Deathly Hallows

[rozk]

Here is my TLS review:

Comments

[grahamsleight]

Uh, no text there. Unless it was a 0-word review...

[rozk]

Well that's fixed now

[ffutures]

Thanks for posting that - I've been wanting to read it since you mentioned it.

[dichroic]

"'Deathly Hallows' is not literally a story about casting youth and magic aside and breaking your wand"

And thanks to JKR for that. I wrote about this yesterday; I am so sick of (in real life) the idea that youth's the time for adventure and the fantasy corollaries that either magic is a land only permitted to youth or else "death of the magic" endings, in which once the world is saved all the magic/joy has gone out of it. One of the things I love about the HP saga is that adults are allowed to care, to have fun, and when the things they care about are at risk to fight alongside the young protagonists of the story.

[dichroic]

And not just that - when you've just told a story where the magic is an integral part of the adventure, when you close off the magic, you are implying that all adventure has ended. Not being allowed to return to Narnia because you've gotten too old is one of the things that feeds the idea I keep encountering in real life that past a certain age you are not supposed to go on adventures any more.

[pickwick]

Oh, excellent, I've been waiting for this too.

For the first few pages of the King's Cross chapter, I thought Rowling was heading for another Lewis parallel from 'Last Battle', with Harry and Dumbledore moving on to another life similar to this, only brighter. I'm very glad she didn't.

Peter Pettigrew = Gollum? Harry's choice in Prisoner of Azkaban to let him live saves Harry's life here.

[the_maenad]

Note that Pettigrew isn't the only 'bad guy' in the book to waver for a moment when faced with the opportunity to kill, and to pay for his weakness (or to redeem himself?) by dying himself as a result.

Neither is there only one 'inseparable duo' which is finally split up by the death of one of its members...

Bonus point if you spot the character whose death falls under both headings.

[pickwick]

Uh. I'm in the middle of re-reading, and I can't think, but I have that nagging feeling I should know exactly what you're talking about! I'll probably swear quietly to myself tonight when I figure it out.

[pickwick]

I'm now trying to remember if Crabbe wavered for a moment before releasing the Fiendfyre...

[fjm]

"allusive" ... good word.