Aaaaaaah.

I sat up til late last night savoring every word and nuance of the final Potter book. I had put off reading it forever, knowing that after I was done… I was done.

It didn’t disappoint.

In fact, the final tale to the Potter epic was remarkably deep and powerful in themes of love, redemption, sacrifice, family, friendship and learning the purpose in life.

I had skimmed the book Looking for God in Harry Potter and was impressed by the intricate weaving of classic literary themes and Christian elements into the Potter series. In that book, the author unashamedly recommends the Potter series for reading by all.

I would echo that sentiment. In Potter, as in other tales of fantasy and epic literature, there are themes as grand as the imagination can bear.

In particular, however, I was struck by J.K. Rowling’s use of biblical themes from Jesus’ life. In one instance, Harry and friends find the inscription, “Where your treasure is, there will be your heart also” (Matthew 6.21) on Dumbledore’s parents’ grave.

In another instance, 1 Corinthians 15.26 is inscribed, “The last enemy to be destroyed is death.”

While reference is not made to the source of these two verses, they remain true in our reality – as well as in Potter’s. I was fascinated and even moved by the final chapters of the epic as Potter willingly moves toward his destiny. (I’ll skirt that here for those of you who haven’t read it.)

As I closed the final page, I did so with warm reluctance. It had been a deep and fantastical journey since I read the first book back in 1997. Another grand literary epic was brought to a more than fitting conclusion.

Bravo, J.K.

It was pretty good, but it wasn’t my favorite of the harry Potter books. I put down the wrong date on the time I read it, but I can’t remember exactly when I read it. I got the book when it came out. That was the first and last time I will ever stand in a line until midnight waiting for a book.

I’m just not interested enough to continue reading

My least favorite of all 7 Potter books. I truly hate the lack of being at Hogwarts and all. True, I know it was needed for the plot and no way could Harry be truly safe from the Dark Lord there. Still, I liked the ending and the epligoue. In fact, I beat me goal to read all 7 books before Halloween by less than 3 weeks to go!!!! NOt bad for a first timer.
In closing, I felt really sad it had to end, but I’ve heard rumors of an 8th book, so who know’s. Atleast there’s still a couple of movies to be made.
Worth Consuming!

Notes while I read this:

1. Rowling says it’s not a good idea to summon Kreacher, though Harry et al would like to know what’s going on. He might be accompanied by a bad guy “hanging on.” Then why not prepare for that by being ready to kill a bad guy if he comes along?

This leads to another observation: the “good guys” never seem to kill “bad guys” even when it’s self-defense.

2. Harry et al. have gone quite a long way w/o bothering to figure out what’s up with what Dumbledore left Harry. He tried to open it once, but not since. They’re sitting around wondering how to find the Horcruxes, but are not using these as clues. How long can Rowling use this as an open loop?

3. And why don’t wizards disapparate when they’re in a tight spot and about to be killed? For example, Harry’s parents? (OK, one of the pitfalls of having “magic” in the world…you have to set up boundaries to keep the plot going.)

It took me over a month to read it because I was actually “saving” the book; I wouldn’t read more than one chapter a day to make it last longer :)

<3

I finished the book the day it came out and it has taken its place as my favorite Harry Potter book. JKR’s writing has come so far from SS/PS and is amazing. The plot is full of action, you can’t put it down! The characters get more developed and have some amazing moments (and romances, I’m a sucker for that)! All in all it’s just an amazing story!

I loved the Albus history. I had a feeling about Snape. I hate the epilogue. And in general I think the whole series brilliant in that it is readable, interesting, fun. I mean, sorry, but I always bog down in the Lord of the Rings stuff. And this creates a wonderful alternative world without it being so darn complicated. I love how with this, I can be out of touch with that alternative world and then, once I’m into the story, totally recall it.

My favorite is still #3. It’s the godfather thing no doubt.

Could I just have suggested that she spend more time on the anti-climax, letting the story resolve a bit without the need to jump ahead and create the happily ever after epilogue? Like, we could have gone to funerals, seen how the wizarding world was going to reorganize itself, and frankly, we could have used a little compassion toward Draco, a little fleshing out there would have completed the character. And made Harry finally better than his dad. Better even than Snape.

Ok yes, so I spent a week in July re-reading the Harry Potter books so that I could go into book 7 with all the building blocks firmly in place. Overall, the series is uneven, not terribly well written from a language point of view, but the stories keep dragging you along, dragging you along, and the characters are compelling enough that, I’ll admit it, Rowling regularly makes me cry. Order of the Phoenix is still my least favourite (there’s just too much in there that doesn’t add anything). And Deathly Hallows definitely managed to tie up a lot of loose ends, raise the stakes on the complexity of the characters and the situation, and bring the series to a satisfying close. That said, if you haven’t read it yet, I’m quite happy to recommend that you not bother to read the epilogue. I suppose it’s still possible to spoil people at this point, so I won’t go into detail, though I’m happy to discuss this with people some time.

Another good book in the series. Tied almost everything together very well. As with the last few, the book dragged in the middle. But it should please the majority of Harry’s fans.