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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Stood in line for about 4.5 hours, which was fun--at one point we had about 15 people playing Apples to Apples (which I bought once we had run out of HP conversation). Got home, made an attempt to sleep for about an hour, gave up and read the whole thing in about five hours. I think I'm just going to try to make myself stay up all day--I may go see the movie again this afternoon.
Anyway, serious and complete book spoilers behind the cut. Do not proceed unless you've read it or want to be spoiled! These are mostly incoherent first reactions; I expect I may post more on this after it's had time to settle.
I had to drink 4 glasses of water after I finished, I was so dehydrated from crying. I was good for the first 600 pages or so--wary, yes, and sort of pre-emptively flinching everytime someone was put in danger, especially since the epigraphs made me think that maybe there would be more deaths than I had predicted, but I wasn't weepy or anything, even after Hedwig died, even when I thought Hagrid had died. I did cry a little bit when when Dobby died, but mostly I was happy it wasn't Hermione, because I had thought maybe someone was going to actually be sacrificed to Harry's stupidity in saying "Voldemort" when he *knew* the name was cursed. But once she survived that torture I figured--correctly--that she was safe.
My favorite part of the book was the return to Hogwarts. I was so happy when I realized that the last stand would be there (of course! so appropriate), and I loved that we got to find out what Neville and the others had been doing in Harry's absence. (More on that below). I also thought, yay, we're finally going to learn Snape isn't a total bad guy.
So then when it became clear that McGonagall and Flitwick thought Snape had been collaborating in killing students, and hated him, and then he died (it seemed) so pointlessly, I was in shock. I stopped reading for a while going my god NO, JKR actually meant it when she said he was a bad guy, oh no oh no, and I kept chanting in my head, "fanfic can fix this, fanfic can fix this"--and I kept reading hoping to find out I was wrong but really dreading it, since I thought that fluid that came from Snape when he died was just going to be something to kill the Nagini or something.
So when we got to see his memories, I really lost it. Sobbing and sobbing, mostly in happiness that he was working for the side of good, and that he was motivated by his love for Lily, and that all the Snape apologista theories about Dumbledore's death were right. I bawled my way through that whole chapter, especially when it became clear that Harry was going to have to die. Actually, I pretty much cried through the next hundred pages, even though I did think it probable Harry would get some sort of resurrection. And god, when he finally got that snitch open and his parents and Sirius and Remus turned up to support him--*sniffle*. That was just perfect.
All that crying over Harry and Snape made my reaction to Fred, Lupin and Tonks' death a little anticlimactic, I'm afraid. I was too busy being relieved more people weren't dead. I feel kind of bad for hardcore Lupin lovers, especially the Lupin/Sirius contingent: not only did they marry him off to Tonks, but they killed him AND Tonks. Oh well, I guess they can write threesomes in the afterlife? I do like Lupin a lot, but I have to confess I thought the carnage in the younger generation was going to be a LOT worse than it was--I was predicting at least one more Weasley would die, and also Neville and/or Luna, so I was pretty relieved that both of them made it alive.
And Neville!!! Leading the resistance in Hogwarts! (With Luna!!) Continuing Dumbledore's Army! Standing up to the bullies! Killing the Nagini! Oh, I am so so so happy about Neville's characterization in this. Luna's too. I loved, for example, that she recognized the polyjuiced Harry at the wedding just from the expression on his face. That was sheer Luna. And she was keeping up everyone's spirits in the Malfoy's dungeon.
For a dead guy, Dumbledore was remarkably present in this book. Really, learning Dumbledore's backstory in this made so many of his behaviors (like his interactions with Snape, and his desire to save Draco, for example) make so much sense. It was actually a great storyline for this book, I thought, because it served the dual function of allowing Harry to come to a more adult understanding of the heroes in his life (and what constitutes heroism, and dealing with the fact that those he admires had clay feet) and also answered lots of the questions all the readers have had, for years, about Dumbledore's motives. And I was very happy that the book acknowledged both that his motives were good--and that he was very, very savvy about Voldemort's strategy--and yet it also acknowledged that he was a deeply flawed man who had made many mistakes in his life. I loved getting the backstory about his sister and his relationship with Grindewald (which, by the way, seems ripe for slash).
And though I did think the Harry/Ron/Hermione quest was a bit overlong, perhaps, I was never bored during those parts, and I think the tension between the three of them was actually really well done. I'm sure lots of folks are going to be upset with the epilogue that tied everyone's future up in a neat bow, but I doubt most fans of (insert favorite pairing here) will really find themselves constrained by that--they'll still write alternate futures, I imagine. And I did really like a few of the things we found out: Professor Longbottom!! Yay!! And Albus Severus Potter--that made me misty eyed all over again. And I was happy that apparently Draco is kind of sort of reformed, or at any rate they didn't send all the Malfoys to Azkaban. (And yay Narcissa, by the way, even if she only lied about Harry's death to try to find her son, since we saw from the Snape pensieve scene how important the redemptive power of love was, even if it is a selfish love. I did really like the underlying theme in book 7 that understanding and love can lead to reconciliation; even Kreacher, who had always been painted as truly despicable, came to Harry's aid when Harry showed him understanding and kindness. Heck, even Dudley Dursley kind of came to like Harry because Harry helped him with the Dementors. I'd like to think that the future of the wizarding community is better *because* following Harry and Dumbledore's example, it chose to offer people second chances.
I'm probably forgetting a billion things I want to comment on, but I want to go see what other people are saying. And wow, it took me over an hour just to be incoherent--coherence is going to take time. Whee!! Happy Harry Potter Day
Anyway, serious and complete book spoilers behind the cut. Do not proceed unless you've read it or want to be spoiled! These are mostly incoherent first reactions; I expect I may post more on this after it's had time to settle.
I had to drink 4 glasses of water after I finished, I was so dehydrated from crying. I was good for the first 600 pages or so--wary, yes, and sort of pre-emptively flinching everytime someone was put in danger, especially since the epigraphs made me think that maybe there would be more deaths than I had predicted, but I wasn't weepy or anything, even after Hedwig died, even when I thought Hagrid had died. I did cry a little bit when when Dobby died, but mostly I was happy it wasn't Hermione, because I had thought maybe someone was going to actually be sacrificed to Harry's stupidity in saying "Voldemort" when he *knew* the name was cursed. But once she survived that torture I figured--correctly--that she was safe.
My favorite part of the book was the return to Hogwarts. I was so happy when I realized that the last stand would be there (of course! so appropriate), and I loved that we got to find out what Neville and the others had been doing in Harry's absence. (More on that below). I also thought, yay, we're finally going to learn Snape isn't a total bad guy.
So then when it became clear that McGonagall and Flitwick thought Snape had been collaborating in killing students, and hated him, and then he died (it seemed) so pointlessly, I was in shock. I stopped reading for a while going my god NO, JKR actually meant it when she said he was a bad guy, oh no oh no, and I kept chanting in my head, "fanfic can fix this, fanfic can fix this"--and I kept reading hoping to find out I was wrong but really dreading it, since I thought that fluid that came from Snape when he died was just going to be something to kill the Nagini or something.
So when we got to see his memories, I really lost it. Sobbing and sobbing, mostly in happiness that he was working for the side of good, and that he was motivated by his love for Lily, and that all the Snape apologista theories about Dumbledore's death were right. I bawled my way through that whole chapter, especially when it became clear that Harry was going to have to die. Actually, I pretty much cried through the next hundred pages, even though I did think it probable Harry would get some sort of resurrection. And god, when he finally got that snitch open and his parents and Sirius and Remus turned up to support him--*sniffle*. That was just perfect.
All that crying over Harry and Snape made my reaction to Fred, Lupin and Tonks' death a little anticlimactic, I'm afraid. I was too busy being relieved more people weren't dead. I feel kind of bad for hardcore Lupin lovers, especially the Lupin/Sirius contingent: not only did they marry him off to Tonks, but they killed him AND Tonks. Oh well, I guess they can write threesomes in the afterlife? I do like Lupin a lot, but I have to confess I thought the carnage in the younger generation was going to be a LOT worse than it was--I was predicting at least one more Weasley would die, and also Neville and/or Luna, so I was pretty relieved that both of them made it alive.
And Neville!!! Leading the resistance in Hogwarts! (With Luna!!) Continuing Dumbledore's Army! Standing up to the bullies! Killing the Nagini! Oh, I am so so so happy about Neville's characterization in this. Luna's too. I loved, for example, that she recognized the polyjuiced Harry at the wedding just from the expression on his face. That was sheer Luna. And she was keeping up everyone's spirits in the Malfoy's dungeon.
For a dead guy, Dumbledore was remarkably present in this book. Really, learning Dumbledore's backstory in this made so many of his behaviors (like his interactions with Snape, and his desire to save Draco, for example) make so much sense. It was actually a great storyline for this book, I thought, because it served the dual function of allowing Harry to come to a more adult understanding of the heroes in his life (and what constitutes heroism, and dealing with the fact that those he admires had clay feet) and also answered lots of the questions all the readers have had, for years, about Dumbledore's motives. And I was very happy that the book acknowledged both that his motives were good--and that he was very, very savvy about Voldemort's strategy--and yet it also acknowledged that he was a deeply flawed man who had made many mistakes in his life. I loved getting the backstory about his sister and his relationship with Grindewald (which, by the way, seems ripe for slash).
And though I did think the Harry/Ron/Hermione quest was a bit overlong, perhaps, I was never bored during those parts, and I think the tension between the three of them was actually really well done. I'm sure lots of folks are going to be upset with the epilogue that tied everyone's future up in a neat bow, but I doubt most fans of (insert favorite pairing here) will really find themselves constrained by that--they'll still write alternate futures, I imagine. And I did really like a few of the things we found out: Professor Longbottom!! Yay!! And Albus Severus Potter--that made me misty eyed all over again. And I was happy that apparently Draco is kind of sort of reformed, or at any rate they didn't send all the Malfoys to Azkaban. (And yay Narcissa, by the way, even if she only lied about Harry's death to try to find her son, since we saw from the Snape pensieve scene how important the redemptive power of love was, even if it is a selfish love. I did really like the underlying theme in book 7 that understanding and love can lead to reconciliation; even Kreacher, who had always been painted as truly despicable, came to Harry's aid when Harry showed him understanding and kindness. Heck, even Dudley Dursley kind of came to like Harry because Harry helped him with the Dementors. I'd like to think that the future of the wizarding community is better *because* following Harry and Dumbledore's example, it chose to offer people second chances.
I'm probably forgetting a billion things I want to comment on, but I want to go see what other people are saying. And wow, it took me over an hour just to be incoherent--coherence is going to take time. Whee!! Happy Harry Potter Day