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lightreadsWhy yes, it did actually take me until this past Monday to finish the book, and then another five days to review it. I was busy.
And honestly, I got my analytical rocks off in another forum, which took care of most of my thoughts. But for the sake of completeness, and because no I really don’t ever run out of things to say . . .
It’s both a good book and a good conclusion. Rowling chose to divorce it from the usual structure and let it swing free, unpinned to the metrical tempo of the school year. It was a good choice – it made plot sense, and a nice break. But it also made for a middle third which was, well. I have no other word than ‘slog.’ I actually put the book down for over a week in the middle, because I was busy and saving it for a cross-country flight, but also because I could. I suppose it’s a sort of compliment to say that she made the middle section as exhausting and disheartening as the events it portrays, because that does imply a certain fitness of writing, but then again it was exhausting and disheartening.
But the last third more than made up for that, to my mind. I was both intellectually and emotionally satisfied by the resolution, and one of my initial complaints – that the reader was cushioned from the realities of wizarding war – was entirely swept away. These books have grown up in impressive and startling ways, right along with Harry, and Rowling’s writing is a dry but earthy pleasure with the humor damped from child exaggeration to honest wittiness. There’s also a gentle thematic arc about reflections and self-reflections and mirroring history, all pushing at her series-wide overarching message that we are what we choose to be. I think both that she is right and that her answers are too simple, but I like them anyway. Which is why I found the epilogue esthetically fitting -- it caps that arc neatly, if obviously -- even though like the rest of the world I also thought it was twee beyond words.
Nostalgically over now, but over. I’m pleased to have been a part of something as significant as this, not because a piece of art which attracts this kind of fad devotion is intrinsically better, but because it develops that independent and fascinating thing called cultural meaning. For that alone Harry Potter is worth it, but luckily for me it's also worth a lot more.
And honestly, I got my analytical rocks off in another forum, which took care of most of my thoughts. But for the sake of completeness, and because no I really don’t ever run out of things to say . . .
It’s both a good book and a good conclusion. Rowling chose to divorce it from the usual structure and let it swing free, unpinned to the metrical tempo of the school year. It was a good choice – it made plot sense, and a nice break. But it also made for a middle third which was, well. I have no other word than ‘slog.’ I actually put the book down for over a week in the middle, because I was busy and saving it for a cross-country flight, but also because I could. I suppose it’s a sort of compliment to say that she made the middle section as exhausting and disheartening as the events it portrays, because that does imply a certain fitness of writing, but then again it was exhausting and disheartening.
But the last third more than made up for that, to my mind. I was both intellectually and emotionally satisfied by the resolution, and one of my initial complaints – that the reader was cushioned from the realities of wizarding war – was entirely swept away. These books have grown up in impressive and startling ways, right along with Harry, and Rowling’s writing is a dry but earthy pleasure with the humor damped from child exaggeration to honest wittiness. There’s also a gentle thematic arc about reflections and self-reflections and mirroring history, all pushing at her series-wide overarching message that we are what we choose to be. I think both that she is right and that her answers are too simple, but I like them anyway. Which is why I found the epilogue esthetically fitting -- it caps that arc neatly, if obviously -- even though like the rest of the world I also thought it was twee beyond words.
Nostalgically over now, but over. I’m pleased to have been a part of something as significant as this, not because a piece of art which attracts this kind of fad devotion is intrinsically better, but because it develops that independent and fascinating thing called cultural meaning. For that alone Harry Potter is worth it, but luckily for me it's also worth a lot more.