hbp: my two cents worth...

I've read many reviews from newspapers, magazines and my friend's blogs about the latest Harry Potter book; allow me to comment on some of the recurring points I noticed in most of these reviews.

Some reviewers mentioned that Half-Blood Prince (HBP) lacks the magical feeling present in the previous installments and some parts of the book feel a little old. I am not exactly certain what they mean by the word 'old' but I must admit that we didn't get to see many new magical devices or spells, no new insights into the workings of the Wizarding world in this book; in fact, most of the magical devices and spells featured in this book have been introduced and properly explained in the previous books i.e. Weasly's magical clock, the pensieve, the polyjuice potion etc.

I think it would be unrealistic to expecting Rowling to keep introducing new magical devices or spells indefinitely until the very last book. One must bear in mind that this is the penultimate book in the series; at some point she has to stop focusing on introducing new magical devices or spells, and actually starts incorporating these magical elements into the plot itself. In short, the exposition of the Wizarding world with all its intricacies need to stop being the main priority and instead, more focus should be given on allowing these magical elements to play a role in the story i.e. the pensieve as a clever plot device to reveal Voldermort's past, the Weasly's magical clock as a manifestation of the uncertain and troubling times they are currently in. However, even in this book, she never failed in tantalizing and delighting the readers by offering them brief glimpses of the deep workings of the Wizarding world i.e. the horcruxes, Felix Felicitis.

Another theme which takes center stage in this book is love, specifically the different layers love works; from the typical playful, jealous-driven, teen love - which most of the main characters seemed to succumb to - to the intense, powerful and sacrificial love which managed to keep Harry safe and live, Rowling managed to have a healthful interplay between these two extremes while ensuring each retains its own distinctiveness; we scorn and sighed at the rocky relationships between the teenage characters and yet we are touched by the love and respect shown by Lily and Dumbledore to Harry.

Indeed, Yuen Ai suggested that it is this particular treatment of love in the books which gives the whole series its childhood innocence, to which some people might be tempted to call them naive; I felt that it gives the notion of love more dimension. But then again, I personally feels that it goes to show that love is what one chooses to make of it.

A few of my friends (and even my dad) said that they feel that this book is incomplete, or rather the story feels incomplete. I think in this particular book - more than the previous books - Rowling managed to provide the readers with so many answers - some are explicitly pointed out and some requires a little more thought into them - and I think some of the readers are not used to getting so much answers in a single book (I know that I need some time to get used to it; but I'm not complaining).

What is undeniable though is her ability to weave and bring all the seemingly disparate elements together from her previous books; I think that there lies her genius as a writer.

Rowling is also a genius when it comes to character development; they are so visually and vividly described till we are taken to believe that the characters are made out of flesh and blood. We are inclined to symphatize with them, reprimand them when they did something foolish or reckless, cheered and laughed with them at the hilarity of their situation. I think being able to induce such emotional responses from the readers is not an easy feat to accomplish, even among good writers.

In short, I felt that this book is one of the better books in the series; she cleverly managed to wrongfoot us once again and her talents at foreshadowing are obvious once again in this new book.

Granted, some of us might feel a bit disturbed and dissatisfied that she spent so much time setting up for the next book so much so that this new books feels more like an extension of the final book and does not seemed able to stand on its own.

However, taken on its own, I believe that this book perfectly sets the tone for the final down; she has opened up so many possibilities for the ending, even more than we would like to imagine before. This new book has no doubt left us eagerly anticipating for the final book while at the same time still gives us the freedom to continue speculating and theorizing how the series will eventually end.

Now where can I pre-order book 7?