Author: J.K. Rowling
ISBN: 9780747591054 DDC: 823.914
Book Seven in the Harry Potter series.
See also: LibraryThing ; Heather Anne (spoilers) ; Andrea’s Atrium (Spoiler LADEN) ; Klondar Industries (contains spoilers) ; Things Mean A Lot(some spoilers) ; Answer the call (spoiler Free)
The two men appeared out of nowhere, a few yards apart in the narrow, moonlit lane.
I probably should have read the Half Blood Prince again before opening this one. I’ve only read the last few books the once, and often speed reading and almost skimming in places, so I know I’ve missed out on plenty of the detail. But at some stage I’ll go back and reread them all. And going to see the film version of Order of the Phoenix really helped remind me about the more important plot points from that book.
Like all the Harry Potter books the writing isn’t outstanding. But it does its job perfectly. It is gripping and once you’ve started you just want to keep reading. I think I’ve read the last three in a single sitting. Her plot, more than anything else, pulls you along and you just don’t want to put the book down. I’m not sure if I can put my finger on exactly what it is that make these so readable, I know it isn’t the prose, and I don’t think it is the characters. They aren’t really well developed or fleshed out, but they are recognisably different from one another, and I suppose the almost thumbnail sketches allows us readers to paint in our own detail. We fill in all the missing bits with our own imagination. And for a children’s book I think this is a great thing. I’m not saying that they are one dimensional, because they aren’t, they do have shadings and nuances, but they just don’t have the depth… but maybe that is the point. Maybe that is what makes them so interesting to us; we can paint our own shadings on to them.
As for the ending of this? Well it final and, in my view, fitting. There is a lot of death, I’m not going to say who, but there is a lot of it. And not just at the very end, but sprinkled throughout the novel. Overall I thought it a very satisfying finale to the series of books. Now I just have to wait to see those final battles scenes up on the big screen, if they are half as good as the ones in OotP then they’ll be something to behold.
Thanks for linking me.
This book is going to be exceptionally interesting to analyze…I’m anxious to see how the general fandom reacts.
Okay, my spoilerific thoughts:
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Thumbs up all around.
Hi Evan, sorry bout the delay in approving your comment. But better late than never :)
I’m not a huge ginormous Potter fan, so I’m missing out on a lot of the debate, but there is LOADS there to talk about. Interesting is bang on.
SnapeShow Spoilers ▼
Good review, especially the point about the writing. (Although I think #7 was the best in that department – a lot less -ly words than in the past few books.) there’s a big difference between being a good writer and being a good storyteller. J.K. is an astounding storyteller and has been able to create a compelling and imaginitve world, which is part of what people have responded to.
The other thing about the characters is that they are immensely likeable – the goodies are the sort of people you’d want to have as friends and some of the baddies (like Delores Umbridge) are just over-the-top love-to-hate-em types. I enjoyed the series, loved the last book, and found the ending very satisfying. Endings are a tough feat to pull off, so I’m well-impressed on this one.
I completely agree with you about the writing not being outstanding, but doing its job perfectly. It’s not good in a “wow, she has such a way with words” sort of way, but it’s also not so bad that it calls attention to itself. It’s invisible – you forget you’re reading a book. And I agree that she is a master when it comes to plot. I’ve always thought that was her greatest strength.
Expectations for this book were high, and she still managed to finish the series in a very satisfying manner. I’m impressed.
Ann I think that is what I was trying to say, she may not write great literature, but she tells damn fine stories :)
Me too Nymeth. I really must get around to rereading the whole series though. Haven’t reread any of the last few and I know there is loads I probably would have picked up on had I not speed read.
I don’t get it. Having finished the book in one sitting I was left feeling so very cheated. I’ve read review after review since, and they all come up with ’satisfying ending’ or some such pap.
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I’m devastated. And thank god it’s over.
Hi Gloria,
I’ll have to disagree with you regarding Rowling plagiarising Tolkien and/or Dickens. HP is very different in many ways to those, although there are similarities.
But it is a children’s series, and while that doesn’t mean that everything has to end happily ever after, it does mean that the readers deserve some closure, which is what they got. Not that it was happy ever after, what with all the deaths. As for the Show Spoilers ▼
I agree with you, Fence – Show Spoilers ▼
Yup Nymeth every Show Spoilers ▼
i’m glad you liked it. in the light that i have only read the first two that seems a strange comment – but i like the idea of the series and i’m glad that rowling has rewarded the loyalty her readers showed her.
After surviving on 4 hours sleep over the last two nights, I have just finished the book – I really didn’t want it to end!
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I think the ending, by which I Show Spoilers ▼
Book arrived in the post yesterday at lunchtime. I vaguely considered calling in sick and staying home to read it ;-) but I was good and waited til the end of the day. Should have waited for it to be Friday – was up til two in the morning finishing it!! Could have stopped at one point, but once I passed that point, there was no stopping me! I agree that the Show Spoilers ▼
I enjoyed this book far more than any of her others apart perhaps from Goblet of Fire. It dragged a bit for the first half but that wonderful feeling of discomfort that’s been there since Order of the Phoenix (anyone might die! Aieee!) kept me turning the pages. It was exciting, well (if not tightly) plotted and lots of satisfying ends tied up. Show Spoilers ▼
The deaths that made me sad were Show Spoilers ▼
God, I hope these spoiler tags work!!
And they do. They being spoiler tags, and do being work :)
Well, you know I’ve utterly shite luck with spoiler tags. :-) And it’d be pretty big spoilage if they didn’t work! Since I remained ENTIRELY unspoiled despite the whole 6 days between the book coming out and me getting my copy, I would hate to do it to anyone else.