The Places You Will Go: Harry Potter and the Final Review

I'll never need to read and review another Harry Potter book for as long as I live. However, the last book in the series has given me a taste for more ...

Will there be more?

Review by DAPHNE LEE

A FEW weeks ago I happened upon an article in Time magazine which discussed so-called spoilers, particularly in relation to Harry Potter. The main argument, which I support, was that there is no way a good book can be spoiled. The writers of the piece, Lev Grossman and Andrea Sachs, said, “Reading is about spending time with characters and entering a fictional world and playing with words and living through a story page by page. The idea that someone could ruin a novel by revealing its ending is like saying you could ruin the Mona Lisa by revealing that it’s a picture of a woman with a center part.”

That’s basically how I feel and I frequently begin a book by reading its last chapter. Well, a few days before the much-hyped release date of July 21, a friend (a big Potter fan) forwarded me an e-mail with, supposedly, a pdf file containing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (HPDH). I opened it, skipped to a random page and read a paragraph. It was immediately obvious to me that it was a piece of fan fiction (alternative stories written by fans, mainly online, about characters from a book, TV series or movie); being a fan fiction reader and writer I know the style.

However, on July 21, when I walked into my favourite bookstore, made a beeline for HPDH and turned immediately to the final chapter, I wondered if the pdf document had perhaps been the real thing after all! The last chapter of HPDH is fan fiction. It’s as if Bloomsbury held a contest, inviting fans to write the best possible ending to the series and published the worst entry it received. (Interestingly, when I re-read the ending later on, I realised that this epilogue sets up all sorts of possibilities for future books. I, for one, think there will be more books set in this world.)

Anyway, despite knowing the ending and despite its seriously crap epilogue, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was not spoiled for me. Yes! I actually liked the book! Oh, Rowling still can’t write dialogue; her sentences are as clumsy as ever; and she does use her adverbs and adjectives to mind-numbing effect, but HPDH is the most engaging and exciting book in the series since Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. It’s also moving and thought-provoking. What I liked the most about HPDH is the way many of the characters are finally fully fleshed-out. In some cases, their past is explored and this helps us understand them and their motivations better. It also makes them more believable, more human, and, in some instances, more likeable. It was interesting (and a relief) to finally see many of the main characters developed in more detail, with new aspects of their personalities shown and explored. For example, I’ve always thought Harry a bit of a bore. His “favourite” status and squeaky-clean image grated on my nerves, but I found myself liking the boy more and more as HPDH progressed, and it was his flaws that made him more attractive to me. Whereas in the past, Harry seemed to make all the right moves and decisions effortlessly, even automatically, here he struggles with doubts and temptations, and is frequently overwhelmed by anger, hate, resentment and frustration. It all goes to making him seem more likable. The series has seen Harry’s battle with Voldemort growing increasingly focused and dangerous, and books four and five underlined just how serious and deadly a foe Voldemort is. In HPDH, there is not even the setting of Hogwarts to provide some relief from the darkness that surrounds Harry’s destiny. Harry, Ron and Hermione are far from assured and competent heroes and a large chunk of the book sees them waiting and wondering what to do next. They take a long time to figure things out and when they do get results, it’s more often than not purely accidental. However, once again, their uncertainty makes them more real, making the reader more inclined to sympathise and empathise with them. In fact, one of the key points of the novel (and series) is how faults don’t destroy a person’s worth and how even the most flawed individuals are redeemed by love and acts of love. Wonders will never cease, but I would actually like Rowling to add another book to the series. This is because HPDH has awakened in me an interest in many of the characters that, unfortunately, can’t be satisfied by re-reading the other six books. She has also left some burning questions about the fate of some characters unanswered. I have, in the past, spoken scornfully about how Rowling will never kill her cash cow, but now I have to say that I hope she draws up a stool and starts milking again really soon.

Harry Potter and the Final Review

29 Jul 2007 11:42:00 | Book Reviews, Children's Literature, Fantasy

3 Comments

Dear Daphne,
As a great fan of Rowling, I was really sad that you hate the Potter series and the beginning of this blog has almost confirmed me this (not to say that I've seen your sarcastic comments of the Potter series in tots and teens). However, as I continue reading this blog, I begin to feel relief that you actually like it! I enjoy the book too! (especially Prisoner of Azkaban, Half-Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows) Glad that you finally have a new perspective on Potter. ;)

Posted by: Jeannie | Sunday, November 11, 2007 at 22:17