The.Biggest.Effing.Book.in.the.World.EVER!!!!

by JK Rowling

Leading up to Friday, I was feeling very, very blue. I don't think another series like Harry Potter is going to come along for a very, very long time, and I was torn between my desire to find out what happens to Harry, Voldemort and all the characters I've come to love and hate versus wanting to preserve the illusion that things wouldn't end with The Deathly Hallows.

(I was thinking about publishing phenoms like this, and I guess they come along once every generation--you have Dickens in the 19th century, Tolkien and Agatha Christie in the 20th. I wonder what'll cause the same frenzy in my son's generation?)

In fact, as I stood in line for the book (I was in the first batch, having picked up my color-coded wristband early Friday morning), I had resolved to savor the book and read it slowly, and listen to my body--if I felt like sleeping, I'd sleep.

Well! I began reading it at 2 am Saturday morning (got home at 12:30 am, then had a snack, took a shower, paid attention to the husband who generously missed out on the fun and games at our Borders--which, BTW, I joined, lame though they were), took a break at 5 am to feed the child, then finished the epilogue at 7 am.

I couldn't stop. This book has the distinction of being so action-packed, I just couldn't help myself from reading and reading.

And I cried. I didn't bawl, , but I certainly dry-sobbed so many times.

The casualty list was just horriblle. Long AND horrible.

And the path Harry takes to confront Voldemort. That was wonderfully written--I think it's a great way to show kids what bravery looks like.

Certainly the book isn't perfect. But while I think about the book's flaws, I also think about Annie Wilkes, the crazy serial-killer-writer-kidnapper in Stephen King's Misery. When she forces Paul Sheldon to bring her favorite character back to life, and he does, she judges his first attempt a "cheat"--since what he wrote didn't follow, logically, what he'd written previously.

And while I disagree with some of Jo's choices, Annie Wilkes' accusation can't be made against her. The choices she made for the story were mostly right.

( I do protest the very, very first casualty, and the double casualty toward the end.)

The one thing I wish she'd done differently was the epilogue. I would've loved to find out, especially, whether people who deserved a comeuppance got them!

My husband had way more criticisms about the book than I did, so I'll share them here, and how I countered them.

(SPOILER ALERT!!!!!)










Why did the Malfoys have to be redeemed? I think their redemption points to Dumbledore's idea of the power of love, esp. the love of parents for a child. As Mudblood-hating and power-hungry as they were, they realized that these meant nothing next to the possible loss of their child.

Too much deus-ex-machina (a term we also learned from Misery). There were certainly a lot of close calls for Harry, Ron & Hermione in the book. But it makes sense that Voldemort was perpetually after Harry, and it also makes sense for the close calls. They were on a quest--and in literary history, quests are typically completed with a lot of hard work, quick-thinking, and luck.

Why did Fred have to bite it? Statistically, it would've been pretty tough for a family of 9 in a war not to suffer any losses. Benjie thinks it should've been Percy, but that would've been too easy. I think Jo chose the right Weasly--we all love the twins, and few of us care for Percy.

One thing that really surprised me--Snape's real feelings. (And given who he turned out to be, I would've liked for him to have had a public redemption, but I think the way Harry honored him was wonderful.)

Here's to JK Rowling, and Harry Potter. Long may they live on the bookshelves of the world!