Book 7 Epilogue

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 177080

---  "gypsy.swpa" <gypsy.swpa at ...> wrote:
>
> Did anyone else hate the ending of book 7?
> 
> gypsy.swpa
>

bboyminn:

I was OK with the Epilogue, but naturally as a fan I
wanted all the details I could possibly get. In that
sense I was disappointed. But to some extent you have
to take it the way it comes from the author. It is
her story to tell.

Based on interviews after HP&tDH, JKR indicated that
the original ending was longer and fill with A LOT more
detail, but it just wasn't working. So, she switched to
a more 'life is good/life goes on' type of ending. This
is sort of a 'slice of life' scene, rather than a story;
a brief window into a moment in time that implies
what is going on in the world around it. 

We see Harry/Ginny and Ron/Hermione with kids, seeing
them off to school. We see Harry praise Snape as brave.
We hear Harry say that it's OK to be in Slytherin. We
see Draco and Harry exchange a polite nod. That implies
that while things may not be friendly between Draco 
and Harry, they are at least resolved to politeness. 

Also, JKR said, that once she decided on the 'Slice of
Life' ending, she didn't want this scene to be crystal
clear. She wanted us to see it through the fog of time,
as if we are viewing it through both a literal and 
metaphorical haze.

So, she went from an ending filled with details that
wasn't working, to an ending missing MANY details, but
at the same time implied everything we wanted to know.
The message was clearly 'life is good/life goes on'.

So as a reader I understand and accept the ending, but
as an obsessed fan, I REALLY REALLY wanted those 
details. I think it is that noticable lack of detailed
explanation of everything that has left some fan 
unsatisfied.

For what it's worth.

Steve/bboyminn