Harry Potter (no spoilers, I promise!)
After my rather unsavory evaluation of UPS a few days ago, I just broke down and bought another copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Amazon refunded my money for the one I'd ordered, which I still haven't received, and likely won't until next week. I'll spare you the details why; it's fairly complicated and not so interesting to most of you.
So eventually, I'll have two copies, but will only have paid for one (though they didn't refund the shipping charges, which really chaps my chodes, seeing as the shipping was the problem in the first place, but I'm not going to make a big battle out of four bucks). I started reading Monday night and got through 176 pages in two hours. I finished the book last night after another 6 hours or so of reading off and on throughout the day.
This book blew my mind, but not because of the crazy plot twists and cliff-hangers. Unexpected and exciting as those things were, I was most impressed by the character development and moral/ethical themes J.K. Rowling addressed in this book, as she has in the others. I won't discuss the plot or characters here except to say that in the Harry Potter series, Rowling did much more than write an epic tale of good vs. evil. She has some very powerful moral messages about the importance of love, friendship, loyalty, integrity and resourcefulness, as well as the terrible corruptive nature of power and collective fear. President Bush could learn a few things from these books. I wonder if he's read them.
(On a side note, thanks for all the well-wishes regarding the ultrasound I had last week. I had some blood drawn to test for several chromosomal abnormalities, and it came back negative, as I expected. This is good news, but I'm still having another ultrasound next week so they can take a closer look. You know, I think the easiest way to scare a pregnant woman unnecessarily is to give her an ultrasound in the second trimester.)
So eventually, I'll have two copies, but will only have paid for one (though they didn't refund the shipping charges, which really chaps my chodes, seeing as the shipping was the problem in the first place, but I'm not going to make a big battle out of four bucks). I started reading Monday night and got through 176 pages in two hours. I finished the book last night after another 6 hours or so of reading off and on throughout the day.
This book blew my mind, but not because of the crazy plot twists and cliff-hangers. Unexpected and exciting as those things were, I was most impressed by the character development and moral/ethical themes J.K. Rowling addressed in this book, as she has in the others. I won't discuss the plot or characters here except to say that in the Harry Potter series, Rowling did much more than write an epic tale of good vs. evil. She has some very powerful moral messages about the importance of love, friendship, loyalty, integrity and resourcefulness, as well as the terrible corruptive nature of power and collective fear. President Bush could learn a few things from these books. I wonder if he's read them.
(On a side note, thanks for all the well-wishes regarding the ultrasound I had last week. I had some blood drawn to test for several chromosomal abnormalities, and it came back negative, as I expected. This is good news, but I'm still having another ultrasound next week so they can take a closer look. You know, I think the easiest way to scare a pregnant woman unnecessarily is to give her an ultrasound in the second trimester.)
Comments
Here is the link
to my thoughts on Deathly Hallows. One thing that bugged me that I did not mention in my blog was the inexcusable inconsistiences in the plot. Herimione’s speech about modifying here parents memory so that they longer remember having a daughter was one of the most powerful scenes; however, just a couple of chapters later when they are facing the Death Eaters in the diner, she states that she has never performed a memory charm before and only knows the theory behind it.