C.A. Gray's Blog, page 64

Review of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

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Ah! They just keep getting better and better!

I seemed to recall liking “The Goblet of Fire” the best, but on this read-through, I had to say that “Order of the Phoenix” was better. My first impression of this one had been that Harry was a moody teenager, but in this read-through I felt I couldn’t really fault him–he wasn’t being moody for no reason, he was just angry (and rightly so) that everybody was keeping him in the dark, and he was the one person who went all summer without hearing a scrap of news about what Voldemort or the resistance movement were up to. Furthermore, he’s pissed that after everything he’d been through, Dumbledore wouldn’t so much as look at him. He’s hurt, he’s angry, and he’s scared that he keeps having dreams that seem to be from Voldemort’s point of view–yet no one bothers to explain to him what this might mean until the very end. And while many stories might create mystery for mystery’s sake, and it can seem like a device when you finally find out why, in this one the explanations made perfect sense. They were satisfying, although regrettable. If only Dumbledore had confided in him sooner… if only Harry had taken his Occlumancy lessons with Snape seriously… things might have turned out different. If you are one of the few people on earth who haven’t read or seen the film yet, I won’t spoil it for you–but this one doesn’t end happy. From Book 4 on, the losses at the end of each book mount, ascending in significance. Poor Harry… but he *has* to be all alone in the end. Just him and Voldemort. The prophecy requires it–and so does the narrative, to maximize the emotional power of the final confrontation.

At the same time, Book 5 was laugh-out-loud funny in many parts, mostly because of the antics of the Weasley twins and the solidarity of Hogwarts students in general against Umbridge (who was SUCH a fabulously hatable character!) I was still impressed at how similar this book really was to the film, considering its length. The filmmakers really did manage to boil it down to its essential components and leave out the rest. But there were still parts that I’d forgotten–some of the details of how Harry tried to contact Sirius before going to the Ministry, and I actually don’t recall Harry getting a lifelong Quidditch ban from Umbridge in the film, did that happen? The demise of Harry’s relationship with Cho Chang was hinted at in the film, but in the book it’s so amusingly awkward. I was glad he got the chance to date her, but she’s so over-emotional and convoluted about everything. I loved how Hermione made sense of her behavior for Harry and Ron as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, but fortunately, Hermione herself isn’t nearly so illogical.

I dread Book 6, knowing how it’s going to end… but I also am looking forward to it since that was by FAR the worst film. It was so chaotic you could hardly tell what was going on. So I probably don’t remember quite a lot of that one!

My rating: *****

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The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett

This week’s podcast comes from this blog review of The Secret Garden. 

Check out this episode!

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Review of The Secret Garden

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As a naturopathic doctor, this book fascinates me. While it pretends to be a children’s story, it’s really more of a morality tale on the power of the mind (and nature, laughter, and good spirits) to heal the body.

The story follows Mary, a sullen and disagreeable little girl who was orphaned and grew up always getting her own way. She goes to live at Mistlethwaite Manor, where she gradually meets servants who don’t let her boss them around and learns to care about people other than just herself. She hears the legend of a secret garden, which was shut up after the master of the house’s wife died. The wife had loved the garden, and he couldn’t stand to look at it because it made him too sad — or so everyone assumed. It becomes Mary’s mission to find the garden, and then to revive it to a state of health.

Eventually, Mary stumbles upon a great secret, well kept by the servants, though: the master has a son named Colin, a sickly and cross little boy her own age who is nearly as monstrous as she was herself, when she came to live there. But we come to learn over time that he is that way because he has been told all his life that he is going to die, and everybody felt sorry for him, so nobody had the heart to deny him anything. He therefore acts like a “rajah” of India, and spends all his time dwelling on how decrepit and miserable he is. But when he meets Mary, suddenly he has his own awakening. And then when he learns of the garden, he has something to live for and look forward to. Presently (spoiler alert), Colin decides that there is magic in the world by which he can get better if he just makes up his mind to do it–and do it he does.

I’m sure kids enjoy the book, but it might also be a good read for someone convalescing from a long or chronic illness.

My rating: **** (mostly because it’s kind of slow, and not a lot happens).

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Review of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

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My favorite of the Harry Potter books so far! (I’ve read them all many times but it’s been years — I remember that the first time around this was probably my favorite, but I’m not sure if I’ll still feel that way now.)

First of all (and this is true of every book in the series) I love feeling immersed in the Wizarding World. Rowling does a better job of creating an entire fictional world than anybody else I can think of, with her incredible eye to detail, memorable characters, and amusing magical episodes.

But what I love about this one is that it isn’t primarily world-building anymore; we’re firmly established now. I love tournaments and quests, and this story has three of them. Harry, the unlikely hero, ends up as a Triwizard Champion, even though he doesn’t want to be and he’s immensely unqualified. He’s therefore easy to identify with. He’s not brilliant and perfect at everything he does; he’s brave but unsure of himself, and he ends up succeeding because he has a lot of help. He’s humble. It’s easy to root for a character like that.

And yet… this book doesn’t end happy, exactly. It’s a blend of victory and defeat–or more accurately, victory that turns into defeat in an unexpected way. The climax of this one is rivaled, I think, only by the climax in Book 7. There are a few “deux ex machina” moments: Harry’s in an impossible spot so “the gods come down and save him” more or less. But because of the world Rowling has created, she’s already led us to expect that anything is possible, so it works. We can suspend our disbelief quite easily.

(Side note: Rowling uses a ridiculous amount of adverbs–in fact I think she invents new adverbs never used before in the history of the world. Also, I got distracted by how often she uses ellipses. Especially in climactic scenes, almost no sentences end in periods… but this isn’t a big deal, just something I noticed this time around.)

Also, Book 4 was pretty similar to the fourth film, with a few exceptions: Hermione’s obsession with SPEW, her organization to fight for the rights of house elves, never makes it into the film. I’d totally forgotten about that. There are also a few fairly major characters, like Ludo Bagman and Winky the House Elf, who don’t appear on screen. Some of the details of what happens to Barty Crouch Senior are never explained, and the whole debacle with Bertha Jorkins’ disappearance never gets mentioned. But since this book is about twice as long as any of the first three, I guess sacrifices had to be made somewhere.

My rating: *****

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Review of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and The Prisoner of Azkaban

Today’s podcast review comes from this blog review of the Chamber of Secrets, and this review of the Prisoner of Azkaban. 

Check out this episode!

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Review of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

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So fun revisiting these!!!

Harry Potter is my all time favorite series, and I’ve read them all multiple times, but I memorize the films. The Prisoner of Azkaban is still quite similar to its film counterpart, though there are a few small sub-plots from the book that didn’t make it on-screen. It’s also the first book in the series that’s more plot than world-building and otherwise pointless episodes, though there are still a number of those as well. What strikes me most about the series in this read-through is how much time Rowling really spends in episodes that demonstrate character and build the world, but don’t do anything to advance the plot. I’m just in awe of her imagination, and I *love* her whimsical narrative voice. Unlike most books written for middle grade, none of her characters are annoying, either (or if they are, it’s because they’re intentional caricatures). Harry, Ron, and Hermione are all very relatable, even to adults. They feel their ages, and yet you don’t have to be a child to understand their emotions and reactions. This, I think, is part of the “magic” of the Wizarding World. When I’m immersed, I suddenly *become* a thirteen-year-old witch.

The third HP also introduces the character of Sirius Black, and there are plenty of twists and turns. If you’ve never read it before, Sirius definitely doesn’t turn out to be who you think he is. This is also the only book in the series in which the antagonist is not directly Lord Voldemort, but his supporter(s)–whose escape then sets the stage for his actual return in Book 4. This book in many ways is the bridge between the first two more childish stories, in which Voldemort makes weaker failed attempts to return, and the much darker rest of the series. ***Slight spoiler alert***: while the first two books in the series end with total victory, this one is mixed. There’s victory, but there is also a measure of defeat. From here on out, each book builds upon the next, gaining momentum and tension.

I do think the plot toward the end of this one feels just the tiniest bit contrived, though–Rowling has to introduce time travel to make it all work out, which nearly always feels like a device and creates a number of unresolvable paradoxes. Even so, the rest of the story is so engrossing that I can’t fault it more than half a star for that. Besides, the joy of rereading the HP stories (even when I know exactly how they turn out) is mostly about getting sucked in to the Wizarding World. LOVE.

My rating: **** 1/2

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Review of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

Today’s podcast review comes from this blog post of HP and the Sorcerer’s Stone. 

Check out this episode!

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Review of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

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I have no idea how many times I’ve read this, let alone watched the films. This one was also quite similar to the film – but it was far less episodic than the first one. It still took a good third of the book for the story to really get going, but the conflict was introduced in the first chapter. The world-building in between largely did relate to the plot, and when it didn’t, it was still great for character development. Love!

My review: **** 1/2

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Review of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

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I’m not sure how many times I’ve read this now—three? Five? But it’s been years, and to me, Harry Potter equals Christmas. So it seemed an appropriate time to go back through them again, with fresh eyes.

When I tried to read “HP and the Sorcerer’s Stone” the first time, I think I gave up about 20% in, thinking it was clearly intended for children and couldn’t therefore interest me. But when everyone kept raving about the series, I decided to give it another try, and at least get through the first book so I could go on to the others. I’m so glad I did—I ended up reading the entire series after that in the span of maybe two months!

What struck me this time through, though, was how much exposition there is in HP #1, and how episodic it is until the very end. Well over half the book is exposition, just describing the Wizarding World and setting the stage for subsequent stories. I’ve seen the film version over and over again (and especially at Christmastime for some reason), because the whimsy of that world makes me so happy—so it almost surprised me how accurate the film is to the book, since some of the later films leave so much out that they’re hard to follow if you don’t otherwise know what’s going on. In this one there really isn’t a great deal of plot, though. It’s mostly backstory, and Harry’s first anecdotal experiences in Hogwarts. The Sorcerer’s Stone was never meant to concern Harry at all—he basically just inserted himself into it without invitation.

So while I LOVE Harry Potter in general, and I have such a fondness for this book now in light of the others, objectively I’d have to give this book lower marks. If the rest of the series never got written, it’d probably merit about three stars. Since it did, and since this is a necessary set-up with lots of nostalgia for me, I’d bump it to four.

My rating: ****

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Thunderhead by Neil Shusterman

Today’s podcast review comes from this blog review of Thunderhead by Neil Shusterman. 

Check out this episode!

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