telophase | 3.75 h.

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that damn book

3.75 h.

...is the time it took me to finish The Book. Yes, three and three-quarters hours. Yes, I read damn fast, and it's not like it was written in particularly difficult prose.

OK - for those of you saying that Harry should have died: I never once thought he would, for the simple matter than the HP series is not a tragedy, but a coming-of-age story, and the coming-of-age story can't end with the main character's death. I should have posted that earlier, but oh well. :D

As far as the disguised names on the radio broadcast go, yeah, I appreciate the wordplay, but...
Kingsley = Royal
Remus = Romulus
OH COME ON PEOPLE IF THE DEATH EATERS WERE THAT STUPID YOU WOULD HAVE DEFEATED THEM LONG AGO.

Yes, like most of you, disappointed that Ginny was relegated to set decoration.

Loved Molly Weasley's attack on Bellatrix. Hands up everyone who think JKR was sniggering and thinking of Sigourney Weaver in Aliens as she was writing that?

The middle section was way too long and boring.

The revelation about Snape was disappointing, mostly because that theory had been flying around fanon for years.

Overall, I enjoyed the book, but I'm not going to obsess over it like I obsess over other books and stories. :)

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I continue to be fascinated by the way that racial politics underlie the story. I'm also fascinated by the attention paid to coming to understand the life histories of the previous generations.

Yes, I really like that, too, especially with the bit about the relations between the goblins and humans. I'm a bit disappointed it wasn't brought up again, actually, but I'm glad it was in there.

The WWII parallels keep striking me, but it's not like genocide and xenophobia were ever limited to WWII.

I had an article in this e-journal http://www.wickedness.net/ejv1n1.htm about the conceptualization of evil in LOTR, SW and HP as each representing a particular period of 20th century history. I placed HP after the end of the cold war and the growth of ethnic cleansing wars from Bosnia to Rwanda. I wrote that essay after Goblet of Fire came out, and now I want to revisit it because I think the parallels work even more effectively.

Molly's scene was great. I rather imagine offscreen she did terrible things to the corpse. Twice.

I would not be at all surprised. :D

[Molly] (to students) Don't worry children, she'll never hurt you again. Kreecher, hand me that potato peeler and hold her legs up . . .

I don't see how anyone could have really believed Harry was gonna die. I mean, seriously!?

I thought the book was great fun and Molly versus Bellatrix was the awesome!

I'm hoping some of the f-listers in the "Harry should die!" camp show up and talk about their reasoning, because I'd like to hear it. If this was a different sort of story, I can see where that would be an excellent way to go, but this is not that particular sort of story.

I have a couple people on my flist who are ardent anti-Harry/Ginny, which again, I don't see how they could not have ended up together. From the get-go, I thought it was pretty obvious how that was going to go.

There are lots of interesting paths Rowling could have taken (I'd always been partial to the thought of Harry/Hermione and of, you know, Snape surviving) but as you said, none of those places really fit into the story she was telling.

I got into an argument with someone on fandom_wank right after reading HBP over Harry/Ginny. I pointed out that of course it's going to happen, because what does Harry most want of anything? Family. He marries Ginny, he gets the whole Weasley family, and Ron marries Hermione, he gets his best friends as his brother and sister. And the person rounded on me, asking if I thought friends couldn't be as good as family. Which confused me because, it's not what I think, it's what Harry thinks, and if Harry thought his friends were just as good as his family, then why was he mooning about his family all the time?

I never expected to be involved in a shipper spat over on fandom_wank, of all places. O.o

I remember that! And yes, that person was nuts.

The thing I don't like about the ending with Harry/Ginny, is that he abandons her for the book, and she is really not able to do anything. I realize that she has liked him through the whole series, but I don't think I could forgive someone for walking away to die willingly without saying goodbye. Everything they had gone through was so complex, that I think the ending provided was just to storybook.

I didn't really think Rowling would kill Harry--as you say, it's not that kind of story. But I felt like she sort of wrote herself into a plot corner where Harry should have ended up dead, and she had to do a lot of handwavy magical stuff to bring him back.

Which is all to say that my issues are more with the mechanics of the plot than the themes of the plot on that point. If that distinction makes sense.

Yeah, that makes sense.

I did love the bit where it comes out that Dumbledore's maneuvering was all to get Harry to die so that Voldemort could be killed. :D You don't usually get that sort of twisty stuff in a kids' book.

You know.... I just finally got around to reading the book, and am now catching up on all the spoilered posts on my flist - and it occurs to me - doesn't this make you think of Curse of Chalion? I wonder if Rowling reads Bujold...

It would be like Frodo going into the west, partly. But the other part would be: look, the whole reason everyone has been suffering all along is because Tom Riddle decided he was the only snowflake who was just too special to die. So it makes sense that the only way to stop him was for someone to be willing to die.

But dying temporarily doesn't count. Who wouldn't be willing to die temporarily? We all go to sleep every night. I enjoyed the book, but Harry's coming back really sucked the life out of the ending for me. I would have liked him to be able to come back for long enough to say goodbye to everyone, and then to get on that train.

And then nineteen years later to see what Hermione, Ron, Neville, Luna, and Draco were up to, in more detail than just who married who and what their kids' names were, and how their world had been shaped by the events of Harry's War.

Agreed. I didn't really think of this as a coming of age story so much as an epic like the Lord of the Rings. Harry and Voldemort BOTH dying made more narrative sense to me. However, I didn't think she was going to kill him.

I was totally in the 'Harry should die' camp but only once the Horcruces were introduced; I figured Harry was a horcrux and he'd have to die to defeat Voldemort.

Turns out I was right! I just didn't expect him to weasel his way out of death. =p

Heh, and my friends are goggle-eyed at me completing the book in 5 hours...

I kinda liked the way the Death Eaters seemed to _stop_ being egregiously stupid in this book. They were so terribly anticlimatic and unfrightening in book 6, I was afeared that they would continue to be a damp squib. Voldy actually appeared to have read the Evil Overlord list at points!

... though he was still dumb enough to end up in a circle of at least a hundred enemies, without any supporters, and with no way of magicking himself out (as it's been repeatedly punched into our heads, you can't apparate at Hogwarts).

I was surprised Fudge didn't turn up. I was expecting him to appear in order to die semi-bravely.

I cheered when Ron left, and booed when he came back... *snerk*

I have yet to see a single post mentioning Mad-Eye Moody's death. Where's the love? *waves Mad-Eye Moody fangirl flag forlornly*

And yeah, no way in a million years was she ever going to kill Harry for real. I mean, come on.

Rowling has a real kink for meeting your Twoo Love as a teenager, doesn't she?

Rowling has a real kink for meeting your Twoo Love as a teenager, doesn't she?

I just read a comment on Fandom Wank that said: you'd think that a woman who started the first book as a single mother wouldn't be quite so hot on meeting your true love as a teenager, now, would you?

I have yet to see a single post mentioning Mad-Eye Moody's death. Where's the love? *waves Mad-Eye Moody fangirl flag forlornly*
A friend of mine stopped reading at that point and went to bed. Moody was his favorite character.

Cried when Moody died. It was worse because I threw a HP party at the library I work for on Tuesday and had the fiance dress up as Moody. He did a damn fine job, too. The eye patch with the huge googly eye was inspired.

Nice to see Ron bust a few moves and be useful for once. I really see that as the hitch in his relationship with Hermione. Can't really see her falling for someone who is so painfully inferior to her.

And although I saw it coming, the bit with Neville and Nagini was very fist-pumping-the-air YEAH NEVILLE!! for me.

Draco was a disappointment though. Make him a bad death eater who gets waxed, or make him a redemptive good guy - don't have him spend the book wobbling indecisively! ARGH!

Finished mine in about the same time (somewhere between 3.5 and 4 hours).

The Molly vs. Bellatrix has to be the best duel ever. Period.

Was I the only person who saw the Regulus Arcturus Black being RAB coming from a mile away? He was the only possible RAB who would have had access or motivation to get to the locket. And Kreacher. Dare I say it, he was almost adorable when he was leading the house elves of Hogwarts in that kitchen-utensil-wielding charge.

JKR seems to have a big thing for redemption, although, I was expecting more of a Draco redemption rather than a Snape redemption.

I was dreading this book a little just because I wasn't sure whether Rowling would tie up all the loose ends as much as I'd like, but as it turns out, I have very few criticisms to make (mostly Hermione being difficult when it came to the idea of the Hallows).

Absolutely I saw RAB coming. And I figured that the locket they'd found in the drawer was the locket. That was accidentally spoiled for me a few days ago, before I read the book, and I said it didn't matter, I'd been assuming that.

I think I liked this the best of any of the books (but then, perhaps you should not pay any attention to me, as my previous favorite was Order of the Phoenix).

I managed to avoid spoilers, so I thought there was an infinitesimal chance she would kill Harry if he was a Horcrux. I didn't really expect it, though. (And I don't understand all the people saying that Harry as a Horcrux is an overused idea, because, really? They only spotted it after HBP. It's not like someone stood up before that and said, "Harry totally has a piece of Voldemort's soul inside him!" Most people even disregarded Dumbledore's statement books ago that Harry had a special connection with Voldemort).

The deaths hit me hard. Even Snape's, though I was expecting him to die, because he did not die the way I thought he would, or for the reason; I expected him to be murdered when Voldemort discovered his allegiance. Overall, I was surprised that she was willing to kill that many people, and I highly approve of them dying in fast ways, with no lingering deathbed scenes.

I think the epilogue is sappy, but I knew it was going to be there, so I was willing to tolerate it.

Actually, I read a novel-length fanfic probably six years or so ago, in which the author had Voldemort's soul transferring into Harry's body that night in Godric's Hollow. So if he killed Harry, his soul would go to the afterlife while his body remaind on earth and he would be truly immortal, but if Harry killed Voldemort, then the soul animating his body would be gone and he would die too. Aside from it being a slashfic, which would majorly turn some people off, I know, I thought it was brillaint. X3

You're talking about the Snape/Harry one, aren't you? It was brilliant. Disturbing and wrong, but brilliant.

Yup, that'd be it! Snarry is my guilty pleasure OTP, and Cybele wrote absolutely fantastic fics. I actually cried at the end of If You Are Prepared. She made me like Harry, which was an accomplishment. XD

Holy crap. How do you read that fast? It took me about 10 hours (with interruptions...seeing as I was at work and answering pages).

Agreed!
Though I thought with the death of Sirius and Dumbledore that it was a tragedy and that Harry should have died. Thoughts on the living Horcruxes? I personally disliked them, as it always sounded pretty cheesy to me.

I'm still laughing at the fact that Draco named his kid Scorpious.

I always had ideas of who would die and half of them came true, Snape dying, yet as I found out about it, I was quite sad for him. I kinda wanted him to keep going, but through everything that was happening, he really was destined not to stick around.
But him becoming Head Maser, woah, what an idea! Especially after so many people around me claimed that he was totally evil and only did these things (protecting Harry) because of the Order and that was the only reason he seemed good. He deserved a boost like that!

I had also figured that Draco would die, as I figured he would die in an end all, die for your friends-im sorry I betrayed you-I never wanted to be like this-father made me do it-kind of way. Made sense to me.

Yet, I couldn't believe that she killed off Fred. No one saw that coming around the corner. I mean, who would kill off just ONE of the twins?

I cracked the hell up about Snape/Lily, since I know for a fact that the FIRST. FANFIC. EVER. IN. FANDOM. Was Snape/Lily. Dear God, Gypsy was right all along!

That is brilliant! Was it a good fanfic? :D

...

It wasn't, you know, outrageously bad or anything, but I wouldn't say it was good. Very, very schmoopy.

>Yes, I read damn fast, and it's not like it was written in particularly difficult prose.

THANK YOU. I only just finished, because I didn't put my life on hold this weekend, but I was clocking along--not as fast as you, but 100 pages an hour, no sweat. I was a little boggled by all the folks saying, "I'm going to read all night and not do anything else! See you Sunday evening!"

Er. Mostly just skimming the flist now. Back later with possible content.

OH COME ON PEOPLE IF THE DEATH EATERS WERE THAT STUPID YOU WOULD HAVE DEFEATED THEM LONG AGO.

And their voices weren't disguised at all! Harry recognized them all right away, Draco could probably have identified them too (some of them at least). But Big V was pretty stupid in this book on the whole so really this was just one more instance of stupidity.

Yes, like most of you, disappointed that Ginny was relegated to set decoration.

No way! Are people really saying that? She was a leader of Dumbledore's Army with Luna and Neville, I think that's pretty cool. (Though granted, it was offscreen, JUST LIKE TONKS AND REMUS WERE THE WHOLE BOOK.)

I agree. While she wasn't forefront like the trio, she was most notably a force to be reckoned with. I caught myself grinning every time she got mentioned, knowing how it affected Harry as well as how she was contributing. :)

I didn't think of Sigorny Weaver, but I did cheer. I also cheered for Neville, because he finally become a properly recognised hero.

Harry annoyrd me through-out the book with his constant whining. He'll never be my favourite character, but I don't actively hate him. I was also completely unsurprised that he lived, or in fact the way it was done, as I was expecting it to happen. I also got that Harry was a Horcrux books ago, so was very unsurprised at that "revelation" (could there have been any fans out there that didn't suspect it?).

I'm glad Hermionie survived (woo for brains!), though to be honest I'm not sure I could have seen JKR killing her off when she's always admitted that Hermionie was most like herself. It was quite unsatisfying how Ginny was pushed out of things. Sure, she did plenty of things offscreen, but it would have been nice, you know, reading about her doing something in a bit more detail. I agree with above comments that Draco should have either been "redeemed" and joined the good guys or just gone the whole hog and joined the Death Eaters, I always thought Draco would be the kind to hold a grudge that would bolster him up in times of hardship (so he could later take revenge) rather than wobbling indecisively one way and the other.

I'd never really been a Snape lover. Sure, I liked him (and always knew he was on Dumbledore's side...), but I didn't see the entire appeal. However, Little Snape was so cute! I just wanted to squish him and then go about matchmaking him with Lily (possibly so as to pre-emptively get rid of Harry and replace him with the unwhiny Neville). I still don't get the amount of Snape love, but I like him even more now that I've read the memories. He really was a good guy and a hero in his own kind of way.

I would have also liked to have known what they all did for jobs at the end though, who was Headmaster at Hogwarts, where they all lived and hints about what happened in the intervening 19 years... I'm also wondering how Harry and Ginnie's kids could fail to know how famous their parent(s) are, because even though Voldermort was gone I doubt it would have been forgotten in a mere 19 years and all the older wizards would no doubt still remember it clearly.

Well, since I was never into the HP fan-fic scene, I didn't know that the idea with Snape being not evil/not a traitor was old hat. I didn't imagine I was the only one who had that thought, but I didn't know it was quite that well-known ... naive of me.

Actually, Moms in general came off well, didn't they? Even Draco's slimy Mummy covering for Harry ... of course, she did it for the wrong reasons, but she did lie to Voldemort. (I wouldn't have wanted to be in her shoes if Harry hadn't won.)

I got tired of the kids snapping at each other in the middle section, but they're 16 and 17, they're stuck in a tiny tent and having to scrounge for their food, they're being hunter ... I guess they had some excuse.

The goblin business was interesting, but I was sad that the Griphook had no intention of keeping his end of the bargain - of course, Harry didn't either, which was pretty slimy.

Hehe, I think the Royal, Romulus thing wasn't trying too hard to fool anyone. But I guess the Death Eaters were already tracking those two, anyway.

Gag, I agree about the middle section...

Luckily, though, I haven't been into the book series for very long... I didn't know any of the theories about Snape^^

Re: the disguised names, the Death Eaters would probably recognize everyone from their voices--doesn't mean they can find/capture/kill the broadcasters.

But it makes it slightly easier to do so, and very much easier to find their friends and relatives and hurt them.

True ;)

On the whole, it was good enough. It was about twice as long as it needed to be, and I agree with all your assessments, but it capped the series nicely.

I'm saddest about Tonks. She was my favorite character. :(

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3.75 h.

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