Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

After my MSc, me and my father went on a trip to Bangalore, Pune, Bombay, Ahmedabad, and back to Bangalore. It was a two week long trip; I gave interviews in Indian Institute of Astronomy, Inter-University Consortium for Astronomy and Astrophysics, TIFR, Physical Research Laboratory, Raman Research Institute and Indian Institute of Science for a Ph D studentship. During the trip, among other things, I packed a suitcase full of books–one for each area–solid state physics, statistical physics, classical physics, quantum physics, and, so on. It was a very heavy suitcase (and I remember somebody trying to put it on the luggage rack in a Bombay suburban train in vain–he smiled and asked if it was gold that I was carrying in the suitcase), and, I had a difficult time in leaving some books behind–what if I needed Kittel and Kroemer while I packed only Callen? what if I needed Griffiths while I packed only Jackson? what if I needed Powell and Crasemann while I packed Gasciorowicz? and so on…. I remembered all that vividly when I read Hermione’s difficulties in deciding on the books that she wants to pack before their journey in search of the Horcruxes. It is small things of this sort which helps one identify oneself with some of the Harry Potter characters, which, in turn, makes reading the novels fun.

I read my first Harry Potter novel after the first three books have been published; but, I took an instant liking to them. I especially liked the description of school life, and the inner life of studenthood–like Snape giving a huge assignment when they are already overburdened with school work (and have a match to play/watch), which makes the students groan–I had faced similar situations, and I can understand how Ron might have felt under the circumstances. From this point of view, I do not understand some of the critics when they say that the public school life described in Harry Potter movies are not realistic–the latest of such criticism, to my surprise, I heard from Neil Gaiman.

In any case, I liked reading Deathly Hollows; someday, I will buy the complete, box-set Potter and read it from the beginning till the end, which, I think will give a better perspective on the books; and, then, I will write a more complete review. In the meanwhile, I have no hesitations in recommending Deathly Hallows. Happy reading!