Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows-A Reflection on the Book and The Last Ten Years
As a warning to anybody who plans on reading this, this is probably the most personal thing that you will ever see written on this site. I know I usually am strictly about the reviews and that's that, but this seems to warrant some kind of column on it.
The last month has been quite a strange one, emotionally and mentally. I graduated from high school, with twelve years of education under my belt, getting ready to embark on college in the coming January. On the same day as my last day of school, I quit my job, ending over a year of working at the first place I ever called work. And then a few weeks later, the seventh and final Harry Potter book came out in stores. I know you might be thinking-"Is this guy a nerd or what? Writing an entire thing about the new Harry Potter book!" And I bet you are wondering how there could be a connection between graduating, quitting my first job, and the new book coming out. But there is one, and its all about things ending. Believe it or not, the publication of this final book is actually a symbol for the third big closing to my childhood.
In preparation of the final book coming out, I spent the last month or so re-reading the other books in the series, so I could read the last when it comes out, and read the series in order. And as I read them, I ended up remembering the first time I read the books-and I noted a pattern.
As I read the first book (The Sorcerer's Stone) I recalled when the series first came out. I was in the fifth grade. It was a new thing, really, even though three of the books were already out. But people were slowly getting curious about them. I remember my fifth grade teacher deciding to read them aloud to the class-we would all gather in the corner as she read these books. I had copies of all of them of my own, and choose to read-along with her. She would change voices along with the characters, even though her creativity could not go across the vast palate of character that writer J.K. Rowling had to offer. She read the first three books of that series, and then I graduated-it was June 2000, and the fourth book of the series was being published in July of 2000.
That was the beginning. The first three were out, and it would be the years of passing in between that marked the publication of the next four in the seven book series. The fourth book came out fresh out of elementary school-I probably thought I was hot shit to-having just graduated, and now reading a book that was over 700 pages long, as if it were a giant tomb. And I read it that summer, and sure enough, not only had I changed, but the tone of the entire series changed. It was suddenly darker and more mature, and I liked how the change somewhat reflected me, even if it was just all in my head, because I certainly knew nothing at 11. And this was the crucial moment in the series where everything just changed-plot wise too. The story arcs were forming as well.
I entered junior high school, and in those three terrible years there may have been no publications, but I certainly changed a lot. I was a growing teenage boy, and so was Harry, and that was proven in 2003 when the fifth book in the series was published, and I was experiencing deju vu by graduating once again. The basis of the fifth book was political-all about civil war and civil conflict, which is odd because at that time in my life I was becoming aware of the importance of politics in the world. I was going into high school, where such knowledge would be imperative and extremely necessary. And when the sixth book came out two years later, the book was full of romance and love, the kind of thing that I was also trying to look into around that time. Yes, the Harry Potter books were being published as my life went on, and it seemed like at every major milestone in my young adulthood, a new book was there to egg me on.
And now there is the final, coming at the ironic moment of my graduation and my advancement from school and work. And its fitting. The books started at the start of my getting out in the world, and they ended at the moment where I'm going out on my own. The safe haven of childhood and innocence is now broken as I advance up in my education, and I have no more books to look forward to.
So when I rushed through the new book over the course of three days (to remain spoiler free I barely went on my message boards, or read reviews, or talk to anybody who I knew was interested in the series), I finished it, and with the final three words-the last sentence-I not only shut the book on Harry Potter, but I also shut the book on the last twelve years. I shut the book on my schooling. I shut the book on those summer days every few years when the new book would be published, and with heightened anticipation I would read on to see what happens next. And not just me, but many others. Out and about on Friday night I did not go to the midnight celebration, but I did show up at around 1am to pick up a copy, after the lines cooled down a bit. And I looked around in a nostalgic reverence in my eye-everybody, greater fans than I I'm sure, was so happy to be there. Clad in some kind of dress related to the book. On line for hours. But some of them cannot know how much the series actually meant to me. These are the books that maybe my kids will find one day and I could tell them that they were popular fantasy story when I was a kid- very much like my dad tells me about certain series' that he read when he was young. And I would hope that they could get the same thing out of them that I did.
So that is it. They are done. There will never be another one. In fact, J.K Rowling never has to write a single word for the rest of her life. But that doesn't mean that the massive amount she already had will go unnoticed. They will be around forever-a staple in children's fantasy literature, and a staple in my childhood. When I finished the new Harry Potter book I also came to terms with the fact that the first stage of my life is done. And thinking back from the moment my fifth grade teacher started the first book and the first sentence on the first paragraph, little did I know how, completely by accident, those books would follow me to the end of high school, and end at the beginning of something else.
And it was a good show. . .
The last month has been quite a strange one, emotionally and mentally. I graduated from high school, with twelve years of education under my belt, getting ready to embark on college in the coming January. On the same day as my last day of school, I quit my job, ending over a year of working at the first place I ever called work. And then a few weeks later, the seventh and final Harry Potter book came out in stores. I know you might be thinking-"Is this guy a nerd or what? Writing an entire thing about the new Harry Potter book!" And I bet you are wondering how there could be a connection between graduating, quitting my first job, and the new book coming out. But there is one, and its all about things ending. Believe it or not, the publication of this final book is actually a symbol for the third big closing to my childhood.
In preparation of the final book coming out, I spent the last month or so re-reading the other books in the series, so I could read the last when it comes out, and read the series in order. And as I read them, I ended up remembering the first time I read the books-and I noted a pattern.
As I read the first book (The Sorcerer's Stone) I recalled when the series first came out. I was in the fifth grade. It was a new thing, really, even though three of the books were already out. But people were slowly getting curious about them. I remember my fifth grade teacher deciding to read them aloud to the class-we would all gather in the corner as she read these books. I had copies of all of them of my own, and choose to read-along with her. She would change voices along with the characters, even though her creativity could not go across the vast palate of character that writer J.K. Rowling had to offer. She read the first three books of that series, and then I graduated-it was June 2000, and the fourth book of the series was being published in July of 2000.
That was the beginning. The first three were out, and it would be the years of passing in between that marked the publication of the next four in the seven book series. The fourth book came out fresh out of elementary school-I probably thought I was hot shit to-having just graduated, and now reading a book that was over 700 pages long, as if it were a giant tomb. And I read it that summer, and sure enough, not only had I changed, but the tone of the entire series changed. It was suddenly darker and more mature, and I liked how the change somewhat reflected me, even if it was just all in my head, because I certainly knew nothing at 11. And this was the crucial moment in the series where everything just changed-plot wise too. The story arcs were forming as well.
I entered junior high school, and in those three terrible years there may have been no publications, but I certainly changed a lot. I was a growing teenage boy, and so was Harry, and that was proven in 2003 when the fifth book in the series was published, and I was experiencing deju vu by graduating once again. The basis of the fifth book was political-all about civil war and civil conflict, which is odd because at that time in my life I was becoming aware of the importance of politics in the world. I was going into high school, where such knowledge would be imperative and extremely necessary. And when the sixth book came out two years later, the book was full of romance and love, the kind of thing that I was also trying to look into around that time. Yes, the Harry Potter books were being published as my life went on, and it seemed like at every major milestone in my young adulthood, a new book was there to egg me on.
And now there is the final, coming at the ironic moment of my graduation and my advancement from school and work. And its fitting. The books started at the start of my getting out in the world, and they ended at the moment where I'm going out on my own. The safe haven of childhood and innocence is now broken as I advance up in my education, and I have no more books to look forward to.
So when I rushed through the new book over the course of three days (to remain spoiler free I barely went on my message boards, or read reviews, or talk to anybody who I knew was interested in the series), I finished it, and with the final three words-the last sentence-I not only shut the book on Harry Potter, but I also shut the book on the last twelve years. I shut the book on my schooling. I shut the book on those summer days every few years when the new book would be published, and with heightened anticipation I would read on to see what happens next. And not just me, but many others. Out and about on Friday night I did not go to the midnight celebration, but I did show up at around 1am to pick up a copy, after the lines cooled down a bit. And I looked around in a nostalgic reverence in my eye-everybody, greater fans than I I'm sure, was so happy to be there. Clad in some kind of dress related to the book. On line for hours. But some of them cannot know how much the series actually meant to me. These are the books that maybe my kids will find one day and I could tell them that they were popular fantasy story when I was a kid- very much like my dad tells me about certain series' that he read when he was young. And I would hope that they could get the same thing out of them that I did.
So that is it. They are done. There will never be another one. In fact, J.K Rowling never has to write a single word for the rest of her life. But that doesn't mean that the massive amount she already had will go unnoticed. They will be around forever-a staple in children's fantasy literature, and a staple in my childhood. When I finished the new Harry Potter book I also came to terms with the fact that the first stage of my life is done. And thinking back from the moment my fifth grade teacher started the first book and the first sentence on the first paragraph, little did I know how, completely by accident, those books would follow me to the end of high school, and end at the beginning of something else.
And it was a good show. . .
posted by Eric at
12:59 AM
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