And so, the seventh and final book of the great Harry Potter epic tale, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, arrived this past weekend. My copy, pre-ordered since March, landed in my PO box on Saturday, and I couldn't wait to dive in. I had re-read the previous two books in anticipation, and opened the treasured tome Saturday afternoon, ready to lose myself in Harry's world of magic and adventure, good and evil, honor and mischief, laughter and tears.
Simply because of its popularity, I resisted the lure of the Harry Potter phenom. Until, that is, just after the third book, Harry Potter and Prisoner of Azkaban, was released in 1999. It was then that I finally decided to see what all the hubub was about, since it WAS a favorite genre, and picked up a paperback of the first book, the Sorceror's Stone (1997). I read the whole book in one day. There are books that are so good that when I put them down, they scream out to me so loudly that I can barely focus on anything else. JK Rowling's book was just that kind of book. As soon as I finished it, I went out and bought the hardcover of the next one, HP and the Chamber of Secrets and then the third, and I gobbled them up. Now I had to wait a year with everyone else for the 4th book, but I also had the films (that's for another blog)!
With the 4th, 5th, and 6th books, I tried valiantly to make them last, but read each within a day or two, not having the willpower to put them down for long. Rowling's writing style is very nearly hypnotic. Simple, yet elegant. Easy, yet challenging. Brilliant. As was the intricate, epic, seven-years long plot, not including background and set-ups from several previous generations. The themes are mythic, Joseph Campbell would have been impressed: the hero's journey, good vs. evil, human weaknesses vs human strengths. Wonderful messages imparted, better than in the lame fairy tales we heard as children. "It's not your abilities that make you who you are, it's the choices you make." - one of my favorites from the first book. I hear it's already required reading in some schools. I think that's just a beginning.
And so, here we are at the final book. All the questions over these last few years, the guessing...when Harry finally stands against his nemesis, who will walk away? Who among Harry's loyal friends will die? Is Snape, the seemingly evil Potions Master really Dumbledore's man? Or do his actions tell the truth? So many more questions, but these are at the front of any HP fan's mind. It is a testament to Rowling's talent that we have come to care so much for these characters. She has created such multi-dimensional, REAL people of them that we feel we have lived the last 7 years of their lives with them. We have grown to love them as our own friends and family.
I finished the final 3 chapters and epilogue this morning. I cried a lot during the last quarter of the book...yes, I am emotionally invested. I believe that Rowling ended the book the best possible way. There were other ways she could have ended it, but I am happy with this ending. And it is an ending, I believe. I hope she doesn't give in to the fans who are already starting up a campaign for more HP books. I myself look to the future for what Rowling has to share with us. I am hopeful that there are more wonderful tales from the mind that dreamed up the World of Harry Potter. In the meantime, I plan to go back to the beginning...
