Deathly Hallows Book Discussion **LoTs Of Spoilers**

[Morrigoon]

"Witch of Blackbird Pond" was, I think, my first. Then there were these other stories, I remember "The Changeover", read that in like 5th or 6th grade, and there were various others, good stories but can't remember their names.

[Nephythys]

Originally Posted by Morrigoon

"Witch of Blackbird Pond" was, I think, my first. Then there were these other stories, I remember "The Changeover", read that in like 5th or 6th grade, and there were various others, good stories but can't remember their names.

I have almost wore out my copy of Witch of Blackbird Pond- it's one of my all time favorites.

[Chernabog]

Awesome kids books:

The House with a Clock in Its Walls (and the two sequels)

A Wrinkle In Time (and the two sequels)

Charlotte's Web

Anything by Roald Dahl (especially The Witches, The Twits, and George's Marvelous Medicine)

Scary Stories to Tell In the Dark

To Kill a Mockingbird (ok not a kids book but I read it in 5th grade).

I didn't get into Stephen King until 7th grade, when I picked up "Eyes of the Dragon" and "It". (Around the same time I read Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles).

[Mousey Girl]

Originally Posted by Chernabog

I didn't get into Stephen King until 7th grade, when I picked up "Eyes of the Dragon" and "It". (Around the same time I read Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles).

I feel incredibly old right now. I, too, picked up my first Stephen King book in 7th grade, but it was Salem's Lot and The Shining. That was also the year I read Caravan's by Michner (sp?).

In 3rd and 4th grade I wore out my copy of Charlotte's Web and Stuart Little. I also discovered the Little House series and could not get enough. I would also go "into town" when my mom was working and walk to the "big library" in Turlock to devour the Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys and Nurse Cherry Ames series.

[jdramj]

Sorry to take this thread back a bit, but this goes to our local library chick, CP......why isn't this stopping at our library? Knight Bus

I know, I am just wishing out loud, but it looks like Los Angeles gets the bus for at least 4 stops over a couple of days!

Now back to our regularly scheduled program....

I too am a Beverly Cleary kid, the Chronicles of Narnia, and Little House on the Prarie books. I also still have my collection of The Black Stallion books.

[innerSpaceman]

Originally Posted by jdramj

looks like Los Angeles gets the Knight Bus for at least 4 stops over a couple of days!

Yeah, but those days were in early July. Bah.

Originally Posted by keith - SuPeR K!

I found the whole death of Dumbledore in 6 to be much more sentimental than any of the deaths in 7. I cried through the whole end of 6 and for some time after. Dobby and Fred dying did make me tear up a bit, but it was no comparison to the sentiment I felt when Dumbledore was gone.

Yeah, I found the writing in this book to be very dry. I can't quite put my finger on why, with all the action, it was oddly uninvolving. I actually sat around for a while last night and tried to think of other ways the series could have ended, being that - yeah - there had to be a showdown between Voldemort and Harry Potter, and, yes, some action-packed stuff and maybe even lots of character deaths were de riguer.

I dunno, I was just unimpressed and meh about the whole story of being on the lam while sorta hunting down horcrux McGuffins and deathly hallow McGuffins, while racking up a mortality score of one character snuffing it after another, with one close-call escape from Death Eaters after another and a pair of polyjuice-aided infiltrations and, yawn, a big big battle at Hogwarts.

Hmmm, it sounds better to me in that synopsis than it was to read it. Not that it was horrible, but I somehow wish the final chapter was a completely different story.

The only bits of writing I found involving were Harry's travails in the aftermath of Dobby's death, his Limbo time with Dumbledore, and his walk to the gallows with all his dead loved ones for company.

In that interview someone linked to in this thread, Rowling says that last bit had been part of the story since forever ago - and that finally writing it was cathartic or something. It was a moving scene, as were the other two I mentioned.

I just got the feeling she had those few end points mapped out, with no real story to get there. I think she pulled this McGuffin-hunt tale out of a hat, and I wish there were others she could have sorted through.



This book wasn't as dry as the last one .... but I have to say I don't like the turn the series took after Order of the Phoenix. Oddly, now that the series is no longer "alive" (i.e., no more books), the last two movies that will come out are the ones where I'd rather the story had died.



Oh well, I still love me some Harry Potter (and, currently, some Ron Weasley) ... but I think J.K. Rowling ran out of steam some time ago.

[Snowflake]

Hmm, you raise some good points iSm. I already feel the need to re-read, I think partially because I rushed through the book, and seemed to have absorbed not a lot. That said, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm sure full of holes, but it moved and I was caught up in getting to the end before I saw any spoilers that would ruin my fun.

The series, as a whole, took a turn for me right after Goblet of Fire (which is still my favorite book of the series). I do admire Rowlings williness to make her hero someone you dislike as I did the angst-ridden and whiney Harry of Order of the Phoenix. Some of the magic left the books and got mired in too much, what, too much plot, too much darkness. I think dryness is a good word. Unfortunately, I think there was so much to finish up, the book already overlong, it was kind of weird to see so many names pop up for the literary equivalent of a cameo in the final battle. Not to second guess Rowling, for me it would have been nice to see more cross-cutting between the wizarding world and the trios adventures as they sought the horcruxes.

I felt more for the sentimental death of Dobby, the loss of Fred Weasley than I did for Sirius or even Dumbledore. I felt sad for the death of Snape, even though he was not a pleasant character, he was bad and spiteful, but he was also honorable and brave. I liked Snape, a lot (colored by Rickman's portrayal of him, as well).

I'm looking forward to taking each of the books again in hand to revist the whole adventure. Not the highest form of literature, but still a darn tootin good adventure, very immersive and I will look forward to the last two films, as well (More Snape!).

The book and the latest film in the same week made for a very potty snowflake.

[BarTopDancer]

There was a book about a coven of teen witches. I forget what it was called now. So not teen appropriate. Same with VC Andrews. Of course I started reading Stephen King in 7th grade and Clan of the Cave Bear in 8th. Dabble in the dark side of life continued with Go Ask Anne and Jay's Journal (no, not true stories).

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Originally Posted by Snowflake

Ack, how can I save this as my avatar? If I click to save it all I get is a static image.

This is too good to miss!

If you right click and make sure to save as a gif, it may look like a static image as a thumbnail, but open it with your browser and it should animate. It should work fine as an animated avatar too.

[Gemini Cricket]

Save it as a gift?