Harry Potter: Day Five

Day Five: Chapter 19 - end

To my surprise, I finish Harry Potter today. The last chunk of book is action-packed, and although I find myself unmoved by most of the deaths that follow, I am almost saddened by the death of a house-elf. Granted, I had to ask one of Chris’s friends who the elf was because I couldn’t remember, but his role was quite touching, short as it was.

I do not completely understand the logic of how Voldemort is defeated (and this does not constitute a spoiler because, hello, this is the last Harry Potter book, Voldemort’s gonna be defeated) but am willing to chalk it up to reading too fast.

While I enjoyed the book, most of the allure of the early Potter books is missing. There is no time for new characters or even old characters; this book is all Harry, all the way. There are no new magical discoveries for us in this book like the first time we encountered the Hogwarts Express and, my personal favorite, the Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans. There is, in short, very little fun going on in this book, and a heck of a lot of fighting. Magic, it seems, is relegated in this book to shouted spells and much wand-waving, and not really to…being magical. For that, you have to go back to the first Harry Potter book.

Posted by: ssjane | August 4, 2007 | 11:04 pm
Posted in: Books