Discussing the book in the comments
This is a spot where I thought we could discuss the book in our comments.
That way, if you don’t want to read the ‘spoilers’ until after you’ve finished the book, you just don’t look at the comments. Then, when you finish, you can read them and comment to your heart’s content.
This entry was posted on Sunday, July 22nd, 2007 at 6:25 pm and is filed under Books. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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Danielle says:
I LOVED this book!
It was so action packed. It is definitely the best in the series.
Did anyone suspect that the help Harry got with the sword was Snape? I was totally confounded by that and completely surprised when the memories were revealed in the pensieve.
Speaking of the pensieve, I was quite shocked how Snape died. I really thought it would be more battle-like when it came to his death.
Other terrific moments… I loved the dragon escape out of Gringotts. What a terrific way for them to get away with the horcrux. And of course, nothing could be easy about their trying to destroy it. I kept hoping they’d have the sword to do all of the destroying, but a part of me knew that would be too good to be true.
From the time they entered Hogsmeade until the end of the book, I was simply entranced. I love that the students were all resisting and that everyone got called in to help including the members of the Order.
When Harry was dithering around Hogwarts and wasn’t looking for the horcrux though, I was going crazy. I was glad when McGonagal (sp?) finally reminded him to get looking for it. I also wanted to shout at him that the bathroom where Ron and Hermione had gone had to be the one that opened up to the chamber of secrets. Ugh. How dense. I guess he was preoccupied.
And then when he died. How wretched. I was completely dismayed and was so frustrated that the people who thought Harry was the 7th horcrux and that he’d end up dying were right. Someone at work was convinced that he would have to sacrifice himself in the end, because she said that in hero stories, the hero always has to sacrifice himself. But I was hanging on to the type of hero story I read when I was younger, and then the Lord of the Rings hero story where Frodo does end up living.
And of course, he lived! And the Malfoys had a hand in his final deception. How exceedingly clever to continue to pretend he was dead.
I guess I’m just really pleased at how it all turned out.
I’m wondering why Rowling was quoted as saying she thought that some people wouldn’t like how it turned out. Maybe because of Fred, Lupin and Tonks?
Those are my thoughts for now.
I hope someone chimes in with their favorite moments and thoughts.
Squirl says:
I’m so glad you finished the book quickly. I know you wanted to take your time with it. But you’re not working on your PhD so I figured you’d have more time to read. And thanks for giving us a forum so our little group could discuss it.
I did pick mine up on Friday night, but it was a small store and they had a good system. They figured they’d get everyone out in ten minutes. I think they did. I started to read it that night, but quit after two chapters. But then I had it done by 8:30 last night.
It took me until this morning to realize that the thing that saved Harry’s life as a baby also saved him in the last book, mother’s love. It’s just that this time it was Narcissa’s love of her son, Draco. Couldn’t believe I would be grateful for a Malfoy.
I agree with a lot of the things you said above. I was totally ready (but not happy) to see Harry die. Amber also had me convinced of Snape’s desire to help the order. I didn’t realize that he’d lived in her neighborhood as a kid. The pensieve was a good way for Harry and us to find out that side of the story.
I’m also glad that they gave us more backstory on Albus Dumbledore. The Doge eulogy was too flattering, we knew Rita Skeeter hated him and would do a smear job. But hearing it from Aberforth was a great way to get the real story.
I felt bad about losing Hedwig, Fred, Lupin, and Tonks. I also wondered if Hagrid had died. That would’ve been hard to handle. It’s got to be things like that JK thought we wouldn’t like. But it made the story more real, I guess. Too bad she didn’t off Dolores Umbridge.
It’s kinda soon after devouring for me to have digested it fully. I’ll probably have lots more things to come back and say.
SeaQueen says:
I’m with you both. I loved the book. I figured out about halfway through that Harry was probably an unintended horcrux and I started crying right then. I figured it meant he really would have to die in the end (though I couldn’t figure out how voldemort was actually going to die after Harry was dead).
I’m happy I managed to avoid all of the spoilers, but I saw this one thing where JK Rowling said the story came to a definite end and I was really sad about that (I figured it really meant Harry was going to die).
I really liked the way that Harry learned about Snape’s backstory and why Dumbledore trusted him so much. Even though Snape came off as so bad at the end of the last book/beginning of this one, I just couldn’t see how Dumbledore had been so duped. It’s too bad he had to die to tell his story.
It’s funny that you said you were mad at Harry for not searching the school when Ron and Hermione were off, I was also silently yelling at the book.
I think what JK Rowling was probably talking about with fans being upset is the deaths of the people we all liked: Hedwig, Dobby (cried buckets with that one because I didn’t see it coming), Fred, Tonks and Lupin. I was a bit worried when Tonks joined the fighting that both she and Lupin would die (thus leaving Harry having to bring up Teddy the way that Sirius should have brought up him).
I liked the redemption of some of the nastier characters: the Malfoys, Kreatcher and Dudley. I’m glad that the Malfoys got to stay for the celebration because it was Narcissa that helped save the day. I also liked that you saw Draco’s almost turn to goodness when Harry, Ron and Hermione were taken to the Malfoy’s.
Well, like Squirl, I will probably have more to say on the topic once I digest it. I actually look forward to rereading all of them at a slower pace at some point to really absorb them.
I’m happy to think of the Ginny-Harry family, Ron-Hermione family and all the rest of them living happily. Btw, anyone think that Neville and Luna probably ended up a pair?
So, do you think they’ll make this movie too? I hope so. OK. Now I’m really done.
Amber says:
Actually, the book pissed me off the first part of it because it was going way to slow for my taste, but from Hogsmede on (like Danielle said) I was gripped.
I suspected, after Bellatrix got really snarky with Hermione about the sword, that Snape had sent them the real one in the forest. I let Andy and Kristen know my thoughts and they all looked at me in utter disbelief and asked where my asinine theory came from. “Snape’s patronus, a doe?!” and “No, he didn’t give them the sword.” and then later, when we did find out it was indeed Snape, Kristen looked up at me and said “You’re a genius.”
As for my favorite part, I am not sure.
I really liked that my faith in Snape had not been betrayed and that I was correct that he was indeed in love with Lily. The Snape pensieve chapter scene made me cry. (But hey, I’m pregnant.)
I didn’t realize Lupid died until Harry used the stone to bring back the dead. Shocked. I must have skipped that over.
Oh gosh, I was YELLING so loud in my head at Harry that THEY WERE IN THE FRIGGEN BATHROOM!!! Ugh. Harry.
I loved, loved, loved Molly’s “Not my daughter – YOU BITCH!!!!” line. I graced over that line and about halfway down the page and then I realized that she said the word “Bitch” in the book. Fascinating. To me, at least.
The book was a lot more grown up than I thought it would be, which made me happy. Her writing style has definitely changed in this book.
I am glad to see that Dudley and Harry made up, and that Kreacher and Harry were on good ends.
I want to know who got to be headmaster in the epilogue of the book. That is the question that is begging me now.
Wow.
Danielle says:
Squirl, I agree with you that it was a really good way for us to see Snape’s back-story by seeing his memories in the pensieve. That was a clever device.
I also hadn’t thought about the fact that mother’s love saved him both times. Good observation! I wasn’t thinking of it in those terms. It really ties the story together well when you think of it that way.
And yeah, thank good ness we got the backstory on Albus. I had wondered if it was some kind of accident that he then felt responsible for. But some of it just wasn’t adding up – the letter to Grindelwald about power, etc.
Did you have a favorite part?
SeaQueen, speaking of Dobby dying – wasn’t that whole scene where Ron, Hermione and Harry get taken to the Malfoys just awful!? Torturing Hermione and then feeling really desperate that they have no way out. It was just super tension filled. Dobby was such a loyal character. It _was_ sad to see him go, you are right.
And yeah, I’d forgotten about how Dudley and Kreacher also turned around. That was a really nice surprise.
I DO think that they will continue to make the movies. But this one is so complicated and action packed, I wonder how they will cut it down to size. It seems like it would definitely be a PG-13 kind of movie.
Do Luna and Neville get together? Hmmmmm.. There weren’t really any inklings of that. But it would really tie up the story nicely. I did really like that epilogue/last chapter. I thought it was a fun way to tell you how their lives were progressing without just doing a summary.
Amber, How SMART that you figured it out that Snape sent the sword. Very good.
Snape being so in love with Lily was strange to me, but at least it explained everything very completely.
I wonder if the writing style becoming more adult is because she knows that hte kids who started the books at the beginning are getting older… or if she knows how many adults read the books. Or if it was just unavoidable.
I wonder if McGonagal would be headmaster? I was kind of hoping that Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny’s professions would be revealed. I wonder what Harry found to do since he hated the ministry of magic so much. I used to think he’d be an auror, but without a ‘bad side’ to fight…. I’m not sure that would be the case.
Squirl says:
I thought about the auror thing, too. Then I reasoned that, even though Voldemort was gone, it didn’t mean there wasn’t still evil in the world. I’d still like to know who was headmaster/mistress and all of the professions. And, did they have to go back the next year and finish their seventh year of school? Did the entire school have to repeat a grade because the school was so screwed up that year?
The last chapter was a favorite for me, maybe because it was so light and happy. I also felt good about Dudley and Kreacher.
Danielle says:
That is a good point that there could still be evil that needs to be detected and fought. I was talking about it with my friend here at school who is also a Potter fan and she was thinking the same thing – that there would still be evil.
I’m curious about the headmaster/mistress thing too. It is certainly fun to speculate.
The idea of everyone needing to repeat a grade is interesting. Maybe all of their activities could be considered studying abroad.
he he he
No really, it does seem like the 7th years at least would have to repeat the year. I’m not sure how much the younger grades would’ve been screwed up.
I thought that ending the book with that final chapter really put a happy/positive feeling to the end of it all. I think that without it, you would’ve always wondered how Harry dealt with all of the losses of his friends and if he was affected by it to the point where he was never the same again – in a Frodo-ish manner.
I thought it was fun too, to see how they named their kids after various people.
And the acknowledgment with Draco seems to indicate that they at least have a mutual respect for each other, even if they don’t have a congenial relationship.
Danielle says:
Oh, another point of interest. I thought it was interesting when Harry and Ron were destroying the locket horcrux how Ron’s jealousy came into play again. We saw that in the Goblet of Fire, but it had seemed to be tamped down since then. But then when that scene happened, I guess it really hadn’t been.
Danielle says:
By the way, did anyone think it was confusing?
I was just reading ‘readers reactions to the finale’ on MSNBC and someone thought it was confusing.
Thoughts?
Amber says:
I didn’t think the ending was confusing.
I however, really, really liked that Harry “sacrificing” himself and going to Voldemort quietly protected all of the other people with love, like the love of his mom protected him. I thought that was very neat..
I’ll go read MSNBC and see what I think.
Squirl says:
I didn’t think it was confusing, either. I just wish she’d put more detail into the epilogue.
Danielle says:
I think that the person who thought it was confusing was either reading too fast to catch the details or was younger. At least that is my theory, because I didn’t think it was confusing either.
Now, I did have to read the part about who was the master of the Elder Wand a couple of times, but I still figured it out in the end.
Amber says:
Apparently she had more detail in the epilogue, but decided to leave it out as it did not mesh well with the rest of the book.
That is where Encyclopedia Hartanicca comes in..
Yes, she is going to write an encyclopedia like book that explains in detail her characters and the wizarding world before and after Moldy Voldy dies.
I’m excited.
But who isn’t?
Also, the elder wand thing got to me until I realized that Draco, did, in fact “defeat” Dumbledore in HBP. Who knew that was going to end up being a big deal in the last book.