I finished reading �Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows� a few minutes ago. I�m not ashamed to admit I was in tears at the end: if anything, that�s a credit to JK Rowling � it�s only the very best writers who can draw such an emotional reaction from their audience (alternatively, I could just be a giant sap). I�m going to put my specific reaction down in a post, but so as not to spoil the book for those who haven�t yet finished, I�m going to delay that posting until Monday or later.
[ July 24, 2007, 07:15 PM: Message edited by: TSN ]
Posted by Mars Needs Women (Member # 1505) on :
Damn you, I wanted you to post the ending!
Posted by Mark Nguyen (Member # 469) on :
Unlike such other diversions as the Wii or guilt-free sex, this one was readily available at several stops along my shopping route today. I leafed through a copy, never having read any of 'em, and was surpirsed as to how grown up the prose could be at times. Maybe I'll finally read the first book sitting on my shelf.
Mark
Posted by Shik (Member # 343) on :
The Wiki entry for the book lists the whole plot, everything. The list of the dead is fucking BITCHIN', dude!
Posted by Malnurtured Snay (Member # 411) on :
People start dropping right away and it keeps going and going and going.
Posted by Krenim (Member # 22) on :
Finished up the book about 1:00 AM last night.
All I can say at the moment is that I did not believe beforehand that I could despise the character of Delores Umbridge any more than I already did.
I was quite wrong.
Posted by Malnurtured Snay (Member # 411) on :
Dolores really could've stood to have Prof. Trelawney smash one of those crystal balls over her head.
Posted by HopefulNebula (Member # 1933) on :
I got my copy opening day, but took one look at my sister and gave it to her to read first. She's sick as a dog and severely dyslexic, so I found myself a copy of the Carpet Version(tm) to tide me over. It's not immoral if I've already bought it, right?
I'm going to endeavor to be as non-spoilery as possible, though.
Yeah, the last three chapters had me crying. I'm a sap. It was really the scene where Harry's going through the forest that did it for me.
I agree with Snay: Trelawney and the crystal balls ruled. "More for everyone who wants them!" or whatever. (I'm not finding the exact quote.)
From a purely editorial perspective, though, this book made me shudder. It's kind of funny to see how much editorial control she wields now compared to the first books. The earlier ones were a lot tighter with regards to both details and major plot points. But as she's more and more famous, I can imagine the "Because I'm the author!" attitude that she has with her editor. And I'm sure the publishers are backing her up because she's famous.
Example: HP&CoS and HP&HBP clearly establish that while the Ministry can detect magic in the area of underage wizards, they can't automatically tell who did what spells (which is how people from wizarding families can get away with doing magic in their homes, as well as how Dobby could frame Harry for doing magic outside school in CoS). HBP cements this, stating this fact exactly. It's not conjecture. And yet there's a big plot point in HP&DH that blows this out of the water.
And the epilogue. I understand why she has it there, but GAH. It reads like bad fanfic, it really does. Surely she could have done something more interesting with it?
On a lighter note, I can't wait for the really insane fanwanks to get going. *gets out the popcorn*
Posted by Arichamus (Member # 1986) on :
LIke what? Scorpius going forwards in time and having his DNA spliced with a Scarran's?
Posted by HopefulNebula (Member # 1933) on :
+10, Farscape reference. Even though I'm not sure exactly what you're responding to.
Oh, yes. Hi, Newbie! Posted by Malnurtured Snay (Member # 411) on :
"And yet there's a big plot point in HP&DH that blows this out of the water."
Hmm. I think I missed it. What was it?
Posted by HopefulNebula (Member # 1933) on :
Snay: The Trace. When the Death Eaters find them in Tottenham Court Road, they think at first it could be because they found a way to continue tracing Harry's magic use after he came of age. Their talk indicates that it's the wands that are traced, so they can tell who does what.
Posted by Malnurtured Snay (Member # 411) on :
I was under the impression it was the NAME Voldemort they were tracing.
Posted by Arichamus (Member # 1986) on :
I was responding to the sentence 'On a lighter note, I can't wait for the really insane fanwanks to get going. *gets out the popcorn*'
Thank you, sir.
Posted by HopefulNebula (Member # 1933) on :
Snay: That's the truth. But they thought otherwise when they didn't know about that. That spell was called the Taboo; the Trace was supposed to follow underage wizards.
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
I'm not sure I see the conflict. The Trace just detects any use of magic in the immediate vicinity of an underage witch/wizard. It cannot, however, distinguish whether the magic was done by the witch/wizard in question, or by someone else. As far as I know, this is consistent with the (false) theory that Harry was still being Traced in Tottenham Court Road. If he had been, the Trace would have alerted someone (at the Ministry, I guess) that Harry Potter was in TCR and that magic was being done around him.
(Addendum : Since we've started talking specifics, I changed the thread title.)
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