by Derek Loozander
08/18/07
Harry Potter Wants You To Open Up
So I finally caught up with the runaway train that was the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows book release. Now I know what you're thinking, and I agree, it is pretty disaffecting that 25 year old adults such as myself get wrapped up in kids books about magic - even though they ARE awesome, even though getting people to read is a wonderful thing and no other series of books has taken the world by storm in such a manner as these - I do agree with you, at least, until I finish the book anyway...
See the thing is, what made me love these tales, these stories that have already become a deep part of our culture and will be read by our children and our children's children (and nobody else because after that our society will start looking like the society in the movie Children of Men and nobody will be able to have children anymore), were the characters. Its the same thing that make me love any book, movie, or TV show that I happen to get wrapped up in at the moment (which, btw, anybody seen HEROES? - special clip-episode to air this Monday, bitches - as the great Fergie-Ferg once said, "check it out."). This is the reason that when somebody bought me the first Harry Potter book as a gift to read while I was laid up with a broken foot one summer, it just reinforced my hatred of what has come to be known as "Pottermania."
Again don't get me wrong, I thought it was a good book - a great book even, FOR KIDS. But the particular kind of storywhore that I am craves a character a bit more complex than an 11 year old. A person's character is the ultimate tale of themselves, and therefore, to me, is the ultimate form of story, and as I have said many times, I love a good story. This occurred to me about 400 pages into the new Harry Potter novel, as I put the book down in boredom, questioning what made this book so much different from the other books and thinking, "when the HELL are Ron and Hermione goona DO IT?!" since this has been an evident destiny to me ever since I began the Harry Potter series - It was then that I realized the thing that bored me about The Deathly Hollows; nothing happens in regards to the character drama that was so prominent in the other four books I've read until about page 407...
Again, let me explain; the thing that got me into these books was the characters, so when I decided I would give this "beloved children's tale" rubbish another go, I started with the third installment, the installment most of the people I know started with, The Prisoner of Azkaban, or, as we like to refer to it, Escape From Azkaban. In the third installment, the kids are thirteen years old, so I could appreciate their characters a little more than I did in the first installment, and, having followed these characters through three and a half other adventures, I now want to go back and read the first two installments (for the first time) since there have been a ton of throwbacks and references to those books. As far as The Deathly Hollows goes, I don't know, I haven't finished it yet and my final verdict is not in. So what the hell is the point of this book review?
Basically - even if the mere mention of his name pisses you off these days, give Harry another go, I did, and I remembered today that it was TOTALLY WORTH IT. Its really a lot more than just a silly kid's book.
4 comments:
You know, because of the "it's a children's book issue" there could never be anything more than "snogging". Eventually, they'll "do it", but you will only know the consequences of that "doing". No hardcore erotica in this book. Sorry... do you have a crush on Emma too (Joe does)? BTW, nice picture of Dan. : )
OMG Yea. I think it started in GoF when she trapped Rita Skeeter in a jar and then was ultimately solidified in 'OoTP' when Dolores Umbridge completely GOT SERVED by her doing. Smart chicks are hot!
make that smart VENGEFUL chicks are HOT.
I liked the final book, but I have to admit it was kinda boring and predictable. The third book was my fave and always will be. I still worship Harry Potter though. I hate what JK Rowling has done to me. I LOVE that pic of Daniel, btw! I bought that magazine to read about what he was up to and his next couple of movie roles sound interesting. He's so desperately trying to get as far away from HP as he can! Poor bugger.
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