Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

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  i know neither how nor why J.K.Rowling possesses the ability she does, but i believe that i can say without shame that she has bestowed upon us, under the guise of a children's series, one of the greatest literary works in recent memory. i admit i have not read much of the literature from the past 5 or so decades, my experience being only through high school, and therefore focused mainly on classics, but i have read few novels that have the effect of Rowling's Harry Potter and the Half-Blood ... (show more)

  i know neither how nor why J.K.Rowling possesses the ability she does, but i believe that i can say without shame that she has bestowed upon us, under the guise of a children's series, one of the greatest literary works in recent memory. i admit i have not read much of the literature from the past 5 or so decades, my experience being only through high school, and therefore focused mainly on classics, but i have read few novels that have the effect of Rowling's Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. i feel sure many will argue that she is simply a champion of the sensational, that her books induce feelings and not much more. i am forced to disagree. the sixth book in the Harry Potter series manifests struggles and principles the likes of which i am hard pressed to recall from any other pieces of literature i have read recently. the books forge ingenious connections between the reader and the character, and carry out perfectly (shout out to my tenth grade english pals) the paradox of literature. Rowling has successfully created an absolutely, undoubtedly fantastic world in which to portray equally irrefutable aspects of reality. she has managed to capture the concepts of love, hate, loyalty, despair, revenge, and a host of others all in a purely imagined world. her books have the ability to devour a reader even more quickly than the reader devours the books. when finished with one book, the reader simply cannot wait to begin the next, and when finished with the last one, well, the second to last one, he is a left with an unquenchable desire to find out what will happen, who will love, who will hate, who will live, who will die. there is something distinctly real about these distinctly fictional stories. the reader falls just short of wishing it was all real; wishing there was such a thing as wizard's chess quidditch, and in doing so he lands precisely where he belongs; at the realization that there is something profoundly real about it all, and while he can't use a wand, he can use his heart, in the exact same way as harry, and dumbledore, and ginny, and every other character. he can make the choice between right and wrong, between friend and self, between love and hate. is that not what defines great literature? the successful melding of reality and fantasy in such a way that while the reader knows the story is fiction, he cannot help but see the parallels to reality. one can only hope and pray that the seventh and final book in the series will be even more insightful as the first six, and that however the story ends, it will be in such a way as is worthy of emulation. (show less)

   

   

  by David Earley on Mar 30, 2009 at 08:34AM

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  Beginning this series well after its acclaimed inception, I was not sure what to expect, especially in regard to the mania and near fanaticism that has surrounded it. I'll say this though. By Half-Blood Prince I nonetheless found myself cheering the presence of Dumbledore, sniggering along with Ron, remonstrating along with Hermione (except if Fred and George are involved), and empathizing with and having high hopes for Harry. Its wonderful to walk into a world like that, all the better a ... (show more)

  Beginning this series well after its acclaimed inception, I was not sure what to expect, especially in regard to the mania and near fanaticism that has surrounded it. I'll say this though. By Half-Blood Prince I nonetheless found myself cheering the presence of Dumbledore, sniggering along with Ron, remonstrating along with Hermione (except if Fred and George are involved), and empathizing with and having high hopes for Harry. Its wonderful to walk into a world like that, all the better a magical one, and not to mention a good story. (show less)

   

  by Michael August on May 19, 2008 at 07:58PM

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