The Book Tower

‘We thought you knew what you were doing!’ shouted Ron, standing up; and his words pierced Harry like scalding knives. ‘We thought Dumbledore had told you what to do, we thought you had a real plan!’

Well I’m afraid it’s a little bit more complicated than that. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is a slow burner indeed. Following a fantastic and dark opening, the novel takes its time to work its way to the Harry Potter conclusion. Rowling provides the final missing pieces of the jigsaw, with revelations revealing a deeper complexity to many characters, often confusing the allegiances of the reader as to who really are the good and the bad guys.

At times I found The Deathly Hallows long winded, but there are some excellent touches throughout – Rita Skeeter’s damning cash-in biography of Dumbledore is very witty, Harry revisiting his childhood home for the first time is equally tense, and Rowling explores the new adulthood of her characters very thoughtfully. And without revealing too much of the plot, you’ve probably guessed that this final instalment of the series finds the wizard world in chaos; following Dumbledore’s death the Ministry of Magic is largely in the hands of The Death Eaters with Harry and his pals in mortal danger as they race to defeat Voldemort.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows carries a lot of baggage; namely the whole Potter-wizards-Voldemort-Hogwarts mythology and backstory that I fully admit I had difficulty remembering. How come? Well, I read the first four Harry Potter books back to back in 2002 and have subsequently read the last three when they came out every other year. The back-to-back experience is certainly the best for understanding and enjoying the mythology and cronology; long intervals between instalments has left me struggling and The Deathly Hallows is full of references that just left me and my poor memory puzzled. I’ve raised this with die-hard Potter fans, but all I’ve had in response is a “hmmm…”, and I’ve left the room before they’ve had time to reach for their wand.

But fully grasp it all or not, there’s always one or two moments in a Potter book that make it worth reading; the giant spiders, Harry’s lessons with Lupin, the death of Sirius and the trips into the Pensieve with Dumbledore spring to mind although I am sure there are many more (usually anything involving Professor McGonagall, criminally underused in part seven). In the Deathly Hallows its the Pensieve again that provides some of the best written passages, with the final few chapters being the best that Rowling has ever written. In particular the chapter called Kings Cross is well worth waiting for, so brilliantly well written and touching.

So am I glad it’s all over? In many ways yes. There is still plenty of the Potter charm in evidence in The Deathy Hallows, I confess that the final pages brought a tear to my eye, but seven instalments is more than enough. Although, the thing is, my daughter has just reached the age where she’s discovering Harry Potter, so I’m just about to experience it all again.

If there’s anyone out there who’s bought the book and hasn’t read it yet take a tip from me: don’t indulge in the Potter speed reading and take your time over it – after all it is the last one. Go on, spoil yourself…