About the Deathly Hallows.
Sadly, I have to announce that yet another era has come to an end. Tonight at 2.25am I said goodbye to Harry and his friends. We grew up together, and although I never really liked Harry, who was one of my least favorite characters of the series, I cried when I closed the book. The rest behind the cut.
I haven't cried this much since AWE came out, although I think this time I cried for entirely different reasons.
With AWE, it was mostly about ending of an era (well, here a bit too). I think I wrote it somewhere before, but when I first saw AWE, I cried because I knew that it was the END, but not only of a series, but also of some period of my life. Pirates have changed my life, as pathetic as it may sound, and I knew nothing would be the same again. Besides, I was afraid I would suddenly grow up from my childhood dreams about pirates and such, so I was depressed for a few long weeks. I think I had the Peter Pan syndrome (well, I still have it, I'm a twenty-something girl, who decided she would never grow up).
I also invested many feelings in one character- Jack, who, I thought, would never come back to me again (I did not know about P4). Finally, I cried because of missed opportunities and because I believed Jack was heartbroken and no one really understood he was hurt (meaning other characters and the audience, maybe even TPTB).
However, with HP I wept like a little girl mostly when people did brave, although idiotic things. I have a soft spot for sudden heroes who change sides in the last moment, or who fight even though the cause is clearly lost. That is why I cried during some scenes in which people believed in Harry (like in Godricks Hollow when he read the inscriptions or saw his monument), when they stayed true till the very end (Dobby, Kreacher, house-elfs, Neville, all the people who came back to Hogwarts, etc, etc.), and of course when Harry decided to sacrifice himself (that was a very beautiful scene, and although I still do not really like the guy, I must say he was very brave) but in the end, in fact, my tears were saved for Severus. The minute I saw him die, and when he told Harry to look at him I just knew my theory was right, and that, just like I believed from the very beginning, Severus Snape was a good man. When Dumbledore saw Snape's patronus and asked "After all this time?" and he answered "Always" I could hardly continue reading, it was so powerful for me. When I read HP6 my most probable theory about Dumbledore's death was that he had asked Severus to kill him because of something I could not understand- it was shocking, it was unbelievable, but it turned out it was also true. I think I'm weird. But I'm happy I did not lose faith in my favorite character (alright there were moments when I thought I was wrong but I even guessed it was him who he had sent the patronus).
Snape's tragic fate was something which both thrilled and saddened me. I understood that if he was really a good man, he would die close to the end trying to save Harry or trying to kill Voldemort, but still when I read his, so to speak, confession of heroism, I positively wept. He did not want anyone to know he was downright noble, he did not want anyone to know about his love, he did not want anyone to pity him, especially Harry. Imagine the pain he must've felt every time he looked into Harry's eyes, which were so much like Lily's...
Now, about the book itself and the writing. TnT should learn from Mrs. Rowling, seriously- that's how you tie up all the loose ends. Every little thing she mentioned in HP1-6 found its conclusion in HP7, nothing was omitted, every single detail had its purpose in the big picture. She really knew what she was writing when she started the first book, she already knew what would happen in the very end, which is amazing.
Favorite lines? Aside from all of the lines concerning Severus (from his memories), I loved "Grany is on the run" - I could not stop laughing, it was perfect. I also liked the line in which Dumbledore says something like "Of course it all happened in your head, but it doesn't mean it wasn't real".
When Harry woke up on the King's Cross Station, for a second I had a thought: "Please, no... Don't make it his dream!". There was this one little moment, in which I actually started to think that HP1-6 was all his dream and he would either wake up as a little baby HP with his parents and all (reversing all the vile deeds Voldemort did after he tried to kill him when he was a kid) or that he would wake up at the Dursleys. Thank God it did not happen.
What was that little thing in Harry's King's Cross dream? Was it the Harry's part of Voldemort's soul? I think that's why Albus told Harry there was nothing he could do to help it, and that he just had to leave it. Oh and I wonder if they met at King's Cross also because Albus had this map-scar on his knee.
And I'm happy Harry did not use Avada Kedavra to kill Voldemort. He used his "signature spell" and it worked for him again. He did not become a murderer and his soul remained whole.
One quick thought about the 19 years later ending. What's with the "After the credits" scenes these days?! Alright, I loved it that Harry named his son Albus Severus and that he explained it to him, but really why can't books/movies end with a nice "Happily Ever After" anymore?
Well, anyway that's all for now, but I think there is much more to come, after I think it all through.
To sum it all up: I loved the book.
I haven't cried this much since AWE came out, although I think this time I cried for entirely different reasons.
With AWE, it was mostly about ending of an era (well, here a bit too). I think I wrote it somewhere before, but when I first saw AWE, I cried because I knew that it was the END, but not only of a series, but also of some period of my life. Pirates have changed my life, as pathetic as it may sound, and I knew nothing would be the same again. Besides, I was afraid I would suddenly grow up from my childhood dreams about pirates and such, so I was depressed for a few long weeks. I think I had the Peter Pan syndrome (well, I still have it, I'm a twenty-something girl, who decided she would never grow up).
I also invested many feelings in one character- Jack, who, I thought, would never come back to me again (I did not know about P4). Finally, I cried because of missed opportunities and because I believed Jack was heartbroken and no one really understood he was hurt (meaning other characters and the audience, maybe even TPTB).
However, with HP I wept like a little girl mostly when people did brave, although idiotic things. I have a soft spot for sudden heroes who change sides in the last moment, or who fight even though the cause is clearly lost. That is why I cried during some scenes in which people believed in Harry (like in Godricks Hollow when he read the inscriptions or saw his monument), when they stayed true till the very end (Dobby, Kreacher, house-elfs, Neville, all the people who came back to Hogwarts, etc, etc.), and of course when Harry decided to sacrifice himself (that was a very beautiful scene, and although I still do not really like the guy, I must say he was very brave) but in the end, in fact, my tears were saved for Severus. The minute I saw him die, and when he told Harry to look at him I just knew my theory was right, and that, just like I believed from the very beginning, Severus Snape was a good man. When Dumbledore saw Snape's patronus and asked "After all this time?" and he answered "Always" I could hardly continue reading, it was so powerful for me. When I read HP6 my most probable theory about Dumbledore's death was that he had asked Severus to kill him because of something I could not understand- it was shocking, it was unbelievable, but it turned out it was also true. I think I'm weird. But I'm happy I did not lose faith in my favorite character (alright there were moments when I thought I was wrong but I even guessed it was him who he had sent the patronus).
Snape's tragic fate was something which both thrilled and saddened me. I understood that if he was really a good man, he would die close to the end trying to save Harry or trying to kill Voldemort, but still when I read his, so to speak, confession of heroism, I positively wept. He did not want anyone to know he was downright noble, he did not want anyone to know about his love, he did not want anyone to pity him, especially Harry. Imagine the pain he must've felt every time he looked into Harry's eyes, which were so much like Lily's...
Now, about the book itself and the writing. TnT should learn from Mrs. Rowling, seriously- that's how you tie up all the loose ends. Every little thing she mentioned in HP1-6 found its conclusion in HP7, nothing was omitted, every single detail had its purpose in the big picture. She really knew what she was writing when she started the first book, she already knew what would happen in the very end, which is amazing.
Favorite lines? Aside from all of the lines concerning Severus (from his memories), I loved "Grany is on the run" - I could not stop laughing, it was perfect. I also liked the line in which Dumbledore says something like "Of course it all happened in your head, but it doesn't mean it wasn't real".
When Harry woke up on the King's Cross Station, for a second I had a thought: "Please, no... Don't make it his dream!". There was this one little moment, in which I actually started to think that HP1-6 was all his dream and he would either wake up as a little baby HP with his parents and all (reversing all the vile deeds Voldemort did after he tried to kill him when he was a kid) or that he would wake up at the Dursleys. Thank God it did not happen.
What was that little thing in Harry's King's Cross dream? Was it the Harry's part of Voldemort's soul? I think that's why Albus told Harry there was nothing he could do to help it, and that he just had to leave it. Oh and I wonder if they met at King's Cross also because Albus had this map-scar on his knee.
And I'm happy Harry did not use Avada Kedavra to kill Voldemort. He used his "signature spell" and it worked for him again. He did not become a murderer and his soul remained whole.
One quick thought about the 19 years later ending. What's with the "After the credits" scenes these days?! Alright, I loved it that Harry named his son Albus Severus and that he explained it to him, but really why can't books/movies end with a nice "Happily Ever After" anymore?
Well, anyway that's all for now, but I think there is much more to come, after I think it all through.
To sum it all up: I loved the book.