Reading & Writing Lounge

Summer’s almost over in the Western hemisphere, but the prospect of a few more sunny days keeps that list of summer reads alive.

I’ve just finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.At 607 pages, it is not a ‘light’ read, but the pace moves pretty quickly. Harry’s final adventure sees him growing up and hot on the hunt for the Deathly Hallows. Full of twists, turns, romance and dying friends and enemies, it is not a book (anymore) for little children!

The book, while tremendously entertaining, occasionally seems tedious and drawn out. The first few pages were full of rapid developments in every paragraph - it was hard to keep up! To enjoy the 7th book, you should have read the earlier books (or at least a couple of them). It would be difficult otherwise to make sense of the terminology, the people, the relationships and the wonderful magical spells.

Harry’s journey through the book takes him to his final clash with Lord Voldemort (He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named), the leader of the Death Eaters. Overwhelmed by doubt, guilt and lack of confidence, Harry comes across as a regular teenager- one who often wishes that he didn’t have all these responsibilities. The sarcasm of Ron and the support of Hermione carry him through difficult days. Struggling with his psychic connection with Voldermort (through his lightning shaped scar on his forehead), Harry battles with the Death Eaters.

The book is full of ’solutions’ and ‘a-ha’ moments - clues to which are sprinkled through the earlier six books. Some of it, like the revelation of Snape as a ‘good guy’ makes you want to go “I knew it!”, because it was what you suspected all along. J K Rowling marvellously manages to fit together all the pieces of this remarkable puzzle. It is truly an astonishing effort.

While this book is full of horrible things happening to favourite characters, it is the sixth book that is ‘darker’ and more memorable. Dumbledore’s death upset me - that came out of the blue and it was unsettling for many readers. The sixth book is definitely a contender for the best in the series.

While I enjoyed reading the books a lot, I’m not sad to see the series end. There’s just so much trouble one can put a teenager through before it starts to get tiresome. Harry grew up gracefully over the years. It’s time to let go.

Have you read the book? What do you think?

If you haven’t read the series, here’s a quick summary.

Related on this blog:

• Forming your own Book Club
• Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai
• Book this summer!