Monday, July 25, 2005

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by JK Rowling

So, I'm sitting here and watching the time tick away on my hour limit for writing this thing. You see, you can only InCoHerEntLy review something if it only takes an hour to write it. If you spend any more time on it, you risk actually making interesting points and people might start to think that you care.

Perhaps that is why this one is so hard to write. I care a little too much about the HP world. (She says choking on the understatement and hoping that you don't notice all the HP stuff that is littered throughout.) I knew that whoever died, it would hurt. And hurt it did. I'm not going to get into spoilers or describing the plot or whatever. If you wanted that you can read a hell of a lot of reviews that are already out there. I guess I'll just have to focus on how I feel about the book after finishing it and you can look elsewhere for all that other stuff.

The best way I can feel about the book is indescribable at this point.. First came the physical reaction of horror. Then a lot of confusion. Followed closely by numbness tinged with a little bit of anxiety. That one stayed with me all Friday night, literally. (Only got about an hour sleep that night because I had to be out of bed by 5am to wait in line for Harvest Jazz and Blues tickets.) That whole night was spent trying to come to terms with what had happened and coming up with a possible theory that would allow me to live with it. I think I've got something that I'm going to stick with until the next one comes out. Not going to tell you what it is but just know that it is likely close to a lot of other people's theories floating out there.

I would also like it to be noted that I didn't cry. You knew someone was going to die so you just have to prepare yourself for something like that. But to be honest, the very last page made me cry a bit, it was very touching.

JK Rowling is evil. .... But in a good way ... damn it.

This review takes the word InCoHerEnt to a whole new level. Ultimately, I liked it. The last three chapters were really, really dark. I appreciate dark. We get to see how much Harry is growing as a person. Even though some have complained that it is too long, I'm of the camp that wants more detail. I want the War and Peace of the wizarding world and thought it was too short. Someday, we might get the encyclopedia JKR might write and hopefully it will be unbelievably long.