6 at the latest) then they would have slotted in much easier that sudenly appearing here as we are in the final sprint to the big fight. Book 7 should hit the ground at a lightning pace, and get faster and faster. There should be no need for any lengthy infodumps of explanation. Twists, yes. Introducing such a powerful element as the Hallows in the middle of the last book is poor dramatic plotting.

Finally, more than ever, I would love to know how much work the Editor actually did. When you look at how lean and mean the first three books, and specifically The Prisoner of Azkahbahn, were (notably the last book before Potter-mania reached the tipping point) compared to books 4 through 7, I have to wonder what changed in the process between first draft and publication? The books became longer, more variable in plot, and seeming to loose a bit of pace.

But, I loved it all the same. Very much an enjoyable, light fantasy romp for kids and kids at heart. A good old fashioned fairy tale that will be read for tens, if not hundreds of years to come. The hardcore fans may well pick over single sentences of ‘gaping polt holes’ but that doesn;t stop the fun one little bit.

July 21, 2007; Daily Links;

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Comments

2 Responses to “Thoughts on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”

  1. Rachel Clarke on July 21st, 2007 23:00

    I liked it. Cried a bit, smiled fondly at the ending. A good closure of the series.

  2. Jessica Wells on March 21st, 2008 5:24

    i liked it as well. i almost cried my tear ducts dry when i read that she killed Dobby, Lupin, and even Snape (although he deserved it just a little). i had expected deaths in this one (seeing as how there were deaths in the others as well), but not them of all people. i’m just happy she finally did away with bellatrix and voldemort and the malfoys were no longer in danger.

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