Dethly Hollaz.

[teaberryblue]

I finished reading DH on Wednesday, but I didn't want to post too many thoughts on it until:

1)The Carpet Copy was verified
2) Everyone else had had a chance to read it so they wouldn't have to go back through the Flist.

So now it seems like the right time to do this.



The book was really good. Stylistically, no, JKR has not become a great writer of prose. I don't know that prose is her strength. I don't expect it to be. But on the whole, the writing style was far tighter than HBP and just chugged along. It was a sharp contrast to HBP, where I got the book at midnight and went home to race through it and got through the first couple chapters and had to put it down because IT COULD NOT KEEP ME AWAKE. This one, I plunged into expecting to read a little bit at a time and COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN EVEN AT 4 AM WHEN I HAD TO WORK IN THE MORNING Monday and Tuesday nights.

The biggest thing for me was STILL the transformation with Neville. That just totally floored me. And it was completely in-character, but I NEVER expected him to become like a Resistance Leader. That was incredible. I was just so pleased with the development for his character. And his Gran! And when his Gran was proud of him. It was just so phenomenal. And while I had expected him to become the herbology teacher, once that happened, him going to become a professor seemed like a bit of a letdown. But maybe he'll be headmaster someday! Whoo!

I was also really, really happy to see Hermione take such a big role. I have always liked her, but I really didn't like how little she did in HBP. That was the thing that frustrated me the most about HBP, was that everyone took a backseat to Harry, and the thing I've always liked best about the books is the group dynamics and Harry's friendships. After OotP, where the group played such a huge role, seeing the group dissolve into petty teenaged shit had disappointed me. So seeing Hermione reassert herself as Harry's right-hand woman was AWESOME. Pleased me so much.

--Remus and Tonks totally got married because she got knocked up and Andromeda held a shotgun to Remus' back. Totally.

The book was great. It was predictable in the sense that nothing that happened was a surprise, but HOW the things in the book happened were very surprising and kept me guessing. The how was so much more important than the what.

The other major thing I really want to talk about is Dumbledore. I have NEVER liked Dumbledore. I have always felt that something was off about him, that he was a manipulative git who fucked with his students and kept things from people who needed to know them. I always struggled with his character and I was so pleased to find out that in some sense, some of my suspicions about him were true. To me, this validated the character so much as an ACTUAL PERSON and not just a literary device who ended up getting his personality twisted for the benefit of the plot. Now, after six books, to discover that NO, HE ACTUALLY WAS HIDING THINGS, was SO FUCKING COOL. And now I actually love him, after all that. That was perhaps the best revelation ever.

Finally, Snape. I always thought he had a crush on Lily. I never thought of the possibility that the love between them wasn't so much romantic love as the love of a best friend. That was so much more poignant and touching than anything I had expected. So lovely.

And for any Snicket fans: Dumbledore= VFD. TOTALLY. It's CANON NOW.

McGonagall uses the substitutiary locomotion spell on the armor! GO BEDKNOBS!

NOW TO GO OUT AND PARTY SOME MORE.

Comments

[bloody-frogs.livejournal.com]

I knew we were going to see a bit of Andromeda before this series ended. I mean, with a name that cool, she couldn't NOT make an appearance.

Yeah, I was really pleased with Hermione. She's always been my favorite character, closely followed by Ron. And I've liked Snape since OotP, because compared to Umbridge he was just.... And Malfoy! I've liked him since HBP, bless him, and I'm glad he only turned out to be half a git.

I always knew that Dumbledore had some secrets. Seriously, it's not like he was born with a white beard and an IQ of 412398490123 with the motive of vanquishing Dark Lords. He had to have learned something along the way.

Yeah, so, best book in the series EVAR. But I'm still mad that Harry named his kid Albus Severus.

[gildedage.livejournal.com]

I didn't expect that many people to die, loved Neville, but I was very surprised that I didn't cry as much as I had with the other books. I bawled at Cedric's death, not that much at Sirius, bawled at Dumbledore, bawled at Dobby- but no so much at Fred, even though I freaking loved Fred and George.

The Albus Severus doesn't bother me at all. It's a legacy name. If you say it, it doesn't really bother you. They call him Al! Plus, he was hella adorable- and yo- Rose and Hugo??? Say WHAT???

I wanted to know what their jobs are! Booo!

[spiralstairs.livejournal.com]

BAHAHAA! YES! XD McG's real name is Eglantine Price!

[seraphtrevs.livejournal.com]

Oh man, we're like braintwins, because I agree like 100%! (Well, maybe 97% - but that's still pretty close!) ESPECIALLY about Dumbledore!

I am very excited right now! I just finished it 15 minutes ago! :DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

[kiwi-magic.livejournal.com]

I was thinking about Albus Severus and, truthfully, it DOES make sort of sense. I think Harry felt, for the first time, a closeness to Snape after he learned that Snape was so in love with his mother and had been trying to help Harry this whole time at great personal risk to himself and even in doing things that were completely horrible - all for Lily's son. And I think James would have been rolling over in his grave if Harry had named his elder son James Severus. But Albus Severus makes sense, honoring the trust between Dumbledore and Snape.

[bloody-frogs.livejournal.com]

No, I just think that it doesn't sound good. Both end on an S, so it's like naming your kid Andromeda Nymphadora or Remus Sirius or Filius Xenophilius.

[evil-laugher.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it was a bit overkill.

[dancedarkly.livejournal.com]

I'm mind-mapping the Role of CO2 & O2 in Cell Metabolism, yes I am! Actually, no, I'm not, am I? I'm still rambling. So!

Uh, McG/Armour = BEDKNOBS = THAT'S WHERE THE RANDOM IMAGE CAME FROM. THANK YOU. And I entirely agree re: Dumbledore.

"Remus and Tonks totally got married because she got knocked up and Andromeda held a shotgun to Remus' back. Totally."

I kind of wanted to see more of Andromeda because she STILL looks like Larissa in my head despite being nicer than the rest of her family, I still suspect that she eats people.

Funny, I gave Mum a whole speech on how Neville would take a stand in Harry's absence. She didn't believe me. <3 Neville.

And Hermione... revived. Thank heaven for that.

[dancedarkly.livejournal.com]

...it just perturbs me slightly that it spells 'asp'. o_O SNAKE-CHILD.

[patagonian.livejournal.com]

I knew (or maybe just hoped really hard) that Neville would have some big role in the book. I've always been rather partial to the boy.

[keladry.livejournal.com]

Am I the only one who wants little ASP to end up in Slytherin and be the hero of the next saga?

[teaberryblue.livejournal.com]

NO YOU WERE NOT. I totally want that to happen.

[liret.livejournal.com]

That was my thought as well. Though even a strong interhouse friendship between him and Scorpy would be cool.

[liret.livejournal.com]

The jobs was actually something I liked not being put in - I honestly feel like she was leaving wiggle room for a future series, by some later generation if not herself.

[evil-laugher.livejournal.com]

Aww, that would be so cute. Too bad it would tax us all to the extreme. "ANOTHER 7 BOOKS?!"

[mariye.livejournal.com]

I totally agree with the shotgun wedding.

I loved the scene where Remus comes and tries to tag along with Harry, Ron, and Hermoine, only to have Harry totally tell him off. Remus was always one of my favorites, but he didn't seem real sometimes. He seemed too goody goody and easy-going. Seeing that outburst and breakdown made him human too. It made me like him more.

I'd have liked maybe a line about how Tonks died, cause I liked her too, but it is just as well. Maybe better. I mean, in a battle you can't see when major people die really.

I agree on the Dumbledore thing, but was pleasantly surprised when she sprung that his sister wasn't a squib. I honestly thought she was up until that moment. And I loved Dumbledore's brother. I think I like him more in fact.

And Snape's flashbacks? It made me love him.

I also hold the secret hope that Mad Eye Moody lives.

Wasn't it great too how Neville was the one to slay Nagini? And that Ron was the one to smash the locket? It made a difference really. It made the other characters seem just as strong and as important as Harry. Also Ron and Hermoine taking initiative to set off on their own to destroy Hufflepuff's cup? Again a great move.

[gildedage.livejournal.com]

Yes! I can see that. I want some older, angsty Potter!

[rainy-day.livejournal.com]

This is way overdue but I didn't like Dumbledore at all, either! It was nice to have that nagging sense that he wasn't all butterflies and rainbows properly justified. <3