Thank you, Mrs.Rowling

July 24, 2007 at 12:18 pm | Posted in bong, King markiV returns, life | 10 Comments

Just done with the seventh book of the Harry Potter series… And still licking my wounds…

That the story ‘lacked ANYTHING that made the previous 6 books worth their while’, could quite be just MY view. Or even that the conclusion book staggered inconclusively could be attributed to my personal perspective.

But that the book falls short in logic and reason and fails to tie along the story that I assumed was crafted and woven through its predecessors is a fair observation. Growing up slowly with each book, I think it only justified that most readers, like me, would relate to Harry. With the sixth book, I no longer felt like a mere reader or the book as a looking glass into the mysterious world of magic. I felt a certain oneness, feeling pain when Harry did, stung by minor clashes, filled with euphoria at his finding love, overwhelmed with tensed anxiety during an adventure… And this, I feel, was the books’ greatest success. Book 7 cheats the reader on this.

[No Spoilers Here]

I’m not into throwing the plot spoilers here. Mrs.Rowling has done a wonderful job at that in a half score pages of this book. But a few descriptive examples of how and why ‘The Deathly Hallows’ is true to its name Deathly, but rather Hollow…

Mrs.Rowling seems to have gotten a bit too many characters in play through six years, and decides to unceremoniously get them disposed off. Now now, I understand its war, and people do die. But let them die with a little grace. Important characters die with lesser importance than that given to Dumbledore’s in book 6, Sirius’s in book 5, Cedrics through books 4 and 5, or even the incessant idiocy of the Harry-Cho drama in book 4 and 5 or Ron-Hermione in book 4.

The biggest problem in most stories is the finish. This, however, one doesn’t expect from an expert storyteller like JKR. With a lets-make-it-as-we-go style, the story weaves through and through, diverging further and further until its too far away to get to the conclusion. The plot ends with a redundant anti-climax, or with a ‘i-woke-up-on-the-dream’ or a simple ‘magic’ by the unseen. These are acceptable phenomena in the Harry Potter world and I hold no qualms. But a dream to small talk with Dumbledore (more resembling Morphious, from the Matrix) right in the climax, under old Voldy’s feet just gets to be a little too much… Especially since there are no answers here and it only further irritates the reader.

It looks like JKR decided to do off with Harry and wrote through the penultimate chapter first, then changed her mind halfway and decided to let him live. That means someone has to actually kill the Dark Lord. Of course good, kind hearted Harry Potter wouldn’t do it. And anyone else killing the dark lord would make the entire series meaningless (I really wished it would be Neville in a daring suicidal move). Well, he had to go (this IS the last book), so he conveniently has his Avada Kedavra rebounded on himself, just as Harry throws a measely disarming charm… Yes. That’s how Mrs.Rowling chooses the greatest dark wizard of all time to go.

Too many sidelines here. The story weaves through a plot of Harry’s wand thinking by itself, Voldy’s wand transferring power to Harry’s, a new concept called the deathly hallows, Harry being a descendent of some fairy tale hero… And add to it the trivial subplot involving the horcruxes and finishing Voldy, which surfaces occasionally, if ever.

And the final, most irritating part is the language flow. I close to decided that my book was a fake- printed out of some random fan fic somewhere. Now to think about it, the fan-fics should have been better.

[Plot absentia makes non spoilers end here]

Well, however bad the book is, the very fact that most, like me have read the previous six should push them enough to take this final drive through the adventure. As you might have heard, Harry doesn’t die. As per the epilogue, he instead lives an insignificant nineteen years not worth mentioning, except for living a life like bunnies do- and increasing the population by 3. In fact, the years rolled dull his thinking to the extent that he names his kids with the last 4 names that he heard in the close of the previous chapter.

Overall, thanks Mrs.Rowling, for saving a hero from death, and instead throwing him into an unemployed, half educated, depressed life of just…. Umm… procreating with Ginny.

Ps: the one good thing here is at least Harry throws a round a couple of unforgivable curses- a Crucio and an Imperio… Really hoped he’d just get all that vengeance off with an Avada Kedavra…

Pictorial evidence that Harry aint as much a goodie goodie as it seems. Ron- time to move on!!