Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (no spoilers)

Given my last post on how much there is to learn from Harry Potter, I feel like I need to mention some of the things I particularly loved about Deathly Hallows. (This is largely my post from Verla Kay's board, with the spoilers removed and some more writing-specific commentary added, in case it looks familiar.)

Was it satisyfing? It was very satisfying. Rowling has laid in so many plots and subplots in her books that it's amazing she was able to bring them to a satisfying conclusion. I know that there is always advertising hype like "this book/series is the next Harry Potter!" but I don't think such a thing is possible. (And I hope not, since I'd rather be a great writer of my own, instead of just a next Somebody Else, wouldn't you?) But seriously, this...series, or story, is different. And I don't mean because of hype and advertising. I doubt anyone will achieve such a complicated yet satisfying story for a long, looooong time to come. What I continue to find astounding is that it's all there in book 1. The whole story, sort of in zip form. Even all the way down to the last book, there were so-called background details from the very first book that ended up being very significant to the entire plot. It's more than just keeping a list of what color eyes different characters have, or what houses they're in or whatever; it's keeping track of motivations, backstories, interactions that is something that JKR does extremely well. I love her ability to surprise (and since she's able to pull it off for more than one book, she's rather good at it). She's very good at giving you what you think is the truth--and it is, only it's not the whole truth, and time and again, she's able to surprise the reader by giving more of the truth at the right moment, and suddenly you find yourself restructuring the story into something completely different. She's created so many characters to care about, and she cares about them, too, following up all of their little stories. Millions of people have fallen in love with her characters. Why? I think it's because although she exposes their weaknesses, she's not afraid to show us the characters at their most heroic. So many are so flawed, yet at the same time are able to recognize the challenges that really matter, and give their all to get them right. We feel for the characters because we recognize our own weaknesses in them, and we long to be the heroes they are.

Something else I enjoyed--sometimes the myth or thematic overtones of a one-of-a-kind book can get a little too big. I'm sorry, throw tomatoes at me, but at some point in Lord of the Rings, i couldn't really relate to Frodo anymore. His experiences and ultimate challenge were so exalted and so far removed from me that just couldn't keep the connection. Instead, it was Sam who was Everyman, Sam who I found I could hang out with. All of which made the LOTR reading experience a little strange to me. Despite all the climactic events of HP, though, I never lost touch with Harry. He's heroic in so many ways, yet he's always human and imperfect and vulnerable, and so we can still relate to him.

Themes I loved:
miracles and magic
second chances
gifts, and yet the importance of our choices--such a very big theme
hope
love

In the days since reading Deathly Hallows, I haven't done very much reading or writing. And that's okay. Sometimes you need to take the time to enjoy the awe.

Cheers to Harry Potter--the Boy Who Lived!

Reading list

A few of my favorite books (grouped by age):

Picture books:

Asimov, Isaac. The Best New Thing
Bang, Molly. The Grey Lady and the Strawberry Snatcher
Bulla, Robert Clyde. The Moon Singer
Cole, Joanna, and Bruce Degen. The Magic School Bus books
David Wisniewski, Golem and others
De Bruhoff, Laurent and Jean. The Babar books
Fox, Mem and Helen Oxenbury. Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes
Glen, Maggie. Ruby
Hamilton, Virginia. The Girl Who Spun Gold
Henkes, Kevin. Weekend with Wendall and all the Lilly books
Ian Falconer, the Olivia books
Ludwig Bemelmans. Madeline
Marla Frazee. Everywhere Babies, Roller Coaster, and others
McCloskey, Robert. Blueberries for Sal
Perkins, Al. Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb
Raven, Margot Theis. Circle Unbroken
Ravensburger (publisher), Wieso, Weshalb, Warum series
Say, Allan. Grandfather's Journey
Sendak, Maurice. Where the Wild Things Are and Chicken Soup with Rice
Seuss, Dr. One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish and Hop on Pop in particular
Shannon, David. The David books
Sis, Peter. The Three Golden Keys
Smith, Lane. The Happy Hocky Family
Velthjuis, Max. The Frog books
Wiesner, David. Sector 7 and others
Fairy tales collected by Andrew Lang and the Grimm brothers

I also like the following illustrators:

Tasha Tudor
Trina Schart Hyman
David Small
Ted Lewin
E.B. White
N.C. Wyeth
Chris Van Allsburg

Favorite graphic novels:

Hale, Shannon and Dean and Nathan Hale-no-relation, Rapunzel's Revenge
Tan, Shaun, The Arrival

Favorite novels (midgrade and YA):

Alexander, Lloyd. The Chronicles of Prydain
Anderson, M.T. Jasper Dash and the Flame Pits of Delaware.
Anderson, R.J. Ultraviolet
Barber, Antonia. The Ghosts
Birdsall, Jeanne. The Penderwicks
Bloor, Edward. London Calling
Bowler, Tim. Firmament
Boyce, Frank Cottrell. Cosmic
Bracken, Alexandra. Brightly Woven
Bunce, Elizabeth C. A Curse Dark as Gold, Starcrossed
Burnett, Frances Hodson. A Little Princess
Choldenko, Gennifer. Al Capone Does My Shirts
Clements, Andrew. Things Not Seen
Crossley-Holland, Kevin. Arthur series and especially Gatty's Tale (Crossing to Paradise in the American edition)
Cushman, Karen. Midwife's Apprentice.
Dahl, Roald. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant Peach
Dolamore, Jaclyn. Magic Under Glass
Dixon, Heather. Entwined
Duncan, Lois. A Gift of Magic
Eager, Edward. Half Magic
Fagan, Deva. Circus Galacticus
Farmer, Nancy. House of the Scorpion
George, Jessica Day. Tuesdays at the Castle
Gier, Kerstin. Ruby Red
Hale, Shannon. River Secrets. Also Rapunzel's Revenge
Hoffman, Mary. Stravaganza series.
Ibbotson, Eva. The Star of Kazan and also Journey to the River Sea
Jean Ferris, Love Among the Walnuts
Jones, Diana Wynne. Fire and Hemlock and Howl’s Moving Castle and the Dalemark Quartet
Langton, Jane. The Diamond in the Window
Law, Ingrid. Savvy and its sequel Scumble
Leavitt, Lindsey. Sean Griswold's Head 
L'Engle, Madeleine. A Wrinkle in Time.
Levine, Gail Carson. Ella Enchanted
Lewis, C.S. The Chronicles of Narnia
Lord, Cynthia. Rules.
McDonald, George. The Princess and Curdie and The Princess and the Goblin
McKinley, Robin. Beauty, The Blue Sword
Meyer, Stephenie. Twilight
Montgomery, LM. Anne of Green Gables
Moss, Jenny. Winnie's War
Murdock, Catherine Gilbert. Dairy Queen.
Nesbit, E. The House of Arden
Oppel, Kenneth, Airborn
Pope, Elizabeth Marie. The Perilous Gard
Rex, Adam. The True Meaning of Smekday
Rowling, JK. Harry Potter
Sachar, Louis. Holes
Sanderson, Brandon. Alcatraz versus the Evil Librarians
Schröder, Rainer M. Abby Lynn: Verbannt ans Ende der Welt
Sonnenblick, Jordan. Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie
Speare, Elizabeth George. The Witch of Blackbird Pond.
Stiefvater, Maggie. The Scorpio Races
Stork, Francisco X. Marcelo in the Real World.
Temple, Frances.The Ramsey Scallop
Turner, Megan Whalen. The Thief
Vande Velde, Vivian. Now You See It
Van Draanen, Wendelin. Flipped.
Webster, Jean. Daddy Long-Legs
White, Robb. The Lion's Paw.
Wilder, Laura Ingalls. Little House on the Prairie series
Williams, Sarah DeFord. Palace Beautiful
Wrede, Patricia Wrede and Caroline Stevermer. Sorcery and Cecelia, or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot
Zusak, Markus. The Book Thief

Books for adults:

Bronte, Charlotte. Jane Eyre
Collins, Wilkie. The Woman in White
Enger, Leif. Peace Like a River
Fforde, Jasper. The Eyre Affair
Gogol, Nikolai. Dead Souls
Haddon, Mark. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
Henderson, Zenna. The People short stories
Hugo, Victor. Les Miserables
Kean, Sam. The Disappearing Spoon and Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from The Periodic Table of the Elements
Meyer, Stephenie. The Host
Newman, Sharan.
Peters, Elizabeth
Peters, Ellis. Never Pick Up Hitchhikers! and other mysteries (especially the modern ones)
Pratchett, Terry. Discworld series.
Sayers, Dorothy L. Gaudy Night
Tey, Jacqueline. Brat Farrar
Nonfiction by the Leakeys
Thor Heyerdahl
Tolstoy, Leo. Anna Karenina
Willis, Connie. Doomsday Book and To Say Nothing of the Dog
Winspeare, Jacqueline, Maisie Dobbs