Harry Potter: Deathly Hallows review (at last)
I will start with a cartoon I have stolen from a post of
pegkerr 's (seems like I'm doing that a lot lately):
I do this because it kind of sums a lot of things up for me... This fandom has been a really major piece of my life for the past 8 years - The only other fandom that rivaled it (and I was reminded of many things during my emotional journey through book 7) was my enmeshment with Blake's 7. The place these two fandoms occupy(ied) in my life are vast and, I'm coming to realize, deeply personal.
And I feel sad at the end of a fandom era - As I stood in line, I wondered if I ever would again. The Harry Potter phenomena was the last hold-out of the brand of fandom I was born into - A phenomena that died with the advent of internet ticket purchasing - The line party. You young uns' might have missed this - The camping out, the hours in line, the costumes, the sheer *experience* and *expression* of fandom as one stood in line 3-24 hours to get into Star Wars, or Indiana Jones, or any of the fandoms of the day. It's just gone - Except the Harry Potter parties. Which are gone now too.
I'm finding it hard to share my feelings about the book because it simply means too much to me. That's been true for all of them but eventually, enough time passes that as I encounter like-minded people, I have fun being fangirl or discussing the books. But a few days after the END...? Finding it hard.
But let's just do it... Under the cut are various *FRAGMENTS* of impressions, discussion, etc. I may or may not respond to your response depending on my state of mind and/or time constraints - Please do not be offended if I do not respond.
First, an awesome resource for some mature, educated discussion can be found at John Granger's site, hogwartsprofessor.com - It's where I spent the bulk of my time yesterday.
In addition,
eldritchhobbit made a very well composed post yesterday, which I recommend and basically say "ditto" to in regards to my feelings/comments on the higher, more abstract concepts in/about the book (my comments below are much more fangirly and specific.)
Other links can be found from both places to various, high-quality discussions.
OVER ALL COHESIVENESS AND GENERAL "YEA" OR "NEA"
Overall, I think it was a better written book than the last, I thought the story was engaging start to finish, and I really liked the book as a whole. I went into it completely open to what JK decided to do with the characters (although I had my vulnerable spots) and just generally open to whatever she wanted to say, as long as the series was *ended* cleanly. I was not disappointed, in a broad general sense.
GENERAL COMMENTARY
The thing about JK's writing style is that she is a great one for saying stuff *after* the action, that *changes* the action. While most people find this annoying at best, and downright bad writing at worst, I really love this technique - As long as it's done properly (ok, let's say with "genuine intent" instead.) This makes reading her books a two-time through process for me: Because more often than not, what feels like a vaguely intriguing, but not passionate, experience the first time through, becomes every last damn thing I wanted later... After the reveal. So my emotional journey through the first reading becomes ENTIRELY DIFFERENT by the time the book is finished.
What that means in *this* case is that while I was perfectly engaged through most of the book, I was disappointed that we simply weren't going to have any time with the peripheral characters - This was *very* much a story about Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Which is fine... I mean it *IS* about Harry... But I'd gotten used to having a lot of peripheral characters and their stories as well over the years. And now, at the end, I so very much wanted *more*. So when we finally got to Snape, and then he is instantly killed without *anything* else... I was really disappointed. But then, as you all know, we get the missing bits - And it *completely*, *COMPLETELY* changed everything for me. I had to go back and reread the death scene and wow... I'll talk more about Snape later.
The point is, I sobbed like a baby, I believed everything she was telling us as it happened (even though things inevitably changed in the next chapter,) and I just loved it. I'll never have that experience again, now that I have all the reveals... :-( This is why I take two days off of work and lock myself in my house for four days when the books are released. It's an *experience*.
THE DEATHS
Did I mention that I was a Blake's 7 fan? It would be a lie to say that I thought any of them were "thrown in for drama" or "unnecessary" - That was her decision. Some of them I expected - Many of them I didn't - I was open to whatever she decided. But I do have to say, some of them hurt like freakin' hell (even if I expected them in my heart.) I'll do Lupin and Snape below - the others? JK will burn in the firey depths of HELL for Hedwig (I hope she gets sued by parents across the globe for thearapists fees.) And Fred and Tonks really, really hurt - I didn't see those coming and big fucking OUCH.
HOW I FELT BY SPECIFIC CHARACTER
Lupin:
I can't even begin to express how much I love what we got of Lupin in this one - The marriage was a bit of a shock, but OMG, so, so right in what was to come. My love for the scene with Harry (pgs. 211-214) in the Grimald Place kitchen knows no bounds. I've discussed my views/love of Lupin with a couple people and couldn't summarize here, but let's just say that I couldn't of expected JK to follow his character through to the extent I saw it on actual paper... Gah!
As an aside, an essay about Lupin I love (from a few years ago) which only generally starts the line of thinking I get into with Lupin: Disaffected: A Remus Lupin Essay
I was not expecting him to die. It hurt so bad I had to stop and have a bit of a breather. I knew she *could* do it, but I just couldn't let myself prepare for the reality. I think it's *gorgeous* that they sent Tonks with him - I know that's sick, but for her to angstily spend the rest of her days without him... Just seems wrong. And after I finished, and I started to read around, I found reference to John Granger's writings about alchemy and the path that JK seems to have written in involving Lupin, Tonks, Teddy, and their place in the big picture that made a lot of sense to me - In that light, I have some more processing to do about it all.
But all the greater messages aside, I can live with canon - I just need time to heal. I have to say, I saw importance in Lupin dying if only so that he would reclaim his part of the Maurauder's when Harry called them with the Resurrection Stone. A petty thing to kill him over and yet, somehow I think there's real importance that he was there.
Snape:
Well, first... BHUAHAHAHA you know-it-all bastards! *Not* evil!
But by NO MEANS an altruistic, nice guy. Again, I've discussed my complicated, dark views on this character and I couldn't possibly catch you all up - but the bottom line is that I got every freaking last thing I wanted with this character. And it all revolved around his motivations and his death (which at first I felt cheated on, but after discussion am blown away by it's awesomeness.) Here is a comment by someone else in a thread on another journal:
Snape's death was done so well, not heroic, but because he was inconvenient!
And here is basically where it led me:
That's very nicely said! I didn't pick up why I was so satisfied with his end until you said that - But it's because even his lack of "evilness" still somehow lacked "heroism". His death was so mundane - And yet, the lack of fanfare only makes the sacrifices he made even more tragic and mirrors the less-than-altruistic nature of his acts, however righteous those acts may have ultimately appeared. I would have loved him less if they had made his death a blaze of Martyr-like glory. The man's entire life was shades of grey - Perfect that his death was too. Very well done. The word I think of (to describe Snape) is "grotesque". Yes, a truly horrible person - But in that way which makes you want to keep picking at it, poking it just for the sheer perversity of hearing it squeal - Because how much of that was his soul/make-up and how much of that was what life/people had done to him? His death was sublime (the more I think on it.)
The responses to what I said indicate that I didn't express myself fully/accurately... How can I just a few paragraphs? And it's only a couple of days after reading the book... Give me, like... A year? To fully express my feelings here.
The bottom line is - I felt his death was heartlessly trivial when I read it - And then realized how sublime that was. And after finding out about what his actions and motivations were through the Pensieve, and rereading the scene, I found it FUCKING HEARTBREAKING that when he *knew* he was going to die, he kept chanting a mantra... Let me go get Potter, please let me find him, please my Lord, let me go get Potter... Not, "Please don't kill me," or, "How the hell do I get out of here," but "Please let me complete my mission - It's all I live for."
I've got a lot of work to do on this topic - I reserve the right to sound like I'm contradicting myself at a later date.
Dumbledore:
I've never discussed him with anyone - I never felt the desire to and frankly, I didn't need the grief. JK sums up my feelings (and I squee'd so loud I almost cracked a window):
"I knew my brother, Potter. he learned secrecy at our mother's knee. Secrets and lies, that's how we grew up, and Albus...he was a natural."
"That old berk," muttered Aberforth, taking another swig of mead. "thought the sun rose and shone out of my brother's every orifice, he did. Well, so did plenty of people, you three included, by the looks of it."
Now, he isn't as bad as that - he's simply human. And of course, JK writes out of character perspective, not neutrality. But the point is, something instinctively rubbed me the wrong way about how people worshiped him (and about his character) that I wasn't wrong about. And hearing that I'm right feels kind of good (yes, I know that's sick and petty.) No, I don't have any interest in discussing this.
RANDOM QUOTES AND MOMENTS OF JOY
Molly: (You know the quote I mean...) You freakin' go girl. Merlin, my heart is shattered for her and Arthur...
Harry: I may never have said it, but I do love Harry, probably best. But in the sense that I *am* Harry... I could go on and on but I won't... I do, however, want to preserve a quote which ties in to some abstract thread which I can't quite pull together into proper expression just yet - something about truth and lies and Dumbledore and probably my Hufflepuffness...
"He looked away, trying not to betray the resentment he felt. There it was again: Choose what to believe. He wanted the truth. Why was everyone so determined that he should not get it?"
And, of course, the best quote EVER:
"Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?"
Ok, so after all that... These are FIRST THOUGHTS. More to come.