Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows discussion thread (SPOILERS)
 

<u>DO NO READ THIS THREAD IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THE BOOK AND DON'T WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS. THIS THREAD IS FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVE READ IT TO DISCUSS IT OPENLY WITHOUT HAVING TO POST IN WHITE. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED</u>

Re: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows discussion thread (SPOILERS)
 

I was surprised by a few things.

Firstly, as mentioned in the other thread the book was really slow in the middle. The first couple hundred pages were exciting and the last couple hundred incredible but the middle seemed to drag on and on.

It was a lot darker and more adult than I was expecting. There was some line about a Merlin's hanging left ----- which referred clearly to his left nut, they said "effin" repeatedly, and Mrs. Weasley referred to Bellatrix as a bitch. I wasn't really expecting that. Plus a lot more sideshow characters died than I was expecting.

On the other hand I expected one of Ron, Hermione, Harry, and I guess including Ginny to die. That none did was surprising given what Rowling had said.

I felt like the perfect ending actually would have been to have Harry die when was AKed, which would then kill Voldemort. They would have to have killed the snake somehow though I guess. I tend not to like happy endings that seem to come out of nowhere and while this wasn't really that I think having an ending that was less completely happy would have been good. Only Fred dying was the real downer.

Re: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows discussion thread (SPOILERS)
 

Ill start...What did yall think of the epilogue? It was probably the only part of the book i was disappointed with...I mean heck after 750+ pages..She couldnt extend it out another 20 or so to give us a real "where are they now" situation. I wanted to confirm that Harry and Ginny and Ron/Hermione ended up together but I also would have liked to know what else was going to happen.

I mean lets be honest. Harry wasnt going to ever just lead a normal life, but JK made it sound like he was just a plain old person.

Re: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows discussion thread (SPOILERS)
 

[ QUOTE ]
Ill start...What did yall think of the epilogue? It was probably the only part of the book i was disappointed with...I mean heck after 750+ pages..She couldnt extend it out another 20 or so to give us a real "where are they now" situation. I wanted to confirm that Harry and Ginny and Ron/Hermione ended up together but I also would have liked to know what else was going to happen.

I mean lets be honest. Harry wasnt going to ever just lead a normal life, but JK made it sound like he was just a plain old person.

[/ QUOTE ]

The epilogue was pretty crappy IMO. It contributed nothing, and the book would have been better without it.

Re: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows discussion thread (SPOILERS)
 

The epilogue I felt was just a way JK of saying "After Book 7 nothing bad happened to Harry. Voldy stayed dead, DEAD. No one touch my works and write Book 8!"

I felt the book picked up around the Gringotts section and really started going strong at Hog's Head what with learning Neville's granny can whup people still, DA was back, every living good guy somehow came in a moment's notice to fight, Harry giving the one guy Crucio, etc...

Re: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows discussion thread (SPOILERS)
 

I have said this some other places but I think it would have been very cool to end the book after chapter 34 (Kings Cross).

Instead they went with an incredibly cliche and cheesy ending, which while not unexpected, was a bit disappointing.

Re: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows discussion thread (SPOILERS)
 

That ending was way too obvious. I wish JK had been more creative. It was plain in sight for miles. As for the epilogue, I agree with the poster before me who said JK did it to ensure no further HP books. If I were JK I would've ended with Harry's death and continued the series with Teddy in a similar situation as the one Harry was left off in, with a destitute world. That would've been way better and she could've left the reigns to write for someone else.

Re: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows discussion thread (SPOILERS)
 

[ QUOTE ]
Ill start...What did yall think of the epilogue? It was probably the only part of the book i was disappointed with...I mean heck after 750+ pages..She couldnt extend it out another 20 or so to give us a real "where are they now" situation. I wanted to confirm that Harry and Ginny and Ron/Hermione ended up together but I also would have liked to know what else was going to happen.

I mean lets be honest. Harry wasnt going to ever just lead a normal life, but JK made it sound like he was just a plain old person.

[/ QUOTE ]

I would have liked to know what happened to the Death Eaters after Voldemort died. Did they all go to Azkaban? Also, did the climax completely kill off the dark magic movement or would they have just gone underground?

I would have liked to learn more about whether there would still be any sort of fight afterward or even on the horizon. I guess Malfoy acknowledging them is maybe a sign of concession but he sort of came out as being all talk and not much of a dark wizard anyway. Maybe a line about Harry vowing to fight it wherever it was would have been good.

Re: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows discussion thread (SPOILERS)
 

The epilogue closed the door on "More Harry!" type stuff. I liked it for that purpose, it brought finality both internally and externally.

I really enjoyed the book, and never felt it was slow at any time. I think a "happy ending" was appropriate, although ending it with Harry's sacrifice would have been pretty impressive. Still, I think Harry sacrificing himself was pretty cool. It worked, it worked very well.

One of my ways to judge a book's greatness is how badly when I finish I wish I could go back and reread it all over again for the first time. I definitely feel this way today. I do get to sorta enjoy it all over again though as my 10 year old daughter is working her way through it. This whole series has been a really cool bonding thing with us.

Re: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows discussion thread (SPOILERS)
 

[ QUOTE ]
The epilogue closed the door on "More Harry!" type stuff. I liked it for that purpose, it brought finality both internally and externally.

I really enjoyed the book, and never felt it was slow at any time. I think a "happy ending" was appropriate, although ending it with Harry's sacrifice would have been pretty impressive. Still, I think Harry sacrificing himself was pretty cool. It worked, it worked very well.

One of my ways to judge a book's greatness is how badly when I finish I wish I could go back and reread it all over again for the first time. I definitely feel this way today. I do get to sorta enjoy it all over again though as my 10 year old daughter is working her way through it. This whole series has been a really cool bonding thing with us.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's kinda odd you mention how badly you want to re-read it. After the first 6 HP's and many other great books, I'll be upset that I never get to read it for a first time again. But throughout this book I just kinda wanted to get it over with. Not sure what happened.