Finally...
I finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows about midnight last night.
Lest you all think I am the slowest reading attorney in North America, the reason it took me over three weeks to read the book was because Husband and I were reading it out loud to eachother. (We have done this with all the books since the 3rd one.) It's just kind of a thing with us.
The problem with this is, we had our Japanese exchange student living with us, and we cannot read it in front of Gabriel*, so, in order for us to read to eachother, we had to be alone.
Spending time alone with three kids in the house is no easy feat, especially when it is 100 degrees outside, so, we cannot really send them outside to play except to swim. And swimming requires parental involvement. It worked out that we were reading about one chapter a night after the kids fell asleep.
Our exchange student returned to Japan on Sunday afternoon, so, things are feeling a little more normal around here. And yesterday afternoon, while Gabe was playing at a friend's house and Lana was at pre-school and I was at work, after we had read almost the entire book outloud to eachother, evidently my husband picked up the book and was not able to put it down until he finished it. (The last three chapters.)
When I got home from work yesterday, Husband said, "I finished it. I couldn't help myself. You have to finish it, today." So, I did.
Wow. WOW.
Spoilers below (in case there is anyone else in America who hasn't read it yet.)
I LOVED IT. I loved it. SO. SO. MUCH. JK Rowling is my hero. I had been sure since the moment we cracked the book that Harry or Ginny would die. What a nice surprise to find out that while Harry did die, but, came back to life. It was just...awesome.
So lingering questions -
How did Dumbledore beat Grindelwald in the duel if Grindelwald's wand could not be beaten?
How is it possible, after something like 8 or 9 months on the road together, in a tent, alone much of the time, that Hermione and Ron never snogged eachother until almost the end of the book? Seriously. I WAS a 17-year-old-girl once upon a time. I SO do not believe that the whole Horcrux search was snog-free. I am pretty sure that tent was a SNOG-FEST every time it was Harry's turn to keep watch. :-P
Why was the piece of Voldemort's soul that was stripped out of Harry's soul and lying on the floor of the heavenly King's Cross Station during Harry and Dumbledore's talk - why was that piece of Voldemort's soul a child? Was it because it was placed in Harry's soul when HARRY was a child?
Why, when Harry, Hermione, and Ron were at Fleur and Bill's cottage - why didn't they go to see the Weasley's? Especially when Bill was apparating there to take Olivander there?
and lastly,
SNAPE WAS IN LOVE WITH LILY?????????????? Yowza.
LM
* We couldn't read the book in front of Gabriel because it upset him. We read the first three books to him last summer, and he loved them. I started to read book 4 to him earlier this year and it frightened him and he told me he 'wasn't old enough to hear it yet, mom.' And one day, he heard us reading and heard that Dumbledore was dead and he FREAKED OUT. I had to lie to him and tell him that Harry was just having a bad dream that Dumbledore was dead. So, at any rate, the book could not be read out loud in front of Gabe.
posted by LawMommy at 3:05 PM
5 Comments:
Oh, bravo! Among other things, you can now read other blogs without squinting to avoid spoilers.
I'm not too up on snogfests, but I do think that the bit of V's soul at King's Cross is so small and deformed because his soul has been split and deformed so many times--not that it became attached to Harry when he was a child.
I wonder if the troupe was worried about visiting the Weasleys because the place was under such heavy surveillance. Also, Ron's mom isn't the easiest to get away from!
The wand question is a perplexing one. However, it's possible to be distracted and disarmed even if you hold the Elder Wand--it happened to Dubledore himself when Draco found him on the tower!
I'd love to hear more of your thoughts if you get a chance to blog on them again! E.g., how did you like Hermione's articulation of Wizarding Law?
ds
Ooo . . . I think I can answer the wand question (since I went back and re-red the entire book): to be true master of the elder wand, one must vanquish the previous owner. Grindewald did not conquer the previous owner, he just stold the wand when the previous owner wasn't looking; therefore, Grindewald was never the true master of the wand, making it possible for Dumbledore to beat him. I am such a nerd. Also, I agree with DS about why the piece of V's soul is so small. And, I agree with you. That tent would have been a total snogfest when Harry's back was turned.
I loved loved it too.
On the wand. The same reason as why it would not work well for he-who-must-not be named. G. stole it and did not win it.
I wondered if Voldmort was a baby because they were in a pre-heaven like place, perhaps a pure place, and maybe that was the last time Voldmort's soul was somewhat untarnished. Maybe as his soul was so shattered and destroyed, a baby was all it could support.
Oh, and I thought the Christian religious undertoneds very interesting.
Same theme for the Lion Witch and Wardrobe books.
Notice Harry calls the place he went to after he allowed V to kill him "King's Cross".
I loved how in the end Snape really was an element of surprise. THroughout the whole series you wonder about him, he wavers abck and forth..his memories really tied much together and explain what I had already suspected (not that he loved Lily, but that he was in fact with Dumbledore and the good side to thepoint of his own death.)
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