Topic: Books and Movies
After returning from a trip to Peru, I returned to find a copy of the new Harry Potter book sitting on my doorstep. Being in the middle of another good read at the time, I let the book languish on my table for half a week before cracking the cover. Now I am no stranger to Potter madness. While I have never waited in lines for days to get ahold of a book, I have, upon recieving the next installment, locked myself in a room with the book and read it straight through.
After my lack of eagerness to immidatly indulge in Potter, I began to wonder whether I had lost my interest in the boy wizzard; whether I had outgrown it, and when I finally did read the book, would find it kiddish, thus ruining my whole view of the series which I have so thoroughly enjoyed all these years.
So with some trepidation, when I finally did start the book, I found that the magic had not disappeared; that it was as strong as ever; and that 'The Deathly Hallows' was a good read. I'm not a book critic, so I'm not going to break down the book and analyse it. That said, I like to think that I can tell a good read when I see it. J.K. Rowling
can tell a good story, and it seems that has remained unchanged, regardless of the success of Harry Potter.
I have several writer friends and one of them confided in me several months ago over a discussion of whether Harry was going to die (yes, I am a nerd), and he said he was unsure, but that he would have increased respect for Rolling if he did. Now, as a fan, I have grown close to Harry, well as close as you can get to a fictional character, and some part of me said it would be sad if he died, but another part agreed with my friend. After giving it much thought, I came to the conclusion that authors shouldn't be forced to kill characters just because it would make them look good in the eyes of the creative world.
Indeed, personally I have not lost respect for Rolling for not killing her title charater; her rise to fame. She has, at least in my eyes, earned respect for continuing to produce quality writing in the face of blockbuster fame.
The ending of the seventh book served its purpose as well, ending the series the best it could be ended, and informing the readers the fate of all of the main characters. It also makes it very difficult, if not
impossible for Rolling to produce any more books; it seems that she
plans to stay true to her word that there will be only seven books.
I'm sure that there will be imitations, and unhappy fans, or writers, in the case of my friend, over the artistic decisions made, but in my opinion, the Harry Potter series remains one of the best stories of our generation, and I for one am sad to see it end.
