The end of the year list mania continues as Newsweek magazine has selected "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" as their Best Book of 2007. In an article titled "Wizards, Warmongers and the West Coast," the magazine lists their 15 best books, with the final installment of the Harry Potter series at the number one spot. They write:
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. J. K. Rowling.
You could call it the most satisfying ending to a guessing game since the casting of Scarlett O'Hara. The seventh and final installment of the Potter series went in no radical directions [spoiler omitted here], but Rowling made it look effortless when she niftily tied off one plot line after another. The kids who grew up on these novels--and therefore can't help but take them somewhat for granted--have no idea how lucky they are.
Also, earlier Time magazine posted 50 top ten year end lists, and ranked "Deathly Hallows" at number eight on their list of "Best Fiction Books" of the year. The magazine states of the novel by J.K. Rowling:
There's no point in trying to finesse the importance of Harry Potter. In seven books Rowling proved that books can still be a true global mass medium, and that significant chunks of the known world can still embrace a single story. Deathly Hallows finds Rowling is in fine form, pulling all the stops she'd been saving up. She gives us wartime gloom, the crackling three-sided chemistry of Harry and Ron and Hermione, and an epic, cataclysmic finale, among many other minor treats. This isn't the most elegant of the Potter volumes, but it feels like an ending, the final iteration of Rowling's abiding thematic concern: the overwhelming importance of continuing to love in the face of death.
I whole-heartedly agree with this article. In my opinion, probably no one will ever again achieve what Rowling has with the Harry Potter series; a book doesn’t have to be Shakespeare to be considered literary genius!
Actually, Shakespeare was considered very low-brow back in his day! A lot of little things in his works show this. “I bite my thumb at you” is bsically the medieval version of the finger. So who knows, in a century, Harry Potter may be heralded as a literary classic.
Well this Mary Ann loved the last Book of the Harry Potter Phenomenon. “This book was an ethics letdown” – you can’t know what you are talking about! I’m well over 40, have read truckloads of books (of all genres, by different authors in three different languages) and I have NEVER been this excited about any series of books EVER in my life. I’m not usually someone who is easily bowled over by commercial success – on the contrary – I was very reluctant to read the first one for that very same reason – I didn’t want to be driven by any commercial hype. But my life would have been so much poorer if I hadn’t finally picked up Philosopher’s Stone. I was hooked from the first page and read Bks 2,3,&4 one after another!
tanya, that’s so true. in fact, lots of works that are now considered “literary classics” were looked down upon by the snobs of their time. there’s little doubt in my mind that the harry potter books will be considered literary classics in about 100 years time.
But Newsweek writer, just a fyi, I grew up with the series and I by no means take it for granted neither do most of the die hard fans. And I know that I along with many other are so lucky to have grown up with Harry. :-)
You sound like me! I was reluctant to read them also because of the commercial success, but I finally gave in to my friend’s begging and was hooked by the first page!
What Marianne, a poster on the first page fails to understand that what makes a book great is more then just how the author strings the words together, but the impact it makes on the literary world. there are many good books that are poetic and lyrical in their writing, but ultimately when the reader closes the covers of the books having finished it, it didnt leave a imprint. harry potter is written predominatly for a younger readership, but is loved by all ages, which is a achivement writers like shakespere likely couldnt expect. you dont see 9 year olds reading romeo and juliet and spending hours in forums and chatrooms discussing it. with harry potter, you see generational gaps disappearing and people of all ages enjoying the same thing. that is only one of the profound impacts these books have had.
what makes a book the best book of the year is its impact, not its subject matter or wordcount or how many books it sells. its the profound impact the books have on the world of books, and no book in history has had such a impact on the world of reading like harry potter. in ten years, harry potter has surprased such fantasy juggernauts like lotr’s and narnia.
The best childrens book ever. Its loved by both young and old it deserves all the awards its getting. pity there is no more at present being written. Will JK write another despite what she says we will have to wait and see. I wonder if ‘THE TALES OF BEEDLE THE BARD ’ will be published. All her books have such a following that it may happen in the not too distant future.
I don’t think this was a very good book.. although it belongs to a very good series. I LOVED the first 6 books… but I was highly dissapointed in the 7th book. Most of the story was simply “We’re hiding”. The way the stroy was told seemed as though J.K Rowling had lost interest in writting by the 7th book.. It didn’t capture me nearly as well as the other 6 books (Despite how long I looked forward to the last book coming out). And not to mention the anti-climatical ending. I thought the battle between Harry and Voldemort wouldn’t be so lacking. It looks like the book was mostly meant as nothing more than a quick finish to the series. Kill off a lot of characters and end the stories of the survivors. Ta-da.. happy life. I was truely dissapointed.
Newsweek and Entertainment Weekly’s reviews of DH are great. TIME has been rather, how should we say, Death Eater-ish to the beloved Hallows. They also derogatorily ridiculed our beloved gay headmaster. If JKR is’nt TIME’s person of the year, I will never read TIME Magazine ever, ever, again.
My rant is over. My fanfiction, anyone?
http://community.livejournal.com/as_pof_fic
I always liked newsweek…