rich_jacko (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rich_jacko) wrote2005-07-16 09:37 pm
rich_jacko) wrote2005-07-16 09:37 pm
Entry tags:
"Let us step out into the night and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure."
Proper full post this time :o)
(BTW, can someone e-mail me and tell me how to do LJ cuts - I'd find them very useful for long posts like this!) (EDIT: Thanks Tony!)
In what now seems to be a tradition, I queued up for the midnight release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince outside Waterstones.
Unlike last time, no one else I knew seemed to be bothered enough to keep me company. But that didn't matter, as I soon got chatting to random people in the queue (2 of whom were kind enough to give me a lift home). I was rather amused how many of the crowd had also been to the 00:35 premiere of Episode III, though I guess I should hardly have been surprised...
By the time midnight came around, the queue was around Orchard Square and out onto the main road. There was a real party atmosphere, with a stall serving mugs of coffee and owl cookies. Several people (including me, thanks to the robes made for me by![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
soul_rider) were in fancy dress. A guy dressed as Hagrid was walking round the queue with a book for people to leave messages in ("Say hi to Grawpy for me") and, as midnight approached, he led the crowd in a countdown of the last minute.
I know, I know, all very sad. But it was fun!
Onto my thoughts on the book itself, and I'll keep my review spoiler-free for those who care:
My impression is a bit mixed. This one certainly benefitted from being shorter than the last two. It was an unexpected pleasure to have a lot of the doom and gloom take a backseat again. HP6 returns more to the sense of fun and adventure that hasn't been there since the first three. Nice too, to see the supporting cast step back a bit and let the main characters - Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Dumbledore, Hagrid - shine on their own.
There is a downside to this, and it's that for the first 400 pages it's very much "business as usual" at Hogwarts. The new teacher this time was rather forgettable, compared to the likes of Lockheart, Lupin, Moody and the vile Umbridge. There wasn't a great deal that felt new, and many scenes seemed lifted almost entirely from previous installments. Mercifully, though, Harry has a much stronger control over his teenage tantrums this time. Hormone levels (though still prevalent) are also much lower.
One, very strange, irritation is that all the characters seem to have gone American. They keep referring to going to the loo as "using the bathroom". Another slight irk is the odd continuity error (If under-age wizards can hitch a ride with an adult as they Apparate, why have they always had to resort to portkeys and brooms in earlier books?) that still slips through.
So, by no means the best in the series, but there's still a lot to like. Rowling's attention to detail remains astounding. The vast array of background characters are all fleshed out with fine descriptions of their appearance, clothing, possessions and favourite snacks. I also like the subtle real-world metaphors. Once wizards turn seventeen, they are allowed to take their "Apparition test", which gives them a degree of independence and lets them travel about a lot quicker. Nice.
It all steps up a gear in the last third of the book, and JK seems to hit her stride again. There's some truly dark stuff in there, and the last chapters are heartbreaking. I had to reach for the comfort chocolate afterwards (It even works against Dementors, you know.). Rowling has left herself an awful lot to cover in the final book (Although we learn some important details about Voldemort, his present-day self is very notable by his absence from this installment), but this is a great setup for the inevitable Final Confrontation. Once again, it's clear that Harry is both older and more powerful than he's been before. The end, when it comes, will be epic.
Now, don't go asking me who dies, or who the Half-Blood Prince is. I've taken the Unbreakable Vow. You'll just have to read the damn book yourself if you want to know :op
(BTW, can someone e-mail me and tell me how to do LJ cuts - I'd find them very useful for long posts like this!) (EDIT: Thanks Tony!)
In what now seems to be a tradition, I queued up for the midnight release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince outside Waterstones.
Unlike last time, no one else I knew seemed to be bothered enough to keep me company. But that didn't matter, as I soon got chatting to random people in the queue (2 of whom were kind enough to give me a lift home). I was rather amused how many of the crowd had also been to the 00:35 premiere of Episode III, though I guess I should hardly have been surprised...
By the time midnight came around, the queue was around Orchard Square and out onto the main road. There was a real party atmosphere, with a stall serving mugs of coffee and owl cookies. Several people (including me, thanks to the robes made for me by
soul_rider) were in fancy dress. A guy dressed as Hagrid was walking round the queue with a book for people to leave messages in ("Say hi to Grawpy for me") and, as midnight approached, he led the crowd in a countdown of the last minute.I know, I know, all very sad. But it was fun!
Onto my thoughts on the book itself, and I'll keep my review spoiler-free for those who care:
My impression is a bit mixed. This one certainly benefitted from being shorter than the last two. It was an unexpected pleasure to have a lot of the doom and gloom take a backseat again. HP6 returns more to the sense of fun and adventure that hasn't been there since the first three. Nice too, to see the supporting cast step back a bit and let the main characters - Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Dumbledore, Hagrid - shine on their own.
There is a downside to this, and it's that for the first 400 pages it's very much "business as usual" at Hogwarts. The new teacher this time was rather forgettable, compared to the likes of Lockheart, Lupin, Moody and the vile Umbridge. There wasn't a great deal that felt new, and many scenes seemed lifted almost entirely from previous installments. Mercifully, though, Harry has a much stronger control over his teenage tantrums this time. Hormone levels (though still prevalent) are also much lower.
One, very strange, irritation is that all the characters seem to have gone American. They keep referring to going to the loo as "using the bathroom". Another slight irk is the odd continuity error (If under-age wizards can hitch a ride with an adult as they Apparate, why have they always had to resort to portkeys and brooms in earlier books?) that still slips through.
So, by no means the best in the series, but there's still a lot to like. Rowling's attention to detail remains astounding. The vast array of background characters are all fleshed out with fine descriptions of their appearance, clothing, possessions and favourite snacks. I also like the subtle real-world metaphors. Once wizards turn seventeen, they are allowed to take their "Apparition test", which gives them a degree of independence and lets them travel about a lot quicker. Nice.
It all steps up a gear in the last third of the book, and JK seems to hit her stride again. There's some truly dark stuff in there, and the last chapters are heartbreaking. I had to reach for the comfort chocolate afterwards (It even works against Dementors, you know.). Rowling has left herself an awful lot to cover in the final book (Although we learn some important details about Voldemort, his present-day self is very notable by his absence from this installment), but this is a great setup for the inevitable Final Confrontation. Once again, it's clear that Harry is both older and more powerful than he's been before. The end, when it comes, will be epic.
Now, don't go asking me who dies, or who the Half-Blood Prince is. I've taken the Unbreakable Vow. You'll just have to read the damn book yourself if you want to know :op