“Deathly Hallows,” U.K.-style
As you might imagine, J.K. Rowling went through a depressive period after delivering “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.” She told USA Today that the finality of delivering the ending volume of a 17-year project left her with a certain emotional void — something many of her readers are probably dealing with now.
Finishing “Deathly Hallows” was unlike any other “Potter” experience, since (SPOILER ALERT FOR LATE-GAMERS AND SLOW READERS) there was no suspense or cliffhanger at the end, and Rowling included that epilogue that took us 19 years into the future and an idyllic, “everybody’s family now” wizarding world. There is no obvious foundation for follow-up books, unless you consider the mere presence of Potter-Weasley progeny the basis for a new series.
So, it’s over. This was a great series that ended with one of its best volumes, but I’ve spent the better part of the past six years as a devotee to the series, and the post-Hogwarts reality (okay, semi-reality) will take some adjustment. Granted, I will get to revisit the “Harry Potter” series when my 2-year-old son starts reading in a few months (I know, I know. I’m not one of those parents. Much.), but for those of us who plowed through the seven volumes more-or-less as they arrived on the racks, these books are already book-ended.
So, I’m a tad “meh” these days, and wanting to dive into a new, great book to get obsessed over. Those with suggestions should pipe up right about now.
August 9th, 2007 at 1:17 pm
Michael Chabon’s “The Yiddish Policeman’s Union.”
or Philip Roth’s “The Plot Against America”
Oh, or a great Muddy Waters bio by Robert Gordon, “Can’t Be Satisfied.”
August 9th, 2007 at 2:35 pm
Yes, I am sad too. But mostly I can’t wait to read them all back to back! Or maybe I’ll listen to them again. If you don’t have Jim Dale’s incredible readings of the books, then you NEED to hear them! The life he gives the characters is fantastic, though it does make the movies seem even more….blah.
Have you read The Golden Compass? It’s the first book in Philip Pullman’s Dark Materials Trilogy and the movie is quickly on its way, as I’m sure you know. Compass is one of the most fantastic fantasy books I have ever read. The next two in the trilogy are good, but the first is really gripping. It’s for kids the same way the last 3 Harry Potter books are “for kids”.
August 9th, 2007 at 2:56 pm
Warren Ellis’ “Crooked Little Vein” is good. I enjoyed “Soon, I Will Be Invincible” by Austin Grossman. Daniel Wallace’s “Mr. Sebastian and the Negro Magician” is supposed to be good, too.
August 9th, 2007 at 4:29 pm
Sven, that’s NUTS! You took the words right out of my mouth. Every one of them. I’ll bet these cats can even see the trailer for “The Golden Compass” on apple.com/trailers or whatever the link is. The book is unbeatable, however.
Ok, if I HAVE to add some originality here, I would recommend a short story collection by Roald Dahl. Like that one I have that I can’t remember the title of. The grown-up collection, not the children’s.
August 10th, 2007 at 5:24 pm
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
All My Friends Are Going to be Strangers by Larry McMurtry
August 12th, 2007 at 1:23 am
Harry Potter? It seems a tad, hmmm. Juvenile…
I am not looking to start a flame war but I also like to read books written beyond a second grade level. I say bravo to your son for reading at age 2. I was reading then myself and haven’t stopped for the past 30 years.
I am also suggesting something a little less for lack of a better term, genre, and something written in the 21st century…also something that isn’t so ny times bestseller list.
Why not start with something else from across the pond like the man booker nominees which were listed last week. I am working my way through them and I have not been disappointed yet. Warning not all are available through american publishers yet but amazon.co.uk is available.
Start with the welsh girl by peter ho davies.
The longlist for this year’s Man Booker Prize, which rewards the best novel of the year written by a citizen of the Commonwealth or the Republic of Ireland, follows:
Darkmans by Nicola Barker (4th Estate)
Self Help by Edward Docx (Picador)
The Gift Of Rain by Tan Twan Eng (Myrmidon)
The Gathering by Anne Enright (Jonathan Cape)
The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid (Hamish Hamilton)
The Welsh Girl by Peter Ho Davies (Sceptre)
Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones (John Murray)
Gifted by Nikita Lalwani (Viking)
On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan (Jonathan Cape)
What Was Lost by Catherine O’Flynn (Tindal Street)
Consolation by Michael Redhill (William Heinemann)
Animal’s People by Indra Sinha (Simon & Schuster
Winnie & Wolf by A.N.Wilson (Hutchinson)
August 12th, 2007 at 12:09 pm
Ha! Todd, you’re hilarious!
Oh wait, you are kidding, right?
Maybe not?
Oh dear God, maybe not….
August 12th, 2007 at 12:42 pm
todd reminds me of the character played by katherine zeta jones in high fidelity.
are you in or are you out, george?
August 13th, 2007 at 10:35 am
Todd, how deliciously elitist of you.
Harry Potter is hardly written at a second-grade level. And occasionally, those things enjoyed by the populace at-large can be genuinely good.
You might consider deflating.
August 13th, 2007 at 11:33 am
Todd, these people just don’t understand you! They ARE juvenile! You should come talk to me……
August 14th, 2007 at 12:44 pm
I will give Todd props for being willing to stir up the shat here. I’m not a Potter fan, but I know dang well not to knock the series. Well, I can’t - I haven’t read any of ‘em.
And besides, my Potter-manic wife would kick my ass.
I will add this, though, to Tony - you get a demerit for throwing in the Ralph Ellison novel. I mean, c’mon, it’s a classic, for Pete’s sake! By that logic, I’m recommending George read “Huckleberry Finn.”
August 15th, 2007 at 5:00 pm
Yes, it IS a classic, and ESPECIALLY for those from the red dirt state…. but you wouldn’t believe how many people have picked up my copy and asked me if it was a good read.
August 15th, 2007 at 5:44 pm
how many have asked you if it was made into a 1930s-era horror movie starring Claude Rains?
August 17th, 2007 at 4:51 pm
ohmygodohmygod! sven, we totally have to go to Southern Oaks Library on Sunday to hear Harry Potter-esque bands the Remus Lupins and the Whomping Willows!! hooray!