Review

I must admit, I’m so torn as to what rating to give this book. I want to just gush and gush about how well Rowling pulled all the many, many pieces from the six prior books together for “The Deathly Hallows.” Likewise, I’m left with a rare feeling of satisfaction as this simply wonderful series comes to a close. It’s hard enough to pull off that feat for just one book, but “Hallows” manages to stand on its own in that regard AND provide a real sense of closure to the Harry Potter story as a whole. That I read the last 500 pages in just two days testifies also to the author’s keen ability to keep one turning pages. Of course, it took me a month-and-a-half to get through the first 250 pages…

And that’s what keeps me from flat-out RAVING about “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.” I just kept putting it down because unlike the prior six novels, I was NOT hooked from page one. In fact, I honestly had begun to think that I (at the age of 34) had finally grown out of my Harry Potter phase. Well that is thankfully not the case, but it did take an awfully long time to get me onboard in the same way that I’ve so eagerly fell into prior Potter stories.

The only other issue for me is Rowling’s overuse of the “big speech.” I understand that in books you can get away with more of this than in the movies, but when two characters circle each other for literally six pages spewing exposition while hundreds of onlookers wait in silence, it just doesn’t FEEL right. Without dropping any spoilers, I’ll add that the climax of those six pages was a little underwhelming too.

As for the story, Rowling has crafted another doozy. There is a big “OMG” moment that’s been building for several years and thousands of pages now, but I can’t believe that anyone DIDN’T see it coming. Not that it diminishes it in any way — I’d have done the exact same thing, and been disappointed if the author hadn’t — but unlike some of the magical rug-pulling she’s done in Potters past, “Hallows” doesn’t ever leave you quite breathless in that respect.

What it DOES leave you is that satiated feeling of melancholy when something truly wonderful has passed. The Harry Potter books were (and continue to be) the only stuff I’ve read as an adult that really, REALLY took my mind to that childlike place I remember going to as a book-devouring kid. I got lost in these tomes — completely lost — and it wasn’t ’til I walked back out into the real world that I would remember that I was a grown man with grown man responsibilities and issues. Forget the wonderful tales, the marvelous creatures, the superb character development, and the countless surprises; Harry Potter made me feel like a kid again. That is what I’ve cherished most in these books.

Rowling says she’s done, and while part of me pines for more, I hope she sticks by her guns. Leave’em wanting more. The last chapter sort’ve gives a certain finality to this series and I think it’s best left that way. While I will miss Harry, Hermione, and Ron dearly, I’m happy to know that their stories have been told. It’s time to move on. That said, I’m so very thankful that I and my girlfriend at the time wandered into a packed theater on opening weekend in San Francisco several years ago to catch the film that everybody was standing in line to see. While the movie (and all of its sequels) have never quite lived up to the books, that first one introduced me to Harry Potter, and he in turn has encouraged me to embrace the child that still runs free in my mind when I just let it. Thank you J.K. And thanks to you too, Harry!