The Road through my Fucked Up Life.

Road paved on 6:44 PM |

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

It all started with the picture of this cute plush owl of Hedwig that I saw at the poster, and I thought to myself, might as well just buy the book together. It is afterall only AUD29.95 (x3 = RM90) which is lesser than the price offered by MPH Malaysia. And I get a cute Owl as well.


Major bookshops in Malaysia ain't selling The Deathly Hallows due to a price war initiated by Carrefour and Tesco. Wikipedia had news about it (surprisingly).


And so there I was, waiting in line that went round the block just to get a book. And boy, the first thing I said to the person behind the counter: This is sure the ugliest cover in the series.


I waited till after lunch to finally sit down to read.

And as how I had done with my review of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, I started reading with a few questions on my mind.
1. So is Dumbledore really dead?
2. So what's up with the Deathly Hallows? (WTF is it anyway?)
3. So is Snape bad or good?
4. Who died?
5. So did Harry died?
And more importantly:
Is the ending going to live up to expectations?

And 5 hours later (I fell asleep halfway)...

MAJOR SPOILER!!!
Highlight at your own risk!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
First published in Great Britain in 2007
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 38 Soho Square, London W1V 5DF
607 pages 36 chapters

Short forms used:
Harry Potter: HP
The Philosopher Stone: PS
The Chamber of Secrets: CoS
The Prisoner of Azkaban: PoA
The Goblet of Fire: GoF
The Order of the Phoenix: OotP
The Half-Blood Prince: HBP
The Deathly Hallows: TDH

At 607 pages, TDH equals HBP in thickness and length. And after the filler and anticipation built up of HBP, TDH has better be good or I will personally fly to UK and assassinate Rowling. Ok, maybe I would not go to that extend, but I think even if this isn't the best book in the series, it was still one of the better books.

We are introduced to the 17-year-old Harry Potter who can finally perform magic outside of school. And to my relieve, there are more spells being thrown about, and after all it is the final duel between the two wizards, there are some high tech stuff being unleashed. There are not few spells that I have not heard before, and it is pretty cool to finally see these advance spells being put to proper use.

The book started out at a very fast pace. Battles are fought in midair, and once that was over, it slowed down to a pace that I actually fell asleep. This slow pacing could be attributed to the fact this book frequently back track to the past of almost all its characters and Harry having visions as well. For several chapters, the three main characters barely moved from their physical spot in the book at all and the plot remained stagnant for a while, while the flashback plays and more info overload which explains very little of things, but in some other things, made things a little clearer.

And the search for the Horcrux... the book is supposed to be about finding for the Horcruxes, but the search only started in earnest in Chpt26, pg419. And what's up with the Horcrux and Hallows? The introduction of the Hallows was a little tad confusing for me. Somehow I do not really see its significance. And how could the Dark Lord be so stupid? But the reasoning Rowling gave was pretty convincing.

And be prepared to have all the other 6 books laid our around you while you read, because TDH refers to so many red herrings and little little details that you would have normally ignored in the last 6 books. I am still cracking my head thinking about one of the things stated - pg498, 3rd last paragraph (when and where did that happen?)

It was around Chpt26 that the pace started to build up again. Find the Horcrux, search for the Dark Lord, the battle, the kill!!!!

In the end, I would say that the closure to this series is pretty good. It follows the standard old-fashion Tolkien formula of journey, discovery, WAR and triumph. It tied up almost all loose ends, settled some rivalry, it delivers some emotional punches (I had one punch that left me going, "WTF? WHYY!!!"), killed the people it needed to kill, and in the end, it did deliver what it had promised.

I would definitely say, 'Good book'. Not the best in the world, but "That will do, Potter, that will do." (Said like how in Babe, the farmer told the pig).


I would not go into details of the book as what I have done in my review of HBP. But I will talk about the main question everyone is asking:

Who died?

People, people... there is a war going on in the book, a lot of people are dying. You want the entire list, wikipedia has a nice list to see.

Deaths that impacted me most:


Actually there are so many things else that I wanted to blog about this book. Like the stupidity and naivety of Voldermort, and how Ginny could have played a bigger role, and Snape and Draco should have more book time...

But I just could not say anything about it at the moment. Or I am just too lazy, and I am having that weird sensation I always have every time I finish reading a series of book.

It is this bittersweet feeling that wells up inside. You feel like you are saying goodbye to a very close friends, and indeed it is. It has been a 7-year long friendship, and you know that you'll never see that friend again. You feel like you want the story to continue forever, but sometimes, it is best to let it end where it ends.

So in remembrance and respect of these books that had somehow got the world reading again, I will not comment further on the books. Let its memories and opinions lie where it should: in the heart and the mind of its readers.

So long, Harry Potter. It has been an up and down journey of good books and bad books, and I am glad it ended where it ended, and therefore we parted good friends.

Yes, the man's last great accomplishments I fear.
And so it comes to me to put an end to this thing.
- Balthier, Final Fantasy XII

We passed by on 6:44 PM |