"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince"... Read it yet?

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CanonAlberic

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Has anyone else read the new Harry Potter book yet? I’ve just finished it a couple of hours ago, and WOW… This woman can write… Almost as good as my series favorite ("…The Goblet of Fire…") and better than my 2nd favorite ("…The Prisoner of Azkaban…").
Man… great humor (in really bizarre places at times!), wonderful characters and suspense/plot twists to rival a Dean Koontz novel. I absolutely loved it, BUT… the ending annoyed me, mainly because I’m going to have to wait 2 YEARS or so for the series to finally resolve itself… JK, how could you have done this to us??? PLEASE get the next and final book out ASAP!!!
So, if you’ve read it, what do you think? Please, if you have, don’t throw in any “spoilers” for those who haven’t, and if you belong to the “Rev. Fred Phelps”/“book burning”/“Harry Potter encourages Satanism” school of close-mined lunacy, please post somewhere else. I’d like to keep this one for fans, if you don’t mind terribly…

Peace.
 
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CanonAlberic:
Has anyone else read the new Harry Potter book yet? I’ve just finished it a couple of hours ago, and WOW… This woman can write… Almost as good as my series favorite ("…The Goblet of Fire…") and better than my 2nd favorite ("…The Prisoner of Azkaban…").
Man… great humor (in really bizarre places at times!), wonderful characters and suspense/plot twists to rival a Dean Koontz novel. I absolutely loved it, BUT… the ending annoyed me, mainly because I’m going to have to wait 2 YEARS or so for the series to finally resolve itself… JK, how could you have done this to us??? PLEASE get the next and final book out ASAP!!!
So, if you’ve read it, what do you think? Please, if you have, don’t throw in any “spoilers” for those who haven’t, and if you belong to the “Rev. Fred Phelps”/“book burning”/“Harry Potter encourages Satanism” school of close-mined lunacy, please post somewhere else. I’d like to keep this one for fans, if you don’t mind terribly…

Peace.
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I liked it but wasn’t crazy about it. I think the series peaked with “Goblet of Fire”, though I’ll see it through.
With all the flashbacks “Half-Blood” was as much prequel as sequel.

TC
 
I actually didn’t really like it, which disappointed me. I really disliked the ending, especially because what happens to one of my favorite characters didn’t even seem to have a purpose; it seemed totally unnecessary for evil to defeat good in that manner. Even if it had to happen for some reason Rowling has yet to reveal, I wish it would have happened differently. I also didn’t really understand why Dumbledore seems to think that Harry is so exceptionally loving. Granted, Harry’s definitely chosen not to reject love as Voldemort has, but he loves his friends and hates his enemies. That seems pretty normal to me, and not very extraordinary. I personally liked the third book best.
 
I am Catholic and I won’t pay to support this type of book. We are confused enough. And the Pope says I should be wary.

And there are so many better Catholic choices.
 
My wife finished the book at 9am on Sunday morning. Which is pretty good considering she was at work until 6pm on Saturday and had a full night’s sleep.

She says she preferred it to the last one - which she says is 200 pages too long and those 200 pages could have been missed out if Rowling hadn’t forced her characters to do something very stupid and not in character.

Was anywhere selling them cheaper on Saturday than £4.99?

Personally I haven’t read any of them and am not likely to. There are far better things to read and I haven’t got time to read those so won’t start on Potter, even if I could convince myself that doing it would be for the glory of God.
 
I read them because my daughter is of the age where that is very interesting to her. I want to be the one that she “dialogues” with (much like we are doing now). I want to get a feel for her reaction to the stories.

Rowling follows the format of a mythical fantasy and introduces alchemical symbolism in her works. This is very similar to the methods used by the Inklings (aka CS Lewis, Tolkien, et al.). It is a shame that most kids (and a fair amount of adults) have no clue about these symbolisms as they duly reflect very Christian themes.

I read the HBP in two days during my evening “kick back” hours. It was certainly not my favorite, and the last 4 chapters were the best in the whole story, I do believe she used this book to set the stage for the final hoorah in the next installment.

I do not think she is a stellar author. There seems to be a lot of baggage, and she isn’t as good as Tolkien or Lewis at weaving so many characters into her yarn.

I do think she has a nack for setting up suspenseful situations for her characters though the suspense in HBP was more predictable than in her other stories.

I also think she has a good handle on the maturity level of these kids- and she allows them to age appropriately. The characters do not act or dialogue the same at 16 as they did at 11. It seems to me that would be difficult to do. This part is as much fun for me to explore as the main storyline.

I do like the bit of “twitterpation” and young love she has introduced. I think she approaches relationships in a MUCH more healthy way than other series. These kids are developing feelings for one another- but they STAY FRIENDS. When there are relationships they develop with the same hiccups that all “first” relationships have. They last two months, then die. But some of the stronger relationships have been allowed to brew and blossom as the kids mature- without the pressures of physical contact.

HBP was a 2.5 of 5 stars for me.

Blase plot and little or no action through 300-400 pages of back story.

Cool ending, and appropriate “finale”. The whole last 200 pages were worth the price of admission, but I’m going to wait till the last story to see if the previous couple hundred pages of blech were worth it.

Loved the character development, and just the right amount of “twitterpation” from the boys.

😛
 
I read it within a day and a half, and loved it! I will be looking forward to the next one as well…even if its another 2 years! My son, who was so upset after The Order of the Phoenix , and the fall of his favorite character, he was determined not to read the next one. He changed his mind, and he finished the book this week too. We haven’t had much time to discuss it as he has been at work by the time I get home.

As for buffalo,
buffalo: I am Catholic and I won’t pay to support this type of book. We are confused enough. And the Pope says I should be wary.
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It is unfortunate you didn’t read the initial post from CanonAlberic…
and if you belong to the “Rev. Fred Phelps”/“book burning”/“Harry Potter encourages Satanism” school of close-mined lunacy, please post somewhere else. I’d like to keep this one for fans, if you don’t mind terribly…
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The first half of the book was good but the second half i was really disappointed in. I know there has to be a reason she ended it like she did but I was still upset.😦
 
Haven’t even started :banghead: I have been soooo busy for the past couple of days that I haven’t even had a second to crack it open. Maybe this weekend.

Eamon
 
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CanonAlberic:
and if you belong to the “Rev. Fred Phelps”/“book burning”/“Harry Potter encourages Satanism” school of close-mined lunacy, please post somewhere else. I’d like to keep this one for fans, if you don’t mind terribly…

Peace.
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My only question is, are you calling the Pope a lunatic and close-minded?
 
I finished it on Sunday.

I thought it was about as good as Prisoner of Azkaban. I’m not satisfied with a lot of the ending, but I recognize this book was just development for book 7.

Josh
 
I have a question? Can we have this thread not turn into a shouting match? That would be awfully nice. If it does however, please pardon me as I make myself scarce in here.

Eamon
 
I loved the book! The ending was very sad, but for some reason, I have this very strong feeling that everything is not as it seems.

Dumbledore had an ironcast reason for trusting Snape, just as he had for turning Harry’s claims about Draco aside.

Dumbledore was under the influence of a very powerful potion - I think that the last spell put on him by Snape is going to turn out to be reversible. (Hey, my nickname isn’t “Pollyanna” for nuttin’! 😉 )

Snape is going to help Harry defeat Voldemort, but he will be handicapped by the fact that now, no one trusts him. Harry will probably not trust him until the very end of the last book, so there will probably be some occasions for encounters between the two.

But, who is R. A. B.? Someone who hates Voldemort and is powerful enough to get through the cavern and across the lake to the horcrux. Someone has one of Voldemort’s horcruxes - has s/he destroyed it or is s/he just looking for a way to become the next master of the dark side?

What will Harry find in the town of his infancy? Something is driving him to go there, alone - what?

So many questions - and two years is a long time! Wahhhhh! 😃
Elizabeth
 
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turboEDvo:
I have a question? Can we have this thread not turn into a shouting match? That would be awfully nice. If it does however, please pardon me as I make myself scarce in here.

Eamon
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I agree with Eamon, however, it was requested that this particular thread be kept for the fans of the book—not the book bashers. See below:
and if you belong to the “Rev. Fred Phelps”/“book burning”/“Harry Potter encourages Satanism” school of close-mined lunacy, please post somewhere else. I’d like to keep this one for fans, if you don’t mind terribly.…
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I’m sure those of us that have enjoyed the series are tired of hearing comments that the book is evil, etc. from those close-minded individuals who have not bothered to read the book first before casting judgment.

auppie
 
I loved this book. Got it on Saturday and finished Sunday. I personally like the back plot and flash backs. I think it adds a lot to the stories as a whole. The info given to harry wouldn’t have made sense in any other book. I think we have to understand- he-who-is-not-to-be-named to understand how Harry is going to face and hopeful defeat him. The character who disappeared this time around was the one I figured it would be. Harry has to learn to survive on his own and fight his own battles. I liked the fact that this book was full of more information and tidbits. I didn’t really like the First one simple because it had too much action and not as much plot and character development. In these last ones I think she has hit her stride. I am very interested to see how she is going to clean up some major loose ends(i.e. who is RAB and what is going to happen to Darco!). Either way you look at it the book was very interesting.

GOD BLESS all of us muggles!
Beckers

Personal note:Please don’t hijack this thread as there are already plenty of threads where people can yell and scream about how these books are horrible. Until you read one please don’t put these books down.Also as far as I can tell from the POPE’s writings he is not saying one can not read the books but be careful with the information. This is true with any FANTASY novels or any fiction books at all. Unless you are grounded in your faith then beware of reading fiction because it can tempt, harm or destroy your values and faith. You must remember at all times to be able to discern between reality and fantasy. If you are not mature enough to do that then you shouldn’t read these books or any books at all…These books teach great lessons of friendship, love, right vs wrong and good vs evil,to ALL children no matter what age (25yrs old here!). That’s my two cents and I am getting off my soap box now.
 
Wouldn’t it be great if this exchange was in the next book.

Harry: “I’ll never join you, you killed my father.”
Voldemort: “No, Harry, I am your father.”
H:“No! How is that possible?”
V:“Search your feelings, you know it to be true.”
H:"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
 
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PhilNeri:
Wouldn’t it be great if this exchange was in the next book.

Harry: “I’ll never join you, you killed my father.”
Voldemort: “No, Harry, I am your father.”
H:“No! How is that possible?”
V:“Search your feelings, you know it to be true.”
H:"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
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Lupin: “You now need to conjur your patronus to help you defeat the dementors.”
Harry: “I’ll try…”
L: “NO. Do or do not do, there IS NO try…”

:rotfl:
 
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PhilNeri:
Wouldn’t it be great if this exchange was in the next book.

Harry: “I’ll never join you, you killed my father.”
Voldemort: “No, Harry, I am your father.”
H:“No! How is that possible?”
V:“Search your feelings, you know it to be true.”
H:"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
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You just made me spit my drink all over my computer! You should put a warning before making post like that!:rotfl:
 
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beckers:
You just made me spit my drink all over my computer! You should put a warning before making post like that!:rotfl:
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I agree! I want to read it!
 
I haven’t read it yet thats cuz I haven’t bought it. But I have who has just finished reading it and he is going to let me borrow it for the weekend.
 
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