Jul 25, 2005 12:38 PM
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(Updated Aug 01, 2005 12:01 PM)
WARNING: MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD IF YOU HAVENT READ THE BOOK-ONLY MINOR
I was hooked on to Harry Potter the moment I read Philosopher's stone, and have followed his duels with Lord Voldemort with bated breath ever since. In his latest avatar, Potter goes through his sixth year at Hogwarts, duelling with the minions of the Dark Lord and the pangs of teenage infatuations along the way. It differs from previous books in that Lord Voldemort does not make a personal appearance this time round.
So what is the new book like? AT 600+ pages, it is no longer a children's book. Neither is the theme one that is likely to be enjoyed by 10-year-olds. Teenagers and adults may like the language and the development of the story. Since the storyline and climax have been reviewed piecemeal already, I will skip that and go on to my personal opinions.
While the background and the story have been developed splendidly in the first half of the book, the climax, I feel, is very flat, and uninspired. After reading through this epic, you find that Harry has achieved nothing against the Dark Lord at the end! There are also some gaping holes which defy belief. For example, Harry is trapped between 2 Death Eaters, and they decide against killing him as the Dark Lord wants the pleasure himself. But what prevented them from stupefying Harry and carrying him off as a present to the Dark Lord? They could have Disapparated with him, if they wanted!
Like the previous book, this one also suffers from a lack of a good climax. Tolkien's trilogy suffered from the same lack, but it was only a trilogy, not a septology! Something happens in the end, but nothing that will sap the Dark Lord's power, and help Harry to ultimately conquer him. Dumbledore takes special classes for Harry to help him fight Voldemort, but these sessions turn out to be history lessons, and not the sort of things that Harry will need in a one-to-one fight against the erstwhile Tom Riddle.
The book starts off with the Minister for Magic meeting the Muggle Prime Minister to keep him upto date about current happenings in the wizarding world. There is no further mention of the Muggle Prime Minister, and nothing happens throughout the book to solve the problems mentioned in that chapter. The whole chapter seems to be a prelude to nothing!
With every passing book, it becomes more and more clear that Harry is not a gifted wizard-his grasp of powerful incantations is poor, and he depends more on luck and the capabilities of his friends to achieve his ends. In this, he bears a close resemblance to Frodo Baggins of the Lord of the Rings trilogy created by J.R.R. Tolkien. In fact, the two series have a number of similarities, which makes one wonder whether Rowling just dumbed down the trilogy to create the Harry Potter series!
Sauron, the evil personified in the Rings passes muster as the model for Lord Voldemort. His power was split into nineteen rings, ruled by the Master Ring or the Lord of the Rings which Freddy has to destroy. Lord Voldemort, similarly, has split his soul into seven Horcruxes, which must be destroyed before he can be killed. It will be interesting to note whether in the next book, the bit of the soul that resides in Voldemort's body becomes equivalent to the Master Ring.
Dementors bear a close resemblance to the Dark Riders or the Ringwraiths
Albus Dumbledore could easily pass off as an alter ego of Gandalf
The Fellowship of the Ring and Potter's gang of close friends both serve the same purpose-to help the hero achieve his aim.
Trolls and Orcs for Tolkien, Giants for Rowling
Wormtongue in LOTR, Wormtail in HP (I hope I got the name right, pulled it out of memory)
Many more similarities, if you look for them!
