I've been so busy lately that I haven't been keeping up with the latest Harry Potter news. When I finally did "check in" in HP land the other day, I discovered what most serious fans of the books (at least those who check in at Rowling's website or the Leaky Cauldron regularly) probably already know...Rowling is still hard at work on book 7, and it's getting LONG.
Is anyone surprised by this?! :-)
JKR posted an update to her website journal on the last day of February, in effect worrying out loud a bit that the book-in-progress might be turning into an Order of the Phoenix size finale. She made a comment that what she thought would be two chapters had already become four, and then joked about it being as long as Phoenix, while trying to assure herself and her faithful readers that she didn't think it would be. Not that most of her readers would mind.
Frankly, I'm not surprised that she's discovering it's a lengthy story. She's left herself a huge amount of ground to cover, and lots of important questions to answer. She's such a good writer that I think she will deliver on everything major that she needs to deliver on. If it turns out to take 700 or 800 pages, so be it. (I for one will enjoy the ride!)
I do think Phoenix could have been slimmed...I said then and I think I stand by it now, that it could have used a good final edit. Still, I like it a lot, and I admire it far more now than I did in my first read-through. I think it will go down in HP history as the most difficult book in the series -- for JKR to write, and for readers to read. Books 1-4 each have their own sort of "character" and each provide an important part of the overall epic; she's already said books 6-7 are more or less all of one piece, providing the end of the saga. Book 5 was the transition book, moving us from the return of Voldemort to the "begnning of the end" in book 6. It was also the "nigredo" book, if you follow the ideas about alchemical literary symbolism as put forth by John Granger (which I do, with much delight). Meaning, it was in book 5 that Harry had to go through the process of being completely "broken down" by his experiences and trials, prior to the final stages of the purification process in the last books. What it meant was a darker tone and a more depressed Harry than we'd ever seen before (or since). The plot also advanced the least in book 5, despite its length.
At any rate, I don't think she will have the same problems with book 7. It's a completely different place in the Potter epic, and if she's struggling to keep words to a minimum, it's because she's created such a rich world, and set such rich questions, obstacles and quests in motion that she's got a lot to deal with in order to give us a satisfying ending. I'll post more soon on some of what I think she's got to address in the final story...as well as why some readers are bound to be dissatisfied no matter how long it ends up being!
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