Wow

[ Mood: Sleepy ]
I finished Deathly Hallows at 2am. Again, no spoilers here, but on finishing I had tears rolling down my face and a big goofy grin. I held the book in my hands staring at the picture of JK Rowling on the back cover for about five minutes, just feeling that warm satisfaction that I had hoped for but feared not finding. Then I got up and walked into the living room and gently shelved it.

Even when I was writing all the praise in the entry below, I was worried. Would she be able to put it to bed? Could she really tie up all the plot threads elegantly, and make a powerful ending, and make us believe it? Could she earn whatever ending she writes? That’s the hardest part, I think–making an ending we’ll believe in. So easy to fall flat, especially with such a weight to bear.

Well, she did it. I don’t know if I cry over books more or less often than others, but this one had the tears rising, man, four or five times–and it didn’t just feel like emotional manipulation, either. Tear-jerker writing doesn’t move me. These were characters I’d fallen in love with (more than I’d realized), going through intense pain that felt truly necessary for the story to work. And the ending–absolutely satisfying.

What I wrote below about Rowling challenging herself and taking risks more and more with each book, and how it goes double for this one–well supersize that double. I kept thinking, this is a VERY risky book. When I would stop reading to go do something, I often found myself thinking about those people who started reading this as preteens, now in their early 20s, and how this book could really turn a lot of them off. They could very justly say, "This is not what I signed on for!" When I say it’s serious, I don’t mean it’s just grim–I mean it’s breaking through into being serious literature. Rowling destroys cherished preconceptions, forcing readers to question everything they know. For someone who grew up with this series, that could lead them to question everything in their own lives, right at the age when they should begin doing so, but so many don’t.

But it’s a dangerous thing to ask your readers to do that. It’s not exactly a pleasant process, even if it’s necessary to becoming an adult. And that’s the thing–the ending of the series is not for kids. I can’t think of any other series of books that does this: It takes readers from childhood to adulthood, and forces them, if they stick with it, to think like adults–something a lot of adults refuse to do.

In a way, it’s the opposite of what Lucas did with (to?) Star Wars. It started out as a kid’s action-adventure story, and got a bit more mature by the 3rd movie–and then it went back to kiddieland with the prequels. Lucas shied away from the challenge that Rowling seized.

Ms. Rowling, I salute you, and thank you. You have added far more pleasure to my life than I would have imagined possible after reading Harry Potter & the Philosopher’s Stone. You’ve gone from a fun, light, inconsequential writer to a knockout-punch heavyweight champion. I can’t wait to see what you’ll do next.

superdave