The Agony and the Ecstacy

[justcarol67]

Sandy wrote:
> 
> I only had three expectations for this book:
> 1. Voldemort would be defeated
> 2. Harry would live
> 3. Harry and Ginny would reunite
> 
> All three of these expectations were met, yet I have a great deal of
negative criticism for the book. The world, and the characters in it,
that I thought I knew so well were turned inside-out and upside-down
to the point that I no longer know who's on first. She introduced
plots and theories that, even after a second read, I still don't
understand, and not understanding makes me feel stupid and I don't
like that. She has made so many statements prior to the release of the
book that turned out to be false, or that she managed to find a way to
worm around. One example: Even in the wizarding world people don't
come back from the dead, but then we get King' Cross. I felt like I
was watching Dallas again.
> 
> For many it is a matter of unfulfilled expectations. That is not the
case for me.
> 
> Sandy
> 
Carol responds:
If it helps, Dumbledore didn't come back from the dead. He's not in
the world of the living. it's the other way around. Harry has, in
essence, gone beyond the Veil but he can't die as long as Voldemort
has a remaining Horcrux. So it's a near-death experience in which DD
is dead (and healed of the curse on his hand as an indication that the
afterlife is a better place than our world) but Harry is still alive.
He can "go on" to join his loved ones if he chooses or he can return
and face Voldemort a second time. Harry learns, among other things,
that death is not to be feared unless you're evil and unrepentant. He
sees what the eternal state of Voldemort's mangled soul will be unless
he experiences remorse, which, of course, he doesn't.

JKR did, however, contradict herself in places, for example stating
that Grindelwald died in 1945, but maybe the final scene between
Grindelwald and Voldemort wasn't part of her original plan. (I wonder,
BTW, whether Grindelwald's last act of defying Voldemort gives him
some chance for redemption or at least a fate less horrible than
Voldemort's.)

Carol, wishing that JKR had been less willing to consent to chats and
off-the-cuff interviews but trying to judge the book on its own terms