Harry Potter and the Splintery Broomstick
July 21st, 2007 ~ Pop goes the cultureWell, I really try to hold fast against any tidal waves of pop culture, but I couldn’t do it — I had to go out today and buy the last Harry Potter book (which Greg irreverently referred to by the title above). I haven’t even opened it yet, because I know that it’ll take way more time than I want to give to it to finish the thing. I tell myself that I’m not just succumbing to the hype, and that might be partly true. I look on this kind of thing as a matter of self-defense — if I don’t hurry up and read it, people will blab all the spoilers. So off I go to hole up somewhere with a pot of tea and start finding out what happened to all these folk, and trying to recall who they are and why I cared.
Before I get into it, I’ll just say what I’d like to find in this last tome:
- I’d love it if J. K. Rowling carried through with having this year feel like the world of an 18-year-old, as the first one felt like the world of a 10-year-old and so on. That was one of the motifs I thought was really pretty cool, though it was rough when he was 15 and all he ever did was shout at people in all caps.
- I don’t know what should happen to Snapes and the Malfoys (lesser and greater), but it should be nasty.
- I’d like to see the Muggles world enter into things again. I almost felt like Rowling was moving towards a sort of convergence a book or so ago, and then she dropped it. Maybe I’m the weirdo for wanting that, since our representative Muggles are just Harry’s awful, awful adoptive family, but I thought there was a message about magic and the real world that could have been quite profound.
As far as how things wrap up with Voldemort and all that, I’m happy to have no expectations. There doesn’t seem like much chance of a disappointment on that front. It’s bound to be a page-turner. And it’s been fun to go through this sort of literary pilgrimage, even if it wasn’t very weighty material. But heck, it started getting mythic in scope several books ago, so I guess it’s as good a thing to waste a weekend on as anything.
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July 21st, 2007 at 7:09 pm
I think Draco will either turn good, or be destroyed. I think Snap is like Jack Sparrow, Snape is on Snape’s side, but I think he leans towards good.
My wife is reading it now, and from what she has told me about it, it really sounds good.
Also, after having read Order of the phoenix, I came to the conclusion that James Potter was a real jerk for treating Snape the way he did, and I can understand why Snape has such an hatred for James that sadly gets spilled onto Harry.
I look at Snape, and Star Wars kicks in where Luke tells Vader “There is good in you, I know it.”
July 22nd, 2007 at 4:55 pm
Mine was supposed to be delivered yesterday but wasn’t, blast it. I’m determined not to care that much, but I fully intend to open it to the last page first and find out who dies. I’m not good at sustained tension.
I agree about Snape; Rowling seems to like turning perceptions of character on their heads. Draco, on the other hand, is pretty clearly a Deatheater in training and deserves whatever he gets. Wouldn’t it be lovely if he’s the “major character” who bites it?
Of course, by this time you probably know, don’t you? Argh!
July 23rd, 2007 at 4:14 am
We got out copies at 2 AM Saturday morning. Of our children who live in this ciry, the two girls (ages 28 and 23) are reading as fast as they can, what with work and church and life getting in the way). The youngest, a 20 year old son, and I are completing a journey we began 10 years ago as we take turns reading Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone to each other. (Poor Dad couldn’t get through the first one…..) Again, with work and church, we have only read 4 chapters (must do two a day to complete before he returns to college).
Today we are both off work! I have great hopes for progress in Deathly Hallows today.
July 23rd, 2007 at 8:52 am
Robert & WM: I’m inclined to agree that Rowling gives you reason to go this way and that on Snapes. Up until the last book, I really was sure he was with the good guys, but I did find his character loathsome. (I mean, what kind of grown man has to constantly work out his past humiliations on one of his students?) But, yeah, the revelations about the kind of treatment he got from Harry’s dad are eye-opening.
It’s all part of what makes this series unusual — there’s a constant smudging of the line between friend and foe, hero and villain. I’m not saying it’s some master-stroke by Rowling — I don’t really know. Sometimes I find it irritating. But I’ve been thinking about that as I make my way through this one. 150 pages to go — I’m going off to find a Starbucks, and I bet I won’t be the only one in there with this 4-pounder. ;-)
WM: Delivery — yep, I know. I thought I had pre-ordered mine with Amazon. But I have gotten no word from them, and so I just threw up my hands and bought it at Wal-mart. Very low-tech, but hey, I got the darned thing into my hot little hands before people could pipe up with spoilers.
July 23rd, 2007 at 8:57 am
Anam:
So it’s a family affair, as the old song goes. That sounds like a lot of fun. You remind me that I didn’t get into Potterism until the second book was out, and then it was just because I was curious to find out what all the fuss was about. I was particularly intrigued that my mother, who generally has no use for things like this, had the bug.
It really has been a good experience for a lot of people right now, I think, to have a book series that makes you *want* to read. I’m sure we’d all love it if people could be more interested in weightier material, but hey, it’s still better than computer games and itunes for your cultural repository.