Originally published July 19, 2007 at 12:00 AM | Page modified July 21, 2007 at 7:30 AM
Editor's Note: While the following review is spoiler-free, don't read on if you prefer to know nothing about the last "Harry Potter" novel before its release on Saturday.
Book review
"Potter" series end makes sense
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" J. K. Rowling Arthur A. Levine Books, 784 pp., $34.99 When you have read the last sentence on the...
The Baltimore Sun
More on Harry Potter
When you have read the last sentence on the last page of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" — no, we're not going to reveal any plot twists — you will say, "Of course."
That's how inevitable the conclusion to the seven-book series seems. And it's a tribute to author J.K. Rowling's skill that, once you have finished "Hallows," no other ending seems possible.
The ending incorporates so many of the speculations, many opposing, that have been rampant on the Web for years.
Taken as a whole, the Harry Potter series is a classic bildungsroman, a coming-of-age tale about the title character. In each of the six previous books, Harry has learned one important valuable life lesson — about the importance of choosing well, about the importance of learning to trust others, about the importance of recognizing the humanity in enemies.
Book 7, which goes on sale at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, is about coming to terms with death. (I read the book in advance.) As she attempts to grapple with the inevitable, Rowling evokes everything from learning to accept and even embrace that eventuality, to Christian notions of resurrection and redemption.
At the start of this final book, Harry and his two best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, set out to complete the task they set for themselves at the end of the sixth book: to find and destroy the remaining magical objects, called "horcruxes," that contain the soul of Lord Voldemort, who is seeking world domination.
But the trio soon learns of another trio of magical objects that are equally mysterious — the "deathly hallows" of the title: a sword, a ring and a cloak, said to have the ability to defeat death.
Through it all, the friends struggle to evade the determined efforts of the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters to capture them.
Although it makes for engrossing reading, this book lacks much of the charm and humor that distinguished Rowling's earliest books. Even the writing is more prosaic.
But how could it be otherwise?
In her earlier books, Rowling was busy building a world. Her characters were still children, and much of the enjoyment of the books came from watching them struggle to master powers they did not fully possess. So, for instance, a boy or girl mounted a flying broomstick — and it promptly bucked the child off.
Following the travails of the young witches and wizards at Hogwarts as they learned to swoop through the air, defeat dragons and cast spells wasn't unlike watching real-life children learn to walk or read — activities that, if you think about it, are no less magical, even if we've come to take them for granted.
But by this final book, Harry, Hermione and Ron are grown. They have as many skills as they ever will have. Rowling no longer has to create a magical world, with portraits that travel from picture frame to picture frame, or in which weeding a garden means clearing it of gnomes. Instead, her characters fully occupy that world. It has fewer surprises for them — and by extension, for us.
If there's a theme that runs through all seven books, it's the saving grace of a parent's love — in particular, of motherly love. It's hard not to imagine that in writing this book, Rowling is drawing on her experiences, both of her mother's premature death and of the author's love for her children.
That theme is repeated again and again in "Deathly Hallows." It's examined not only in Harry's relationship with his mother, but in Luna Lovegood's bond with her father, and even the nasty Draco Malfoy's connection with his malevolent mother, Narcissa. So strong is that bond that it can redeem even the most seemingly evil characters.
Copyright © 2007 The Seattle Times Company
Lit Life: National recognition for Seattle's readergirlz online book community
The Ultimate Holiday Cookbook Social at Palace Ballroom
Journalist and author Amy Goodman in Seattle
Book review: "Molly Ivins: A Rebel Life:" Fearless, funny and opinionated
Book review: 'Changing My Mind': Zadie Smith ponders the mad, mad world

Real Salt Lake wins MLS Cup
Real Salt Lake defeated the Los Angeles Galaxy with penalty kicks after 120 minutes of play at Qwest Field in Seattle.
nwautos
Local riders say they've seen a surge in scooter interest in recent years, mostly from people wanting another commuting option. Seattle now ranks as o...
Post a comment
nwjobs
Post a comment
Michelle Goodman blogs about work/life balance.
Do you suffer from "sitting disease"?
Post a comment
- 'The Road' takes Viggo Mortensen to Mount St. Helens and Astoria, Ore.
- Tugboat sinks at Seattle waterfront pier
- Illegal workers quietly let go
- Child-support error costs nearly $21,000
- Vikings easily beat the Seahawks
- Craigslist adoption ad: A plea by young mother-to-be? A scam?
- Chase shrugs off loss of CD investors
- Woman stabbed by stranger in North Seattle
- Snow piles up on Cascade slopes
- Denny Triangle gains skyline, but tenants slow to come
- Illegal workers quietly let go
356 - Climate change speeds up since 1997 Kyoto accord
206 - Vikings easily beat the Seahawks
170 - Metro won't cut bus service after all
145 - Historic health care bill clears Senate hurdle
94 - New Husky recruit: Enes Kanter
89 - Tattoos at Mill Creek Church pierce skin, soul
81 - Middleton says Huskies "plan on scoring at least 50 points'' Saturday
74 - Jerry Brewer: Seahawks can't lean on the Hutch Crutch now
73 - UW, WSU once again meet to see who's worse
66
- Sprouts, raw fish on attorney's 'do not eat' list
- Tattoos at Mill Creek church pierce skin, soul
- Illegal workers quietly let go
- Food-safety lawyer's wish: Put me out of business
- Architects, chefs find 'kid' within to build Gingerbread Village
- Rediscovering Moab, 'the most beautiful place on Earth'
- It's possible to recover a life lost to hoarding
- Child-support error costs nearly $21,000
- 'The Road' takes Viggo Mortensen to Mount St. Helens and Astoria, Ore.
- Taste | The Great Pie Bake-off pits friends and fruit








