With my new-found spare time this summer, thanks to my achilles tendon rupture, I picked up where I left off last summer reading J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter novels. After completing the first four books a year ago, I intended to read Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince this year and wait until I'd seen the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows films to finish reading the series. But with the World Cup being over and my days being long, I tore through all three books in record time - for me. And as promised, here are my thoughts...
I reached an interesting turning point reading the fifth book in that the cinematic portrayal was done so well that it overshadowed the actual book. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was a fairly tedious and unenjoyable read. There was some additional information and insight gleamed through reading the book of course, but the movie unfolded the plot more effectively and captivatingly.
The same can be said for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I was incredibly disappointed that the best scene in the film - the burning of the burrow - is not even in the book. But thankfully, there is a lot to be gleamed from reading this book in addition to watching the movies. The additional memories involving Tom Riddle and the additional explanation of a horcrux definitely add much that the viewing experience does not offer on its own.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was a more far more enjoyable and engaging read than either of the previous two books - perhaps because I had not already seen a movie that would outshine it. Rowling wraps up the saga of Harry Potter successfully and completely. I found myself left with few or any questions at its conclusion, which was very much appreciated. I would have liked for Harry to learn the truth about Snape while the pasty professor was still alive, but there was much more to Snape's story than I expected. I found the allusions, likely unintentional, to The Lord of the Rings and Le Morte de Arthur in the middle of the book amusing, yet also annoying - as Harry is traveling around with a locket around his neck on a chain and dives into a lake to recover the sword, I was not exactly convinced that Rowling was aware of the similarities to more classic works.
After completing the series I did find myself wishing that J.K. Rowling had watched more professional wrestling in her life - in general I think this is something from which all writers attempting to weave drama, suspense and action together would benefit. Her writing is at its clumsiest when she attempts to write a fight scene, a dramatic entrance or reappearance, such as when Harry returns from the dead. Thankfully, based on my satisfaction with the cinematic telling of the Harry Potter story, I'm confident that the Deathly Hallows films will tweak Rowling's plot just enough to clean up these scenes and inject the appropriate level of excitement.
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