The Beginning of the End: Regarding the Deathly Hallows Part 1
The final Harry Potter novel came out approximately a month before my 21st birthday. I was visiting a friend in Raleigh when it came out in July 2007, freshly back from a study abroad trip in Costa Rica. The cool thing (?) about the South is that a lot of those Wal-Marts are open for 24 hours so, rather than wait outside a Barnes & Noble, I just swung by a Wal-Mart at midnight and pick up a copy relatively hassle-free. I was only on this particular North Carolina trip for a couple days after that, stopping by my college on the drive home to officially move in to my first apartment but, by the time I reached Newport News, I had completely finished reading The Deathly Hallows from cover-to-cover.
I think that's a testament to the story; there's a strong argument that the final Harry Potter novel is the very best in the entire series. The first half of the novel, which would get adapted into its own individual film by David Yates, is part-road fiction, and part being-on-the-run. Some of my favorite stories of all time in any medium are about these expansive, visible journeys. Jack Kerouac's On the Road, Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now (itself adapting Conrad's Heart of Darkness), Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit; all road fiction and all works that I absolutely love. And in terms of being-on-the-run, The Blues Brothers is one of my all time favorite films and that's all that movie is with the best rhythm and blues soundtrack in cinematic history.
Shit, I need to talk about Harry Potter. I didn't mind The Deathly Hallows being split into two films; if anything I wish all these novels got the extended edition treatment like Peter Jackson's adaptations of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit to give them more room to breathe if you wanted that option on home video. It is a rather abrupt ending to Part 1, especially as the story, both in terms of literature and cinema, hit the ground running and rarely let up pacing-wise. Characters die. Often. And not peacefully in their sleep. Some deaths are big set pieces but some are so instantaneous with the surviving characters not having the benefit of time to reflect and properly mourn their loss.
In all the running chaos, as Harry and his friends scramble to find and destroy the remaining Horcruxes, my favorite moment in the first half is the one true quiet moment in the first half of the story; I've read and seen so many action set pieces that it's the quiet moments I really look forward to in books, movies, and television now. In Part 1, it's Harry and Hermione visiting the Potter family home in Godric's Hollow where he sees his parents' grave for the very first time. It's a beautifully melancholy character moment between the two and I wish there was more moments like that throughout the entire series let alone this book. I really wish, cinematically, that it wasn't followed by jump scare central with Voldemort's motherfucking snake attacking the pair. Really undercuts the whole thing. And fuck jump scares.
And I get the lingering effects of being so close to the Horcrux puts Harry and Ron at odds but, as a longtime reader, it's never a pleasant thing to witness as the two best friends repeatedly butt heads. It's like the One Ring of Power to carry the Tolkien parallel even further; amplifying all the negative aspects of one's personality. But at least Ron gets to re-enter the narrative like a boss down the line.
Death Hallows is the culmination of a bigger story and, after investing myself for years across six previous novels, it's perfectly understandable why I tore through it so quickly. But let's talk about the payoff tomorrow when we cover Part 2.
I think that's a testament to the story; there's a strong argument that the final Harry Potter novel is the very best in the entire series. The first half of the novel, which would get adapted into its own individual film by David Yates, is part-road fiction, and part being-on-the-run. Some of my favorite stories of all time in any medium are about these expansive, visible journeys. Jack Kerouac's On the Road, Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now (itself adapting Conrad's Heart of Darkness), Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit; all road fiction and all works that I absolutely love. And in terms of being-on-the-run, The Blues Brothers is one of my all time favorite films and that's all that movie is with the best rhythm and blues soundtrack in cinematic history.
Shit, I need to talk about Harry Potter. I didn't mind The Deathly Hallows being split into two films; if anything I wish all these novels got the extended edition treatment like Peter Jackson's adaptations of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit to give them more room to breathe if you wanted that option on home video. It is a rather abrupt ending to Part 1, especially as the story, both in terms of literature and cinema, hit the ground running and rarely let up pacing-wise. Characters die. Often. And not peacefully in their sleep. Some deaths are big set pieces but some are so instantaneous with the surviving characters not having the benefit of time to reflect and properly mourn their loss.
In all the running chaos, as Harry and his friends scramble to find and destroy the remaining Horcruxes, my favorite moment in the first half is the one true quiet moment in the first half of the story; I've read and seen so many action set pieces that it's the quiet moments I really look forward to in books, movies, and television now. In Part 1, it's Harry and Hermione visiting the Potter family home in Godric's Hollow where he sees his parents' grave for the very first time. It's a beautifully melancholy character moment between the two and I wish there was more moments like that throughout the entire series let alone this book. I really wish, cinematically, that it wasn't followed by jump scare central with Voldemort's motherfucking snake attacking the pair. Really undercuts the whole thing. And fuck jump scares.
And I get the lingering effects of being so close to the Horcrux puts Harry and Ron at odds but, as a longtime reader, it's never a pleasant thing to witness as the two best friends repeatedly butt heads. It's like the One Ring of Power to carry the Tolkien parallel even further; amplifying all the negative aspects of one's personality. But at least Ron gets to re-enter the narrative like a boss down the line.
Death Hallows is the culmination of a bigger story and, after investing myself for years across six previous novels, it's perfectly understandable why I tore through it so quickly. But let's talk about the payoff tomorrow when we cover Part 2.
