Soccer Dad

The half blood prince

After the oppressive melancholy of "Harry Potter and Order of the Phoenix," "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince" was a breath of fresh air.
To look at the series now, it's useful to break them down into the first three books and the remainder of the series. While there were threats in the earlier books the sense of exactly what the stakes were wasn't so clear. Since "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" how high the stakes are has become clearer and clearer. In each of the later books a character is killed. After the "HPatHBP" it's clear that the final book in the series will likely be the most tragic of all.
But even in a book with a tragic ending, J. K. Rowling has brought back the playfulness that has made the series such a pleasure. (I'm sure there was some of that playfulness in "HPatOotP" but Harry's negative attitude in the book overwhelmed any sense of fun in the book.) I particularly enjoyed the chapter in Fred and George's store. Yes it was a lot of fun. But it also wasn't without consequences. And one incident later in the book caught my eye:

"... for the vampire had been edging toward the nearby group of girls, rather hungry look in his eye. "Have a pasty," said Worple, seizing one from a passing elf and stuffing it into Sanguini's hand..."

Rowling's eye for detail provides with more than one of these slightly absurd moments. While the Harry Potter series has characters and a plot, it's these seemingly minor moments that make them so much fun.
One interesting change from previous books is that it is more often Harry than Hermione who notes the incongruities. True Hermione offers Harry some useful warnings that Harry ignores - much to his regret; but most of the plot is discovered by Harry, though he can't quite figure everything out.
It's a testament to Rowling's writing that though a friend accidentally let slip the biggest surprise, I still found myself disbelieving it until it happened.
Other reviewers I agree with: Penny Stock (though hopefully she'll write a fuller review soon) and Elder of Ziyon.
UPDATE: A couple more reviews/comments worth mentioning. Elie's Expositions notes some real life parallels between the HP world and ours. Jack's Shack also liked it. Life of Rubin has an odd review (or at least one odd idea) and major spoilers. Don't check him out unless you've already finished the book

Posted by SoccerDad at July 25, 2005 07:24 AM | TrackBack