My <em>Deathly Hallows</em> Predictions Revisited: how did I do?

[Image: harry-potter-simpsons.jpg]Just before Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows hit the shelves (OK, technically, not very many copies hit shelves when I went out to get it at midnight. They seemed to skip that step and go straight to people’s hands), I sat down and posted a short list of my predictions for the book.

I like to read a bit more slowly than everyone else, though, and I only finished the book yesterday. It makes a lot more sense to me to read the book once and enjoy it than to use my friend Teresa’s twice-through method (Spoilers here!), which involves a lot more words.

I have since read the book, and I have also since realized that every freaking blogger in the world used the same book cover picture I used, but I guess that was probably inevitable. I won’t make the same mistake again (see image).

I’ve considerately tucked my spoilers and book impressions behind the cut.

First of all, and as promised, let’s revisit the list:

2. Snape is a good guy (duh) - this one was coming from thirteen miles away. If it wasn’t obvious, then you didn’t read the previous books.

3. Sirius Black is actually dead&gone - I threw this one in because I kept seeing comments and hopeful little image buttons expecting Sirius to return from somewhere crazy. Again, clearly not happening.

4. Draco will somehow be involved in Voldemort’s death - I liked this one. Didn’t have anything to go on with this except a “hunch,” so it was fun to see it pan out. After all that - the wand! Draco!

5. Snape will die, Harry will probably kill him - Shot in the dark. The second part. The first part was clear enough, because Rowling seems to like to follow the rules of epic literary stories when she can.

Now, the book itself: I liked it. I liked it quite a bit. I think it falls just behind Order of the Phoenix and Prizoner of Azkaban for me.

I know that there are those who feel that Rowling cannot write (in their defense, nobody’s saying she can’t put out an international best seller - that’s clearly false), but I find her relatively simple writing does an excellent job of just getting out of the way and letting me read.

I know I’ve said before, but I can’t find the link, that there are really two types of great writing. There’s the kind of writing that is amazing in and of itself, that makes you step back and admire each sentence, the way it was crafted, how the imagery fits together.

And then there’s the kind of writing that disappears completely when you read, that draws no attention to itself whatsoever, which is how I’ve always experienced the writing in Harry Potter.

That trick is a lot harder than it sounds.

Oh, and another thing that Rowling has managed to do over the past 7,563,899,254 pages: she’s made writing gigantic novels look easy, which is simultaneously frustrating and inspiring.

I think that one of the hardest parts of keeping an epic story like the HP novels together is making sure the story doesn’t unravel at the end like a Michael Crichton book. As David Edelman notes that Rowling managed to avoid many of the pitfalls he’s seen in other fantasy series’ conclusions. I disagree with him, however, on the Sherlock Holmes aspect:

Remember how frustrating it was when Sherlock Holmes would bend to the ground at the scene of a crime, take notice of something that our narrator Watson couldn’t see, and then produce this insignificant thing at the conclusion as the final damning piece of evidence against the villain? Rowling’s got that affliction too.

I don’t disagree that Rowling tends to do that, but instead of annoying, I find it endearing. I used to love Sherlock Holmes short stories. I love when things tie in together. I’m absolutely thrilled that Rowling was able to plant the Hallows throughout the series and then bring them out in the conclusion. I love the guessing games, the maze of clues, the riddles, the discovery that permeates this series.

Probably the part I’m most sad about after finishing the last book is that there aren’t any big puzzles to take a stab at. There’s no next book full of answers, and of course, more questions.

But really that’s a sign of a good ending. And it was a good ending. I think I read somewhere that someone found it anti-climactic. I certainly didn’t - the last face off between Harry and Voldemort felt earned to me, and from screenwriting I’ve learned that having your character earn their success is again, not as easy as it sounds.

There were a lot of “i wish” point in the book, though. I wish Snape had had a better death. I wish she’d bothered to pause the narration for the death of anyone besides Dobby, instead of dithering about in the forest for about 10 chapters. I wish we’d seen more house elf magic.

But those are hardly complaints: wanting to see more. They simply speak to the strength of Rowling’s characters and her world. I will miss the series.