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#1 of 17 Posted 7/21/07 11:05 AM

From Jim Casey Posts 877 Last 2/23/09
To All [Msg # 106711.1 ]

I haven't read the Harry Potter books and have no wish to do so. However, like who shot J.R., I'd like to get the vicarious suspense over with.

So how does the story end?

- Jim

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#2 of 17 Posted 7/21/07 11:26 AM

From John in Detroit Posts 965 Last 11:08 AM
To Jim Casey [Msg # 106711.2 106711.1 ]

The story ends, of course, with the arrival of the inside back cover of the book

Nothing adds excitement like something that is none of your business!

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#3 of 17 Posted 7/21/07 11:36 AM

From Jim Casey Posts 877 Last 2/23/09
To John in Detroit [Msg # 106711.3 106711.2 ]

Cute. You mean there's no index?

- Jim

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#4 of 17 Posted 7/21/07 1:12 PM

From Dupa T. Parrot Posts 1470 Last Nov-20
To Jim Casey [Msg # 106711.4 106711.1 ]

So how does the story end?

The Marx Brothers invade Hogwarts.

Da Boid (DupaParrot) O-
Semper cattus.
Posted with Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.4

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#5 of 17 Posted 7/21/07 8:54 PM

From WizOp Adrienne C. Posts 1461 Last Jul-5
To Jim Casey [Msg # 106711.5 106711.1 ]

Dunno yet... my pre-ordered copy from Amazon.com hasn't arrived yet. Since they promised delivery ON the release date (today) or else the book would be free, I've sent off an email to customer service forthwith.

I've been home all day, so they can't claim no one was here to accept delivery.

Dri

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#6 of 17 Posted 7/21/07 9:13 PM

From Jim Casey Posts 877 Last 2/23/09
To WizOp Adrienne C. [Msg # 106711.6 106711.5 ]

I went to Target today for something mundane. They had about 100 copies and people were walking past without looking.

I know, I could have bought one, but I'm still not interested in reading the books.

- Jim

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#7 of 17 Posted 7/21/07 9:25 PM

From Sysop Marilyn L. Alm Posts 2248 Last Jun-25
To Jim Casey [Msg # 106711.7 106711.1 ]

Jim,

Can't tell you how it ends. Me, I was ringing out copies today at about one book per minute. Did as I said -- bought our copy when I walked in this morning, handed it to MY Harry, and warned him not to forget to come pick me up when my shift was over. (He didn't.) He's about a third of the way through and I'm tired enough that I'm quite willing to let him keep reading....

-- Marilyn

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#8 of 17 Posted 7/22/07 11:34 PM

From Sysop Marilyn L. Alm Posts 2248 Last Jun-25
To Jim Casey [Msg # 106711.8 106711.1 ]

Jim,

I have now finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The deathly Hallows did not turn out to be what I thought they might be. Rowling was right when she said people we had gotten to know and care about through the series would die.

Is Snape a friend? Is Snape a foe? Well... he's Snape.

My husband and I both agree that it is a very nicely done and satisfying ending for the series. Rowling did not disappoint me.

-- Marilyn

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#9 of 17 Posted 7/26/07 6:33 PM

From WizOp Adrienne C. Posts 1461 Last Jul-5
To Jim Casey [Msg # 106711.9 106711.1 ]

The book/series ends well. I was happy with how she wrapped things up. The epilogue is entitled "Nineteen Years Later", which leaves open the possibility of more stories set in that nineteen year timespan, though Rowling has said she doesn't plan on it.

Several characters get killed off, some I wasn't expecting.

Dri

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#10 of 17 Posted 7/26/07 7:15 PM

From Jim Casey Posts 877 Last 2/23/09
To WizOp Adrienne C. [Msg # 106711.10 106711.9 ]

Thanks.

- Jim

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#11 of 17 Posted 7/30/07 7:15 PM

From Jon Woolf Posts 1135 Last 4:54 PM
To WizOp Adrienne C. [Msg # 106711.11 106711.9 ]

>> Several characters get killed off, some I wasn't expecting. <<

And at least one character who I was expecting to die, survived. Maybe two.

-- JSW

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#12 of 17 Posted 7/31/07 10:34 PM

From WizOp Adrienne C. Posts 1461 Last Jul-5
To Jon Woolf [Msg # 106711.12 106711.11 ]

Since this is clearly marked a spoiler thread, and the diehard fans have already bought and read their copies, maybe now we can talk about it a little bit in more detail.

Which character(s) did you expect to die, but survived instead?

Dri

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#13 of 17 Posted 7/31/07 10:49 PM

From Jon Woolf Posts 1135 Last 4:54 PM
To WizOp Adrienne C. [Msg # 106711.13 106711.12 ]

Dri,

>> maybe now we can talk about it a little bit in more detail. <<

Suits me. :-) (well, I didn't buy a copy, I borrowed it, but a difference that makes no difference...)

>> Which character(s) did you expect to die, but survived instead? <<

Hagrid, for one. I also expected Draco Malfoy to go down for the count. I wasn't sure what would happen to Neville Longbottom, but I wouldn't have been surprised if he'd been a casualty. I was happy that he got a significant role in the final battle.

Overall, I was mostly satisfied with the ending. I had thought that Rowling seemed to be losing control of the story in Book 5, which got much stronger in Book 6, but she recovered nicely. She did a masterful job with Severus Snape, teasing this way and that, feeding off the reader's well-established dislike of him, before finally revealing that he was Dumbledore's ally all along, and why, and that he was an essential part of Dumbledore's plan to defeat Voldemort.

There was a bit of finagling visible in the way Harry died and then came back, but that was about all. And I could wish there had been more done with the Hallows, so that they didn't come out of nowhere in this last book. Every other element of the showdown had been foreshadowed in one way or another, but those were entirely new. OTOH, the way that the Invisibility Cloak always came back to Harry no matter where or when he lost it should've tipped me that it was more important than it seemed.

-- JSW

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#14 of 17 Posted 8/9/07 12:17 PM

From WizOp Adrienne C. Posts 1461 Last Jul-5
To Jon Woolf [Msg # 106711.14 106711.13 ]

Hagrid, for one. I also expected Draco Malfoy to go down for the count. I wasn't sure what would happen to Neville Longbottom...

I didn't expect Hagrid to die, but wouldn't have been surprised if Rowling had decided to kill off the character. I also never saw Draco as a target for elimination in the storyline. He was a conflicted character, unlikeable yet seen as a victim of his upbringing. He might've been nicer if his parents hadn't been Death Eaters.

I was really satisfied with how Neville turned out. He managed to please his grandmother, and with the way her character was painted, that was quite a feat. Him turning out to be a professor of Herbology at Hogwarts felt right.

Snape turning out to be a good guy in the end didn't surprise me. I'd had my doubts while reading along, but had my suspicions settled by Book 6. Agreed that Rowling did a create job of creating the character, and keeping us all guessing about him.

I could wish there had been more done with the Hallows, so that they didn't come out of nowhere in this last book.

How could the Hallows have been revealed any earlier? For example, we didn't learn about horcruxes until later in the series.

Dri

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#15 of 17 Posted 8/9/07 8:49 PM

From Jon Woolf Posts 1135 Last 4:54 PM
To WizOp Adrienne C. [Msg # 106711.15 106711.14 ]

Hmmm...

>> I also never saw Draco as a target for elimination in the storyline. He was a conflicted character, unlikeable yet seen as a victim of his upbringing. <<

Interesting. I saw absolutely no trace of conflict in Draco until the end of Book 6. Throughout the first five books he was simply a classic punk teenager, pure nasty without a trace of redeeming value.

>> How could the Hallows have been revealed any earlier? For example, we didn't learn about horcruxes until later in the series. <<

We weren't told what Horcruxes were, no, but one of the Horcruxes was a pivotal element in Book 2. There was clearly something extremely Dark Magical about Riddle's diary. Contrast that with the treatment of Harry's cloak: all we were told about it when it was introduced was that Ron knew what it was. There could have (and IMHO should have) been a comment or two somewhere from somebody about what a high-quality Invisibility Cloak it was, so much better than any regular one. The logical source for this would be Fred and/or George Weasley, with their skill at creating charmed objects. For them to be impressed and puzzled by it would be significant, even if the reader didn't understand the significance until two or three books later.

-- JSW

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#16 of 17 Posted 8/10/07 2:30 AM

From SKY Posts 106 Last Nov-19
To Jon Woolf [Msg # 106711.16 106711.15 ]

>> The logical source for this would be Fred and/or George Weasley, with their skill at creating charmed objects.

I do not remember Fred or George being brought in on the secret of the cloak. When would they have been able to study it?

>> Throughout the first five books he was simply a classic punk teenager, pure nasty without a trace of redeeming value.

Mostly true but he did make an effort near the beginning of book 1 to make friends with Harry. Even if for what seemed the wrong reason. i.e. To get him away from the "bad" kind of people.

- Sky
"How strange that nature does not knock, and yet does not intrude!" -- Emily Dickinson
See my photos at: http://skyockey.smugmug.com/

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