Jul 17, 2005 11:39 AM
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(Updated Jul 17, 2005 08:00 PM)
As I eagerly looked forward to reading more of Harry Potter and his fight against Evil Voldermort, I guess to my own disadvantage, I expected a lot more out of the book than it could have offered. Nevertheless, I wasn't sorely disappointed but mildly disagreed with the way the story has been steered. Instead of saying chronologically what happens, I will mention the happenings Story-wise.
Rapidex Harry Potter course
Harry Potter is a series of books about an orphaned boy, Harry whose parents are murdered by an evil wizard-Lord Voldermort. He lives a miserable life with his aunt and uncle with a cousin. As he turns 11, he is made aware by the magical world that he is indeed a wizard like his parents and is admitted to Hogwarts, the school of Witchcraft and Wizardy. There he meets and becomes close to some students like Hermione Granger, Ron Weazley and his family and the headmaster Albus Dumbledore.
Each book is the story of 1 school year and how Voldermort who somehow became powerless whilst trying to kill Harry, tries ways to regain his lost power and also eliminate Harry. Each year with the help of friends and Dumbledore, Harry is successful in thwarting Voldermort's plans, but with each passing year, both get progressively more and more powerful.
This book is thus the 6th installment, where Voldermort has fully regained his evil powers and is out to kill Harry and most of the good witches and wizards.
Boys to Men
It is no surprise that its always Harry that is subjected to most tragic experiences and adventures. The first four books however have a good amount of sprinkling of happenings of the other children too. This book, however is solely Harry Potter all the way. What marks it significant is how all the boys grow up to be men...even Malfoy, who I am sure is bound to have a sense of redemption in the next book. Harry is treated no more as a boy who gets into trouble, but as a young man, whose inputs are always welcome in the most dire situations.
Love is in the air
There is a fair bit of love and jealousy games that does its rounds in the story. Lots of er..snogging as well. In any case these are 16 yr olds in Britain, in a co-ed boarding school..Need I say more?
Darker and more tragic
The book is definitely much much more darker than all the previous ones. I guess its quite obvious, since Voldermort is back and the Magic world is at war. Everyday killings and missing reports in the papers are discussed quite casually. Several minute characters from previous books are killed off.
More about Voldermort
There is a lot of back-stories on Voldermort, his birth, his education, his revenge etc. Strangely Voldermort doesn't feature in this book at all. I realised this only after finishing the book. Yet, his mention is made in every page of the book
The Review
I believe character consistency is very important to make a fictional story believable. Somehow in my opinion, most characters had faltered from what they have been known to do all these years. Here are a few examples
There is almost a normalcy brought to Dumbledore's character, making him discuss with Harry truly confidential matters, which earlier he hasn't digressed to anyone but the Order(A group of adult wizards fighting Voldermort).
The Order although mentioned, hardly seems functional. Sadly, all characters mentioned earlier are just pushed to the background.
A lot of ''cute'' characters from previous books are suddenly told to be irritating and spiteful.
Quidditch hardly seems to matter to Harry.
Other highlights
Hmmm. A lot of people are wondering which character has been killed off in this book. All I can say is its the one character you thought will never die. Heheheheehehe. My personal grouse is they ruined a particularly grey character, I was especially fond of
Overall, an Ok read. Not meant for readers who havent read previous books. Not a childrens book anymore either - Too dark
