Book Review: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
For the reader, the Wizarding World has become very complex and full. Because of that, I can see why fan fiction in the Wizarding World is possible – and how Rowling herself was able to write books beyond and before Harry Potter himself. The setting has a history, a geography and a sociology beyond the needs of the plot itself. There are many characters that could have their own spin off or prequel or sequel. There was no way Rowling could have tied up every end in this novel – and there was no lack of satisfaction with that; the fact that Rowling created this world means that any amount of fiction can inhabit it.
Another striking feature of this novel was the amount of waiting around. Ron, Hermione and Harry spend a lot of time accomplishing nothing in various places and getting annoyed with each other. Probably a brave move by Rowling, to slow the pace down, with her readership all set for the events that do eventually come – such as the various climaxes/anticlimaxes of Bathilda’s house, the escape from Gringotts, the Battle of Hogwarts etc. While the filmmaker had to divide the book into two movies, I think Rowling was right to keep this all as one. I suppose she could have had “Harry Potter and the Horcruxes” and “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” – but they overlapped too much to have as separate volumes. There could also have been “Harry Potter and the Will of Dumbledore”… as I say, this was a very full novel.
Given that it’s nearly 20 years since the book is out, there’s no point warning people about spoilers. They’d have already read it or watched it. But hey: SPOILER ALERT.
So, when I was reading it this time, I was pretty sure that Snape was going to be redeemed – that the killing of Dumbledore was all within Dumbledore’s plan and that it was all good. This is, of course, what happened – but somehow, on this second reading, I didn’t feel Snape was justifiably redeemed. If I had been Harry, I wouldn’t have named my son after him. I mean, the doe thing was very helpful, but he was still a total meanie.
Also, I still had issues with the death scene. I don’t really see how Harry managed to die and then have the option to be resurrected. I am probably missing something. There was the weird shrunken shell of the Voldemort body lying on the floor in the white train station – but it was very much just there and not explained. Harry too was there, and the bit of Voldemort in him had been killed – but it seemed that he could choose whether to go the whole hog deathwise or to think nah, and go back. It felt like a bit of a cheat. I remember thinking that, on the first reading, that the reader and Harry were reconciled to him dying; we didn’t need him to come back and live happily ever after. Neville could have done his sword thing and that would be that. But, we got our happy ending and 19 years of possible fan fiction before Albus Potter goes off to school.
Anyway – my purpose in re-reading this was to have a think about how Rowling used to be cancelled by the right and now gets cancelled by the left. I wanted to read it and see what I thought her message actually was…
I think her “central concerns” are love and bravery. I think her message is that love and bravery involve self-sacrifice. I also think she demonstrates that “love wins”.
There is another layer about wisdom – and the wisdom of others; of trust and the wisdom or not of trusting in others. For Harry, there was always a wobble of uncertainty about Dumbledore, about James Potter, about himself. I am not sure what the message was about this… maybe that you can never fully trust another person (or yourself) and their motivations?
I think the hero of the series was probably Lily Potter, but she is barely in it. (Again, I am sure there is plenty of fan fiction out there…)
On the cancelling of Rowling at every cut and turn: I think she managed to get a generation reading. She created a world that others have used as a starting point for their own imaginative work: there are board games, theme parks, toys, video games, dressing up ideas, parties… people have had fun.
This year, for World Book Day, I will be Professor Minerva McGonagall. I look forward to wearing my hat.
Wee Scoops 