What’s this 52 Books in 52 Weeks thing about?

[Obviously, this being the last book, if you've not read it, you'll want to steer clear of this entry, because there will be a lot of spoilers in it. You've been warned!]

Well, it’s over. Last night at around 2AM, after having read around 550 pages throughout the day, I finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

The ending – with the return of Harry, with the final truths about Snape and Dumbledore revealed – simply blew me away. I mentioned before that I’d accidentally ran across a spoiler about Harry dying in book 7; luckily, however, I had no idea that Harry came back. When I discovered the spoiler, I just assumed that in a climactic final battle, he and Voldemort killed each other, and that would be that. Clearly (if you’ve read the book), my assumptions were quite wrong. I noted, however, that my supposition that Harry himself was a Horcrux turned out to be correct.

That Snape ended up truly being a “good guy” pleased me, because I had felt quite betrayed by him ever since he’d killed Dumbledore. Up until the revelations from Snape’s memory, I really was at a bit of a loss as to who was helping Harry out, particularly in the instance of the Gryffindor sword and the doe Patronus. Throughout the series, there were a few mysteries which I was able to guess at successfully, figuring it out before the explanation came along; the deal with Snape was certainly not one of them. Rowling covered her tracks amazingly well by having Dumbledore and Snape plan Dumbledore’s death at Snape’s hand. That’s something I never saw coming.

As was brought up in previous posts about the Potter series, as well as in the comments for those posts, Dumbledore did indeed have some things in his closet which he didn’t want known. I was a bit bummed about learning of Dumbledore’s past, perhaps feeling a bit like Harry: the great, wise, kind wizard’s file had been marred. Certainly, he and Harry spoke at the end (in that peculiar ethereal place), and Harry forgave Dumbledore once he understand Dumbledore’s motives and thoughts, but still – that Dumbledore was more than a bit of an ass in his youth was a downer. It did, however, lend more humanity to him – I suppose, looking back at his character in earlier books, he was portrayed as perfect.

In the previous books, I noticed Rowling’s exploration of the concept of “Mudblood”, those who were Muggle born and had no “pure wizard blood” in them. When I saw this in the earlier books, it reminded me of the Nazi persecution of Jews. This analogy can really be seen in Deathly Hallows, after Voldemort has basically taken over the Ministry of Magic. The “Muggle-Born Registration Commission” sounds eerily similar to some of the race-related offices that existed within the Nazi state. When groups of Snatchers started “rounding up” Muggle-born wizards, it just gave me the creeps. This sentence in particularly leapt out at me:

“Not a bad little haul for one night,” Greyback was saying, as a pair of hobnailed boots marched close by Harry and they heard more crashes from inside the tent.

Hmm – hobnailed jackboots, worn by the Wehrmacht, anyone?

I may be breaking from what the masses wanted to see, but I really wanted to see Harry and Hermione get together. Nothing against Ron, of course – I liked him tons – but I just felt Hermione and Harry would make a better couple. Then again, I suppose Rowling couldn’t simply “swap” – Ron marrying his own sister? Probably wouldn’t have gone over real well with the public.

I have only one negative feeling about Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and that is that I’m now done with the series. I have nothing more to look forward to other than the slow release of all of the movies. I could turn to fan fiction, I guess, but I’ve never cared much for any fan fiction, regardless of what it’s based on, so that’s unlikely to happen.

Oh well. It’s been one hell of a ride, and I’m very, very happy that I got over my book elitism and read the first one. It’s been a lot of fun.

See you around, Harry and Co.

Last night, I was up until 2AM finishing Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. The ending was awful. Before I go any further with this post, please be aware that there will be some major spoilers in it. If you’ve not read this one yet, steer clear. With that out of the way…

I can’t believe that Dumbledore is dead! Certainly, I knew major characters were due to start dying at this point in the series, but Dumbledore? He was certainly not one of the main characters who I imagined dying! He was always the strongest, the wisest of the cast – he was supposed to make it to the very end! His death was all the more worse because of who caused it, that sneaking, slimey bastard, Snape. Despite the hints dropped throughout this book that Snape was actually lying to Dumbledore, I thought, just maybe, that Snape really was on the good side. Indeed, when he burst onto the top of the astronomy tower, I rather expected him to show his true colors and attack the Death Eaters. No such luck, however… I turned the page to read of him screaming “Avada Kredavra” and killing Dumbledore.

I suppose, however, that Rowling could always pull a Tolkien, and have Dumbledore come back, right? Right… ? (Yeah, I’m not going to bet on it.) While on that topic, Dumbledore has always reminded me a great deal of Gandalf, but the similarities really poured out in Half-Blood Prince. When he and Harry were in the cave, searching for the Horcrux, and Dumbledore was searching the walls for a hidden doorway – wow! Trying to enter Moria, anyone? The giant lake inside a cave with the little island in the middle reminded me a lot of Gollum’s abode, too. Finally, all of Harry’s private lessons with Dumbledore reminded me of the chapter in Lord of the Rings where Gandalf sat up late into the night, explaining the history of the Ring to Frodo. Anyway… onward:

That Draco is now in the employ of Voldemort pleases me, in a way. Previously, he was just a nasty little jerk, but he wasn’t completely on the “bad side”, despite his father’s Death Eater status. Now he’s most definitely on the bad side, and I hope to see him get his comeuppances in book 7.

In regards to Voldemort’s Horcruxes, I’m wondering something (and this is a rhetorical question, don’t bloody answer in the comments! ): Is Harry one of the Horcruxes? If he is, I suppose that would explain why he has to die in Deathly Hallows. He would also fit (sort of) the description of being “of the Gryffindor House.” Wouldn’t that be a bummer for him? All of this fighting Voldemort, figuring out how to take him down, only to discover that he himself (Harry) has to die before Voldemort will kick the bucket.

Of course, I now stand at that awful point that everyone who reads series must face: only having one book left in the series to read. I’m torn – obviously, I want to rush and get the next one from the library and find out how it all ends. On the other hand, I really don’t want it to end. However – my desire to know what happens outweights my feelings of “no, it’s almost over!” I’ll be checking out book 7 from the university library tomorrow.

Finally! After much chipping away at this mountain of a book, I finished it last night. It took me much longer to finish this one, mostly thanks to school. The bulk of my reading during the day has been for class, and so Potter and Co. had to be relegated to bedtime reading. A major negative point about it taking me so long to finish this one up is that, truth be told, I can’t remember much from the beginning at all! Anyway:

Like all of the other Potter books, I quite enjoyed this one. It’s been enjoyable to watch Harry and friends age through the series – even if not all of the characteristics that have come forth from that aging have been, shall we say, positive. I mentioned something to my friend Joshua almost right away when I started reading Order of the Phoenix: Harry is becoming more and more whiney. Sure, he has reasons to be a bit grumpy at times, but damn does he have a temper. There were a few points in the book where I wished Ron or Hermione would give him a good slap, to snap him out of his raging about like a baffoon. I get that Rowling was trying to show his “coming of age” and the associated hormonal – issues? – but I think it was a bit over the top.

Other assorted, bullet-point style thoughts:

• Hagrid really topped himself this time. Dragging home a giant, and hiding it in the forest – nice. Hagrid is definitely one of those characters I wish were real, so I could hang out with him. Great guy, great fun.
• Umbridge! Argh! Bitch of a woman! She definitely got was coming to her near the end of the book. There was definitely a point in the book at which I thought she was going to get away with being horrible, and not have to pay any consequences for it. Luckily, the centaurs took care of that.
• Definitely saw a darkening of the overall mood of the series in this book. It seems that more and more talk of death and murder came up in this one, along with other general nastiness. Filch, for example, clamoring to whip Fred and George? I can’t really imagine that being in the first book.
• I chuckled a great deal with how Rowling dealt with the students’ emerging relationship interests. I loved how Ron and Hermione (who I know “get together” later on) were constantly bickering like a married couple. I also laughed a bit at how Harry’s struggles with Cho were described.
• The prophecy about Voldemort and Harry explained a great deal (and it was about time!) I can definitely see why Harry and Voldemort both end up dying (grumble, grumble about stumbling on that spoiler!)
• This note is specifically at Cas: nope, sorry! The more I read, the less and less I picture Dumbledore as the Michael Gambon version. Richard Harris’ version was (in my opinion, obviously!) much, much better. Michael Gambon is just too weird with the part. His portrayal makes Dumbledore look like some wizard who is persistently high or something. Oh well. Not like we have much choice, seeing as Harris is dead.
• I can’t believe Sirius is dead. As I get closer to the end of the series, I expect people to start dying – it’s inevitable – but I did not expect Sirius to die. Is that weird archway thing that he fell through explained in Half Prince or Deathly Hallows?
• Noseblood Nougats sound so disgusting. Makes me want to never eat a candy bar with nougat in it again. Puking Pastilles don’t bother me much, for some reason.

I’ve already started reading Half-Blood Prince (indeed, I’m already 150 pages into it), and I must say: dirty, slimey bastard! Snape’s been spying on Dumbledore all this time! And I liked him! Ugh!

1. Song of Susannah – Stephen King continues his Dark Tower series with this one. It was alright, but I certainly preferred some of the other ones more, particularly Wizard and Glass. It’s main selling point with me was that it was the bridge between book 5 and the last book of the series, The Dark Tower.
2. The Fall of Berlin 1945 – Antony Beevor writes about the tragedy, the sadness, the absurdity of war. This is almost like a follow-up book to Stalingrad, which I read last year. It was a really interesting reading, but also more than a bit sad. I’m always shocked at how truly insane Hitler had become by the end. It was also a bit of a shock to read how brutally the Red Army treated German civilians, particularly women. I’ll have to check out Stalingrad again and see if the German army behaved this way while heading towards Stalingrad.
3. One Dharma: The Emerging Western Buddhism
4. The Dark Tower (Book 7)
5. Insomnia
6. Awakening the Buddha Within: Tibetan Buddhism for the Western World
7. The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness
8. Freakonomics [Revised and Expanded Edition]: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything
9. Working with Anger by Thubten Chodron
10. Body for Life by Bill Phillips
11. Zen Buddhism (The Origins of Wisdom) by O.B. Duane and Alex Gooch
12. Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
13. Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card
14. Lakota Woman by Mary Crow Dog
15. Sharpe’s Tiger by Bernard Cornwell
16. Auschwitz: A New History by Laurence Rees
17. Xenocide by Orson Scott Card
18. The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
19. The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman
20. The Last Kingdom by Bernard Cornwell
21. Harry Potter and the Sorceror’s Stone by J. K. Rowling (original title: Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone)
22. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling
23. The Immortal Game: A History of Chess, or How 32 Carved Pieces on a Board Illuminated Our Understanding of War, Art, Science and the Human Brain by David Shenk
24. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
25. The Pale Horseman by Bernard Cornwell
26. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
27. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
28. The Dhammapada by Gil Fronsdal (Translator)
29. Myne Owne Ground: Race and Freedom on Virginia’s Eastern Shore, 1640-1676 by T.H. Breen and Stephen Innes
30. The Indians’ New World: Catawbas and Their Neighbors from European Contact Through the Era of Removal by James H. Merrell
31. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
32. The Stand by Stephen King
33. A Short History of World War 2 by James Stokesbury
34. A History of India: Volume 1 by Romila Thapar
35. Politics and Culture in the Developing World – The Impact of Globalization by Richard J. Payne and Jamal R. Nassar
36. Confederates in the Attic by Tony Horwitz