Re: Harry Potter - SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS
Posted by:
Tari (66.195.208.---)
Date: July 23, 2007 07:27PM
Well, I know I'm a die-hard harry Potter fan, I've been reading them since I was 12... right before the 4th book came out, so I'm a bit biased. I just finished it last night, and while I find that I wonder about things like whether George is now running a one-man shop, or whether Luna ever hooked up with Neville, or what the Malfoys did when they had to stop being evil, I find that to add all of that into the epilogue would have been a bit like the ending of those "based on a true story" movies, where the screen goes black and it says things like "John Wilkins went on to marry his high school sweetheart and earn the pulitzer prize. He still has a cat named Tufty." I think JKR has left all of those fanfictioneers something to work with. Perhaps not for that specific purpose, but the reader can work out their own endings.
All in all, after waiting for about 10 years for the end of this story to come, I was not disappointed. I was very rarely brought to tears, but that's merely because I'm not the type of person who cries in a movie or while reading a book. The parts of the book that didn't impress me were merely because I had predicted those things would happen. (I swear, I told my roommate "I have a bad feeling that she will kill off only one of the Weasley twins")
Skids, I would suggest that you read them. If you truly dislike the "school story" that is the majority of the first book, then that one would be the safest one to skip. While it doesn't have the depth of the rest of the series, it is a fun book, and short, so you could probably finish it over a weekend. Most people I know don't like the second one much, but I think it's pretty fun, if still on the lighter side of fiction. Books 3 and 4 are my favorites, and while Harry is shouty and moody and hormonal in book 5, reading the crap that he's put through in the previous book helps you to understand his frustration. Or perhaps reading it when you're 16 helps that. I can't be too sure. If 6 seemed a bit incomplete, it is probably because JKR said herself that 6 and 7 are pretty much one book, split into two volumes. I would at least read the summaries of books 3-5, and then read 6 before tackling 7. (Even though you may get more out of it to start from the very beginning)
And as far as the camping/tent propping/protective spell casting section of the book is concerned: Perhaps it went on a bit long, but I thought it made it clear that Harry was operating on his own without guidance from older, better wizards, and the friction between friends was a direct result. It also made the parts with action in them that were sprinkled throughout that time even more exciting, at least to me.
It is well written, though, to my mind. I loved every minute of it. While I'm not a complete fantasy nut, this book was a wonderful escape. I might have had to put the book down and go to a rehearsal, but I couldn't stop thinking about what was going to happen next.
Okay, long post, sorry about that, but I haven't had much of a chance to talk to anyone about this book.