Question: Are you satisfied with the epilogue?
...I guess I'm one of the people that respect's the author's final say on what happened. Loads of people have written fanfic and re-written parts of Rowling's stories so that they're completely satisfied, but honestly I think authors deserve a little more respect than that. I may not be completely happy with someone's ending but they're the writer and they get to choose.
Now if they craft a poor ending, that's different. If it isn't a strong, clear resolution/denouement then we have a problem.
But I think Rowling knew what she was doing and I'm happy with the epilogue.
For one, she gave Harry what he needed -- a normal life. (Sure, chasing Dark Wizards isn't *completely* normal, but if you're Harry Potter that's really the only job for you) He had a wife and children, friends, a job, and PEACE. That was a great resolution to his story, which was, let's face it, a pretty emotional rollercoaster, and it definitely took its toll on him.
Second, The ending brought the story back full circle -- another generation of kids are going to Hogwarts -- Harry and Ginny's, and Ron and Hermione's own children. (And Draco's) Their adventures are just beginning (although I doubt they'll be as epic as Harry's, which I think he would be grateful for).
Thirdly, the biggest evils are gone. The world is better because of Harry. And that is a beautiful, hopeful thing.
I'm not sure why some people dislike the epilogue so much -- it was a bit of a change-up from the craziness of what usually happens to Harry -- but Rowling, again, really thought this through. She's a brilliant, intelligent author and I trust she knows best.
So I loved the epilogue.
Did you? Why or why not?
Like the ending of The Hunger Games, I wish it was longer and gave us more closure (though I feel this much more strongly for The Hunger Games than HP). After all we've been through with Harry, I really wouldn't mind reading 40 pages about what he and his friends have been up to, even if it's about peace and healing and recovery. But I imagine there are some people who would never be satisfied, because they want the story to keep going...and I can relate to that feeling.
ReplyDeleteThat's fair. The other thing I know about authors is that they aren't perfect and a published book will always have errors, grammatical or plot or character development wise. So while I respect their choices, there are things Rowling could have done better (including a longer, more detailed epilogue).
ReplyDeleteI think that's part of the reason she wanted to do Pottermore, to expand the universe for her fans and put in the stuff she couldn't fit into the books. Maybe there'll be more epilogue stuff eventually?