One thing I very much admire about the Harry Potter books is JK Rowling’s “iceberg” style of writing — what is explicitly seen, described, or explained is only about 10% of what’s actually going on. This is sheer genius for two reasons. First, it allows her to tell a very large, complex story from the point of view of a group of children who can’t possibly know or understand every aspect of that story (certainly not in the earlier books). Second, it turns every detail into a potential easter egg — sometimes a locket is just a locket, and sometimes it’s a piece of the Dark Lord’s soul that says nasty things about your friends and refuses to die. You never know what’s going to crop up three books later as a critical piece of information. That’s what’s really kept me reading the books for six years now — trying to piece together the clues and guess what’s coming next, and what has come before.
So, now that we have the whole story (if only in the most literal sense), it is now time for me to attempt the ultimate piecing together, and unearth (un…ocean?) the other 90% percent of that iceberg. Though, truth be told, I’ll be happy if I manage half of it. (more…)