Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

I've wanted to post on this for the longest time. But got sidetracked by Granny.

We watched Order of the Phoenix a week before Hallows came out. So there were lots of Stunning spells flying around the house as Owain kept going: Stupefy! Stupefy kor-kor!! And the kids squabbled amiably about who could be who in Harry Potter. "I want to be Ginny!" said Cait. Gillian bossily dished out the roles: Isaac could be Voldemort (!) and Owain would be Harry Potter (thanks to the scar right in the middle of his forehead!) , Gillian would be Luna and mummy be Hermione, Dad can be Ron!!

But no event was more anticipated that the arrival of Hallows on Sat 21 July. To be honest, I did not pre-order, sniffing at the hype that was churned up. But sniff or not, I too was swept away by Potter mania and surreptitiously bought a copy at MPH at 12nn on the same day. KH had refused to drive me to the nearest NTUC at 7am and was frowning at my interest in the book. Why so? Because my loving sister had pre-ordered a copy for Isaac and was going to courier it down from KL as a surprise. And until then, no one, ordered KH, should be fingering any copy of Hallows or it would spoil the surprise.

But I couldn't wait. So I bought a copy, ignored KH's frowns, gleefully waved it over Isaac's head while banning him from touching my book (my previous copies of HP are all tattered, torn and literally read to bits thanks to Isaac's manhandling! Think limp kiam-chye, dog-earred pages, coverless books, drenched by rain, dried by sun etc) and settled down to read from 3pm the same day. The kids had gone to their cousins for the night, so I could read without Isaac badgering me. Except an hour's break for Granny, and for a steamboat dinner, I steamed through the book until I finished it at 1am.

Here's my take on it. If you haven't read it, don't want to be 'spoiled', stop right here.

On the plus side, I like the rollicking adventure, as always. Rowling's simple language, as usual, is easy to access and very friendly and appealing to young readers and to adults. The magical world remains as fascinating as it has been, particularly with the inclusion of new elements such as the Hallows. The action sequences were rippingly good and took place at breakneck speed, leaving one gripping the book and really being quite unable to put it down until the sequence was over. In particular, in the early pages, Harry's evacuation from Privet Drive.

The death of familiar characters like Moody, Hedwig, Dobby etc did not make me tear up. These are ultimately still secondary characters. Had it been someone in Harry's inner circle eg Ron or Hermione, or even Mrs Weasley, that might have been different. And by the time the book ended with the deaths of Tonks, Lupin and Fred, one really feels quite immune. The sense of loss/grief did not quite reach me from the book and I got a sense that perhaps Rowling herself was a bit impassive about these characters.

While the plot was kept moving quite well, the entry of the Hallows into the picture might have muddied the waters a bit - perhaps I was expecting a straightforward search of the horcruxes and maybe an out-and-out race between Voldemort and Harry to reach the horcruxes before the other did. The introduction of the Hallows fleshed out the wizarding world a bit more but made it a bit disjointed.

I have mixed feelings about the emphasis on Dumbledore's past. On one hand, I've always been curious about Dumbledore - what was his life like, how he ticked etc. So I'm glad Rowling gave us a glimpse into it. But again, I got a sense that the emotional holes were not nicely filled in. Yes, we know how he felt, but we didn't quite 'feel' him - and I'm not sure quite how to put my finger on it. And then there's Snape, the anti-hero. It was a bit disappointing that Snape did not feature much in the book at all, even though by the end, it was clear that he played a pivotal role. He remains inscrutable as a character. Again, as with Dumbledore, I felt that Rowling did not flesh Snape out as well as she could. Somehow, there is a lack of emotional connection there.

The contrast between Snape, Dumbledore and Harry was nicely elegant. Dumbledore, whom Harry had worshipped, had feet of clay and was not perfect after all. Snape, whom Harry hated with a passion, was a far stronger and braver character than Harry had ever known. Through all 7 books, Harry had judged based on incomplete information and on appearances. At times he had been pretty virulent in his rants against Snape. Yet now, when it was clear that Snape had made sacrifices galore, and who loved with such lasting passion, I found it disappointing that Harry had not expressed more remorse or grief at having misread him. Apart from naming his son after Snape lah! So if I had to have a favourite character for the whole series, I think it would be a tie between Dumbledore and Snape. I'm not very impressed with Harry and find him a bit whiny, shallow and rather a poor judge of character!

With Dumbledore's past revealed, the message was clear: everyone makes mistakes - even the great Dumbledore, but what was more important was to learn from them. And clearly, Dumbledore did, never again seeking a position of prestige and power as he realised his weaknesses and temptations.

Finally, the climax was an anti-climax! Yes, speculation is right - Harry died. But rose again! I found that incredible, not realistic and a real cop-out. Perhaps Rowling had to cater to her young fans who would have been very upset had Harry really conked. But I think this under-estimates the intelligence and sensitivity of many other readers and closes the door to what could have been an interesting discussion on courage and strength as Harry did what would have been incredibly hard for anyone to do.

And here's the tick too - I thought the Elder wand would not work against its true master. Why then did Voldemort's Avadra Kedavra kill Harry the first time round? I think this is a plot hole that Rowling did not spot. If it isn't and if anyone knows the answer though, pls share.

And what's with the 19-years-later epilogue? That was really juvenile. Yeah, we all know Harry would have lived happily-ever-after with Ginny, Ron with Hermione etc but the details of their offspring were unnecessary and a bit boring. The epilogue threw up more questions than answers. Like: what happened to Hagrid? Or Luna? Or Kreacher - is Harry still having Kreacher as a house elf? Who's the new principal of Hogwarts? The ending felt unsettling and ended the book on a very uneven note. I thought a better way to end it, if she really wanted an epilogue, was to list: HP - what happened. Hagrid - what happened etc. Succinct but infinitely more satisfying that the rambling that 19-years-later was. But perhaps this is intentional? Wanting to contrast a fresh start with Harry's own experience so many years ago - to end where it all started - on platform 9 and 3/4? Nice touch if so, but not good enough.

Leaving an opening for a fresh series using new characters where the last book left off - HP the Next Generation??

Overall, I felt that Rowling was in a hurry to finish. Maybe it was already the last book, so let's get it over with? Looking at the series as a whole, I felt that the first three books were the best. They were charming, the boarding-school scenario reminiscent of Enid Blyton, the wizarding world fresh and unique. But as the Harry hype went into big time, the movie deals were made, the books started getting larger and more unwieldy and as the cast of characters became larger, it was harder to lend each one enough emotional resonance, harder to build and shape each person definitively. Much like the movie - which had so many great British actors (and nooo Radcliffe is not one of them!), but sadly all of whom roughly got about 5 minutes of screen time! While Rowling does spin a serviceable tale, her pen lacks the emotional gravitas to lend each character enough credence. Which is why, when Moody died, it was a case of: so? We are not told enough of him to feel for him. And the same for many other characters in HP.

Which is why this series can never match up to Narnia or LOTR. The series may have sold millions, but I'm not sure if it will last beyond the hype. We'll have to wait until 2010 when the last HP movie comes out to see. More than anything else, I think the HP franchise has been a fascinating lesson in marketing!