11 August 2007

This is a airing of grievances, not an objective review

I’m going to make a departure from my usual posts to do with the Army, Iraq and politics to address something that has been bothering me for a couple days now.

I’m pissed at J. K. Rowling. I understand that Deathly Hallows is a departure for her, in that she had to write away from the familiar structure that Hogwart’s semester system allowed her. I understand that it, no matter the author, will be difficult to end a seven-book saga spanning years and several thousand pages in a way that will satisfy adults while remaining palatable to younger readers. All of that said, I kept waiting for the book to begin in earnest.

Perhaps the hallmark of the Potter series is the mysteries that the protagonists must solve to overcome the central challenge of each book. Hallows central mystery is the identity of the horcruxes and how to destroy them, with the Deathly Hallows as a side challenge that, I think was meant to help strengthen the horcrux line. Throughout all the previous books, Harry, Ron and Hermoine work, sneak, research and fight to gain the occulted answers that will allow them to defeat whichever enemy they happen to be fighting that book. In Hallows the answer to every problem Harry faces is handed to him. Gryffindor’s sword, the goblin, how to defeat Voldemort, the mystery of Dumbledore’s family: all are handed to Harry with minimal effort on his part. The most you can say Harry does to discover the secrets he needs to find is to hang around in the woods for a couple months. I understand that the pacing of the book cannot rely solely on Harry’s actions, and I realize that great tension can be added forcing the protagonists to deal with rapidly changing events. However, I think Rowling could have given Harry a more proactive role in his own final book.

This leads to my main problem with the novel – after he leaves Godric’s Hollow, Harry doesn’t really make a single decision. Even Harry’s decision to give his life isn’t a decision – it’s a blind acceptance of Dumbledore’s orders. It is almost as if Ms. Rowling’s hand is pushing and prodding Harry through the book so she can go outside and play. The plotting of Hallows is rushed and seems to move from one major event to the next with only occasional brief lapses for introspection, whether by the characters or the author. Sadly, it feels like Rowling has been taking notes from the most recent Harry Potter movies, eschewing character development and internal examination in favor of jumping from one epic action sequence to the next. And even when Rowling goes for epic, as with the penultimate battle in Hogwarts, the scenes seem flat, lacking in description and atmosphere. A great deal seems to be happening, but the reader is left to assume most of the battle, running from one end to the other with blinders on. Harry doesn’t even ever battle Voldemort, he simply has to let Voldemort try to kill him twice.

The previous books have very rarely been plot based – character development having been the most important aspect. Not so with Hallows. I understand that length (acceptable in a children’s book) and the amount of things the characters needed to accomplish must have constrained Rowling in the pacing of Hallows. Regardless, once Harry breaks into Gringotts, the unrestrained plotting brings to mind the worst of the James Bond movies – plot as an excuse to move from one action scene to another shot in exciting locales. And when it’s all over, less than ten pages of final introspection and grief for the multitude of characters killed. The final chapter, Nineteen Years Later, while fun and a bit cute, does not reveal anything unexpected (aside from the fact that no one named their kid after Fred - WTF). Instead of showing the readers the hours and days after the final battle, truly interesting healing, grieving, loving and working to fix major problems at Hogwarts and in the wizarding world, Rowling chose to show a prosaic scene that takes place long after the conflict, involving characters we barely know and have little invested in. All that final scene shows us is that life has indeed gone back to normal, without any of the interesting, messy work that it took to get there. As I said before, it seems as if Rowling had a plot outline, and not necessarily a bad one, but instead of fleshing it out with deep, interesting character development, she rushed through it – for whatever reason.

In the end, Rowling wrote this as if it were the final Harry Potter film, not the final book – much to the detriment of both, and to the detriment of her fans.

posted by Interested Soldier @ 01:01