(no subject)
Well I was GOING to read my friends page, but after responding to the first Book 7 response I saw (Liz's), it occurred to me that maybe I ought to get all my initial thoughts out in my own post first to, you know, consolidate it, and then go out and respond to everyone else's different thoughts, so here you go...
Verdict #2 is-- excellent! Once more, as in the case of the movie, better than I worried. My biggest concern going in was How on earth would she be able to tie up ALL the loose ends and still do so in the context of a compelling plot? Well, she did, which puts this final volume one up on the final volume of the Series of Unfortunate Events (QUAGMIRE TRIPLETS????) AND one up on Book 6, which, though enjoyable and full of important information, I found to be lacking in actual plot development. And considering I quite liked both those books, you know this one was even better.
Hmm, where to begin? Most of my major theories turned out all right. I pretty much was completely off on deaths, except for Snape... oh, and Fred, but I thought for sure he and George would go together, so I was only half-right; but I was pretty glad that nobody I absolutely didn't want to die died. Neville didn't die in a blaze of glory, but my Neville-fangirlism was absolutely vindicated by his pulling the sword of Griffindor out of the Sorting Hat. A moment of total glory that could only be rivaled by dying in a blaze of glory! That moment was just perfect for me-- I didn't see it coming, but it seemed so absolutely perfect that I probably would have shouted something along the lines of "YES!" if I hadn't been trying not to wake a baby.
Speaking of babies, that made another moment stand out that might not have meant so much to me a year ago-- one of the only times I got teary-eyed was oddly enough reading the letter from Lily to Sirius on --page 182 I think it was (I sort of remember the page number because I went back to it a couple times); just picturing Baby Harry on his toy broomstick and thinking how in ten years he'd be "Broomsticks? Quidditch? What?" and turn out to be a natural at it. One of the coolest things I've learned as a mother is how much personality a baby has from-- well, from the womb even-- you sort of get stuck on the impression that babies are pretty much blank slates when you don't see them at every waking moment. The letter made me think about how much I've learned about Sammy in just three months, and how much more the Potters experienced in 15 months, and Harry doesn't remember any of it! ('cept that burst of green light and something about a flying motorcycle...) If his parents hadn't died, or he'd been raised by wizards, how would he have been different, and even more, how would he have been the same? Deep stuff about who we are, nature vs nurture! And so forth.
I know I could write more but that's probably the main things I have that aren't likely to be covered by anyone else. I rather wish the epilogue had had more in it, especially about the other characters, especially since she's had it written for years. But ah well.
Verdict #2 is-- excellent! Once more, as in the case of the movie, better than I worried. My biggest concern going in was How on earth would she be able to tie up ALL the loose ends and still do so in the context of a compelling plot? Well, she did, which puts this final volume one up on the final volume of the Series of Unfortunate Events (QUAGMIRE TRIPLETS????) AND one up on Book 6, which, though enjoyable and full of important information, I found to be lacking in actual plot development. And considering I quite liked both those books, you know this one was even better.
Hmm, where to begin? Most of my major theories turned out all right. I pretty much was completely off on deaths, except for Snape... oh, and Fred, but I thought for sure he and George would go together, so I was only half-right; but I was pretty glad that nobody I absolutely didn't want to die died. Neville didn't die in a blaze of glory, but my Neville-fangirlism was absolutely vindicated by his pulling the sword of Griffindor out of the Sorting Hat. A moment of total glory that could only be rivaled by dying in a blaze of glory! That moment was just perfect for me-- I didn't see it coming, but it seemed so absolutely perfect that I probably would have shouted something along the lines of "YES!" if I hadn't been trying not to wake a baby.
Speaking of babies, that made another moment stand out that might not have meant so much to me a year ago-- one of the only times I got teary-eyed was oddly enough reading the letter from Lily to Sirius on --page 182 I think it was (I sort of remember the page number because I went back to it a couple times); just picturing Baby Harry on his toy broomstick and thinking how in ten years he'd be "Broomsticks? Quidditch? What?" and turn out to be a natural at it. One of the coolest things I've learned as a mother is how much personality a baby has from-- well, from the womb even-- you sort of get stuck on the impression that babies are pretty much blank slates when you don't see them at every waking moment. The letter made me think about how much I've learned about Sammy in just three months, and how much more the Potters experienced in 15 months, and Harry doesn't remember any of it! ('cept that burst of green light and something about a flying motorcycle...) If his parents hadn't died, or he'd been raised by wizards, how would he have been different, and even more, how would he have been the same? Deep stuff about who we are, nature vs nurture! And so forth.
I know I could write more but that's probably the main things I have that aren't likely to be covered by anyone else. I rather wish the epilogue had had more in it, especially about the other characters, especially since she's had it written for years. But ah well.