The Scarlet Pimpernel
Baroness Emmuska Orczy
1905
When I was a teenager, I had a soft spot for Harlequin Regency romances. I was a sucker for strong-willed, but prim ladies, who all seemed to fall into some sort of strange, Jane Austen mode, falling madly for inappropriate, rakish men, and running off to elope in Scotland, or getting involved in duels, or perhaps to France. Though France always confused me, because the last place I’d want to be during the Revolution and Napoleonic Wars was France. But still, there was something to the idea of turn-of-the-19th century romance in England that mixed all the best parts of Jane Austen with good-old-fashioned snogging that titillated by teenaged sensibilities.
Now, when one of my favorite novels is Kushiel’s Dart, I don’t think that the Regency era folk would quite understand my interest in S&M, but I still love the romance of it. The Scarlet Pimpernel is brilliant with the mixture of high romance and intrigue, with much more of the historical accuracy that the good-old Harlequin romances seem to gloss over to get to the snogging bits. The creation of the Hungarian émigré, Baroness Orczy, while she lived with her minister husband in England, the story is a rollicking mix of adventure, intrigue, and suspense, all the while wrapped in the sort of cloak that only Bruce Wayne could truly appreciate.
The story is set during the bloodiest moments of the French Revolution, before King Louis XVI and his queen, Marie Antoinette lose their heads, but most likely just before. We learn that French nobles are being snuck out of France by a band of English nobles, all young, bored men seeking to have fun and do some good while they are at it. Their leader is a mysterious figure, known simply as the Scarlet Pimpernel, a man shrouded in intrigue, so named because of the tiny scarlet flower he leaves as a signature on all of his notes.
One of the many spies employed by the Scarlet Pimpernel is one Armaund St. Just, a young, French man who had supported the Republic but is horrified by what it has become. His young, brilliant, and beautiful sister, Marguerite, has recently married a British noble, Lord Percy Blakeney, a favorite of His Royal Highness, George, Prince of Wales. Marguerite is unhappy in her marriage to her foppish, dull-witted husband because his affections have seemingly left her. He had at one time courted her ardently, but the moment they married, his affections dried completely, and his behavior became idiotic and vacant. While the two are very much devoted to one another, their marriage is not a love marriage, and they are as distant in their worlds and preoccupations as night and day.
Marguerite is loath to see her brother return to France; the one person she feels loves her in the world. Yet, she lets him go, confident he will return soon. Unbeknownst to her, Chauvelin, an old acquaintance from her days in Paris has come to England to ferret out just who this Scarlet Pimpernel is, and to bring him to justice for his assistance of the nobility. Chauvelin believes Marguerite, not the celebrated Lady Blakeney of London, is just the person to help him find the devil. And once he learns of her beloved brother’s involvement in the plot, he believes he can convince her to assist him. Brilliant Marguerite is forced to make a choice to save the brother that she adores, or betray a man she has come to admire. Turning to her idiot of a husband for assistance, Marguerite not only realizes that Lord Percy is not the man that she had assumed him to be all of this time, but that she has been led, unwittingly into the worst possible of situations…to either betray her brother or the man that she loves.
The Scarlet Pimpernel hits the ground running in terms of action and adventure. From the beginning we are brought into the intrigues of the daring hero, all the while kept in the dark about his true identity. The intrigue builds throughout the story, as you wonder who it is that could possibly be their leader, and when it is discovered, you wonder how it is that he will pull off his next mad-caper. Orczy pacing in the story is brilliant, tumbling you along from small inns, to glittering balls, to the most dire, perilous journeys, all the while keeping you on the edge of your seat as to what will happen next. And while some of the twists are a tad predictable to us now, that doesn’t make them any less enjoyable to read about.
Marguerite as a heroin is enjoyable to take the ride with. While she is a vain girl at times, and perhaps a tad foolish, she is particularly smart, and you begin to sympathize with her when you realize that she does have heart and courage, and isn’t just a pretty face. It is heartbreaking to see her confusion as to her husband’s behavior, and to see her slowly catch on to what is going on. And their misunderstanding that separates them, as Lord Percy so aptly puts it later, is truly a case “of the blind leading the lame”, two people who have made a mess of their marriage by being prideful, who have now been given a second chance at love again.
Lord Percy is as fun a character as you will find in literature, a veritable precursor to Bruce Wayne. While he for all appearances comes off as being a nothing better than an idiotic dandy, busy carrying the favor of the Prince Regent, he is a man with hidden depth and a wealth of talent, and a man who wants more than anything to have the love of his wife and to trust her with his deepest secret. In many ways, Percy is what Bruce Wayne can never be, a man who can truly be happy with himself, and with the life he makes for himself.
The book does suffer from many things that I believe are more or less a testament to when it was written than to it being a true problem with the narrative. Much of the language tries to affect the style of Regency Era English, some 100 years before the writing of The Scarlet Pimpernel. The affectation can often be silly at times, making you wonder if they actually said ‘zooks’ every other sentence. It’s hard to tell, Baroness Orczy is writing the story well after anyone who would remember was alive. And it seems silly and fake to modern readers, brought up on Jane Austen and Horatio Hornblower.
In the tradition of many romances of the period, a lot of description is given to the emotional state of our heroine in the book, over her pining, her sorrow, her worry, etc. While Marguerite is hardly some fainting flower, the purple prose is enough to make you wonder if she’ll take to her bed soon in a dead faint. It doesn’t do much for the picture of the strong heroine, but then again that is a much ore modern idea of femininity in literature, and I can’t fault the Baroness for carrying on with it. It’s a book of its time, that of the early 20th century, and it is a book of its time, seen clearly in its portrayal of nationalistic pride and prejudice. Common Englishman thought nothing of calling French, ‘heathens’, while English and French alike thing nothing of kicking about poor Jews and seeing them as nothing more or less than base, sub-humans, worthy of distance at best, scorn and beating at worst. While the events of the book itself happen before the ghettos of Europe are open, the book is written at a time, the author claims, when religious toleration is much better known. However, if that were so, why have the Jew be picked on in the first place…never mind that the Jew isn’t all he seems anyway. But it is a book of its time, and while as a 21st century reader it bothers me, it would have not even been noticed at the time the book was first published.
With many classic stories, it is often difficult to get into them, but The Scarlet Pimpernel was by far the opposite. A spirited story of true love and high adventure, it certainly blows my hot and steamy Harlequin romances out of the water, with their heavy petting and mussed cravats. For all fans of Georgian British history, or anyone who just likes a fun story of intrigue, go grab it and give it a whirl. You won’t be disappointed.
Rate this wormy book: I rate this a MONSTER worm. By far one of the best and most enjoyable books I’ve read in a long time. I’m voting that PBS or the BBC needs to make a new movie version of it soon for me to swoon over.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
The Prince
The Prince
Niccolo Machiavelli
I admit it…I’m a rampaging Vampire: The Masquerade player.
I lay the blame fully at the feet of my friends Kari and Patric. They sucked me in with stories of angst-ridden vampires, and I lapped it up like a half-starved kitten let loose in a dairy. My first lessons in real politics were at the feet of maniacal VtM role-players, out to rule our little vampiric domains and plot against one another in never-ending schemes of conquest and total annihilation.
I cut my teeth, (no pun intended), on the complex, Byzantine labyrinth of intrigue that was my old gaming group. Sad as it is to say, it is very true. Which is why, when I finally got around to reading Machiavelli’s classic treatise, The Prince, I was blinking at it with the consternated frustration of one who thinks, “Duh, doesn’t everyone know this already?”
And perhaps they don’t….or at least it had never been quantified in one document set firmly in the European mindset. Machiavelli’s most famous work, published in 1532, is more a treatise and entreaty written to Lorenzo de Medici. An outcast from his beloved Florence, and seeking to regain favor with the current powers-that-be in his home city, Machiavelli wrote down his observances on the best way by which to govern and maintain a state as a ruling head. Sometimes using common sense, sometimes using more than a fair dollop of ruthlessness, Machiavelli weaves then current politics amongst the Italian states and Europe, with ancient stories familiar to them from the Greece, Rome, and other periods. He creates a system that he believes will not only effectively help a prince to lead his people, but shows examples of how other leaders of the time are flagging miserably.
There are many themes that Machiavelli picks up on and most of them are common sense to anyone who’s spent even half-a-minute watching History Channel shows on ancient and medieval European history. His antipathy towards mercenaries is a common theme in the annals of ancient history, even my own medieval history professor, Patrick Geary, used to warn loudly, “Don’t let the barbarians come to defend you, else they might get the idea that they like the joint and will want to stay.” Even worse, as was the case in the waning days of the Roman Empire, auxiliary troops, made up of non-Roman, barbarian soldiers would often be so depended on in the outlying regions, the regular army just assumed they would always be there, and always be loyal. Thus one of the many reasons for the Fall of Rome, and countless other nations up to Machiavelli’s time, this isn’t a particularly new idea, but never before had it really been pointed out in literature for everyone to see. It’s one of those common sense things I suspect that many a strong ruler knew, and Machiavelli finally gave voice to for everyone to understand.
Machiavelli’s opinion of rule over the centuries has been noted as being callous, calculated, and amoral, “ruling by any means” in other words. And this has given rise to the modern English word “Machiavellian” to describe anyone who tends to plot in this sort of manner. And yet, when one reads The Prince, one realizes that Machiavelli is less about being a cruel or dispassionate man, as you can tell by his work that he does care very much about a great number of things, Florence in particular. Rather, he is a man who sees the role of a ruler as that of a man who has to balance practicality with sentimentality, and how does one maneuver both in order to not only maintain his throne from those who threaten it within, as well as protecting both his people and his power from enemies without. It’s a fine line that any ruler is asked to tread, even in modern democracies. This theory isn’t so much cruel or manipulative as it is strict politics. It is how one maintains their state.
However, Machiavelli is certainly a man of his time, and writes very much that way. He is focused on the political situation that has been and is ongoing in 14th century Italy, and his observations are very much colored by the city-states and papal empire that existed in the land at the time, not to mention the rising powers of Spain and France to the east. Modern historians and political scientists look back on that with the benefit of hindsight, and wonder what Machiavelli was thinking at times, (medieval and early Renaissance France, straight out of the Hundred Years War, being a good example of strong, central government to anyone was a particular laugh.) But his observations do mark a time when things were changing in Europe, when it was less and less about small, feudal governments, and more about expanding powerbases, when rulers had to care more than about their duties of fief to some overlord, and more about ensuring their lands, people, and power base to create what would, in the next few hundred years, become the nation-states that we have inherited in our own world today.
Much of the advice that Machiavelli gives is very common sense now at days, the sort of thing that we all take for granted in modern politics. Not that we have much in the way of singular ruling princes in modern democracies, but the themes make sense to us even in our current political landscape. And it is hard to tell whether it is because Machiavelli isn’t necessarily inventing the wheel here, or if it is because he had, and its effects on the politics of Western society were forever changed by it. To be sure, it is a seminal work, but it’s hard to tell which came first, the chicken or the egg. At times I sort of shake my head and think, “Why is this book so important? This isn’t anything particularly new or ground breaking?” As this wasn’t particularly a matter of literary discussion before Machiavelli, we will never know, and perhaps that is part of why is work is so seminal in Western literature.
Needless to say, one can not become Prince of a vampiric Camarilla city in Vampire: The Masquerade without employing more than a few of these methods.
A warning, however, as I mentioned this is a text that is from Renaissance Italy, and if you read it in English it is a translation to boot. Also, Machiavelli has the tendency to like to wander in many of his explanations and examples, (oh if I could have gotten away with that when I was in my history classes). Because of this, the reader often wonders why it is he is discussing Cesare Borgia one moment, then Heiro of Syracuse the next, (there is a point, and it takes him a while to get to it). For the historians out there, such as myself, you get giddy when he mentions events and people you learned about in your history classes, (I got excited at the Orsini and Colonna, having stayed at the Colonna Palace in Rome and heard the whole sordid story about those two families). For the person who is simply reading this as a political treatise, you will want to pull your hair out, especially if you know nothing about ancient or Renaissance Italian history.
However, it’s a lot of fun to read about, so go pick up Rome: The History of a City by Christopher Hibbert one of these days. It doesn’t cover Florence, but it does discuss a great many of the events, particularly with the Popes, that Machiavelli brings up.
Rate this wormy book: Machiavelli earns a FAT WORM from me. It’s not that his book isn’t good, (if very convoluted and long winded to those who aren’t used to reading texts from this period), but it’s not as if this is anything the modern reader doesn’t know. The true value in reading it is that it is codified here, complete with Machiavelli’s political thoughts on the matter, which leads you down the train of thought he himself was taking while writing it.
Niccolo Machiavelli
I admit it…I’m a rampaging Vampire: The Masquerade player.
I lay the blame fully at the feet of my friends Kari and Patric. They sucked me in with stories of angst-ridden vampires, and I lapped it up like a half-starved kitten let loose in a dairy. My first lessons in real politics were at the feet of maniacal VtM role-players, out to rule our little vampiric domains and plot against one another in never-ending schemes of conquest and total annihilation.
I cut my teeth, (no pun intended), on the complex, Byzantine labyrinth of intrigue that was my old gaming group. Sad as it is to say, it is very true. Which is why, when I finally got around to reading Machiavelli’s classic treatise, The Prince, I was blinking at it with the consternated frustration of one who thinks, “Duh, doesn’t everyone know this already?”
And perhaps they don’t….or at least it had never been quantified in one document set firmly in the European mindset. Machiavelli’s most famous work, published in 1532, is more a treatise and entreaty written to Lorenzo de Medici. An outcast from his beloved Florence, and seeking to regain favor with the current powers-that-be in his home city, Machiavelli wrote down his observances on the best way by which to govern and maintain a state as a ruling head. Sometimes using common sense, sometimes using more than a fair dollop of ruthlessness, Machiavelli weaves then current politics amongst the Italian states and Europe, with ancient stories familiar to them from the Greece, Rome, and other periods. He creates a system that he believes will not only effectively help a prince to lead his people, but shows examples of how other leaders of the time are flagging miserably.
There are many themes that Machiavelli picks up on and most of them are common sense to anyone who’s spent even half-a-minute watching History Channel shows on ancient and medieval European history. His antipathy towards mercenaries is a common theme in the annals of ancient history, even my own medieval history professor, Patrick Geary, used to warn loudly, “Don’t let the barbarians come to defend you, else they might get the idea that they like the joint and will want to stay.” Even worse, as was the case in the waning days of the Roman Empire, auxiliary troops, made up of non-Roman, barbarian soldiers would often be so depended on in the outlying regions, the regular army just assumed they would always be there, and always be loyal. Thus one of the many reasons for the Fall of Rome, and countless other nations up to Machiavelli’s time, this isn’t a particularly new idea, but never before had it really been pointed out in literature for everyone to see. It’s one of those common sense things I suspect that many a strong ruler knew, and Machiavelli finally gave voice to for everyone to understand.
Machiavelli’s opinion of rule over the centuries has been noted as being callous, calculated, and amoral, “ruling by any means” in other words. And this has given rise to the modern English word “Machiavellian” to describe anyone who tends to plot in this sort of manner. And yet, when one reads The Prince, one realizes that Machiavelli is less about being a cruel or dispassionate man, as you can tell by his work that he does care very much about a great number of things, Florence in particular. Rather, he is a man who sees the role of a ruler as that of a man who has to balance practicality with sentimentality, and how does one maneuver both in order to not only maintain his throne from those who threaten it within, as well as protecting both his people and his power from enemies without. It’s a fine line that any ruler is asked to tread, even in modern democracies. This theory isn’t so much cruel or manipulative as it is strict politics. It is how one maintains their state.
However, Machiavelli is certainly a man of his time, and writes very much that way. He is focused on the political situation that has been and is ongoing in 14th century Italy, and his observations are very much colored by the city-states and papal empire that existed in the land at the time, not to mention the rising powers of Spain and France to the east. Modern historians and political scientists look back on that with the benefit of hindsight, and wonder what Machiavelli was thinking at times, (medieval and early Renaissance France, straight out of the Hundred Years War, being a good example of strong, central government to anyone was a particular laugh.) But his observations do mark a time when things were changing in Europe, when it was less and less about small, feudal governments, and more about expanding powerbases, when rulers had to care more than about their duties of fief to some overlord, and more about ensuring their lands, people, and power base to create what would, in the next few hundred years, become the nation-states that we have inherited in our own world today.
Much of the advice that Machiavelli gives is very common sense now at days, the sort of thing that we all take for granted in modern politics. Not that we have much in the way of singular ruling princes in modern democracies, but the themes make sense to us even in our current political landscape. And it is hard to tell whether it is because Machiavelli isn’t necessarily inventing the wheel here, or if it is because he had, and its effects on the politics of Western society were forever changed by it. To be sure, it is a seminal work, but it’s hard to tell which came first, the chicken or the egg. At times I sort of shake my head and think, “Why is this book so important? This isn’t anything particularly new or ground breaking?” As this wasn’t particularly a matter of literary discussion before Machiavelli, we will never know, and perhaps that is part of why is work is so seminal in Western literature.
Needless to say, one can not become Prince of a vampiric Camarilla city in Vampire: The Masquerade without employing more than a few of these methods.
A warning, however, as I mentioned this is a text that is from Renaissance Italy, and if you read it in English it is a translation to boot. Also, Machiavelli has the tendency to like to wander in many of his explanations and examples, (oh if I could have gotten away with that when I was in my history classes). Because of this, the reader often wonders why it is he is discussing Cesare Borgia one moment, then Heiro of Syracuse the next, (there is a point, and it takes him a while to get to it). For the historians out there, such as myself, you get giddy when he mentions events and people you learned about in your history classes, (I got excited at the Orsini and Colonna, having stayed at the Colonna Palace in Rome and heard the whole sordid story about those two families). For the person who is simply reading this as a political treatise, you will want to pull your hair out, especially if you know nothing about ancient or Renaissance Italian history.
However, it’s a lot of fun to read about, so go pick up Rome: The History of a City by Christopher Hibbert one of these days. It doesn’t cover Florence, but it does discuss a great many of the events, particularly with the Popes, that Machiavelli brings up.
Rate this wormy book: Machiavelli earns a FAT WORM from me. It’s not that his book isn’t good, (if very convoluted and long winded to those who aren’t used to reading texts from this period), but it’s not as if this is anything the modern reader doesn’t know. The true value in reading it is that it is codified here, complete with Machiavelli’s political thoughts on the matter, which leads you down the train of thought he himself was taking while writing it.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
The Princess Bride
The Princess Bride
William Goldman
Harcourt Brace Jovonovich-1973
“This is true love…you think this happens every day?”
The moment in the movie when Westley whispers that to Buttercup, I puddle into peels of rapturous delight. Since I was eleven-years-old, when I first saw the movie adaptation of The Princess Bride, I have adored the story of romance, adventure; daring sword fights, pirates….what isn’t to love for an eleven-year-old.
To this day, the movie is amongst one of my favorites, so much so it sits on my Ipod so I can listen to it while stuck in long, Los Angeles commutes. I own two copies of it personally. I can quote lines from the movie verbatim. I have friends who seriously considered naming parts of their anatomy after Westley, (if you need me to describe that further, perhaps you should go find ‘true love’ for yourself, or at least an attractive member of the opposite gender.)
This story has been as formative a part of my life as Cookie Monster and Transformers! And yet, I didn’t know for years that it was based on a book. Yes, I know it mentions it in the credits, but by that time I’m usually a sighing lump of goo on my couch, wishing I had a Westley to come and save me, (except I don’t live in a castle, there is no Prince Humperdink at my house, and the only pirates I know of are the ones who are downloading the movie illegally off the internet).
A girl can wish….
Anyway, when I did learn it was based on a book, I decided to give Mr. Goldman’s text a whirl. I had a bit of trepidation, admittedly. I so loved the original movie, and I had a feeling that somehow, someway the book would let me down. Either the story wouldn’t be nearly as fun, with its giants and miracles, or I’d find that the characters weren’t nearly as loveable as in the movie. Perhaps the movie wouldn’t follow anything in the book, and I would discover that the story was a long, drawn out mess of a tale, with the romance of Westley and Buttercup only some small part of what turned out to be some other epic story. What if I hated the book? Would this taint my love of the movie forever?
Well, to be fair, the book did not completely disappoint me…but it didn’t endear itself to me the way the movie did. In fact, the book lies weirdly in between for me. Unlike other books-cum-movies out there, I believe that this is one of the few books where the movie was actually an improvement on the story, rather than a sad, pale copy. And while this doesn’t take away from what is essentially a very good story, it does leave me sort of weirdly disappointed that I didn’t love the book more.
Much of the plot of The Princess Bride stays the same. In the country of Florin, the farm-boy Westley is in love with the self-absorbed Buttercup, who one day realizes she loves him as well. He leaves to find his fortune, but his ship is attacked by the Dread Pirate Roberts, a notorious killer who leaves no survivors. Heartbroken, Buttercup eventually agrees to marry Prince Humperdink, the heir to the Florinese throne, not realizing that he is using her and their marriage to help create a war with Florin’s long-time rival, Guilder. When the new Princess is kidnapped by three mercenaries, out to do the Prince’s bidding, only the mysterious Man in Black can save Buttercup. But he proves to be someone who Buttercup never expected to see again.
Goldman’s telling of the now familiar story takes on the literary conceit of being an abridgement of a historical work by an S. Morgenstern, a supposed famous Florinese historian. While Goldman presents Morgenstern’s “work” as a satirical take on the rich lives of nobles, it plays out as much more Goldman’s satirical take on the publishing world, his own made up marriage and family, (in the book he has a wife and son, in the real world he has a wife and two daughters), and poking fun at traditional fairy tales all together. Interspersed between the ‘abridgements’ that form the basis of the tale of Westley and Buttercup are Goldman’s own notes and observations on Morgenstern’s ‘work’, as well as personal remembrances of how he first heard the story as a boy, (all made up by Goldman), and the continuation of the device that Florin and Guilder are indeed real places that he not only has been to, but has descended from. All of this lends the reader to nearly, almost believe that none of this was make-believe, fairy tale romance at all, but that it really did happen, and Westley, Buttercup, and all of the rest really did exist in the annals of history. So badly did I want to believe it, that despite the fact that I know those places don’t exist, I became impressed at how well Goldman wove real history and politics alongside his make-believe. That is until he would rattle off some fact in the sort of tongue-in-cheek, flippant way that gave you a wink and a nod and reminded you that indeed this was really just a silly, fun fairy story, like you would tell your children at night.
The story’s greatest strength is in the compelling nature of its characters, one which obviously carried over into the later movie, made in 1987. However, movies can only fit so much into their allotted time, and so much that made these characters wonderful was left out of the film, but Goldman had intact in his book. Everything from the past of Inigo Montoya, with the heartbreaking loss of his father to the ‘six-fingered man’, to Fezzig’s essentially sweet nature trapped in his giant’s body, to the real reason why the Prince is as ruthless as he is. I found myself loving Inigo and Fezzig all the more, and found Humperdink more despicable than he was even portrayed in the movie. If possible it made me love the story that is so familiar to me now even more.
But there were some down sides to this version as well, things that did detract from it greatly for me. First of all, Goldman’s commentary, while perpetuating the idea that he is abridging a real work of academic scholarship, often breaks in at moments that are both irritating and unwelcome. And often his commentary has very little to do with what is actually going on in the plot, but rambles to stories about his imaginary wife and son, his woes on his life, the publishing process, his arguments with the supposed Morgenstern estate, and any countless number of bits of information he has gathered on the fictional Morgenstern and his work. And while this is amusing in its fashion, it begins to become tiresome after a while. It’s almost like watching the movie with Jerry Seinfeld sitting beside you running an ongoing commentary about whatever is going on in his head regarding the story at hand. And while that would be a great Seinfeld episode, its horrible academia, (which this is supposed to mimic), and even worse literature, and you find yourself skipping over these parts to get to ‘the good parts’ as Goldman would say.
Yes, I do believe that the characters are even more compelling in the book; the one exception to this rule is Buttercup. She is the one character I found to be less compelling in the book than in the movie, a vapid, self-centered, ignorant girl, who made you wonder what Westley saw in her in the first place. Yes, admittedly, she does grow a great deal in the book, maturing to be both internally beautiful as well as externally. But there is Westley, braving every danger, fighting ever foe, coming back from death itself for this woman, and she not only treats him horribly in the beginning, but then ditches him at the Fire Swamp because she made a promise, and she doesn’t want to die.
At least in the movie, she does it for very noble reasons, and it makes you understand why Westley would come back from the dead to be with her. In Goldman’s narrative it only comes off as his own self-delusion that convinces himself that Buttercup did it out of greater reasons. It just-so-happens that she eventually comes to her senses about it all and realizes that Westley is worth it all in the end., and perhaps Goldman is trying to make a statement about true love and imperfections, and I realize that. I perhaps prefer the fairy tale.
On the whole, the book isn’t a bad book, it’s even better than mediocre. It’s a good book, and if I had not grown up with the movie all of my life, I might even say it was a great book. But once that mental image was ingrained into my pop culture psyche, it wouldn’t turn off. It is almost the same problem I have with the Harry Potter books and movies, except in reverse, (oh, what they did to Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire).
Rate this wormy book: This is a FAT WORM, enjoyable to read, and a good way to get your romantic, fairy tale, swashbuckling, pretty-pretty princess fix in. If you are a huge fan of the movie, prepare for some minor irritations with the book, but on the whole a hell of a lot of fun. Have fun storming the castle….
William Goldman
Harcourt Brace Jovonovich-1973
“This is true love…you think this happens every day?”
The moment in the movie when Westley whispers that to Buttercup, I puddle into peels of rapturous delight. Since I was eleven-years-old, when I first saw the movie adaptation of The Princess Bride, I have adored the story of romance, adventure; daring sword fights, pirates….what isn’t to love for an eleven-year-old.
To this day, the movie is amongst one of my favorites, so much so it sits on my Ipod so I can listen to it while stuck in long, Los Angeles commutes. I own two copies of it personally. I can quote lines from the movie verbatim. I have friends who seriously considered naming parts of their anatomy after Westley, (if you need me to describe that further, perhaps you should go find ‘true love’ for yourself, or at least an attractive member of the opposite gender.)
This story has been as formative a part of my life as Cookie Monster and Transformers! And yet, I didn’t know for years that it was based on a book. Yes, I know it mentions it in the credits, but by that time I’m usually a sighing lump of goo on my couch, wishing I had a Westley to come and save me, (except I don’t live in a castle, there is no Prince Humperdink at my house, and the only pirates I know of are the ones who are downloading the movie illegally off the internet).
A girl can wish….
Anyway, when I did learn it was based on a book, I decided to give Mr. Goldman’s text a whirl. I had a bit of trepidation, admittedly. I so loved the original movie, and I had a feeling that somehow, someway the book would let me down. Either the story wouldn’t be nearly as fun, with its giants and miracles, or I’d find that the characters weren’t nearly as loveable as in the movie. Perhaps the movie wouldn’t follow anything in the book, and I would discover that the story was a long, drawn out mess of a tale, with the romance of Westley and Buttercup only some small part of what turned out to be some other epic story. What if I hated the book? Would this taint my love of the movie forever?
Well, to be fair, the book did not completely disappoint me…but it didn’t endear itself to me the way the movie did. In fact, the book lies weirdly in between for me. Unlike other books-cum-movies out there, I believe that this is one of the few books where the movie was actually an improvement on the story, rather than a sad, pale copy. And while this doesn’t take away from what is essentially a very good story, it does leave me sort of weirdly disappointed that I didn’t love the book more.
Much of the plot of The Princess Bride stays the same. In the country of Florin, the farm-boy Westley is in love with the self-absorbed Buttercup, who one day realizes she loves him as well. He leaves to find his fortune, but his ship is attacked by the Dread Pirate Roberts, a notorious killer who leaves no survivors. Heartbroken, Buttercup eventually agrees to marry Prince Humperdink, the heir to the Florinese throne, not realizing that he is using her and their marriage to help create a war with Florin’s long-time rival, Guilder. When the new Princess is kidnapped by three mercenaries, out to do the Prince’s bidding, only the mysterious Man in Black can save Buttercup. But he proves to be someone who Buttercup never expected to see again.
Goldman’s telling of the now familiar story takes on the literary conceit of being an abridgement of a historical work by an S. Morgenstern, a supposed famous Florinese historian. While Goldman presents Morgenstern’s “work” as a satirical take on the rich lives of nobles, it plays out as much more Goldman’s satirical take on the publishing world, his own made up marriage and family, (in the book he has a wife and son, in the real world he has a wife and two daughters), and poking fun at traditional fairy tales all together. Interspersed between the ‘abridgements’ that form the basis of the tale of Westley and Buttercup are Goldman’s own notes and observations on Morgenstern’s ‘work’, as well as personal remembrances of how he first heard the story as a boy, (all made up by Goldman), and the continuation of the device that Florin and Guilder are indeed real places that he not only has been to, but has descended from. All of this lends the reader to nearly, almost believe that none of this was make-believe, fairy tale romance at all, but that it really did happen, and Westley, Buttercup, and all of the rest really did exist in the annals of history. So badly did I want to believe it, that despite the fact that I know those places don’t exist, I became impressed at how well Goldman wove real history and politics alongside his make-believe. That is until he would rattle off some fact in the sort of tongue-in-cheek, flippant way that gave you a wink and a nod and reminded you that indeed this was really just a silly, fun fairy story, like you would tell your children at night.
The story’s greatest strength is in the compelling nature of its characters, one which obviously carried over into the later movie, made in 1987. However, movies can only fit so much into their allotted time, and so much that made these characters wonderful was left out of the film, but Goldman had intact in his book. Everything from the past of Inigo Montoya, with the heartbreaking loss of his father to the ‘six-fingered man’, to Fezzig’s essentially sweet nature trapped in his giant’s body, to the real reason why the Prince is as ruthless as he is. I found myself loving Inigo and Fezzig all the more, and found Humperdink more despicable than he was even portrayed in the movie. If possible it made me love the story that is so familiar to me now even more.
But there were some down sides to this version as well, things that did detract from it greatly for me. First of all, Goldman’s commentary, while perpetuating the idea that he is abridging a real work of academic scholarship, often breaks in at moments that are both irritating and unwelcome. And often his commentary has very little to do with what is actually going on in the plot, but rambles to stories about his imaginary wife and son, his woes on his life, the publishing process, his arguments with the supposed Morgenstern estate, and any countless number of bits of information he has gathered on the fictional Morgenstern and his work. And while this is amusing in its fashion, it begins to become tiresome after a while. It’s almost like watching the movie with Jerry Seinfeld sitting beside you running an ongoing commentary about whatever is going on in his head regarding the story at hand. And while that would be a great Seinfeld episode, its horrible academia, (which this is supposed to mimic), and even worse literature, and you find yourself skipping over these parts to get to ‘the good parts’ as Goldman would say.
Yes, I do believe that the characters are even more compelling in the book; the one exception to this rule is Buttercup. She is the one character I found to be less compelling in the book than in the movie, a vapid, self-centered, ignorant girl, who made you wonder what Westley saw in her in the first place. Yes, admittedly, she does grow a great deal in the book, maturing to be both internally beautiful as well as externally. But there is Westley, braving every danger, fighting ever foe, coming back from death itself for this woman, and she not only treats him horribly in the beginning, but then ditches him at the Fire Swamp because she made a promise, and she doesn’t want to die.
At least in the movie, she does it for very noble reasons, and it makes you understand why Westley would come back from the dead to be with her. In Goldman’s narrative it only comes off as his own self-delusion that convinces himself that Buttercup did it out of greater reasons. It just-so-happens that she eventually comes to her senses about it all and realizes that Westley is worth it all in the end., and perhaps Goldman is trying to make a statement about true love and imperfections, and I realize that. I perhaps prefer the fairy tale.
On the whole, the book isn’t a bad book, it’s even better than mediocre. It’s a good book, and if I had not grown up with the movie all of my life, I might even say it was a great book. But once that mental image was ingrained into my pop culture psyche, it wouldn’t turn off. It is almost the same problem I have with the Harry Potter books and movies, except in reverse, (oh, what they did to Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire).
Rate this wormy book: This is a FAT WORM, enjoyable to read, and a good way to get your romantic, fairy tale, swashbuckling, pretty-pretty princess fix in. If you are a huge fan of the movie, prepare for some minor irritations with the book, but on the whole a hell of a lot of fun. Have fun storming the castle….
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Black Magic Woman
Black Magic Woman-Justin Gustainis
(Solaris Books-2007)
My friends love to recommend books to me. Usually they are pretty good. I have friends with great literary taste, which is to be expected, many of them are writers. Most of them have a similar taste to me, and can always be counted on for a good read or two. But once in a while a book is tossed in my direction that…well….just doesn’t do it for me. Not even a little. And you always feel slightly guilty that you didn’t like the book, because your friends like it, and thus there must be something wrong with you. And at times like these, you just have to remind yourself that book reviews and recommendations are, like so many things in life, subjective, and while the book is appealing to some, it doesn’t mean that it has to be appealing to you.
This is all really a big preface to say I was less than impressed with this book.
Gustainis’ story pretty much turned me off from the start. We are thrown immediately into a vampire story that introduces us to the tale's antagonist, Quincey Morris, something of a supernatural investigator who is the direct descendant of the character of the same name in Bram Stoker’s Dracula. This fact, while not immediately apparent, once introduced seems to be interjected without real explanation from time to time in the story. Morris initially comes off as a smart, (Princeton educated), though tough-as-nails sort of Texan who has inherited from his ancestor a no-nonsense approach to vampire hunting.
Except that isn’t what the story is about. The story is really about a witch. Go figure.
Once the vampires have been quelled, Morris returns to his office where he is being called on the case of the LaRue family in Wisconsin whose home is being ‘haunted’. Morris agrees to the job, and flies up north to assess the situation. It turns out the house isn’t haunted, rather it is cursed, by dark magic. Calling in his friend and white magic practicing witch, Libby Chastain, the pair begins to try piecing together what it is about the LaRues that has someone trying to very hard to kill them. Their investigation is impeded by the powerful witch responsible, who tries to kill them on multiple occasions, and the two are drug from New York, to San Francisco, to New Orleans, and finally to Salem, Massachusetts before they can get down to the bottom of what amounts to a long ago and nearly forgotten family feud with one nasty witch.
But that’s not all. As all of this is going on, there are a series of child mutilation killings taking place that have FBI Agent Fenton calling in Investigator Van Dreenan from the South African Police Force to come in and assist. Van Dreenan, who has a long history with the strange muti magics of his homeland, lends invaluable assistance and advice to the FBI during their search, especially when it comes to the fact that this rituals are more than just superstitions…they are real. And he knows from tragic and awful personal experience. Little does he know that the object of he and Fenton’s search has a direct tie to the very same witch whom Morris and Chastain are searching for at the very same time.
The story has a lot going for it; the plots, if taken individually, are compelling enough to make you want to read it. They are fast paced and energetic, and propel you through the investigation of the cases, just like a good crime story or mystery should. And if this was all I needed, wanted, or was asking for in a book, then that would be great. And in fact if that’s what you are wanting in a novel, then this is great for you. The plot is by far not the worst thing about this story, Gustainis has a great idea that he tries to run with, even if I feel that the two separate story lines here are perhaps a bit too disjointed for one story. I would have liked to see more unison to make this book feel that is was a whole, rather than two separate stories.
All that being said, I must admit I was looking for much more out of this story. I felt mightily unfulfilled, and it disappointed me that a story with this much potential sort of became quickly clichéd and fell a bit flat on me. Morris comes off as a million other supernatural detectives/hunters out there, with lightening quick reflexes, a long family history of fighting against the evil in this world, blessed with a good education, but is the sort of fellow who still can use “pondner” in a sentence. And it felt very, very hokey. Perhaps I’m becoming jaded after years and years of watching The X-files and Buffy: The Vampire Slayer, but part of my brain just shrugged and said, “eh, so what’s new.” I feel as if the genre has been over-saturated with Quincey Morrises, and they join the long lines of Anita Blakes and other such lonely, acerbic heroes, the ones who stand up against that great evil. Not that there is a thing against that, but…well make the fellow interesting to me. Outside of the Princeton education, and his phobia of snakes, (hey, me and Indiana Jones get that fear), there is nothing about Quincey Morris that is remotely engaging or creates empathy or a connection. And he’s boring to boot.
Libby Chastain I thought would be a great breath of fresh air. Finally, a character who is a witch who doesn’t own a mystic book shop and dress like a reject from the Stevie Nicks Fan Club! And yet, you never really get a very clear picture of who Libby is, outside of a witch who does private consultations. Who is she, what does she do with herself, what is her life? How does she know Quincey, they seem to have some sort of past together? And what’s the story behind the work she did with Van Dreenan? Some detail please, color, anything to make me really care about these people, please!
The lack of detail is I think Gustainis’ biggest flaw in the book. You are thrown into a world where supernaturals exist, but with very few explanations to the world itself, how it operates, or why. Even the most basic urban fantasy has some rules as to how the supernaturals operate, and what knowledge, if any, the regular world has about them. I would sort of think that if a whole town in Texas got taken over by vampires, someone might just notice, but throughout the book you get the distinct sense that the idea of monsters, magic users, and other things that go bump in the night are generally not widely known. And yet they seem to be well known enough that plenty of people seem to come into contact with them. There isn’t much clarity on how any of this works, except that it just does. And for the escapist fantasy nut in me, that is a big part of any story, and it is just left out, at least with the Morris and Chastain part. Ironically, in the sub plot with Van Dreenan and his past, much more care was taken in this quarter than it was for the main plot, and I think it added a great deal to that story line. Perhaps Gustainis could have just left it out all together, as it didn’t add much to the Morris and Chastain story, and created a whole new story just on Van Dreenan, who I felt was a much more compelling character all together. His story I would love to see someday.
Gustainis’s story contains a lot of literary ticks that would most likely not bother some people, but were jarring enough that it put me off quite a bit. Dialogue was often stilted, sometimes conversations felt as if information was being forced out of characters mouths to move the plot at its fast pace, making you feel even more so that there is little to tie or connect you to these characters. And then there are things such as Gustainis’s use of “podner” by Morris, rather than just using “partner”, which come off as cheesy, and even distracting to the reader. And I won’t mention the moment that I, the rampant The X-files geek, fell off the bed when I read a list of books on someone’s library shelf, complete with a title by authors Scully and Reyes, (yes, Mr. Gustainis, I did get that). OK, I did giggle a bit, but really, it was distracting.
I wanted to like this book, I really did. And there are some amazing stories in this vein that I highly recommend. But there was just nothing there to make me latch on to this novel and say, “I love it.” I can’t even say I like it. I can say, “eh, it’s OK.” Now, for those of you who just like a quick and dirty romp through witches, demons, and vampires, and you want a plot that seems to be good, then read this book, I think you’ll enjoy it. But I was looking for something more, something that wasn’t the same old, same old in this genre. And I fear that Gustainis for me at least didn’t quite deliver the goods.
Rate this wormy book: This one gets a Litte Worm rating. It's not that it's a bad book, it's just not a great book. And I was left feeling that it was cliched and rather unsatisfying.
(Solaris Books-2007)
My friends love to recommend books to me. Usually they are pretty good. I have friends with great literary taste, which is to be expected, many of them are writers. Most of them have a similar taste to me, and can always be counted on for a good read or two. But once in a while a book is tossed in my direction that…well….just doesn’t do it for me. Not even a little. And you always feel slightly guilty that you didn’t like the book, because your friends like it, and thus there must be something wrong with you. And at times like these, you just have to remind yourself that book reviews and recommendations are, like so many things in life, subjective, and while the book is appealing to some, it doesn’t mean that it has to be appealing to you.
This is all really a big preface to say I was less than impressed with this book.
Gustainis’ story pretty much turned me off from the start. We are thrown immediately into a vampire story that introduces us to the tale's antagonist, Quincey Morris, something of a supernatural investigator who is the direct descendant of the character of the same name in Bram Stoker’s Dracula. This fact, while not immediately apparent, once introduced seems to be interjected without real explanation from time to time in the story. Morris initially comes off as a smart, (Princeton educated), though tough-as-nails sort of Texan who has inherited from his ancestor a no-nonsense approach to vampire hunting.
Except that isn’t what the story is about. The story is really about a witch. Go figure.
Once the vampires have been quelled, Morris returns to his office where he is being called on the case of the LaRue family in Wisconsin whose home is being ‘haunted’. Morris agrees to the job, and flies up north to assess the situation. It turns out the house isn’t haunted, rather it is cursed, by dark magic. Calling in his friend and white magic practicing witch, Libby Chastain, the pair begins to try piecing together what it is about the LaRues that has someone trying to very hard to kill them. Their investigation is impeded by the powerful witch responsible, who tries to kill them on multiple occasions, and the two are drug from New York, to San Francisco, to New Orleans, and finally to Salem, Massachusetts before they can get down to the bottom of what amounts to a long ago and nearly forgotten family feud with one nasty witch.
But that’s not all. As all of this is going on, there are a series of child mutilation killings taking place that have FBI Agent Fenton calling in Investigator Van Dreenan from the South African Police Force to come in and assist. Van Dreenan, who has a long history with the strange muti magics of his homeland, lends invaluable assistance and advice to the FBI during their search, especially when it comes to the fact that this rituals are more than just superstitions…they are real. And he knows from tragic and awful personal experience. Little does he know that the object of he and Fenton’s search has a direct tie to the very same witch whom Morris and Chastain are searching for at the very same time.
The story has a lot going for it; the plots, if taken individually, are compelling enough to make you want to read it. They are fast paced and energetic, and propel you through the investigation of the cases, just like a good crime story or mystery should. And if this was all I needed, wanted, or was asking for in a book, then that would be great. And in fact if that’s what you are wanting in a novel, then this is great for you. The plot is by far not the worst thing about this story, Gustainis has a great idea that he tries to run with, even if I feel that the two separate story lines here are perhaps a bit too disjointed for one story. I would have liked to see more unison to make this book feel that is was a whole, rather than two separate stories.
All that being said, I must admit I was looking for much more out of this story. I felt mightily unfulfilled, and it disappointed me that a story with this much potential sort of became quickly clichéd and fell a bit flat on me. Morris comes off as a million other supernatural detectives/hunters out there, with lightening quick reflexes, a long family history of fighting against the evil in this world, blessed with a good education, but is the sort of fellow who still can use “pondner” in a sentence. And it felt very, very hokey. Perhaps I’m becoming jaded after years and years of watching The X-files and Buffy: The Vampire Slayer, but part of my brain just shrugged and said, “eh, so what’s new.” I feel as if the genre has been over-saturated with Quincey Morrises, and they join the long lines of Anita Blakes and other such lonely, acerbic heroes, the ones who stand up against that great evil. Not that there is a thing against that, but…well make the fellow interesting to me. Outside of the Princeton education, and his phobia of snakes, (hey, me and Indiana Jones get that fear), there is nothing about Quincey Morris that is remotely engaging or creates empathy or a connection. And he’s boring to boot.
Libby Chastain I thought would be a great breath of fresh air. Finally, a character who is a witch who doesn’t own a mystic book shop and dress like a reject from the Stevie Nicks Fan Club! And yet, you never really get a very clear picture of who Libby is, outside of a witch who does private consultations. Who is she, what does she do with herself, what is her life? How does she know Quincey, they seem to have some sort of past together? And what’s the story behind the work she did with Van Dreenan? Some detail please, color, anything to make me really care about these people, please!
The lack of detail is I think Gustainis’ biggest flaw in the book. You are thrown into a world where supernaturals exist, but with very few explanations to the world itself, how it operates, or why. Even the most basic urban fantasy has some rules as to how the supernaturals operate, and what knowledge, if any, the regular world has about them. I would sort of think that if a whole town in Texas got taken over by vampires, someone might just notice, but throughout the book you get the distinct sense that the idea of monsters, magic users, and other things that go bump in the night are generally not widely known. And yet they seem to be well known enough that plenty of people seem to come into contact with them. There isn’t much clarity on how any of this works, except that it just does. And for the escapist fantasy nut in me, that is a big part of any story, and it is just left out, at least with the Morris and Chastain part. Ironically, in the sub plot with Van Dreenan and his past, much more care was taken in this quarter than it was for the main plot, and I think it added a great deal to that story line. Perhaps Gustainis could have just left it out all together, as it didn’t add much to the Morris and Chastain story, and created a whole new story just on Van Dreenan, who I felt was a much more compelling character all together. His story I would love to see someday.
Gustainis’s story contains a lot of literary ticks that would most likely not bother some people, but were jarring enough that it put me off quite a bit. Dialogue was often stilted, sometimes conversations felt as if information was being forced out of characters mouths to move the plot at its fast pace, making you feel even more so that there is little to tie or connect you to these characters. And then there are things such as Gustainis’s use of “podner” by Morris, rather than just using “partner”, which come off as cheesy, and even distracting to the reader. And I won’t mention the moment that I, the rampant The X-files geek, fell off the bed when I read a list of books on someone’s library shelf, complete with a title by authors Scully and Reyes, (yes, Mr. Gustainis, I did get that). OK, I did giggle a bit, but really, it was distracting.
I wanted to like this book, I really did. And there are some amazing stories in this vein that I highly recommend. But there was just nothing there to make me latch on to this novel and say, “I love it.” I can’t even say I like it. I can say, “eh, it’s OK.” Now, for those of you who just like a quick and dirty romp through witches, demons, and vampires, and you want a plot that seems to be good, then read this book, I think you’ll enjoy it. But I was looking for something more, something that wasn’t the same old, same old in this genre. And I fear that Gustainis for me at least didn’t quite deliver the goods.
Rate this wormy book: This one gets a Litte Worm rating. It's not that it's a bad book, it's just not a great book. And I was left feeling that it was cliched and rather unsatisfying.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
A change in format....
Well I suck...I start a blog because I want to review books, and well, I fall off the wagon.
The reasons for this are numerous, all centering on real life issues, and all involving my lack of motivation. However, as I'm beginning to offer up real book reviews for editors of ezines, I might as well start this up again.
So there will be a bit of a change in format, a bit of a difference, but I think I will be able to stick to this thing a bit better in 09...I hope.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows-J.K.Rowling
How I found this book: After getting hysterical about it for two years, it was finally announced that it was coming out…WHILE I WAS IN ROME! So I got to be in Rome, Italy for the big, coming out party as it were, and got to enjoy the fun with French and Italian fans of the series.
Setting: In the ’97-’98 school year, though for the first time not at Hogwarts, (save at the very end of the book.) Most of it is spread out as Harry, Ron, and Hermione move all over the country, from Grimmauld Place to Bill and Fleur’s house, Godric’s Hollow, and lots of forests in between.
Main Characters:
Harry Potter: Just turning seventeen, Harry is preparing himself for his hardest challenge yet, quitting school permanently to find the Horcruxes, the items that contain the fractured bits of Voldemort soul. Sent on the run after Bill and Fleur’s wedding and the fall of the Ministry, Harry must criss cross the country, seeking the answers to the mystery of the Horcruxes, as well as the mythical Deathly Hallows, and figure out how all these factors tie into defeating Voldemort. It forces Harry to make hard choices…ones that might force Harry to chose to sacrifice himself for those that he loves.
Ron Weasley: One of Harry’s best friends, Ron sticks by Harry’s side, going into hiding and danger with him. But the weight of the Horocruxes is a heavy one, especially for Ron who has so many insecurities and is unable to deal with them. He makes the choice to leave his friends for a while, but realizes soon enough that not only does he miss them horribly, he needs them, and he needs to face his own insecurities and issues, and come out as the strong, decisive person he is in his own right, outside of his brother’s and famous best friend.
Hermione Granger: The other of Harry’s best friends, Hermione uses her brains to help Harry unravel the mystery behind the Horcruxes, and stands by his side even when she doubts he knows what is going on, sticking by him when Ron leaves. It breaks her heart to see Ron go, and she is the one left to help Harry in some of his most trying and terrifying moments. A lot is asked of Hermione, including having to face the terrifying Bellatrix Lestrange, but in the end her wits help Harry and Ron persevere.
Ginny Weasley: Ron’s younger sister, and Harry’s ex-girlfriend, she is forced to stay behind and return to Hogwarts while her brother, best friend, and boyfriend run off to face Voldemort. That’s not to say that Ginny is idyll in their absence, and she, along with Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood start an insurrection at Hogwarts to throw off the oppressive administration of Severus Snape and his Deatheater cronies.
Luna Lovegood: One of Harry’s friends from Dumbledore’s Army, she, along with Ginny, helps to fight against the Death Eaters who have taken over the school. But she is captured from the Hogwarts Express on her way back to school from the holidays, and causes her father to try and capture the fugitive Harry for her release. When she is rescued by her dear friends, she too joins the efforts outside to help fight Lord Voldemort.
Neville Longbottom: One of Harry’s Gryffindor dorm mates, and another of the rabble rousers in Hogwarts while Harry is gone, he rallies Dumbledore’s Army while Harry is out searching for Horcruxes, hoping for Harry to return so they can begin to finally fight back and take on Voldemort.
Professor Dumbledore: Killed at the end of the last book, Dumbledore left only the slightest clues for Harry to figure out how to defeat Voldemort. His guidance is limited, but his hope was that Harry and his friends would have the brains and courage to figure them out and help defeat Tom Riddle before it was too late. Still, much of Dumbledore’s past is a mystery to Harry, one that is coming out to him now, after his mentor’s death, in fits and starts. It turns out that Dumbledore’s history is deeply entwined with that of Tom Riddle, and that he can learn from the mistakes both men made in their past.
Severus Snape: The new headmaster of Hogwarts, he takes over when the Ministry falls. While he allows the Death Eaters to run rampant in the school, he also tries to assist Harry in secret ways all throughout the book. Snape’s allegiances are complex and deep, and it is only at the tragic end that Harry finds out the true reason for Snape’s dislike of James Potter, and by extension Harry, but also the true love he had for Harry’s own mother, and the promise he made to himself on behalf of the girl he had once befriended and cared for.
Draco Malfoy: Spared the punishment that could have been his had Dumbledore not been killed, he is returned to his parents, but they are all in disgrace. Draco tries to do what he must to keep them all alive, but in the end, his desire to protect his own life and that of his family overwhelms any desire he truly has to serve the Dark Lord.
Lucius Malfoy: Now disgraced, he is forced to allow Lord Voldemort the use of his home as a headquarters. He and Bellatrix, his sister-in-law, are always on the lookout for ways to improve their standing with the Dark Lord.
Bellatrix Lestrange: The sister of Narcissa Malfoy and Andromeda Tonks, and disgraced favorite of Lord Voldemort she is consumed by her desire to serve her master, and to get into his good graces. Lord Voldemort is all that she loves in this world, and she will do anything to please him, even killing her own family members.
Narcissa Malfoy: The wife of Lucius and mother of Draco, sister to Bellatrix Lestrange and Andromeda Tonks, she perhaps is the only one of all the Malfoys that knows the true danger they are in and the true cost to her family. She plays her cards close, and when the opportunity to extract them all presents itself, Narcissa takes it, aiding Harry Potter in his most desperate moment.
Remus Lupin: Harry’s former Defense teacher, and best friend of James and Sirius, he has married Nymphadora Tonks, and is expecting his first child with her. Despite this blessing, he worries about the war, his own werewolf-ism, and whether he is fit to be a husband and father, and tries to run off with Harry instead. Harry sets him down, angering him at first, but he returns to his wife and child, and begins to take up as a voice on the underground Wizarding Wireless.
Nymphadora Tonks Lupin: Wife of Remus Lupin, daughter of Ted and Andromeda Tonks, niece of Bellatrix Lestrange and Narcissa Malfoy, and mother of Teddy Lupin, Nymphadora is an Auror and metamorphmagus. She spends much of the book pregnant with young Teddy, but stands by her husband’s side when war finally comes to Hogwarts.
Fred and George Weasley: Ron’s older twin brothers, George looses an ear when rescuing Harry from Death Eaters in an effort to get Harry out from the Dursley’s house. Both boys are active in the Order.
Bill Weasley: Ron’s oldest brother, he works for Gringott’s Bank as a curse breaker. He and Fleur marry at the beginning of the book, their wedding reception crashed by the news that the Ministry had fallen to Death Eaters. He and Fleur move into a small house, which serves as a resting point for Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Luna after a narrow escape from Malfoy Manor.
Fleur Weasley: Wife of Bill Weasley, she helps take care of Harry, Ron, Hermione, Luna, and Mr. Ollivander when they arrive at her house after narrowly escaping from Malfoy Manor.
Lord Voldemort: Now having defeated Dumbledore, Voldemort begins his reign of terror on the wizarding world, unleashing persecutions against Muggle-borns and Half-bloods alike, all the while hunting down the one person he suspects can bring down his reign…Harry Potter.
Plot: Harry is now left alone as he turns seventeen, the age of majority in the wizarding world. His mentor, Professor Dumbledore has died, and there is no one else left now to protect him from Lord Voldemort…or to face the Dark Wizard either. It is now up to Harry alone to bring down the darkest wizard in generations, but before he even has a chance to formulate a plan, the Dark Lord strikes, taking over the Ministry, and causing chaos in the world of magic. Harry, Ron, and Hermione become fugitives as they hide out, trying to find the clues of where the remaining horcruxes lay, based on the scant clues Harry knows, and the strange items left behind by Dumledore. In fact, it is in his old headmaster’s own mysterious and suspect past that Harry finds not only the clues to defeat Lord Voldemort, but learns the most important lessons about life…and death. As Harry becomes something of an underground hero for the beleagured witches and wizards of England, he prepares to face perhaps the greatest challenge of his young life, but will he come out of it alive?
Themes:
Even great heroes are flawed: We all know Harry is flawed, as we’ve seen through his development in the series, but we’ve yet to see all the chinks in the armor of Albus Dumbledore. Dumbledore never denied he had weaknesses, and even tried to encourage people to keep that in mind, but we are now learning all the aspects of Dumbledore’s own history that explain much of what he became, and also sets the stage for Harry to ultimately discover how to defeat Tom Riddle. Dumbledore has made mistakes, some very great ones that marked his life. Harry, ever Dumbledore’s pupil, learns from those mistakes, and perhaps in learning from them surpasses his old teacher as well.
Give me something to believe in: For the first time, in a large sense, we see Harry becoming a figure for people to believe in. Now it isn’t just his housemates or schoolmates, but it is the entire wizarding world of Great Britain who is looking to Harry to help stop the menace of Voldemort. He comes off in the wizarding world as some strange, Robin Hood like figure, a fugitive who frees the half-bloods and Muggle-borns and is leading an underground movement, (which he isn’t, but he becomes their symbol). Whether Harry likes it or not, he is the symbol for the free witches and wizards everywhere, something they can latch on to during these dark times.
Fairytales do come true: In this case, perhaps it’s more accurate that a fairytale can stem from a true story. The Deathly Hallows is a child’s tale, or so everyone thinks, a legend of magical objects, much like the Holy Grail in our world. But in reality they did exist, (perhaps not quite in the form the legend has them in), and their existence, and the effort to discover them is tied intimately to Dumbledore’s past, as well as to Harry’s ability to defeat the Dark Lord. Ironically, Tom Riddle, for all his knowledge and bravado, knows or understands little about the Deathly Hallows outside of the Death Stick, and it’s this ignorance that Harry is able to manipulate.
War is hell: Gah…so many characters you’ve grown to love during this series are killed! It’s so not fair. And yet, it happens. It is war, that is how it happens, that is what happens. It’s not something that is pleasant, but Rowling doesn’t flinch from these deaths, and instead lets us feel every wound to help emphasis the fact that this is a world that is indeed at war.
Genocide: Part of Lord Voldemort’s plan is to rid the wizarding world of people who are ironically very much like him, Muggle borns and Halfbloods. Many Muggle borns, such as Hermione, Ted Tonks, and Dean Thomas, are sent into hiding, so as to protect themselves and their loved ones from harm, risking hiding in the countryside and potentially running into gangs of thugs and thieves. Others are herded up by the Ministry, in nearly Nazi-like trials to determine who they ‘stole’ their magic from. The amount of racism reaches epic, disgusting proportions, and it does make your stomach turn to read some of it.
SIT DOWN, THERE’S AN EPILOGUE- (This line in reference to my dear friend Dawna, who had to remind a movie theatre full of people there was an epilogue to Romeo and Juliet.) There is an Epilogue when it is all said and done, one that closes up what happens to Harry, Ron, Hermione, and some others after it is all said and done…I won’t tell you how it goes, but it was certainly well worth the wait.
Every book sucks somewhere: I can think of very few areas this book sucked in. It has nearly equal rating in my head with my favorite Harry Potter book, Goblet of Fire. However, I must say the endless wandering through the woods as Harry, Hermione, and Ron try to evade everyone on the search for Horcruxes was a bit tedious and repetitive, and you sort of wanted to say “get on with it already.”
In addition, I have to say…some of the deaths really hurt. A lot. I won’t say who, but..yeah…mmm….I cried and cried while reading this book, and of course I felt like an idiot when my roomie in my hotel in Rome came in and saw me huddled up on my small little twin bed, crying my eyes out over a Harry Potter book! At least I was sober this time around.
What did I like: I LOVED all of it, but best of all, I loved the mystery of the Deathly Hallows, and learning some of the deep, dark secrets of Dumbeldore’s own past. I loved the fact that Ron and Hermione FINALLY cotton on they are meant to be together. And the final scene between Harry and Tom Riddle couldn’t be scripted any better than if it were an epic film. All I have to say is I hope the film makers get it right when they finally get around to doing it, because it just gives you chills reading it.
How would I rate this wormy book: NOM, NOM, NOM, NOM, MONSTER, NOM, NOM, NOM……I wouldn’t suggest reading this book without reading the others in the series, but believe me, getting to this book really makes it all worth while.
How I found this book: After getting hysterical about it for two years, it was finally announced that it was coming out…WHILE I WAS IN ROME! So I got to be in Rome, Italy for the big, coming out party as it were, and got to enjoy the fun with French and Italian fans of the series.
Setting: In the ’97-’98 school year, though for the first time not at Hogwarts, (save at the very end of the book.) Most of it is spread out as Harry, Ron, and Hermione move all over the country, from Grimmauld Place to Bill and Fleur’s house, Godric’s Hollow, and lots of forests in between.
Main Characters:
Harry Potter: Just turning seventeen, Harry is preparing himself for his hardest challenge yet, quitting school permanently to find the Horcruxes, the items that contain the fractured bits of Voldemort soul. Sent on the run after Bill and Fleur’s wedding and the fall of the Ministry, Harry must criss cross the country, seeking the answers to the mystery of the Horcruxes, as well as the mythical Deathly Hallows, and figure out how all these factors tie into defeating Voldemort. It forces Harry to make hard choices…ones that might force Harry to chose to sacrifice himself for those that he loves.
Ron Weasley: One of Harry’s best friends, Ron sticks by Harry’s side, going into hiding and danger with him. But the weight of the Horocruxes is a heavy one, especially for Ron who has so many insecurities and is unable to deal with them. He makes the choice to leave his friends for a while, but realizes soon enough that not only does he miss them horribly, he needs them, and he needs to face his own insecurities and issues, and come out as the strong, decisive person he is in his own right, outside of his brother’s and famous best friend.
Hermione Granger: The other of Harry’s best friends, Hermione uses her brains to help Harry unravel the mystery behind the Horcruxes, and stands by his side even when she doubts he knows what is going on, sticking by him when Ron leaves. It breaks her heart to see Ron go, and she is the one left to help Harry in some of his most trying and terrifying moments. A lot is asked of Hermione, including having to face the terrifying Bellatrix Lestrange, but in the end her wits help Harry and Ron persevere.
Ginny Weasley: Ron’s younger sister, and Harry’s ex-girlfriend, she is forced to stay behind and return to Hogwarts while her brother, best friend, and boyfriend run off to face Voldemort. That’s not to say that Ginny is idyll in their absence, and she, along with Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood start an insurrection at Hogwarts to throw off the oppressive administration of Severus Snape and his Deatheater cronies.
Luna Lovegood: One of Harry’s friends from Dumbledore’s Army, she, along with Ginny, helps to fight against the Death Eaters who have taken over the school. But she is captured from the Hogwarts Express on her way back to school from the holidays, and causes her father to try and capture the fugitive Harry for her release. When she is rescued by her dear friends, she too joins the efforts outside to help fight Lord Voldemort.
Neville Longbottom: One of Harry’s Gryffindor dorm mates, and another of the rabble rousers in Hogwarts while Harry is gone, he rallies Dumbledore’s Army while Harry is out searching for Horcruxes, hoping for Harry to return so they can begin to finally fight back and take on Voldemort.
Professor Dumbledore: Killed at the end of the last book, Dumbledore left only the slightest clues for Harry to figure out how to defeat Voldemort. His guidance is limited, but his hope was that Harry and his friends would have the brains and courage to figure them out and help defeat Tom Riddle before it was too late. Still, much of Dumbledore’s past is a mystery to Harry, one that is coming out to him now, after his mentor’s death, in fits and starts. It turns out that Dumbledore’s history is deeply entwined with that of Tom Riddle, and that he can learn from the mistakes both men made in their past.
Severus Snape: The new headmaster of Hogwarts, he takes over when the Ministry falls. While he allows the Death Eaters to run rampant in the school, he also tries to assist Harry in secret ways all throughout the book. Snape’s allegiances are complex and deep, and it is only at the tragic end that Harry finds out the true reason for Snape’s dislike of James Potter, and by extension Harry, but also the true love he had for Harry’s own mother, and the promise he made to himself on behalf of the girl he had once befriended and cared for.
Draco Malfoy: Spared the punishment that could have been his had Dumbledore not been killed, he is returned to his parents, but they are all in disgrace. Draco tries to do what he must to keep them all alive, but in the end, his desire to protect his own life and that of his family overwhelms any desire he truly has to serve the Dark Lord.
Lucius Malfoy: Now disgraced, he is forced to allow Lord Voldemort the use of his home as a headquarters. He and Bellatrix, his sister-in-law, are always on the lookout for ways to improve their standing with the Dark Lord.
Bellatrix Lestrange: The sister of Narcissa Malfoy and Andromeda Tonks, and disgraced favorite of Lord Voldemort she is consumed by her desire to serve her master, and to get into his good graces. Lord Voldemort is all that she loves in this world, and she will do anything to please him, even killing her own family members.
Narcissa Malfoy: The wife of Lucius and mother of Draco, sister to Bellatrix Lestrange and Andromeda Tonks, she perhaps is the only one of all the Malfoys that knows the true danger they are in and the true cost to her family. She plays her cards close, and when the opportunity to extract them all presents itself, Narcissa takes it, aiding Harry Potter in his most desperate moment.
Remus Lupin: Harry’s former Defense teacher, and best friend of James and Sirius, he has married Nymphadora Tonks, and is expecting his first child with her. Despite this blessing, he worries about the war, his own werewolf-ism, and whether he is fit to be a husband and father, and tries to run off with Harry instead. Harry sets him down, angering him at first, but he returns to his wife and child, and begins to take up as a voice on the underground Wizarding Wireless.
Nymphadora Tonks Lupin: Wife of Remus Lupin, daughter of Ted and Andromeda Tonks, niece of Bellatrix Lestrange and Narcissa Malfoy, and mother of Teddy Lupin, Nymphadora is an Auror and metamorphmagus. She spends much of the book pregnant with young Teddy, but stands by her husband’s side when war finally comes to Hogwarts.
Fred and George Weasley: Ron’s older twin brothers, George looses an ear when rescuing Harry from Death Eaters in an effort to get Harry out from the Dursley’s house. Both boys are active in the Order.
Bill Weasley: Ron’s oldest brother, he works for Gringott’s Bank as a curse breaker. He and Fleur marry at the beginning of the book, their wedding reception crashed by the news that the Ministry had fallen to Death Eaters. He and Fleur move into a small house, which serves as a resting point for Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Luna after a narrow escape from Malfoy Manor.
Fleur Weasley: Wife of Bill Weasley, she helps take care of Harry, Ron, Hermione, Luna, and Mr. Ollivander when they arrive at her house after narrowly escaping from Malfoy Manor.
Lord Voldemort: Now having defeated Dumbledore, Voldemort begins his reign of terror on the wizarding world, unleashing persecutions against Muggle-borns and Half-bloods alike, all the while hunting down the one person he suspects can bring down his reign…Harry Potter.
Plot: Harry is now left alone as he turns seventeen, the age of majority in the wizarding world. His mentor, Professor Dumbledore has died, and there is no one else left now to protect him from Lord Voldemort…or to face the Dark Wizard either. It is now up to Harry alone to bring down the darkest wizard in generations, but before he even has a chance to formulate a plan, the Dark Lord strikes, taking over the Ministry, and causing chaos in the world of magic. Harry, Ron, and Hermione become fugitives as they hide out, trying to find the clues of where the remaining horcruxes lay, based on the scant clues Harry knows, and the strange items left behind by Dumledore. In fact, it is in his old headmaster’s own mysterious and suspect past that Harry finds not only the clues to defeat Lord Voldemort, but learns the most important lessons about life…and death. As Harry becomes something of an underground hero for the beleagured witches and wizards of England, he prepares to face perhaps the greatest challenge of his young life, but will he come out of it alive?
Themes:
Even great heroes are flawed: We all know Harry is flawed, as we’ve seen through his development in the series, but we’ve yet to see all the chinks in the armor of Albus Dumbledore. Dumbledore never denied he had weaknesses, and even tried to encourage people to keep that in mind, but we are now learning all the aspects of Dumbledore’s own history that explain much of what he became, and also sets the stage for Harry to ultimately discover how to defeat Tom Riddle. Dumbledore has made mistakes, some very great ones that marked his life. Harry, ever Dumbledore’s pupil, learns from those mistakes, and perhaps in learning from them surpasses his old teacher as well.
Give me something to believe in: For the first time, in a large sense, we see Harry becoming a figure for people to believe in. Now it isn’t just his housemates or schoolmates, but it is the entire wizarding world of Great Britain who is looking to Harry to help stop the menace of Voldemort. He comes off in the wizarding world as some strange, Robin Hood like figure, a fugitive who frees the half-bloods and Muggle-borns and is leading an underground movement, (which he isn’t, but he becomes their symbol). Whether Harry likes it or not, he is the symbol for the free witches and wizards everywhere, something they can latch on to during these dark times.
Fairytales do come true: In this case, perhaps it’s more accurate that a fairytale can stem from a true story. The Deathly Hallows is a child’s tale, or so everyone thinks, a legend of magical objects, much like the Holy Grail in our world. But in reality they did exist, (perhaps not quite in the form the legend has them in), and their existence, and the effort to discover them is tied intimately to Dumbledore’s past, as well as to Harry’s ability to defeat the Dark Lord. Ironically, Tom Riddle, for all his knowledge and bravado, knows or understands little about the Deathly Hallows outside of the Death Stick, and it’s this ignorance that Harry is able to manipulate.
War is hell: Gah…so many characters you’ve grown to love during this series are killed! It’s so not fair. And yet, it happens. It is war, that is how it happens, that is what happens. It’s not something that is pleasant, but Rowling doesn’t flinch from these deaths, and instead lets us feel every wound to help emphasis the fact that this is a world that is indeed at war.
Genocide: Part of Lord Voldemort’s plan is to rid the wizarding world of people who are ironically very much like him, Muggle borns and Halfbloods. Many Muggle borns, such as Hermione, Ted Tonks, and Dean Thomas, are sent into hiding, so as to protect themselves and their loved ones from harm, risking hiding in the countryside and potentially running into gangs of thugs and thieves. Others are herded up by the Ministry, in nearly Nazi-like trials to determine who they ‘stole’ their magic from. The amount of racism reaches epic, disgusting proportions, and it does make your stomach turn to read some of it.
SIT DOWN, THERE’S AN EPILOGUE- (This line in reference to my dear friend Dawna, who had to remind a movie theatre full of people there was an epilogue to Romeo and Juliet.) There is an Epilogue when it is all said and done, one that closes up what happens to Harry, Ron, Hermione, and some others after it is all said and done…I won’t tell you how it goes, but it was certainly well worth the wait.
Every book sucks somewhere: I can think of very few areas this book sucked in. It has nearly equal rating in my head with my favorite Harry Potter book, Goblet of Fire. However, I must say the endless wandering through the woods as Harry, Hermione, and Ron try to evade everyone on the search for Horcruxes was a bit tedious and repetitive, and you sort of wanted to say “get on with it already.”
In addition, I have to say…some of the deaths really hurt. A lot. I won’t say who, but..yeah…mmm….I cried and cried while reading this book, and of course I felt like an idiot when my roomie in my hotel in Rome came in and saw me huddled up on my small little twin bed, crying my eyes out over a Harry Potter book! At least I was sober this time around.
What did I like: I LOVED all of it, but best of all, I loved the mystery of the Deathly Hallows, and learning some of the deep, dark secrets of Dumbeldore’s own past. I loved the fact that Ron and Hermione FINALLY cotton on they are meant to be together. And the final scene between Harry and Tom Riddle couldn’t be scripted any better than if it were an epic film. All I have to say is I hope the film makers get it right when they finally get around to doing it, because it just gives you chills reading it.
How would I rate this wormy book: NOM, NOM, NOM, NOM, MONSTER, NOM, NOM, NOM……I wouldn’t suggest reading this book without reading the others in the series, but believe me, getting to this book really makes it all worth while.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince-J.K.Rowling
How I found this book: I squealed like a school girl when the name was released, and called my Mom in a tizzy. I was so excited about this book, and then…it got delivered to my old house. When I went to my old house, it wasn’t there. I finally managed to buy it at Target the day it was released. So I bought TWO copies of the book. *grumble* Then worse, because I waited all day for a book that never came, I didn’t get a chance to read it all before having to go to a friend’s party that night. So of course….I read the end first, just so I wouldn’t have to anticipate! (Anyone who knows me knows I read the ends of ALL books first, even textbooks.)
Setting: In the ’96-’97 school year, almost completely at Hogwarts.
Main Characters:
Harry Potter: It’s been rough the last few years for our now sixteen-year-old hero. He’s lost a classmate and his godfather to Lord Voldemort and his allies. And he now lives with the full weight of the prophesy made about him years ago and the knowledge that he must be the one to face Lord Voldemort. But there is some respite for the weary, as Harry gets to do some ‘normal’ things for a change, including captaining his house Quidditch team, studying for his upcoming NEWT exams, and falling for someone new. Sadly, this someone new is Ron’s little sister, Ginny. Figuring out how to get Ginny to notice him and not having Ron kill him is the least of Harry’s worries this year. His favorite and best class, Defense Against the Dark Arts, is being taught by Professor Snape this year, making it almost as unbearable as the year before. Thankfully he has a potions book, annotated by the Half-Blood Prince, whoever that is, to help him with the new Potions Master, who had a special affection for Harry’s mother. And Dumbledore has Harry studying with him in particular this year, privately and alone. Dumbledore is preparing Harry to face his greatest challenge, but will Harry find all the answers he needs in the mystery of Tom Riddle?
Ron Weasley: One of Harry’s best friends, Ron is flying high after leading the Quidditch team to a House Cup the year before, and looking forward to making the team again under the leadership of his best mate. Not even Quidditch is simple for Ron, though, who not only has to worry about his performance issues, but about the changes in his relationship with Hermione, and his sister Ginny’s popularity with the boys. When he loses his temper and ends up dating Lavender Brown, he not only hurts Hermione, but makes a mess he isn’t so sure he can get out of readily. But Ron has his best friend Harry to help him out when he’s being stupid, and Hermione isn’t as lost as he thinks. It’s their deep loyalty to one another that will hold them in stead for the things to come.
Hermione Granger: The other of Harry’s best friends, studies aside, Hermione is having a tough year. Just when she thought things between her and Ron were changing, he grew angry and began dating Lavender Brown, her roommate, and she has to face the two of them all over each other all the time. And then Harry is outperforming her for a change in Potions with a textbook she is sure is a form of cheating. Nothing seems to be going her way this year. But she will find that her boys will need her more than ever in the days and weeks to come, and when the unthinkable happens and puts them all in danger, it will tie her to Harry and Ron even more closely than they were before.
Ginny Weasley: Ron’s younger sister, she is starting to come into her own, and becoming more and more popular, particularly with the boys. And amongst her admirers is suddenly Harry. Ginny comes up big on the Quidditch field, and suddenly she comes up big in the romance department as well, as the one boy she’s always cared for suddenly feels the same way about her.
Professor Dumbledore: Injured in some unexplained accident before the start of term, Dumbledore seems to be trying his best to prepare everyone for the war to come. Even more so, he is trying the help Harry finally understand just who and what he is up against in the form of Lord Voldemort, where he came from, and how to defeat him. But the dangers are looming on the horizon, and will he be able to impart all that Harry needs to know before Harry must face Voldemort?
Severus Snape: Now finally in the position he always wanted, Snape seems delighted that he can make Harry and the others lives miserable at a subject he knows so well. But what games is Snape playing at anyway? Harry feels he should trust him to some degree as a member of the Order of the Phoenix, and Dumbledore refuses to Harry’s insistence that there might be something more going on with the new Defense teacher. What is it that Dumbledore is so sure of that he won’t share with anyone else?
Horace Slughorn: A former Potions teacher at Hogwarts, he was infamous for having favorites and ensuring his students found good positions after school to ensure he had a web of highly placed connections with which to make his life comfortable. One of his favorites was Harry’s mother, Lily. After the last war, he retired, and since the start of this one, he has gone into hiding, knowing that he could be in danger because of who and what he knows through his network. Dumbledore convinces him to return to Hogwarts as a teacher, to side firmly with Dumbledore, and be safe. He is easily talked into it, especially with the thought of having “The Boy Who Lived” as one of his pupils.
Remus Lupin: Harry’s former Defense teacher, and best friend of James and Sirius, he has gone deep undercover tracking Fenrir Greyback, an evil werewolf who preys on children, such as Remus when he was bitten as a boy.
Nymphadora Tonks: While doing double duty for the Ministry and the Order, Tonks seems to be depressed and listless, even her hair is its normal color rather than one of her favorite crazy ones. Harry assumes that it must be due in part to Sirius’s death, and that perhaps she was in love with her cousin.
Fred and George Weasley: Ron’s older twin brothers, they have left Hogwarts and have started a joke shop in Diagon Alley called Weasley’s Wizarding Wheezes.
Bill Weasley: Ron’s oldest brother, he works for Gringott’s Bank as a curse breaker. He is engaged to Fleur Delacour, one of Harry’s rival champions at the Tri-Wizards Tournament.
Fleur Delacour: One of Harry’s former Tri-Wizard Championship rivals, she has fallen in love with Bill Weasley and the two are engaged, much to the chagrin of Mrs. Weasley and Ginny, who dislike her.
Draco Malfoy: The archenemy of Harry, Ron, and Hermione, he has become a Deatheater over the summer, in retaliation for his father’s failure at the Ministry of Magic. He is charged with a horrible task, one that, if he doesn’t complete it well it could cost him his life.
Bellatrix Lestrange: One of Voldemort’s trusted leaders; she is the sister to Narcissa Malfoy and aunt to Draco. She distrusts Severus Snape, and is proud of her nephew for the mantel he’s taken on as a Deatheater.
Lucius Malfoy: The father of Draco, he was one of Voldemort’s most trusted leaders, but when he failed at the Ministry he not only was arrested and sent to Azkaban, but he was in disgrace with the Dark Lord as well. His disgrace has dire consequences for his son, ones that could lead to Draco’s eventual demise.
Rufus Scrimgeor: The new Minister of Magic and former head of the Auror division, he has set out to take a head on approach towards Voldemort, as well as repair the damage done to the Ministry’s reputation caused by the ineptness of Cornelius Fudge. He would like Harry to speak up about being the so called “Chosen One” as well as show his support for the Ministry, something Harry refuses to do. He seems more fond of getting Dumbledore and Harry to play politics with him than actually working with them to help stop Voldemort, though he is more accepting of the work Dumbledore is doing than Fudge ever was.
Plot: After the loss of his godfather, sixteen-year-old Harry has been despondent. Not even the public’s terrified realization that “You-Know-Who” has returned is a balm to him, rather it is a reminder of the horrible realization he has discovered. He is the only one who can face Voldemort, and it will either end up with him being a murder, or him being dead. But while the war between Voldemort and the Ministry begins, and the Death Eaters start their reign of terror, Harry begins his sixth year at Hogwarts. This year brings many other, more positive changes for Harry, he is named the Captain of the Quidditch team, and he has become a natural leader amongst his other students. Many look up to him, especially after his leadership of Dumbledore’s Army the year before. But there are not-so-good changes as well, as Snape has finally been granted the post of Defense teacher, and Harry’s favorite class is now an exercise in holding his temper. At least in Potions he is excelling, thanks to the help of a mysterious Potions textbook with notes from a mysterious former student who calls themselves the “Half-blood Prince”. The Prince can’t help Harry in affairs of the heart, when he finds himself falling rather hard for someone rather unexpected…Ron’s little sister, Ginny. It certainly doesn’t help when Ron begins dating Lavender Brown, hurting Hermione and causing a rift between them that Harry has to navigate carefully. But none of these issues compares to the problem of Lord Voldemort and how to defeat him. Only Professor Dumbeldore seems to know the answers to that, and he begins teaching Harry the secrets of just who Tom Marvolo Riddle was, and what he did, and how this orphaned boy became the evil wizard Lord Voldemort. In this, he hopes that Harry will learn just how it was that Voldemort lived on that night so long ago when Harry’s parents died, and how is it that Harry can possibly defeat him.
Themes:
Even the Dark Lord was a boy once: Unlike Darth Vader, who started out as the sweet, cute, and helpful Anakin Skywalker, Lord Voldemort started out as a mean, creepy, sociopathic, psycho kid named Tom Riddle. To be honest…yeah, he was messed up, we are talking Stephen King level of messed up. When you meet his family, the Gaunts, and see how inbred and backwards they are, it’s little wonder that Tom Riddle is a bit…different. The apple didn’t fall far from the tree there. And his father’s family, the rich, indolent Muggles the Riddles, with their upper crust disdain for everyone and everything, he has it no better on his dad’s side. One can criticize the Dark Lord for not making better choices, for deciding to do the evil things he did, as everyone has a choice to do and be something different. But with that genetic pool to choose from, its small wonder Lord Voldmort became what he became. Still, I find it hard to feel sorry for him, Harry was an orphan as well, and from all accounts had a much harder childhood than Tom did in his orphanage, and didn’t make the choices Tom Riddle did, nor did he blame his parents for the situation and try to subvert it somehow. In the end, Lord Voldemort comes out even more evil in my mind because he willfully made the decisions he did, and even if he did have a banana or two missing from the bunch, he could have chosen differently. He just didn’t. Who knows, maybe the nuttiness in his head meant he couldn’t even begin seeing the issue differently, it’s hard saying. What a wack job.
Sometimes a kid has to be a kid: One thing Harry has never been is ‘normal’. This is the one book in the series where we see Harry finally, for once, being comfortable in his own skin. He is growing up before our very eyes, and enjoying being a sixteen-year-old kid who has all the same problems other kids his age do. He has to deal with the adulation of girls younger than him who wish to try and make him notice them, he is stuck in the middle of a potential lover’s spat between his two best friends, (and he’s not so sure he’d be keen on the idea of the two of them hooking up), and he’s FINALLY noticed that Ginny is a cute, attractive girl. The Ginny angle is one fan’s have suspected for some time, since book one really, and many were happy to see it, (except if you happened to be one of the strange, Harry/Hermione fans who got so mad about it, that was disturbing.) Harry for once gets to deal with all the same things other kids deal with. It’s a pity that it doesn’t last.
Harry turning into an adult: Harry has been sort of at the mercy of his elders most of his life. Either he was told he was too young to understand, or he was too young to fight, but with little to no explanation about why things are happening, or what he should do about it, if anything. Much of this has of course led to bad, bad results, with even Albus Dumbledore finally coming to the realization that Harry is growing up, and what’s more, he isn’t a child anymore. While Molly Weasley hasn’t come to this conclusion, (hopefully she does by the next book), Dumbledore at least begins to treat Harry less with kid gloves, and begins to be more honest with him as to what is going on.
Harry as a leader: On top of growing up, Harry is also becoming more and more of a leader. He not only is the Captain of the Quidditch team, but he is seen by other students as someone who understands what is going on in a world that is rapidly falling apart, especially by former members of the DA. Younger students look up to Harry, part of it is natural as they all grew up with stories of Harry Potter as children, but part of it is in seeing who he is, hearing the stories of his exploits at Hogwarts, and the growing rumbles in the wizarding community about Harry being the “Chosen One.” A sign of maturity on Harry’s part, in another time, all this attention to him and dependence on him would have made him angry or frustrated. Now he simply accepts it as something that just is, and moves on.
The bonds of friendship: This book shows ever growing shifts in the bonds of friendship Harry has built for himself with those closest to him. Hermione, who he was always close to, but never as close to as Ron, begins to fill in more and more that role of older sister she’s always inhabited for Harry, giving him advice, being the sympathetic ear, and of course coming to him when her own troubles get too much for her. Just because he is Ron’s best mate doesn’t mean he doesn’t have room for Hermione in his heart when the two are feuding. With Ron, he has the ability to tell Ron the truth, even when it hurts, knowing that Ron will not hate him for it. And he doesn’t laugh at Ron about Lavender, though you get the sense he hardly approves, but instead is willing to let his friend make his mistakes and is there for him when he needs picking up. It is Harry who saves Ron’s life, binding the already close pair even further, (much like we see the relationship of James and Sirius), and Ron and Hermione are able to get over their differences, and take those first, ever so tentative steps to the changes in their own relationship. Dumbledore cautions Harry that the only two he should really ever trust are Ron and Hermione, and it is those two he entrusts his secrets, knowing that neither will break that confidence. And when he must do what he must at the end of the novel, it is Ron and Hermione who unquestioningly stand by his side, even at great personal cost to them. Their bonds of friendship go so deep now, that Harry doesn’t even try to talk them out of it. This friendship will be a key aspect to the next book of the series.
Draco Malfoy is up to something: No one else believes Harry in this, and Harry knows Draco is up to something, and that its potentially dangerous. While Harry doesn’t realize the true ramifications till too late, it does change how he perceives Malfoy, and Harry begins to understand that perhaps Draco is forced into the situation and is as much a victim in his own way as any of the countless people who have actually lost their lives.
What is up with Snape anyway: This is a questions that readers keep repeatedly asking since book one, when I think this theme first appeared in my review. Snape is a very complex character, and becomes even more so in the next book as well. What is the real motivation he has for putting up with Harry, who he clearly hates, and why is it that he hates Harry’s father so much? What was his role in the prophecy surrounding Harry, and was it really Snape who set up Harry’s family for the ultimate betrayal by Peter Pettigrew? Even worse, was Snape ever REALLY a member of the Order of the Phoenix, and why was it that Dumbledore trusted him so much anyway?
Every book sucks somewhere: Well besides the most obvious sucking point, (and if you haven’t read it, I’m not admitting to it in this review,) the book had few sucking points for me. I have to say that this is one of my more favorite books in the series, though I think 4 and 7 certainly take those top spots. Perhaps it sucks because we know this is the last of the good times at Hogwarts for Harry.
What did I like: Watching Harry grow up as a person. He starts to come into all the potential we saw for the little, stunted kid who lives his life in a broom closet, and you start to feel proud of Harry as a person.
How would I rate this wormy book: This is a big, MONSTER WORM, it sets you up so well for the ending of the series, and slowly leads you up to the top of the big, old hill for the ride of the rollercoaster finish. It is great.
How I found this book: I squealed like a school girl when the name was released, and called my Mom in a tizzy. I was so excited about this book, and then…it got delivered to my old house. When I went to my old house, it wasn’t there. I finally managed to buy it at Target the day it was released. So I bought TWO copies of the book. *grumble* Then worse, because I waited all day for a book that never came, I didn’t get a chance to read it all before having to go to a friend’s party that night. So of course….I read the end first, just so I wouldn’t have to anticipate! (Anyone who knows me knows I read the ends of ALL books first, even textbooks.)
Setting: In the ’96-’97 school year, almost completely at Hogwarts.
Main Characters:
Harry Potter: It’s been rough the last few years for our now sixteen-year-old hero. He’s lost a classmate and his godfather to Lord Voldemort and his allies. And he now lives with the full weight of the prophesy made about him years ago and the knowledge that he must be the one to face Lord Voldemort. But there is some respite for the weary, as Harry gets to do some ‘normal’ things for a change, including captaining his house Quidditch team, studying for his upcoming NEWT exams, and falling for someone new. Sadly, this someone new is Ron’s little sister, Ginny. Figuring out how to get Ginny to notice him and not having Ron kill him is the least of Harry’s worries this year. His favorite and best class, Defense Against the Dark Arts, is being taught by Professor Snape this year, making it almost as unbearable as the year before. Thankfully he has a potions book, annotated by the Half-Blood Prince, whoever that is, to help him with the new Potions Master, who had a special affection for Harry’s mother. And Dumbledore has Harry studying with him in particular this year, privately and alone. Dumbledore is preparing Harry to face his greatest challenge, but will Harry find all the answers he needs in the mystery of Tom Riddle?
Ron Weasley: One of Harry’s best friends, Ron is flying high after leading the Quidditch team to a House Cup the year before, and looking forward to making the team again under the leadership of his best mate. Not even Quidditch is simple for Ron, though, who not only has to worry about his performance issues, but about the changes in his relationship with Hermione, and his sister Ginny’s popularity with the boys. When he loses his temper and ends up dating Lavender Brown, he not only hurts Hermione, but makes a mess he isn’t so sure he can get out of readily. But Ron has his best friend Harry to help him out when he’s being stupid, and Hermione isn’t as lost as he thinks. It’s their deep loyalty to one another that will hold them in stead for the things to come.
Hermione Granger: The other of Harry’s best friends, studies aside, Hermione is having a tough year. Just when she thought things between her and Ron were changing, he grew angry and began dating Lavender Brown, her roommate, and she has to face the two of them all over each other all the time. And then Harry is outperforming her for a change in Potions with a textbook she is sure is a form of cheating. Nothing seems to be going her way this year. But she will find that her boys will need her more than ever in the days and weeks to come, and when the unthinkable happens and puts them all in danger, it will tie her to Harry and Ron even more closely than they were before.
Ginny Weasley: Ron’s younger sister, she is starting to come into her own, and becoming more and more popular, particularly with the boys. And amongst her admirers is suddenly Harry. Ginny comes up big on the Quidditch field, and suddenly she comes up big in the romance department as well, as the one boy she’s always cared for suddenly feels the same way about her.
Professor Dumbledore: Injured in some unexplained accident before the start of term, Dumbledore seems to be trying his best to prepare everyone for the war to come. Even more so, he is trying the help Harry finally understand just who and what he is up against in the form of Lord Voldemort, where he came from, and how to defeat him. But the dangers are looming on the horizon, and will he be able to impart all that Harry needs to know before Harry must face Voldemort?
Severus Snape: Now finally in the position he always wanted, Snape seems delighted that he can make Harry and the others lives miserable at a subject he knows so well. But what games is Snape playing at anyway? Harry feels he should trust him to some degree as a member of the Order of the Phoenix, and Dumbledore refuses to Harry’s insistence that there might be something more going on with the new Defense teacher. What is it that Dumbledore is so sure of that he won’t share with anyone else?
Horace Slughorn: A former Potions teacher at Hogwarts, he was infamous for having favorites and ensuring his students found good positions after school to ensure he had a web of highly placed connections with which to make his life comfortable. One of his favorites was Harry’s mother, Lily. After the last war, he retired, and since the start of this one, he has gone into hiding, knowing that he could be in danger because of who and what he knows through his network. Dumbledore convinces him to return to Hogwarts as a teacher, to side firmly with Dumbledore, and be safe. He is easily talked into it, especially with the thought of having “The Boy Who Lived” as one of his pupils.
Remus Lupin: Harry’s former Defense teacher, and best friend of James and Sirius, he has gone deep undercover tracking Fenrir Greyback, an evil werewolf who preys on children, such as Remus when he was bitten as a boy.
Nymphadora Tonks: While doing double duty for the Ministry and the Order, Tonks seems to be depressed and listless, even her hair is its normal color rather than one of her favorite crazy ones. Harry assumes that it must be due in part to Sirius’s death, and that perhaps she was in love with her cousin.
Fred and George Weasley: Ron’s older twin brothers, they have left Hogwarts and have started a joke shop in Diagon Alley called Weasley’s Wizarding Wheezes.
Bill Weasley: Ron’s oldest brother, he works for Gringott’s Bank as a curse breaker. He is engaged to Fleur Delacour, one of Harry’s rival champions at the Tri-Wizards Tournament.
Fleur Delacour: One of Harry’s former Tri-Wizard Championship rivals, she has fallen in love with Bill Weasley and the two are engaged, much to the chagrin of Mrs. Weasley and Ginny, who dislike her.
Draco Malfoy: The archenemy of Harry, Ron, and Hermione, he has become a Deatheater over the summer, in retaliation for his father’s failure at the Ministry of Magic. He is charged with a horrible task, one that, if he doesn’t complete it well it could cost him his life.
Bellatrix Lestrange: One of Voldemort’s trusted leaders; she is the sister to Narcissa Malfoy and aunt to Draco. She distrusts Severus Snape, and is proud of her nephew for the mantel he’s taken on as a Deatheater.
Lucius Malfoy: The father of Draco, he was one of Voldemort’s most trusted leaders, but when he failed at the Ministry he not only was arrested and sent to Azkaban, but he was in disgrace with the Dark Lord as well. His disgrace has dire consequences for his son, ones that could lead to Draco’s eventual demise.
Rufus Scrimgeor: The new Minister of Magic and former head of the Auror division, he has set out to take a head on approach towards Voldemort, as well as repair the damage done to the Ministry’s reputation caused by the ineptness of Cornelius Fudge. He would like Harry to speak up about being the so called “Chosen One” as well as show his support for the Ministry, something Harry refuses to do. He seems more fond of getting Dumbledore and Harry to play politics with him than actually working with them to help stop Voldemort, though he is more accepting of the work Dumbledore is doing than Fudge ever was.
Plot: After the loss of his godfather, sixteen-year-old Harry has been despondent. Not even the public’s terrified realization that “You-Know-Who” has returned is a balm to him, rather it is a reminder of the horrible realization he has discovered. He is the only one who can face Voldemort, and it will either end up with him being a murder, or him being dead. But while the war between Voldemort and the Ministry begins, and the Death Eaters start their reign of terror, Harry begins his sixth year at Hogwarts. This year brings many other, more positive changes for Harry, he is named the Captain of the Quidditch team, and he has become a natural leader amongst his other students. Many look up to him, especially after his leadership of Dumbledore’s Army the year before. But there are not-so-good changes as well, as Snape has finally been granted the post of Defense teacher, and Harry’s favorite class is now an exercise in holding his temper. At least in Potions he is excelling, thanks to the help of a mysterious Potions textbook with notes from a mysterious former student who calls themselves the “Half-blood Prince”. The Prince can’t help Harry in affairs of the heart, when he finds himself falling rather hard for someone rather unexpected…Ron’s little sister, Ginny. It certainly doesn’t help when Ron begins dating Lavender Brown, hurting Hermione and causing a rift between them that Harry has to navigate carefully. But none of these issues compares to the problem of Lord Voldemort and how to defeat him. Only Professor Dumbeldore seems to know the answers to that, and he begins teaching Harry the secrets of just who Tom Marvolo Riddle was, and what he did, and how this orphaned boy became the evil wizard Lord Voldemort. In this, he hopes that Harry will learn just how it was that Voldemort lived on that night so long ago when Harry’s parents died, and how is it that Harry can possibly defeat him.
Themes:
Even the Dark Lord was a boy once: Unlike Darth Vader, who started out as the sweet, cute, and helpful Anakin Skywalker, Lord Voldemort started out as a mean, creepy, sociopathic, psycho kid named Tom Riddle. To be honest…yeah, he was messed up, we are talking Stephen King level of messed up. When you meet his family, the Gaunts, and see how inbred and backwards they are, it’s little wonder that Tom Riddle is a bit…different. The apple didn’t fall far from the tree there. And his father’s family, the rich, indolent Muggles the Riddles, with their upper crust disdain for everyone and everything, he has it no better on his dad’s side. One can criticize the Dark Lord for not making better choices, for deciding to do the evil things he did, as everyone has a choice to do and be something different. But with that genetic pool to choose from, its small wonder Lord Voldmort became what he became. Still, I find it hard to feel sorry for him, Harry was an orphan as well, and from all accounts had a much harder childhood than Tom did in his orphanage, and didn’t make the choices Tom Riddle did, nor did he blame his parents for the situation and try to subvert it somehow. In the end, Lord Voldemort comes out even more evil in my mind because he willfully made the decisions he did, and even if he did have a banana or two missing from the bunch, he could have chosen differently. He just didn’t. Who knows, maybe the nuttiness in his head meant he couldn’t even begin seeing the issue differently, it’s hard saying. What a wack job.
Sometimes a kid has to be a kid: One thing Harry has never been is ‘normal’. This is the one book in the series where we see Harry finally, for once, being comfortable in his own skin. He is growing up before our very eyes, and enjoying being a sixteen-year-old kid who has all the same problems other kids his age do. He has to deal with the adulation of girls younger than him who wish to try and make him notice them, he is stuck in the middle of a potential lover’s spat between his two best friends, (and he’s not so sure he’d be keen on the idea of the two of them hooking up), and he’s FINALLY noticed that Ginny is a cute, attractive girl. The Ginny angle is one fan’s have suspected for some time, since book one really, and many were happy to see it, (except if you happened to be one of the strange, Harry/Hermione fans who got so mad about it, that was disturbing.) Harry for once gets to deal with all the same things other kids deal with. It’s a pity that it doesn’t last.
Harry turning into an adult: Harry has been sort of at the mercy of his elders most of his life. Either he was told he was too young to understand, or he was too young to fight, but with little to no explanation about why things are happening, or what he should do about it, if anything. Much of this has of course led to bad, bad results, with even Albus Dumbledore finally coming to the realization that Harry is growing up, and what’s more, he isn’t a child anymore. While Molly Weasley hasn’t come to this conclusion, (hopefully she does by the next book), Dumbledore at least begins to treat Harry less with kid gloves, and begins to be more honest with him as to what is going on.
Harry as a leader: On top of growing up, Harry is also becoming more and more of a leader. He not only is the Captain of the Quidditch team, but he is seen by other students as someone who understands what is going on in a world that is rapidly falling apart, especially by former members of the DA. Younger students look up to Harry, part of it is natural as they all grew up with stories of Harry Potter as children, but part of it is in seeing who he is, hearing the stories of his exploits at Hogwarts, and the growing rumbles in the wizarding community about Harry being the “Chosen One.” A sign of maturity on Harry’s part, in another time, all this attention to him and dependence on him would have made him angry or frustrated. Now he simply accepts it as something that just is, and moves on.
The bonds of friendship: This book shows ever growing shifts in the bonds of friendship Harry has built for himself with those closest to him. Hermione, who he was always close to, but never as close to as Ron, begins to fill in more and more that role of older sister she’s always inhabited for Harry, giving him advice, being the sympathetic ear, and of course coming to him when her own troubles get too much for her. Just because he is Ron’s best mate doesn’t mean he doesn’t have room for Hermione in his heart when the two are feuding. With Ron, he has the ability to tell Ron the truth, even when it hurts, knowing that Ron will not hate him for it. And he doesn’t laugh at Ron about Lavender, though you get the sense he hardly approves, but instead is willing to let his friend make his mistakes and is there for him when he needs picking up. It is Harry who saves Ron’s life, binding the already close pair even further, (much like we see the relationship of James and Sirius), and Ron and Hermione are able to get over their differences, and take those first, ever so tentative steps to the changes in their own relationship. Dumbledore cautions Harry that the only two he should really ever trust are Ron and Hermione, and it is those two he entrusts his secrets, knowing that neither will break that confidence. And when he must do what he must at the end of the novel, it is Ron and Hermione who unquestioningly stand by his side, even at great personal cost to them. Their bonds of friendship go so deep now, that Harry doesn’t even try to talk them out of it. This friendship will be a key aspect to the next book of the series.
Draco Malfoy is up to something: No one else believes Harry in this, and Harry knows Draco is up to something, and that its potentially dangerous. While Harry doesn’t realize the true ramifications till too late, it does change how he perceives Malfoy, and Harry begins to understand that perhaps Draco is forced into the situation and is as much a victim in his own way as any of the countless people who have actually lost their lives.
What is up with Snape anyway: This is a questions that readers keep repeatedly asking since book one, when I think this theme first appeared in my review. Snape is a very complex character, and becomes even more so in the next book as well. What is the real motivation he has for putting up with Harry, who he clearly hates, and why is it that he hates Harry’s father so much? What was his role in the prophecy surrounding Harry, and was it really Snape who set up Harry’s family for the ultimate betrayal by Peter Pettigrew? Even worse, was Snape ever REALLY a member of the Order of the Phoenix, and why was it that Dumbledore trusted him so much anyway?
Every book sucks somewhere: Well besides the most obvious sucking point, (and if you haven’t read it, I’m not admitting to it in this review,) the book had few sucking points for me. I have to say that this is one of my more favorite books in the series, though I think 4 and 7 certainly take those top spots. Perhaps it sucks because we know this is the last of the good times at Hogwarts for Harry.
What did I like: Watching Harry grow up as a person. He starts to come into all the potential we saw for the little, stunted kid who lives his life in a broom closet, and you start to feel proud of Harry as a person.
How would I rate this wormy book: This is a big, MONSTER WORM, it sets you up so well for the ending of the series, and slowly leads you up to the top of the big, old hill for the ride of the rollercoaster finish. It is great.
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