Re-reading HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS

Re-reading ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’ provides an insightful commentary which takes readers through the novel. It looks at such areas as literary quality, character analysis and plot analysis, while showing that the novel is contextualised within the British culture which informs it. There’s plenty for Harry Potter fans in its attention to detail and examination of theories, plot holes and more. J K Rowling’s excellence as a writer is explored alongside her occasional shortcomings. Structured in a fun and lighthearted manner, the book gives each chapter a start rating, and assessment includes a look at the heroes and villains in each. Yet it is also a step towards serious literary criticism of the novel, based on the view that the Harry Potter stories should be treated as quality literature.

This book is presented to those re-reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows as a prompt for serious consideration of the novel as a work of literature. Inevitably you will agree with much and disagree with much that is written here – that is the nature of literary criticism – but the process of agreeing and disagreeing develops a more considered critical response. Certainly literary criticism is needed. For a book which has received the massive sales of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (15,000,000 copies in the first twenty-four hours alone) there has so far been amazingly little proper criticism published. This book may be regarded as an early contribution to the literary criticism of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Demonstrating that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is a polished work by a highly skilled writer, this book suggests that it can stand alongside established works of literature. It offers to adult readers as much as it does to the young adults and children that were its first audience, and as such it has the potential to become a true literary classic. The novel’s position in global culture is set out and the moral values of the novel are explored, including Harry’s role as a Christian hero. Re-reading ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows aims to develop your appreciation of a remarkable novel.