Harry Potter: The Series
First book review: Harry Potter. All of them. I know this may seem like an odd choice to start a book review blog with, and I struggled with the idea of not writing about them and starting with the next book I read, but I've just spent 2 months of my life reading all 7 books and quite frankly, they moved me enough to devote my first review to the series. So here we go.
To put it bluntly, I feel like I've just gone through a hard breakup. I read the series back to back over a 2 month timespan and reading that last sentence on that last page in the last book felt strangely like closing a chapter in my own life. You know those feelings you get when you take your last exam in college...or walk out the door on the last day at a job...or even moving out of your home and taking that one last look around before closing the door knowing you'll never call that place home again. That's how I felt.
I will admit that I am a book snob. I tend to lose interest in reading something if there is a lot of hype surrounding it. Which is why I just decided now, in 2009, to start reading these books that have been so popular for so long now. I felt like enough of the hype had died down, so it was time. I also decided that I wanted to read at least the first 6 books prior to seeing the 6th film, which opened in July. So in June I set out on a very lofty goal to read 6 large books in a span of 6 weeks or so. I had no idea what I was getting myself into.
For those who don't know Harry's story, let me give a brief synopsis. In the first book, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Harry is an 11 year old boy living with his aunt, uncle and his cousin Dudley. He's grown up his entire life being told that his parents died in a car accident when he was only 1 year old, and his aunt and uncle were the only family he had left. He isn't treated well. He's made to sleep in a closet underneath the stairs and the Dursley's treat him more like a nasty little secret than an actual human being. On his eleventh birthday, he receives the news that his entire life has been a lie and that he is, in fact, a wizard and his parents, who were also a witch and wizard, were not killed in a car accident, rather they were killed by the evil Lord Voldemort, the darkest of all wizards. The good news is that he gets taken out of the Dursley's house on Privet Drive and taken to Hogwarts, the only place he ever feels at home, where he meets Ron Weasley & Hermione Granger, his two best friends. The bad news is that this knowledge sets him on a dangerous path of fulfilling his own destiny.
You could argue the first three books, Harry Potter & The Sorcerer's Stone; Harry Potter & The Chamber of Secrets; and Harry Potter & The Prisoner of Azkaban are a bit of fluff. Specifically the first two. They each have a specific structure. They each start out with Harry on Privet Drive with the Dursleys. Then he goes to Hogwarts. Then the tension builds throughout the school year and climaxes with Harry fighting the dark arts near the end and then everyone goes home for summer break. Reading the first two books I didn't mind this so much but by the third book it was beginning to wear on me a little. I was told to have faith and keep reading, because everything was going to change...and it did.
The fourth book in the series, Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire, begins to delve deeper into Harry's history and the end of the book sets the course for the rest of the series. It was at this point I realized that this was no longer just a book...I was emotionally involved with these characters. We had a relationship, Harry & I, and my days consisted of going to work and rushing home to crawl in bed and spend the night reading.
I spent most of my time with book five, Harry Potter & The Order of the Phoenix, feeling angry at the misfortune that had befallen Harry. Nothing seemed to go right for him. I spent the last fifty pages of book five crying like a small child. If you're quick to cry over sad things in books or movies, I advise you to keep some kleenex handy in this one. And really, books 6 and 7 (Harry Potter & The Half Blood Prince and Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows) were just more of the same.
Positives: I loved how Rowling was able to incorporate some of the more controversial topics in the world, like racism, in a way where you knew what she meant to convey without being blatantly obvious about it, such as Hermione being called a mudblood because she was of both wizard and muggle heritage. A muggle is simply a person not a witch or wizard - such as you or I. Unless, of course, you are a wizard or a witch...and in that case it's simply such as myself.
I also loved how Rowling was able to breathe such life into these characters to the point where you wonder if maybe somewhere, somehow, Harry Potter might actually exist, because the reality of knowing these characters only exist on paper seems quite depressing. They're all so charming and so interesting and so easy to relate to and to see parts of yourself in. And because of this you find yourself caring so intensely about them and what happens to them. Even the more evil characters, like Draco and Snape, you really want to like, at least at one time or another, because there's just something about them that makes you want to pull for them and hope that maybe they'll come through in the end.
Negatives: Some would argue that the "fluffiness" of the first few books is a bad thing, but I think that it fits right in. Harry is only eleven in the first book and only 17 when the books end. Each book is a little more mature than the last, such as Harry is a little more mature with each book. The only really negative thing I can say is that I wasn't crazy about the ending. Without giving spoilers, the final chapter was put in to give a little closure, but in my opinion it was unnecessary and I would have preferred it to end with the chapter before. But I can also imagine that many other people would have been upset had something like this not been put in. To each his own.
Summary: If you haven't read any of the Harry Potter books, men or women, do yourself a favor and go buy them now. They sell all seven books in a box set. You can purchase it from amazon.com here HERE. You will come back and thank me, I assure you. Word to the wise though...I've heard people say these are childrens books. They are not. Children under the age of 12 should not read these in my opinion. Especially the later books.
Up next on my reading list: The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. I've read this once but recently saw the movie and am giving it a re-read. Review to follow.
Book Rating: A+
Well, hello there…
For those who happen to stumble upon this page at the moment, welcome. The purpose of this blog will be to write about the many, many books I read. I'm just getting it up and going, so bear with me. I'll be adding lots, and changing lots, so keep coming back, will ya?