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
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.
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2 responses so far ↓
1 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Book Review « Writers’ Bloc // Aug 24, 2007 at 5:24 am
[...] Read the rest here [...]
2 Laura // Nov 4, 2009 at 10:10 pm
The Harry Potter series is my absolute favorite series that I have ever read. I love to read. My two favorite genres are fantasy and fiction, and Harry Potter gives a little bit of both. I do not agree, though, that the sixth book is the best of the series. Now, I don’t mean to be disagreeable or harsh, but I believe that the best contender for the “best” of the series would have to be either the second, third, or last book. It, for me , would be contending against the first and fifth books. Obviously, you had to have liked the first book to have kept on reading the series. And even if that one wasn’t what drew you in, the second would have had to. Unless, which I do not think is the case, you read all of the books leading up to the sixth one just for kicks, you must have liked the other books a little bit better.
Now, my favorite characters are Harry (#1), Sirius (#2), and Lupin, (#3). So, clearly, if my 2nd favorite character is Sirius Black, I wouldn’t like the fifth book at all. I am complementing the way it was written by saying it is a contender for the first place position, not that I liked the fact that Sirius was killed. I also liked Fred Weasley, and he died in one of my favorite novels of the series as well.
Despite all of this, my favorite novel of the series is the second book. It is so well written and you really get a look at what is going on in poor Harry’s life. I also like the third book because it introduces two of my favorite characters.
Please reconsider your motives for why you like the sixth book “the best.” If you like it for the shock factor, I can completely understand. I just can’t stand one more person saying that they like the sixth book just because it shocked them of Dumbledore’s death. Think of the way it was written and the other things included in this book before choosing it as your favorite for one reason as measly as, “the shock factor.” Thank you, and again I do not mean to sound nit-picky by saying that you’re opinion was not wise. It was just not chosen for (what I feel to be) the right reasons to choose a book.
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