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- nreynolds, on 10/22/2007, -13/+86The epilogue was desert? At best it was a fortune cookie. The last 200 pages of D.H., however, were some of the best hamburgers I've ever read....
- seanthebond, on 10/10/2007, -7/+76I read the whole thing waiting for a quote from Stephen King.. Then I realized he wrote the damn thing..
- caBoss, on 10/10/2007, -2/+55digg for mentioning RL Stine
- inactive, on 10/10/2007, -2/+48Those illustrations are ***** creepy
- eean, on 10/10/2007, -0/+35Um, a lazily-cast protego could protect a wizard from something like a bullet. Physical magic has always been the easiest to accomplish in HP (one of the first things they learn in charms is how to make stuff fly). Also its pretty clear the whole time that wizards are all very ignorant of muggle things, and in the case of Voldemort, he would have far too much pride for it.
And yea, I totally "entered the world" and suspend disbelief so these thoughts never have occurred to me. - apersaud, on 10/10/2007, -0/+27The funniest (and my favorite) quote from the article: "but of course John the Baptist never got the same press as Jesus either."
Additionally, I have found new respect for Stephen King after reading this article. - Buckiller, on 10/10/2007, -1/+23I saw an excerpt of this on mugglenet... but the entire article was awesome.
This is how a book/series review should be. - jun2san, on 10/10/2007, -5/+27Here's my question. And maybe I missed it while reading the book.
How the hell did Dumbledore beat Grindelwald in a duel if Grindelwald had possession of the elder wand which supposedly has the power to beat anybody in a duel?? - KanedaMGM, on 10/10/2007, -2/+23That's deep. Are you a second year English major?
- Majorkerina, on 10/10/2007, -14/+34Fair but I still think Stephen King could've been a little tougher on her mistakes from Goblet on out. The big thing that always bugged me was that the magical world never thinks of muggle solutions, like seen worst with the camping-out section in the last book.
Seriously...why didn't Voldemort just use a handgun on Harry all this time? Or the good guys visa versa with a sniper rifle on Voldemort? Yeah yeah sure...it's a fantasy story but when you blend reality with fantasy worlds you need to acknowledge both and not just when it's convenient or it winds up very convoluted like "he cast of the spell of Unasscapability!" only expressed in Latin or something. - smackywentz, on 10/10/2007, -2/+21I thought the epilogue was lacking as well. I'm glad Stephen King got the last word on this, and I'm glad his last word was what it was. Way better than some pretentious ***** talking about how Harry Potter is this or that...
- inactive, on 10/10/2007, -1/+17Dugg for comparing RL Stein to John the Baptist and JK Rowling to Jesus
- GMorgan, on 10/10/2007, -3/+19That's like asking why the average cave man didn't take a branch and string it into a bow to hunt. At the time most wizards would have never seen or heard much about guns.
Besides, who is to say that a gun could kill HP or Voldemort in any case. - Thorpe, on 10/10/2007, -1/+16"By Stephen King" right before the first paragraph starts. :|
- inactive, on 10/10/2007, -2/+17No this idea was covered during that 10 minute long exposition scene before Harry's final duel with Voldemort. The only way a wizard can harness the power of someone else's wand is if they win it fair and square during a duel. Since Grindelwald stole the Elder wand and didn't actually fight anyone for it, the wand was not effective for hm. The same thing happened when Voldemort took the wand from Dumbledore's dead body or something. You know, the wand crap was the most boring part of the book, so I might be wrong.
- snarkleclackers, on 10/10/2007, -1/+16dessert*
- noobeffect, on 10/10/2007, -0/+12They make HP look like a sweaty child predator in the middle of a day care center.
- Aticper, on 10/10/2007, -1/+13I thought one of the main points of the article was that it WASN'T a kid's book, not anymore.
- Aticper, on 10/10/2007, -2/+14From a strictly realistic standpoint, I agree with you. However, from a similarly realistic standpoint, transfiguration doesn't make sense because the energy requirements to dissasemble atoms would be prohibative.
At any rate, it makes sense from a literary perspective - there was a very definite wall between the muggle world and the wizarding world for most of the story, with a few bleed-throughs (the muggle cafe, for example). The wall was embodied literally in the back of the leaky cauldron.
The two worlds were almost entirely kept separate, and the fantasy world was much more colorful and richly detailed than it's muggle counterpart. The places where the two mingled were used carefully, and to dramatic effect. A world in which modern and magical weapons and settings merged freely is for a different kind of story entirely -- no less a worthy story, but not the one that JKR was aiming for. - Lockout, on 10/10/2007, -0/+12Second book. I'm lamer. :(
- joel8x, on 10/10/2007, -1/+12Obviously people can be beaten since it has passed down through generations by its owners getting killed.
- joel8x, on 10/10/2007, -0/+11The author is from England. There are no guns there ;)
- GotMex, on 10/10/2007, -0/+10" Still, by the time the Battle of Hogwarts was reaching its climax of clumping giants, cheering portraits, and flying wizards, I almost longed for someone to pull out a good old MAC-10 and start blasting away like Rambo."
Priceless - hawkspur, on 10/10/2007, -1/+11It came out of the Sorting Hat like it did for Harry in the first book.
God, I'm lame :( - nreynolds, on 10/10/2007, -2/+12dang. whatever, i thought what I wrote was pretty dumb anyways.
- inactive, on 10/10/2007, -1/+11You know what, Muggle solutions did enter into some of the books. Remember when Mr. Weasley's healer at St. Mungo's tried to dress up his snake bites with stitches and the stitches dissolved? I think Rowling was trying to make a point that Muggle medicine, technology, etc, would be of little use in the Wizarding world. Bullets could probably be blocked by magic.
- VeganG, on 10/10/2007, -0/+9I think you do need to re-read those books. Half the time wizards encountered Muggle objects, they were amazed and perplexed by them.
- Darthypoo, on 10/10/2007, -0/+9They're better (read less preachy with more interesting characters) than the Narnia books, and those have managed to last.
- Peaco19, on 10/10/2007, -0/+9Snape was never the true owner of the Elder Wand... Draco was...
- LocoMan, on 10/10/2007, -0/+8Yep.. that was all covered before that fight.
Voldemort killed Snape thinking he was the true owner... but Snape killed Dumbledore only because he asked for it, the actual spell that defeated him was Draco's spell before Snape came in, so even if Draco never had the wand, he was the true owner until Harry defeated him and took his wand, and in turn getting ownership of the elder wand as well.
Really hope someone that hasn't read the book isn't reading that article or these comments, though.. :) - jupufo, on 10/10/2007, -0/+7It would be very easy to use a handgun against Harry, but you are forgetting that Voldemort would consider himself above such "filthy" muggle artifacts. Since he viewed non-magic folk as pretty much sub-human, he would never dream to lower himself to that level. Magic would always be the only answer to him.
- Halatia, on 10/10/2007, -0/+7You have to remember that this was originally intended as children's literature. And while the characters did grow and change (an aspect of the series that should be applauded from a sheer realism standpoint), at it's heart, the Harry Potter series is a tale about a boy facing the real world (or at least his real world) for the first time. And keeping this in mind, think of the recurring themes: bigotry (Nazi-style), racism (both blatant in say how Lucius Malfoy treats his house elf and subtle in how Ron Weasley isn't hurting an elf but isn't willing to go out of his way to help one, either), and sacrifice. For some kids who choose Harry Potter as their first real attempt at reading an extended, convoluted series, it will also be their first exposure to such themes. We teach each generation through what we support, what we teach. Give a child Harry Potter, and (s)he's introduced to heavy, truthful fears and triumphs of the world around them. And in that way, these books are brilliant.
- txtphile, on 10/10/2007, -0/+7Seems like a good place to recommend "On Writing" by Stephen King. Whatever you think about his work, he CLEARLY loves the artform. And the part where he gets hit by the van is funny. (King, not Harry Potter)
- Kronos6948, on 10/10/2007, -1/+7Because Voldemort is the Dr. Evil of all Wizardom. That would make you Scott Evil.
- inactive, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6Yeah, I got buried for saying something along the same lines. I was extremely bored by the Battle of Hogwarts and I too, thought the final duel with Voldemort was lame. I mean, Voldemort was standing there allowing Harry to tell the whole plot of the book and then throws one spell at him, which back fires. Come on, Voldemort is one of the most powerful wizards of all time and he goes out fighting a seventeen year old kid who repeats the same spell everytime they meet. "Expellimous!" or whatever that stupid spell is. And during the Battle of Hogwarts, Harry is looking for clues and pensieves and is under the invisibility cloak, while others are dying for him. It just wasn't well written. I do like the series though. It's a lot better than most.
- purag66, on 05/13/2009, -1/+7was never a big Harry Potter fan, but at least she got kids to read. IMO that should count for something.
- RobotBuddha, on 10/10/2007, -1/+7I loved reading both Stephen King and Rowlings books. The important thing is that they were fun, enjoyable, they made us experience something new.
- hervethekid, on 10/10/2007, -3/+8He was calling Deathly Hollows the epilogue of the series (being the last book). The entire book was the dessert. I agree though, the epilogue sucked ass.
That being said, this was a wonderful article, Stephen King is amazing. - navitatl, on 10/10/2007, -1/+6He has a Trafalmadorian view when it comes to storytelling.
- JoNuggs, on 10/10/2007, -3/+8As much respect as I have for King, I have to say that I was very disappointed with DH.
SPOILERS AHEAD
The first 350 pages are so contrived that they actually could be from Robinson Crusoe much like King suggests. Once the war starts things get good and then we're interrupted by Snape going out like a chump, and then we're force fed his redemption when Harry uses the pensieve. The final duel is nothing more than Voldemort and Harry behaving like children playing cops and robbers: "You're gonna die!", "Nuh-uh, you're gonna die!" The elder wand is nothing more than a half-assed version of the one ring, and the epilogue, while my favorite part, left much to be desired. The drama with the Malfoys is left completely untouched, and there is no sense of what Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione have done with themselves (other than make like rabbits) in the past 19 years. It seems just like she gave all of the fans exactly what they all wanted. Every possible suggestion was taken into account: Harry dies, but doesn't really, Snape was really a good guy, but his lackluster redemption doesn't absolve him completely, and characters die by the dozens but they're only ancillary characters and make no real impact on the story or the reader. Who cares that Lupin and Tonks die? I never felt particularly invested in them in the first place; Tonks hasn't been around long enough, and I haven't sympathized with Remus since the first books.
While I enjoyed the series, and more power to Rowling if she is responsible for kids discovering reading (I know, I know, everyone is saying it, it's pretty trite at this point), I really think that it went out with a whisper instead of the bang that it should have had. - browwiw, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5Yeah, that is an awesome book. And his candor concerning his own failings actually makes you cringe. He sticks it to himself pretty good when talks about his days as a coke head and the bad writing he produced during that time:
"I don't remember writing Cujo. And that's too bad because there are parts of Cujo that I like." - NumberFour, on 10/10/2007, -1/+6Yeah like Clak said, Grindelwald never was able to harness the power of it because he stole it from Gregorovich, and never won it fairly. That doesn't explain how Dumbledore was able to master the wand though, since he never defeated Gregorovich.
- RobotBuddha, on 10/10/2007, -1/+6It was amusing seeing him complain about the absurdity of spoilers. I think it rather got to the heart of how he sees a story differently than most readers. To him, ending irrelevant cherry on top. To almost everyone else, the ending is the drink of water to clear the pallet at the meals finish.
- Majorkerina, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5But we have Hermione who has Muggle parents and yet even then, she doesn't have this knowledge.
- navitatl, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4The fourth book does turn into a slightly drudging experience. But when you get to Wolves of the Calla, you'll be interested again.
- dalesmatrix, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4Ok, my one Q after reading the DH is where did Neville get the sword in that final battle?
- Yazilliclick, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4I for one am glad that it was not the typical hero at the front face off. That to me would have been a cop-out literary wise and completely against the entire story of the HP books. The entire series is based off of the weak having to use smarts and bravery to defeat the much more powerful bad guys. It's never about brute force and when it comes down to force the good guys ussually lose or barely scrape by.
You want bravery? Well Harry did go into the forest alone to face voldemort believing the only way to end this and save his friends was for him to die alone. So yes he showed bravery, he faced what he thought was certain death with his head held high surounded by enemies. Once that turned out differently than he expected and he got some answers he realized what needed to be done and so stayed hidden to complete that. Charging around would have done nothing to win. Perhaps that's a good lesson for most people that sometimes it's best to look for answers and think before you act. It's a lesson that appears many times during the series. - avsfan987, on 10/10/2007, -2/+6Don't feed the troll.
I can tell already that you have never read any of the Harry Potter books. You just assume they're bad because the people on ytmnd.com say so. - brotherfranciz, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4Yeah, sure way to end a novel - just give Voldemort a gun! That is probably the most childish thing I have ever read...
I don't think you understand the books, for example, take a look at Mr. Weasley's fascination with "muggle" artifacts - don't you notice the rest of his family seem to think he is wasting his time on such crap? My point being that the magical world think the muggle world is useless. But I guess you could argue that - like the flying car and Hagrid's flying motorcycle - you could easily modify a gun with some magic, like shooting out Avada Kedavra curses... but then that is really up to J.K. Rowling and her plotline. - caBoss, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4Harry or Voldemort could just use a shield charm ("protego"). And they would know it was coming because of the connection between them.
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