Rowling, J.K.: (07) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

When it’s all said and done, you know what Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows ultimately is?

It’s a Harry Potter book.

Which is to say, it has roughly the same strengths and weaknesses as the other Harry Potter books. It is neither a transcendent improvement over the previous six, nor the worst of the lot. In a couple of places it impressed me, in a couple more it disappointed me, but on the whole it was about what I expected.

The book starts fast and dark [*], opening like the sixth with an omniscient opening and then a very brief time at the Dursleys. There’s some action and some set-up, and then Harry is jolted into the plot promised at the end of the last book (in a bit that, though small, I found surprisingly ominous and effective).

[*] After, if this can be counted as part of the book, the best jacket copy ever: “We now present the seventh and final installment in the epic tale of Harry Potter.” That’s it. (Anyone got the UK editions? What are their copy?) Also epigraphs of great significance, a first for a Harry Potter book.

Except that what follows isn’t so much plot, as action substituted for plot. Granted, I didn’t notice this until after I’d finished the book, because that action appears on a regular basis (unlike the long middles of the prior two books) and is created by the bad guys being a lot less stupid than usual. However, those not reading it in one gulp may well have trouble getting through this. I’m disappointed, though not surprised, that the year structure continues to influence the pacing. The wider view of events is similarly intermittent, making me regret once again Rowling’s choice to stick with Harry’s point of view except for the occasional opening.

Two-thirds of the way through, the plot coalesces and starts running straight downhill (to mix metaphors). I think that, on the whole [**], this section accomplishes what it sets out to do. It contains a scene that made me sniffle, against my expectations, and though the symbolism ends up being somewhat mixed, I can see the reasoning (and mixed symbolism/themes are also not new to the series, as was discussed on LJ about Chamber of Secrets). I wish that the ending had set out to do more, but again, I’m not surprised.

[**] The exceptions are a very small side-plot, which is handled so badly that I cannot fathom its point, and the epilogue, which has more things wrong with it than this footnote could contain even if they weren’t spoilers—about all I can say for it is that it’s not The Dark Tower, which is damning with faint praise indeed. It is entirely skippable and indeed I would recommend it.

I was surprised by some of the side details of the plot, but not in its main direction. This is not a criticism, because I suspect that the conclusion of any intensely-scrutinized series should be partly predictable if the author has been playing fair. And there is an ending, and it is consistent with the series to date—which is why I said, ultimately, the important thing is that this is a Harry Potter book. Unless your opinion of the series is tied closely to particular characters (also not a criticism), it’s not likely to be changed much by this book. I thought the series was good at the details, less good at the bigger picture, and very good at pulling me through the page until I had to make a concerted effort to come back out and start analyzing. I read the book straight through, and then wandered around in a daze for most of a day, surfacing slowly from the, well, spell it had cast on me. I may sound lukewarm now, but I won’t regret the time I’ve spent on the series, if for nothing else than that initial thorough transporting.

A spoiler post follows.