A bedtime story with murder and war? Please pardon my husbands sick sense of humor!

LS if you think about it, arent the bible stories we christians tell our kids as bedtime stories full of murder and war?

It's a bedtime story in my house... I have no trouble reading about death and war to my kids. It's all in the context. In the case of HP, the thing to remember is that it is a story of good vs. evil and Harry is always morally right in his actions.

Whenever there are dark or scary moments, these are just opportunities to have a chat about that part of human nature.

You know how I feel about that too. :shakehead:

Love ya anyways though. :)

I dont think the war has yet begun.

Not to mention rape and incest.

I was just saying that pan's sense of humor really isnt all that sick if you think about age old stories some people tell their kids. Hell have you ever read some of the fairy tales?

Just as a warning to people who like the series and have concerns about spoilers:

They are out and, as far as anyone can tell, they're real (they look like digital pictures of the book with proper formatting, font, etc.). Look if you want but be careful and aware of them if you're browsing casually, since they're going to become increasingly out in the open sooner rather than later.

For those of you curious, this is the supposed epilogue:

SPOILERS

Page 753
Page 754-755
Page 756-757
Page 758-759

Certainly looks legit, but who knows.

link
Well the libraries have been delivered their editions already under strict orders to not open them at all. The legal department around here has been nuts with drafting contracts that goes all the way from the distributors to the actual bookstores stating that they will not open the boxes until sale date.

Who knows for sure, I d/l an electronic version the other day but it doesn't look legit. Can't tell unlike with movies and music...

I do not even want to look at that !!!

the last time it wasn't given to me so freely though!

i sat reading this email of millions of tshirts that were apparently selling like hot cakes and in this email, there was a t-shirt that said "Harry Potter, page three hundred and some odd, Dumbledore dies! now i just saved you $40 and 4 hours!!!"

this was way after the 6th one came out though but i hadn't read it yet!!!

healer was st work and i phoned him immediately or rather had him phone me to tell me if it was the truth! i just couldnt believe it.

so, i've learned my lesson not to look at strange things that have to do with harry.

Its going to be SO hard not to hear how the book ends. I may just have to cut off my computer saturday morning and not get online at all until I've finished the book.

The hardest part is going to be, because I read so much faster than Dave does.....hiding any reaction from him is going to be very hard to do (ESPECIALLY whatever happens involving Snape....I honestly could care less if Harry dies...but if Snape does I will be in mourning forever lol)

I would just like to say....and this is giving nothing away at all about the book this is my new fav quote from any HP book lol (as much as I love Snape, this is classic)

"He can move fater than Severus Snape confronted with shampoo"

My copy arrived in today's mail, and it's killing me that I had to set it aside for later this evening. Great quote, Shani. :)

Not giving anything away until people are ready to discuss it - but this book is absolutely fantastic. :) If you haven't read it yet, well what are you waiting for?

The Deathly Hallows
 

Well, Ive finished it.

I wont to the slightest extent post any spoilers, or even "fore-shadowing" here, and hope no one else does - because I can't think of anything more mean spirited than trying to spoil a book for another person and steal their joy from it....

But, I am I the first TFP person to finish it??

Im almost finished!!!!! 100 pages left

if you read the thread we already had...I've got 100 pages left

Nope, probably not the first. I finished about 4 hours ago and I loved every minute of it. Very bittersweet, it being the last book and all - but it was so well written. Hopefully everyone else will agree.

Woo-hoo! Go Shani! :D

I agree, it isnt a work of literature... but it is the end of the story, and it is an adventure... I enjoyed it.

well, perhaps I should have not made a new thread if this one is also talking about it.

I have finished, I thought it was not as good as the other books (other than The Order of the Phoenix), but then it couldnt be... it had to end the story, and it did so.

I dont want to say ANYTHING to effect anyone else's reading.... but I really enjoyed the serious a lot.

or I meant series of course. I dont know what it means that makes such errors.

I finished the book a few days ago (downloaded online, not a fan fiction version)... I still went and bought the book last night though. I thought it was a great ending to the series.

best book in the series bar none

cant wait to talk about it!!!

Finished.

well get on yahoo so I can talk to you about it!!!

I just want to say (SPOILER...DONT HIGHLIGHT UNTIL YOU'RE FINISHED READING)

Spoiler: I TOLD YOU ALL SNAPE WAS GOOD!!!!. I cried when he died, I cried thru the pensive and I cried with the explanation of the childs name at the end

250 pages in...really enjoying it so far.

I had a very busy day, so that I've managed 250 pages in less than 12 hours is pretty impressive to me!

I am still trying to recover... it is a very emotional book for those of us who have been waiting so long. I am just glad that 90% of what I predicted to begin with came to pass... still I am exhausted from numerous crying jags at various points in the book.

Finished it. Action-packed. Lots of twists.

I really enjoyed it, and I think it was a fitting end.

Er, if you haven't read the last chapter of the book, and you decide to highlight this text. . . .That's your problem ;)

Spoiler: Anyone else notice that Rowling didn't live up to her promise that this final book would close the door on more books in the Potterverse? I mean, when you get right down to it, she killed off a bunch of bit characters and left the mains alive and happy. There's all sorts of story possibilities in the 19 years between the last 2 chapters. There'll be one hell of a mess to clean up, evil still to be stomped out, etc. Then there's always the possibility that the Potter gang's kids will find adventures of their own. I wouldn't be terribly surprised to see another Potter book or two come out in 5-10 years.

Spoiler: The thing that strikes me - Dumbledore is the WORST villian of all. At least Voldemort did not seek to hide his bad nature, Dumbledore was a villian AND a hypocrite. His sister's blood was upon him (of course it was he who cast the killing blow - why even merit such lies as "it might have been me, I dont know" with consideration); he threw Snape to the wolves (he KNEW what it meant to ask Snape to kill him when he was the holder of the Elder wand) and callously betrayed Snape's grief over the death of Lily and tormented him with it; he betrayed Harry and lied to him from the start - sending a boy to do a job which he was not man enough to do.

Done. Had to work all of yesterday, that's why I'm so late. :) Don't know how to do spoiler tag thingys, but I generally agree with most of the comments.

I finished it last night.

Without going to far into it, I think this book could've been about 2/3 or maybe even 1/2 the size it currently is and been a much better book. Not that I don't appreciate 700+ pages of Harry Potter goodness, but the middle third, which is absolute crap when compared with the rest of the book, feels like filler and I hate filler. It was a chore getting through this part of the story and that's a shame.

A few more notes...
Spoiler: I absolutely hate what she turned Dumbledore into. For six books, he's been...well, Dumbledore and now it turns out he's really this sort of this manipulating scumbag. That would've been great had it been a thread in all the other books, but this felt tacked on. "Oh, by the way, Dumbledore for a time was best friends with this real evil bloke that did horrible things....over there....and his sister was beat up by muggles....and he uses everybody....yeah, that's the ticket...just read this article by Rita Skeeter.

Seperately, I hate when writers do that, by the way. Articles, book excerpts and such....It's stupid and lazy, in my opinion, whether the offender is J.K. Rowling or Stephen King.

As for the epilogue, I think that stinks as well. This series, since about book 3 I think, has matured very well over the years, dealing with darker stuff and more adult themes as the audience has gotten older. The relationships have gotten more complex, the villians harder to spot and by book seven the shine has really come off the wizarding world that was all pixies and magic dust in the first book. To tack on this super sweet syrupy ending is...well, I don't know, it feels a bit insulting. Ginny and Harry, Ron and Hermione...it all worked out. And kids, no less, named after dead parents and dead heroes. "Albus Severus, don't listen to James, Lily or your second cousin Remus Nymphadora Rubeus Flitwick Minerva Sirius Neville Lovegood,
they're just trying to pull the wool over your eyes, the little scoundrels.
Ruffle hair, put them on train to Hogwart's and wave as the train pulls out the station. End Scene "...and they all lived happily ever after."

Other than all that I think the book was pretty good. I thought she handled Snape's story rather well and last bit (the battle of Hogwart's and Voldemort's death) I thought were pretty good as well.

I've said too much... :)

I loved...

Spoiler: that Neville ended up headmaster, I thought that was perfect

He didnt... it was Professor of (spoiler thingy that I dont know how to do).

are you saying I read that all wrong? Damn it I cant get my book, Dave has it with him and he's gone

Spoiler: Neville became the professor of plants... and as for the naming of one of Harry's children, I think it is a great dishonour to Snape to be juxtaposed with the villian Albus Dumbledore in such a way.

Ok I have the book back....and I totally misread that!!! oops

Well I enjoyed it, read it in all one sitting which is unsual for me, so didn't get to bed until the early hours.

Just got done reading it!!!!Spoiler:

I agree that the middle section was a little lackluster, even though it did make the bond between Ron, Hermione, and Harry deeper to the readers.

BTW I've seen some pretty wild things about Dumbledore being the true villian of the book. Am I missing something? This book, if anything, showed that Dumbledore wasn't an Angel From Above like the first six represented him, but a real, true wizard who learned from past mistakes and showed that it's possible to make the best out of any life. Adding a human element to Dumbledore made him a more interesting character. Plus, arguing that what he made Harry go through was bastardly and that he was just using him is false also...the book clearly (well, I thought it was clear) explains that Dumbledore led him down this path to suicide because he knew it would destroy the soul link between the two. It did, hence Voldemort being mortal and Harry being free from the scar burning. Dumbledore knew this would happen and it did. I don't see how you could twist this into evil unless you read up to the point before Harry actually committed the act of suicide and then stopped.

I also thought that the chapter(s) containing the scene where Harry realized that he had to die and he actually marching solitarily to Voldemort were possibly the best written scenes of all the books.

Spoiler: I liked the massive battle between the death eaters, spiders, giants against the Order, Dumbledore's Army, Hogwart's teachers, Hogwart's students and Hogwart's various statues. What a battle!