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Give 'Em Hell, Harry!
By John V. Brennan |
After rewatching three and a half Harry Potter films (I did the fast-forward highlight version of Chamber of Secrets) and then seeing The Order of the Phoenix on the big screen last week, I thought I was all pottered out. Saturday morning, however, I was surprised to find the seventh and last book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, delivered in the mail (no owls in this part of town) and so I made myself comfortable, poured a tall glass of diet soda, and opened the book. Twelve hours later, including one short walk to do some errands, one hour's nap and a half-hour dinner break, I finished the book.
I guess I wasn't as pottered out as I thought.
Deathly Hallows may not be J. K. Rowling's best-written novel, but it is her most exciting and single-minded, as the boy wizard Harry Potter, now 17, and his faithful companions Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger try to elude Lord Voldemort's Death Eaters long enough to track down several magical items called "horcruxes" necessary to defeat the Dark Lord. The book has them fleeing from place to place, making up plans on the spot and hiding out for long periods of time, all the while knowing that down the road, sometime soon, they will all face Voldemort and possiby death.
Yes, there is a lot of death in this book.
In the
first few chapters, two famous characters die in battle, and as the
book goes on, you feel as if Rowling has set up this final
epic as
a Going Out of Business sale - every character is on the table.
It is
obvious from the get-go that, yes, Ron, Hermione and even
Harry -
especially Harry - could die if Rowling so chooses. This
makes
the time spent with them precious indeed. Rowling's
characterizations do not fail. Harry is still just your
average
teenager, braver than most perhaps, with a good head on his shoulders,
but still just a kid struggling with life and often clueless about how
to deal with a magical maniac who wants him dead.
Ron, much matured from the previous book, is
still the best friend every guy wishes he had, not the brightest bulb
in the box but always good for a laugh, and always ready to run
headlong into battle at a moment's notice. Hermione, also an
improved character here, is still the smartest girl in
school, much less of an irritant than in earlier incarnations,
and once
again, as in The
Prisoner of Azkaban and The Goblet of Fire,
Harry's
most reliable ally. If Ron is more important to
Harry's
mental health - keeping him in good spirits, being around just to
jabber about Quiddich or girls - Hermione, with her brain full
of
all kinds of magic the boys aren't even aware of, is more
important in keeping him alive. The Trio's inner workings are
explored throughout the book through extensive dialogue and action, and
each character is richly drawn. If this be the last we see of
Harry, Ron and Hermione, at least we see them at their
best.
Fans who expect the dozens of characters and multiple subplots from previous books may be less pleased. Like the earlier books, this one is nearly all about the Trio. Yes, you will find many favorite characters popping up, like Mad-Eye Moody, Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks, Dobby the Now Free Elf, the Weasleys, The Malfoys... name a character that has not already died and they are probably here someplace in the book. But the emphasis is on Harry's quest, and Ron and Hermione's fearless determination to be by his side throughout. We are, in a way, back to the days of The Sorcerer's Stone.
Early highlights in Deathy Hallows include a battle over the skies of London between Death Eaters and the Order of the Phoenix, and a wedding that begins amusingly and ends in utter chaos. The midbook highlights include a creepy Christmas Eve visit by Harry and Hermione to Godric's Hallow, where Harry's parents are buried and where Harry encountered Voldemort in The Goblet of Fire. This chapter, worthy of Stephen King at his best and featuring a doddering old witch named Bathilda Bagshot, is guaranteed to give kids and possibly some adults nightmares. There is also a visit to the house of Luna Lovegood, whose father turns out to be as looney as she. It contains a beautiful lump in the throat moment when Harry discovers a series of paintings done by Luna herself - but I won't spoil it.
But Rowling saves the best for the end.
In a late chapter, we learn the true allegiance
of that greatest of all Rowling creations Severus Snape.
There
are few literary characters more deliciously
morally ambiguous as Snape, and Rowling finally divulges all of his
secrets in
a way that makes perfect sense and does not betray anything we have
learned about the character from the first six books. This
is
followed by a visit
from Albus Dumbledore himself (yes, he's still dead) and a
final
battle between the forces of Good and Evil that features just about
everybody except John Wayne, Darth Vader's Storm Troopers and Rufus T.
Firely with a machine gun.
Of course, there is a final moment between Harry and Lord
Voldemort and make so mistake: this is it. When it's over, it's
over. Without divulging who lives or who dies, if Rowling
ever
revisits the Harry Potter world, there won't - there cannot - be a
rematch between these two heavyweight wizards.
The book has some flaws. Like several of the books, the plot and backstory become such tangled mysteries that Rowling must resort to characters verbally explaining every point like Sherlock Holmes for five pages. It has also been apparent for the past few books that the woman needs a better editor. Often when going for a surprise effect or freaky moment, she gets so caught up with her idea she neglects to explain it properly. At one point, when an apparition crosses through a room, a character says "Was that...?" but we get no more. Dumbledore? Sirius Black? Greg from The Brady Bunch? She also has Harry "listening" in to Voldemort's mind so often that is gets difficult to distinguish what is happening in Harry's brain and what is happening in real time. The Trio's overuse of Polyjuice Potion to disguise themselves on various otherwise fun and thrilling adventures makes you wonder how Rowling could have written the book without this particular plot device. And the epilogue, one of the most anticipated parts of the book, is extremely disappointing, both too short and badly written. Yes, we learn about the future lives of a handful of surviving characters, but a seven-book epic needs more than this.
However, it is easy to overlook most of these flaws in the light of what Rowling has accomplished. Unlike The Sopranos, that other fictional phenomenon born nearly the same time as the Harry Potter novels, Rowling's saga comes to a solid conclusion, one that is satisfying and definitive. Some questions may be left unanswered, but by the end of the novel, you will know the fates of the important characters, which now boil down to Harry, Voldemort, Snape, Ron and Hermione. Rowling doesn't forget about other characters either, and creates some surprising moments for longtime favorites as Mrs. Weasley (I just love her, both in the books and the movies) and the Trio's own personal Zeppo, Neville Longbottom (ditto). There's even a small but relatively stunning moment from Harry's piggish cousin Dudley. Rowling is clearly as in love with her characters as her fans are, and in between the adventures of the Trio, there are enough little moments to go around.
About the most we can wish for now from J. K. Rowling, our magical Dickens for the 21st Century, is a possible Potter Encyclopedia, something that would be most welcome. So savor Deathly Hallows, Potterphiles and forgive it its few weaknesses. There will be no Book Eight.
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