Tuesday, July 24, 2007

I would like to say thank you to everyone who has been commenting lately. :) In answer to your questions, yes, I have read the seventh book and I am debating writing a review. Without spoiling anything, there is a lot of great imagery in this book and I think I won't be able to help but write on it. For now, have fun reading! If you have read, leave a comment and let me know what you thought.

Sunday, July 22, 2007

I placed the seventh book on the shelf today, feeling a slight pain in my stomach as I did so. I was saying goodbye to my good friends, until I returned to visit them once more. As the Three Musketeers had stolen my heart, so had Ron, Harry, and Hermione.

There are many who are quick to point out the Harry Potter series is not brilliant, nor is its plot entirely original. Many who do not understand the wonder that the world has found in this saga. Yet it is not the story itself, but rather how the story is told, that captured our imaginations. Harry, Ron, and Hermione are the best of friends, bonded together by love and hope in an unending testament to loyalty, bravery, and self-sacrifice. They are our friends, too, as we turn each page, and Hogwarts is perhaps even our second home. Dumbledore, Neville, McGonagall, and all the other characters that so enthralled us are there, waiting for us to visit them once again.

The wonder I found in these books goes beyond what I find in most. They are of a rare variety, the book that so captures us that we cannot help feel entwined in each word, each laugh, each tear. For a few days I might feel a loss after finishing a final page in a regular book, but for Harry, I shall always feel that burning to return to his world and life--to return to my friends and the love that dwells with them.

Friday, July 13, 2007

I just saw the Harry Potter movie and it's the first one I really loved since the first came out. The director perfectly meshed the fantasy/wonder element with the dark world that Harry must face.

Every bit of it was perfect except for Michael Gambon. He was a better, more believable Dumbledore in this movie, but there were moments that were so un-Dumbledore like I cringed and I was thrown out of the story. There were others complaining about it after the film as well. I know a handful of people that like him as Dumbledore, but to me he is the antithesis of what Dumbledore is all about. Gambon plays an emotional, often surprised or taken aback character, while the Dumbledore I read is a calm man that is seemingly always in control. Much of his power actually lies in his ability to take things seemingly in stride. Unlike Gambon's Dumbledore, he would never yell at kids to get back to studying, especially not out of his own frustrations. (Just as in the fourth movie, my Dumbledore would never have taken Harry and started shaking him while asking if he put his name in the goblet). Still, in the ending scene, Gambon was the Dumbledore I would have expected, and that was when it was most important.

The whole movie just wowed me. There were clearly many in the theater that hadn't read the books and they were loudly enjoying it/showing their shock at different scenes. I think this enhanced the whole experience. Tonks was pretty cool, Luna was perfect, Voldemort was just as I envisioned.

Most important, however, was the strength of love and friendship in this movie. The possession scene is especially well done on that front and more frightening than how it was written in the book. In the end the Harry Potter books are not about the darkness Harry must face, but about the strength he finds in love. This movie shows that in all its pain and glory.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention Umbridge. She was more powerful in the magical sense in the movie than the book, but this served only to make her that much more dangerous. She had the "hem hem" down perfectly and was exactly how I had pictured the character.

All in all a great movie that I plan to see again and again.

**SPOILERS**
What they didn't show was the animosity between Harry and Snape when Harry finds out Snape was the one that had turned his parents in. I don't know how they'll recover that for the sixth movie, since much of the foundation of the second to last book was that hatred and anger between Snape and Harry.**/SPOILERS**

Monday, July 09, 2007


Bumper Sticker and more thoughts


Potter for President 2008! Buy a bumper sticker and enter to win the book. I just think the bumper sticker looks cool.


Since these comments don't seem to have a nifty reply feature, I want to wave hi to the most recent readers/comment makers. I'm glad you're enjoying the ideas here!

I personally don't think she will kill Harry if only because the coming of age theme seems stronger than the epic theme. A sacrifice will have to be made, but I'm not convinced it is Harry. I do, however, worry about Neville, Ron, Luna, etc. I guess we'll know soon enough!!!! I'm really worried about Ron because of the unicorn hair and the willow wand, but he's my favorite character so I'd rather he lived.