A Fitting Finale
September 2007
Much as one resists the hype that surrounds the Harry Potter series, I was as delighted as anyone else to lay my hands on the latest spellbinder.
Before I could say acchio, the book had yanked me into its magnetic sphere, and kept me turning page after feverish page until, spent and fulfilled, it spat me out 607 pages later. I marvel at J.K. Rowling's ability to maintain such a smooth and flowing continuity between all her books, so that it is almost impossible to read one without reading the earlier ones. Horcruxes – what were they, I wondered, having long forgotten Halfblood Prince, until the ever-obliging Google refreshed my memory.
I have to say that this, her seventh and last book in the Harry Potter series, fulfils even the ridiculously high expectations stoked around it. It's a tour de force, a non-stop rollercoaster ride that has you breathing faster, and tensely gripping your armchair with your eye-balls popping out of their sockets. In short, leaving you badly in need of restorative deep breathing and meditation, but hey, what's a seeker's life without a few thrills?
Ron, Hermione and Harry have dropped out of school in order to find and eliminate the horcruxes (objects that preserve bits of baddie Voldemorte's soul), the crucial mission that Dumbledore entrusted the trio with before dying.
It's open war between the Order of the Phoenix and the Death-Eaters, with no quarter given or taken. This means that the pages are more or less bloodsoaked from beginning to end. There are some terrifying scenes here, with the action beginning almost from the word go, when the Death-Eaters try and catch Harry while leaving Privet Drive for the last time, and moving on to his new mission. But Harry and team escape, not once but several times, just when you think they are done for. Considering that Potter fans seem to be really tiny, I cannot imagine how they deal with the horrors that have escalated with each book, but I guess modern living is horrorproof.
The ending is fittingly grand, the definitive fight against evil, crafted against the gothic background of Hogwarts, attended by everyone who is still living. And while this may ring the curtains down on the Harry Potter saga, the epilogue gives us hope that this may not be the end of JK Rowling's wizardry. A new beginning could be in the offing.
It's not difficult to understand Harry Potter’s fascination for us muggles. He restores magic into our lives, leached away by rationalism and science. But some part of us knows that life is more than it appears to be, that it is grand, magnificent, mysterious. In many ways, Harry's magical world is a metaphor for the real magic of life – its spiritual dimension. Harry's adventures recalls the seeker's own as he battles the villain – only within himself, not outside.
- Suma Varughese
Discussion (0)
No comments yet. Be the first to comment!
Leave a Comment
You need to login to post a comment.