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HP V--long but no spoilers
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From: robinsmith59 at comcast.net <robinsmith59>
Date: Mon, 23 Jun 2003 11:13:34 -0500
It is a tad difficult to read the incredible statistics about HP V--the millions published and sold on the first day, the hype, the adoration--and know what to think. Because there are no review copies, I had to speed read the book in a day and turn in a review the next. It's hard not to feel like I am a puppet in a show put on by the publisher.
I will try hard not to reveal anything that has not already been revealed by the publisher or author in the past few months.
I do have a few reflections on this current book. It is a long long book.
1. It is clear that the editor had to do a lot of editing. Storylines begin but are never really resolved. I always think of John Irving when I read a HP book. Irving throws all sorts of details and plot diversions at the reader and, in the end, they all have some importance. Not here. There is a final fireside chat between Harry and Dumbledore where Dumbledore makes some passing reference to some of the loose threads, but that feels a bit like a device. Perhaps some of these loose ends will be sewed together in books 6 and 7...I hope so.
2. Slow start. After the exciting first 10 pages, the next 330 were ponderous. After that, it was quite a good read.
3. This book (and the others) does not stand alone. Rowling knows that her readers are well familiar with the jinxes and curses from the previous books. I had to call my local 8-year-old expert to refresh my fading memory. The Time magazine recap helped too. I will have to have some of the Harry websites available when I read the next books--apparate, flagrate, dementor, Penseive, Imperious Curse... the specialized (and fun) vocabulary had left my brain in three years since I read a Rowling tome.
4. My fears about any terrifying death scene were unfounded. Cedric's amputation and death were far more gruesome and somewhat gratuitous in Book IV than the events in this book. The groundwork for this event was clearly there--the character itself (sorry, no gender details) makes allusion to death. No young reader will be scarred for life by reading this one.
5. I thought Rowling would bring Harry through more romantic entanglements given his age and experiences in Goblet of Fire. There is one sweet scene and lots of funny explaining by Hermione about the workings of the female heart, but that's it.
6. I finished the book early last evening and had the night to sleep on it. Though I loved all the action at the end (now becoming what I expect from the last 200 pp of a Rowling novel), I keep going back over each character. How do they change? Especially, how does Harry change? How are they different at the end of the book? What did they learn from their experiences? I even made a list as I was reading--I saw little change. It's as if all the characters did all their changing in book four.
7. The New York Times review (page 1, Saturday, the 21st) says that Harry is
"more a young King Arthur." Well...something tells me reviewer Michiko Kakutani had this book in hand way well before the sell date and that he did not have to stand in line at midnight either. (now I am whining) If the young King Arthur whined and complained and yelled a good deal of the time, then I see the connection. Otherwise, I would say Harry has a long way to go to become Arthur. And really, at his age, he does have a long way to go. That's what books 6 and 7 will be all about.
8. The ending is exciting.
9. Voldemort? More like Rigormort. I was truly frightened by him in the earlier installments, but less here.
Having said all this, I DO realize that children who love the Harry Potter novels, will continue to love them. They would all love to read the original manuscript word for precious word. Harry and Rowling have brought many, many readers to books and that alone is a wonderful wonderful thing. What I write and think has no bearing on these fans. I am thrilled that there are books that are so compelling that readers will count down the hours until release and will memorize the family trees of the characters and argue the finer points of the narrative. But, that does not stop me from putting on my reviewer's cap while I am reading.(Which house would I be sorted into? I am neither brave nor terribly brainy, my ancestry is anything but pure...I guess I will have to join Hufflepuff!)
As for me, I think I will read a few new books and unearth my Susan Cooper Dark is Rising books--my appetite for Arthurian fantasy has been whetted and I would like to revisit Will Stanton.
Peace, Robin Smith Nashville, TN
Received on Mon 23 Jun 2003 11:13:34 AM CDT
Date: Mon, 23 Jun 2003 11:13:34 -0500
It is a tad difficult to read the incredible statistics about HP V--the millions published and sold on the first day, the hype, the adoration--and know what to think. Because there are no review copies, I had to speed read the book in a day and turn in a review the next. It's hard not to feel like I am a puppet in a show put on by the publisher.
I will try hard not to reveal anything that has not already been revealed by the publisher or author in the past few months.
I do have a few reflections on this current book. It is a long long book.
1. It is clear that the editor had to do a lot of editing. Storylines begin but are never really resolved. I always think of John Irving when I read a HP book. Irving throws all sorts of details and plot diversions at the reader and, in the end, they all have some importance. Not here. There is a final fireside chat between Harry and Dumbledore where Dumbledore makes some passing reference to some of the loose threads, but that feels a bit like a device. Perhaps some of these loose ends will be sewed together in books 6 and 7...I hope so.
2. Slow start. After the exciting first 10 pages, the next 330 were ponderous. After that, it was quite a good read.
3. This book (and the others) does not stand alone. Rowling knows that her readers are well familiar with the jinxes and curses from the previous books. I had to call my local 8-year-old expert to refresh my fading memory. The Time magazine recap helped too. I will have to have some of the Harry websites available when I read the next books--apparate, flagrate, dementor, Penseive, Imperious Curse... the specialized (and fun) vocabulary had left my brain in three years since I read a Rowling tome.
4. My fears about any terrifying death scene were unfounded. Cedric's amputation and death were far more gruesome and somewhat gratuitous in Book IV than the events in this book. The groundwork for this event was clearly there--the character itself (sorry, no gender details) makes allusion to death. No young reader will be scarred for life by reading this one.
5. I thought Rowling would bring Harry through more romantic entanglements given his age and experiences in Goblet of Fire. There is one sweet scene and lots of funny explaining by Hermione about the workings of the female heart, but that's it.
6. I finished the book early last evening and had the night to sleep on it. Though I loved all the action at the end (now becoming what I expect from the last 200 pp of a Rowling novel), I keep going back over each character. How do they change? Especially, how does Harry change? How are they different at the end of the book? What did they learn from their experiences? I even made a list as I was reading--I saw little change. It's as if all the characters did all their changing in book four.
7. The New York Times review (page 1, Saturday, the 21st) says that Harry is
"more a young King Arthur." Well...something tells me reviewer Michiko Kakutani had this book in hand way well before the sell date and that he did not have to stand in line at midnight either. (now I am whining) If the young King Arthur whined and complained and yelled a good deal of the time, then I see the connection. Otherwise, I would say Harry has a long way to go to become Arthur. And really, at his age, he does have a long way to go. That's what books 6 and 7 will be all about.
8. The ending is exciting.
9. Voldemort? More like Rigormort. I was truly frightened by him in the earlier installments, but less here.
Having said all this, I DO realize that children who love the Harry Potter novels, will continue to love them. They would all love to read the original manuscript word for precious word. Harry and Rowling have brought many, many readers to books and that alone is a wonderful wonderful thing. What I write and think has no bearing on these fans. I am thrilled that there are books that are so compelling that readers will count down the hours until release and will memorize the family trees of the characters and argue the finer points of the narrative. But, that does not stop me from putting on my reviewer's cap while I am reading.(Which house would I be sorted into? I am neither brave nor terribly brainy, my ancestry is anything but pure...I guess I will have to join Hufflepuff!)
As for me, I think I will read a few new books and unearth my Susan Cooper Dark is Rising books--my appetite for Arthurian fantasy has been whetted and I would like to revisit Will Stanton.
Peace, Robin Smith Nashville, TN
Received on Mon 23 Jun 2003 11:13:34 AM CDT
