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Michele Neylon :: Pensieri

Michele Neylon :: Pensieri

Technology, Marketing, Domains, Thoughts

Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince – review

July 24, 2005 by Michele Neylon 1 Comment

I had been promising to write up a short review of the latest Harry Potter, but I didn’t want to do it straight after reading the book.
Why?



A good book should be treated like a fine wine. It should be able to age gently. Maybe it’s a crazy parallel to draw, but I don’t think I could have done the book any justice if I had thrown down my thoughts and impressions after staying up half the night to finish it.
If you are expecting this installment to be a departure from Rowling’s previous outings then, in some ways, you will probably be disappointed, whereas in others you will be delighted.
When we first met Harry Potter he was starting secondary school. Granted, he wasn’t starting in just any secondary school. He was lucky enough to be going to the magical Hogwarts.
In the first books we saw Harry develop from being a nervous moggle-born apprentice to what he is now – a young man (or something very akin to it).
In the Prince Harry is 16, so you can imagine that his hormones are positively exploding.
As some other people who have read it commented – expect a lot of kissing. Yes! There is kissing in this book. And why not?
As I was reading this Harry Potter I was struck by a number of things. Although some people may like to cast it aside as being a child’s book, it most definitely isn’t. It is a racy read. There’s love, sex (after a fashion), violence, suspense and DEATH. Please excuse the capitalisation, but so many people have been harping on about death in this book.
I’m not going to reveal who dies. If you don’t know already, then read the book and find out. Being told that someone is going to die in it doesn’t spoil the story.
So what can I tell you about it that won’t ruin it for you?
Harry, as I already mentioned, has grown up quite a bit. He’s still a big quidditch fan, but it’s not centre-stage this time round.
At the end of the last book Voldermont had returned, so it comes as no surprise that he plays an important role this time round (hasn’t he always?)
All the other favourites are there as well as a number of new characters.
What can I say? I wanted to savour it over a couple of days, but found that I could not put it down. I simply had to know what was going to happen and became totally engrossed in it. When I finished it I felt like crying, but not because the books was sad, but because I knew I would have to leave that magical world to return to this one.
Recommendation – Get out there and beg, borrow, or simply buy a copy of it now.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter 6) [Children\'s Edition]
Or you could even get yourself a box set of the five previous ones:
Harry Potter Adult Hbk Boxed Set
I know I’m tempted to 🙂

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Filed Under: Harry Potter

Michele is founder and CEO of Irish hosting provider and domain name registrar Blacknight. Read More…

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. IRENE COOK says

    August 8, 2005 at 5:42 pm

    I would like to alert readers to the beauty and tragic dignity with which the book ends. Before the end we are enmeshed in an evil world that is drawn from Tolkien’s Mines of Moria and the Paths of the dead. As D. drinks the cup of endless water, he is close to becoming a Christ Figure – drink this cup, eat this bread. But the end of this volume is close to that of ‘The Last Battle’ (Lewis ) which alerts us to percieve that there will be another resurrection as the mermaids sing Prufrock ) and the phoenix rises from the ashes. A complex peice of intertextuality.

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