Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Loeffelholz

...No...I don't know anything about it yet

Sorry if I got anyone's hopes up... :v But it's closing in on the bewitching hour where I live, when the book goes on sale everywhere from Barnes and Noble to the local drug store. Whether you're a fan of The Boy Who Lived or not, this is a huge event in publishing history...and anything that gets someone to crack a book---in an age where declining literacy is a very real concern---can't be all bad.

I just read all six prior Potter books this Spring, starting in April or so, and I have to say I'm a fan of J.K. Rowling...truth be told, I'm happy whenever someone with a fresh and creative idea can find a way to 'get over'...and IMO she's done it with distinctive style.

I have at least two employees who are in costume right now---one as Luna Lovegood, the other as Hermoine Granger, in line at the local Barnes and Noble, with 80 minutes to go before the tome in question falls into their sweaty little hands. As a battle-weary member of Management, I'll be on the job at 7:00 AM, Central Time, U.S.A....so I wasn't able to make the midnight extravaganza without doing undue harm to my middle-aged body and already-fragile mental acuity ) If I were off tomorrow, however, I think I'd probably be there, if only as an interested observer, taking a peek at yet another manifestation of an unhinged Fan Sub-Culture---the latest in a line preceded by the RPGers, the Trekkies, the Star Wars Nuts...and yes, even the fans of a particular fictional British Secret Service Agent, :007) plus as many others as further ruminations might conjure.

This is, after all, the "Last Hurrah" for the Harry Potter readers...there will, of course, be two more film premieres---and the requisite signings and conventions, as Harry's Fan Base grows older, and ever more affluent But there'll never be another Night of Potter like this one...

I will be purchasing the book tomorrow afternoon, straightaway after serving my time on the job, and will begin reading it nearly immediately B-)

Are there any Potter book fans here? If so, how bad have you got it?

Congratulations to J.K. Rowling on the great literary coup of the Late 20th-Early 21st Centuries {[]

---

POST-SCRIPT: I added the spoiler tag as a reminder not to kill the surprise for the rest of us...and would urge (read: beg) any early-bird readers to add the 'SPOILER' brackets to any known story details they simply cannot resist sharing...

asio

I just picked up the copy of Hallows, which I pre-ordered for my fiance. I had a read of a few chapters (yes, that includes the final chapter) and let me just say this...

NO SPOILERS!!!!

That goes for everyone!
I had The Return Of The King spoiled for me, and I don't want the same thing to happen to anyone else!
That being said, Hallows ends (almost) exactly the way I thought it would, and I think many millions of people will be very pleased with the final instalment.
Happy reading everyone!

i expect u2 die

I let my friends drag me into queuing up outside WHSmiths for the midnight opening, thinking there would be about 5 of us looking ridiculous in the middle of town.

I couldn't have been more wrong - the queue was absolutely huge, there may even have been over 100 people. Even a few chavs arrived to make fun of us, but geekiness was victorious this time, and the chavs were forced to retreat. (Nothing to do with the police arriving, and the press covering the event beginning to take photos).
But it was a really great atmosphere, and I'm glad I was part of it

emtiem

Quite right too- embrace the geekiness and don't worry about those chav losers!

That said; I can never be bothered with Potter books; not really my thing

asio

If only the release of Devil May Care would get this type of turnout. I doubt it though.
But, my fiance is happy that she now has a copy of Deathly Hallows, and even though I've read the important chapters of the book (which is the most of Harry Potter that I've read, by the way) I still understand how important it is to a lot of people, so I won't spoil it.

Loeffelholz

emtiem wrote:

I can never be bothered with Potter books; not really my thing

I was pretty much the same way, despite enjoying the films; this particular flavour of Fantasy has never held any special appeal for me.

Once I started reading them, though, Rowling won me over. They're a bit formulaic, to be sure, but IMO they've gotten less so as they've progressed. Her magical world lives and breathes, and is often quite funny. Great entertainment.

Well...I'm off to read this one!

jetsetwilly

I finished it about an hour ago, and I am now having a beer to recover. I just loved it. I was yelping and whooping and cheering as I read. Screaming with horror when it was intimated that certain characters "must die"; beaming with pleasure at certain parts (I have to say that

the kiss between Ron and Hermione

was so wonderfully handled, I almost burst into tears, and I don't cry ever, because I am dead inside). And the deaths, when they came, were terrible, as JKR no doubt intended. She very firmly impressed upon her readers that death and destruction were not fun. Re the deaths:

Poor Hedwig! Poor Dobby! Poor Colin Creevey! But am I alone in not caring if Lupin died, and in wishing Tonks had died in the last book, because that constant "Wotcha Harry" really got on my nerves?

Favourite bit (not spoliered, because the context, not the line, is all): 'NOT MY DAUGHTER YOU BITCH!!'

FelixLeiter ♀

I got it at midnight and spent twelve hours solid reading yesterday so have taken today off to let it all sink in and am continuing tomorrow.
I've never been at midnight to get any of the others but dragged my dad into driving me to town this time. It was fun.
We had lots of drunks go past as I expected, but it was interesting as I'd never been into town so late before; I haven't needed to.
Some guys behind me, one with his girlfriend, were discussing what they thought was going to happen in the end. One guy said rather loudly, "Harry dies! Harry dies! Harry dies!" I turned round to look at him and he just goes, "He doesn't really, kid! He doesn't really!" and everyone just laughed. )
I did hear on the news though about one kid who had ordered it on the internet and they mucked it up and sent it to him Friday morning! ) Lucky git.
I'm around 400 pages in and I'm finding it a lot more dark than any of the others. A lot of things I never could have imagined hapenning have and really it's all full of surprises for me.
I have resisted the urge to flick ahead. I did however, peel the bottom of the page back and read the last sentence. It was very reassuring. I have also flicked through and looked at all the names of the chapters, which unfortunately didn't give me as many clues or ideas as I had hoped.
I have already shed a couple of tears for this book. JK Rowling is a genius.
I shall continue to read tomorrow and hope that I continue to be shocked.

Pendragon

I am on page 502 and compleatly wound up in the story. I've been reading it in spurts, only so I can digest what has been happening. I stood in line for three hours with some friends after partying at a local bookstore (HP themed of course). Dressed as a Slytherin along with a my friend as a Gryffindor, we had a few fake duels with each other and a few with some little kids who were keen to get in on a Slytherin/Gryffindor fight. So much fun!!! I can't wait to see how the book turns out! laid hands on it at exactly 12:04 AM. good stuff.

~Pen -{

Loeffelholz

I'm nearly 75% through the book...and I have to say that so far it strikes me as the best of the lot---simply because the stakes are so high.

I'll be done in the next day or so---and it's with a weird mixture of anticipation, dread and sadness that I finish this remarkable journey.

Loeffelholz

I've finished it now.



Remarkable. Absolutely F*****g Remarkable.

The amount of emotion this series has wrung from me---since I first started reading Sorceror's Stone last April---is nothing short of absolutely f*****g remarkable.

To J.K. Rowling: {[] Thanks very much for writing B-)

Pendragon

I finished about four days ago...wow. such a good book. although I'm "mad" at her for the death of my other favorite character, I thank JK Rowling for these books. I guess it's time to start all over with book one...as soon as i find it...:s

~Pen -{

FelixLeiter ♀

I finished four days ago and it really was all fantastic.
I cried five times in total:

when Harry was at his parents grave cus that really was so sad. When Dobby died, which I wouldn't have expected me to because I really didn't realise how much I'd liked the character. When Harry saw the bodies of Fred, Lupin and Tonks, mainly because I liked Lupin a lot and couldn' stop thinking about poor little Teddy. When Harry was going into the forest and he said to the 'ghosts', on death, does it hurt? And finally, with hapiness when Voldermort was finally dead.

The last chapter was nice but for me it left me with so many more questions than I had had before really lol. Like I was really interested of what jobs everyone who had survived would have lol. ) It was just something I was curious about.

I really enjoyed the chapter 'The Prince's Tale'. I'd never have guessed any of that would have hapenned.
But now it is over and I am slightly sad to know there will be no more.

Mewtwo3090

I'm on chapter twenty-four out of thirty-six, and so far, it is fantastic. I went to the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows midnight party at Barnes and Noble and it was so crowded with Potter fans, that the store had to call in two police men to make sure no one did anything stupid. We even got recorded on the news! :)The store reserved over 900 copies, including mine. I didn't get home untill 1:30, even though the party ended at 12:00. It still was fun.

Loeffelholz

FelixLeiter007 wrote:

I finished four days ago and it really was all fantastic.
I cried five times in total:

when Harry was at his parents grave cus that really was so sad. When Dobby died, which I wouldn't have expected me to because I really didn't realise how much I'd liked the character. When Harry saw the bodies of Fred, Lupin and Tonks, mainly because I liked Lupin a lot and couldn' stop thinking about poor little Teddy. When Harry was going into the forest and he said to the 'ghosts', on death, does it hurt? And finally, with hapiness when Voldermort was finally dead.

The last chapter was nice but for me it left me with so many more questions than I had had before really lol. Like I was really interested of what jobs everyone who had survived would have lol. ) It was just something I was curious about.

I really enjoyed the chapter 'The Prince's Tale'. I'd never have guessed any of that would have hapenned.
But now it is over and I am slightly sad to know there will be no more.

I agree with the stuff that made you emotional; I felt the same way when

Harry visited his parents' grave, in particular...and the sight of the fallen allies at Hogwarts...and the appearance of Harry's dead friends and parents before his final confrontation with Voldemort...I'm getting chills just recalling it.

Some die-hard Potter fans I know didn't like the Epilogue, but I did! It hit me hard emotionally once more...

...the thought of Harry and Ginny, Ron and Hemoine being 36 years old, sending their own kids off to Hogwarts...One has to assume that Harry raised Teddy Lupin...I wonder if Harry actually became an Auror??

For all those who don't give a toss about these books...too bad for you But then, I feel the same way about Bond fans who can't be persuaded---or who simply refuse---to read Fleming: It's a shame, but I'd never try to force anyone to have a good time

DashDangerous

I really enjoy Rowling (not as much as my wife who I torture mercilessly about her Potter-geekdom), and her writing is easy to read, but being a fan of English and European mythology, I can't help but think that her genius lies in the fact that she has taken SO much from mythology and cleverly put it together in one cohesive storyline, in a way not done previously (except for maybe in Dungeons and Dragons modules).

Completely deserves all her success!

Jamesbondjr

I have been reading the Harry Potter books since 2000, I have been looking forward to seein g the end of the series for years.

I was blown away by Deathly Hallows, all Rowling's storylines flow superbly through all 7 books and are tied up with style in the last book.

I found it quite emotional at times:

Especially when Dobby was killed and the subsequent burial.

And also the revelations about Snape. I have always had a certain affinity with Snape as I share the same surname and I was glad he turned out to be one of the real heroes of the peice.

I was also pleased not all the villains were just killed off, Draco Malfoy or instance, him owing a life debt to Harry is much better than having him killed

As for the epilogue, I found it a nice way to wrap up the story, many people complained that all the characters aren't mentioned, if that had been the case it would have just read like a list with no real feeling in it. Some people just want to be told everything though i guess, just lazy and unimaginitive imo

All in all I love the book and the series as a whole, I'm sad it has ended.

cbdouble07

I grew up with Harry Potter, almost like I grew up with James Bond. So the book 7 was a mixed affair with me. On the one hand it was, I felt, the best book in the series and still sticks with me a week after finishing it. I felt that the last 200 pages were simply incredible and there were quite a few outstanding scenes throughout the whole book. But I also hesitated to finish it. As the pages went by and I got deeper into the story I was also a little sad. There would be no more after this was over; no more of Harry and friends or Hogwarts or quiditch or the whole quirky universe. It was also sort of an end to a connection with my childhood. A very bittersweet ending.