White Night (The Dresden Files, #9) in All Things Jim Butcher

Mar 03, 2011 Lauren rated it really liked it

Although not my favorite of the series, it really brought together a number of story arcs that have been left open throughout the last few books. There were some great action scenes and a number of great quips by Harry (although that's nothing unusual). There was one passage that really stuck out in my mind as a quintessential example of Butcher's grasp of what truly resonates with and defines Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden. It also resonates with me particularly for the stark naked truth Although not my favorite of the series, it really brought together a number of story arcs that have been left open throughout the last few books. There were some great action scenes and a number of great quips by Harry (although that's nothing unusual). There was one passage that really stuck out in my mind as a quintessential example of Butcher's grasp of what truly resonates with and defines Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden. It also resonates with me particularly for the stark naked truth that it elicits about the human condition, where we draw our strength from, and how we perceive the world around us:

"Sure, we'd faced some things as children that a lot of kids don't. Sure, Justin has qualified for his Junior de Sade Badge in his teaching methods for dealing with pain. We still hadn't learned, though, that growing up is all about getting hurt. And getting over it. You hurt. You recover. You move on. Odds are pretty good you're just going to get hurt again. But each time, you learn something.

Each time, you come out of it a little stronger, and at some point you realize that there are more flavors of pain than coffee. There's the little empty pain of leaving something behind - graduating, taking the next step forward, walking out of something familiar and safe into the unknown. There's the bit, whirling pain of life upending all of your plans and expectations. There's the sharp little pains of failure, and the more obscure aches of successes that didn't give you what you thought they would. There are the vicious, stabbing pains of hopes being torn up. The sweet little pains of finding others, giving them your love, and taking joy in their life as they grow and learn. There's the steady pain of empathy that you shrug off so you can stand beside a wounded friend and help them bear their burdens.

And if you're very, very lucky, there are a few blazing hot little pains you feel when you realize that you are standing in a moment of utter perfection, an instant of triumph, or happiness, or mirth which at the same time cannot possibly last - and yet will remain with you for life.

Everyone is down on pain, because they forget something important about it: Pain is for the living. Only the dead don't feel it.

Pain is a part of life. Sometimes it's a big part, and sometimes it isn't, but either way, it's part of the big puzzle, the deep music, the great game. Pain does two things: It teaches you, tells you that you're alive. Then is passes away and leaves you changed. It leaves you wiser, sometimes. Sometimes it leaves you stronger. Either way, pain leaves its mark, and everything important that will ever happen to you in life is going to involve it in one degree or another."

The tidbits I take away from this series are truly fascinating. They may be proposed through a magical, imaginative lens, but they're truly rooted in the core of human nature. I'm definitely looking forward to reading more from the Dresden Files!

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Apr 11, 2011 Meggie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: uf-male-protagonist, audio-book, magic, fantasy, vampire, favorite-series

This book was awesome, I really liked where the plot leaded us and how everything turned out. We had action through the whole book, nice. Enjoyable story, thank you !

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