Well, after a day and a half of reading (I had to stop to feed and water the young 'uns and we had a date to play cards with the neighbors), I just finished the 7th Harry Potter book! Woohoo!
Now, I want to reassure you all here that I am not the type to just up and post all the best and worst specifics in the books and spoil it for the rest of you. I know you all want to read what happens to Harry, Ron, Hermione and the rest of the cast of characters for yourselves. I also know that posting spoilers, true or not, changes everything for the reader. You can't go into a book objectively once you've read the rumors, not knowing whether they are true or not. You look at each character in a different way--is he or she going to make it through this book? Will this character be in the last novel? What happens between this couple, or this group? Where does the action take place, and does it matter, and what mysteries evolve, only to be solved or left as cliffhangers as the book nears completion?
So I won't spoil the adventure for you. Instead, let me just say that in this last installment of the Harry Potter septology (thanks to Jon Stewart for the term), J. K. Rowlings delivers to her fans in a big way.
Naturally, it isn't a short book, but there's good reason for it. Rowlings has dealt with all the important, unanswered questions her fans have. She's plotted adventures and twists you can't imagine, magical duels and harrowing adventures, terrific new characters and creatures and the very best from those old characters she chooses to re-visit. (Vague enough for you?)
In this book, much of the plotting that has gone into the first six is revealed as part of a much vaster chain of events, which just goes to show, as her devoted fans have known all along, that Rowlings' phenomenal success is not the result of simple luck or formulaic writing. Hopefully, critics will back off a little and accept that her work is here with us to stay. Rowlings' series is not popular because it is the latest "in" thing among tweens but because it is a classic in its own right, a magical world that comes to life between the covers of each of the seven books, finally culminating in a resounding finale worthy of the author at her best.
Now, go out, get the book, sit down and read it.
And then share it with your kids!
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3 comments:
It took me 7 hours to read it. I thought it was good, and sad for many reasons I am sure you know.
Yeah in-between the meals, dishes, laundry and all of the other interuptions, I finished it in a day and a half as well..... LOVED IT!
I'd Rather Be Blogging
It's "heptology", not "septology".
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