SPOILER WARNING!!! IN THIS REVIEW, VARIOUS PLOT POINTS FROM THE NOVEL ARE DISCUSSED. IF YOU WOULD RATHER NOT HAVE THE BOOK SPOILED FOR YOU, STOP READING NOW AND CLICK THE "BACK" BUTTON ON YOUR WEB BROWSER. For those of you that are still here, thanks for stopping by. I now present my review of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
As midnight approached on the evening of Friday, July 20, 2007, I found myself standing in an overcrowded bookstore surrounded by rabid Potter fans dressed in a wide array of "Potter-esque" costumes. The store was hot and stinky and anyone with claustrophobia would have had multiple panic attacks just from walking into the packed store. I, myself, was getting quite cranky because not only did I have to put up with the unpleasant environment, but I was also tired, and I was starting to get hungry. So by the time I made it up to the registers and picked up my copy of the final tome in this captivating saga, it took all I had not to push people out of the way and verbally explode in a litany of expletives that would have caused my mother to disown me.
However, once I made it home a short time later and had started reading (at about 12:45AM Saturday morning), all of those agitations were virtually forgotten within minutes as I plowed through the first few chapters of the book. Right off the bat, you could tell that this was not going to be like any other Potter novel. Even the dust jacket revealed nothing (literally). It stated "We now present the seventh and final installment in the epic tale of Harry Potter." Nothing more was written in the back flap of it either. I've never seen that happen for any hardback book before.
But getting back to the story itself, it begins with Harry packing, not for school, but for his quest. As he is doing this, he comes across various items that had significant impacts upon each of his years at Hogwarts. It's kind of like Rowling is reminiscing along with Harry and encouraging the readers to do the same. This could likely be the last chance for Harry to take the time to reflect on the adventures of the past. Harry then has one, last conversation with the Dursleys (which actually ends on a slightly positive note for once), and then they're gone from his life.
Upon their departure, Harry's escort (consisting of several friends and allies) arrives and they discuss the plan to get him to safety. However, once they take off for their destination, Harry and his friends are attacked by the Death Eaters. During the chase, Hedwig, Harry's owl, is killed and his broom is lost. Rowling was clearly using that to send a message to her readers. The message simply said "Playtime is over (the loss of his broom) and no one is safe (if Hedwig can die, so can anyone else)". And that set the tone for the rest of the book. As the tale progressed, bodies piled up on both sides of the war (I counted about thirteen primary characters). Some of the deaths are witnessed firsthand, others you hear about afterward (Moody, for example). But all of them are cold, brutal and final. There are no "win one for the Gipper" speeches as someone is dying, no dramatic death scenes. Just a flash of light and a body goes down. I thought that Rowling really drove home the finality of death with the Potter novels, and "Deathly Hallows" is no exception. In the real world, when a bomb goes off, the people within range of it are dead. Period. Asking "why them?" usually yields no substantial answer. So it is in Rowling's fictional world, when an explosion occurs, the nearby individuals are slain. It doesn't matter how much you liked those characters, they're gone and even magic can't bring them back to life.
As for the Gryffindor Three (Harry, Ron, & Hermione), they were constantly on the move, both running for their lives and trying to find the horcruxes (if you're asking what these are, then you need to read (or re-read) the previous book). Sometimes the three of them seemed to run a little aimlessly, but doesn't everybody do that at some point? In the end, they made it back to Hogwarts where the final showdown occurs (and boy, is it awesome!).
The final battle was literally filled with sequences that blew me away. Neville drawing the sword of Godric Gryffindor and killing Voldemort's snake made you cheer. Harry's verbal/psychological assault on Voldemort before their final blows made you smile because you knew that something awesome was about to happen. And then there was Molly Weasley's Ripley/"Aliens" moment (you'll know it when you see it). It was shocking, but totally in character. And it was at least five times better than Yoda's lightsaber battle against Count Dooku in "Attack of the Clones".
I only had a few problems with the book. The first issue was Ron (or more appropriately, his absence). At one point, he leaves the story for a while and during that time, the mood of the book just sank. Not only that, but the pacing felt a little sluggish during that time as well. I'm pretty sure that was Rowling's desired effect, but it affected my enjoyment of the book nonetheless. The other problem I had was with the epilogue. Upon completion of the thirty-sixth chapter of the book, the story had been concluded. All questions had been answered, all mysteries solved, most (if not all) of the running subplots were resolved, and everyone was beginning to deal with the aftermath of the epic conflict between Harry and Voldemort. Then Rowling gives us an epilogue set nineteen years down the line. The thing is, Rowling simply showed a group of characters putting their children on the train for Hogwarts. No information about what the adult characters are doing with their lives. No explanation of what's happening in the Wizarding World was provided. Nothing but the fact that certain characters have had a few kids and those children are now old enough to go to Hogwarts (where Neville is now a teacher). It created a lot more questions than it answered. And honestly, I would have preferred that Rowling end the book with chapter thirty-six.
However, Rowling has stated that at some point in the future, she'll probably come back and do a Potter Encyclopedia of some sort to answer some of the questions that she created with the epilogue. If it comes to pass, I'll be thrilled because it will (hopefully) provide a nice bit of closure.
Despite those issues, it was a wonderful ending to a truly moving epic tale. When the book came to an end, I felt exhausted and yet satisfied (like I had just eaten the perfect meal). And despite all of the tragedy, devastation, and loss that the characters experienced, the saga of Harry Potter had a very fitting and appropriately happy ending. J.K. Rowling told the story that she wanted to from beginning to end. There were no outside forces demanding that she make unnecessary changes to the nature of the books or tone down the violence or any such rubbish. Sure, there were fans who didn't want certain characters to die, but this is her tale and she ended it on her terms.
In closing, I just want to say: "Thank you Ms. Rowling. Thank you for showing us this amazing world that's not very far removed from our own and for introducing us to the myriad of captivating characters that inhabit it. There was something truly magical about this epic story and I thank you for sharing it with us. They say 'All good things must come to an end,' and the tale of Harry Potter was so very good. I've laughed, I've cried, and I've loved reading and re-reading (virtually) every moment. Thank you for everything."
Sincerely,
Steve Magnum
