Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince[rating:5/5]

I’ve got to admit, as the Potter series continues, it only gets better. The Half-blood Prince grabs your attention from the start and unfolds into the darkest of the series. This book contains many twists and turns, most of which leave the reader wanting to find out more. What makes this book different from the others is that there are quite a few surprises as characters reveal personalities that may not have been fully unveiled previously and this, in turn, leads to a highly fascinating read. I’m afraid that I have to admit, I was about to put the book down before calling it a night, with about 100 pages to go and simply couldn’t – the story became so enthralling that I just had to go on to finish it! I don’t think that there is any question (at least in my mind), that Half-blood Prince, is the best of the series so far. As with all good series, this one left with a real cliff-hanger – I’m only glad that I waited until the Rowling finished the series – that way, I don’t have to wait for the next one to come out: I’ve already started the final book. Got to get back to my reading!

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix[rating:5/5]

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was far darker than the previous book but kept my interest throughout. Many of the characters are either becoming more sinister or are displaying a great tenacity to fight evil. Overall, I enjoyed this book far more than the previous one although the Potter series, as a whole, still doesn’t strike me a “great literature” but rather an entertaining experience. I will say that as the plot progressed, I’ve become more eager to find out what’s going to happen next; therefore, I’m going to start book six tonight.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Book 4)

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire[rating:4/5]

Well, I finally done did it! I had read the first three Harry Potter books, quite some time ago, and had simply fallen behind in keeping up with the rest of the remaining stories. Other than the fact that I enjoyed Goblet of Fire as a fun diversion, and give it five stars for its entertainment value, I remain somewhat perplexed at the popularity of the series – they’re great fun to read, the stories have interesting characters, and the ever-changing plot holds one’s interest. Just the same, the Potter series simply doesn’t strike me as what I would call “literature” even thought they have all been, so far, very enjoyable – and sometimes that’s what reading should be all about.

I will say that with this book and the next (which I’ve already started to read), I broke out of the mold and saw the movie versions first – that’s something that I almost never do: I’m sure I’ll finish the series before the next one comes out. Again, the Potter series may not be great “literature” they remain a very pleasurable reading experience.

Children of Húrin, The

Tje Children of Húrin[rating:4/5]

I was first exposed to Tolkien a few gabazillion years ago, in fifth grade, when my teacher decided to read “The Hobbit” to our class – a work which we quickly devoured with gusto. That, of course, lead her to read the Lord of the Rings (many of us purchased our own copies) which, in turn, lead to the life-long admiration and fascination with anything Tolkien. Nearly four decades later (ugh!), The Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit remain my uncontested favorite books of all time – I’ve read them at least ten times (and each time still find something new in them).

Even so, I’ve found some of Tolkien’s other books to be quite academic (with regard to both language and construction) and, to be quite honest, rather dry. That does not; however, make me disdain them; rather, they are simply less enjoyable to read. Many of these have been compiled, posthumously, from the author’s obviously extensive notes and drafts that he compiled during his lifetime and, when reassembled into a narrative form remain rather pedantic; “The Children of Húrin” is yet another example.

While the story is a tragic one – in fact, it may be may be one of Tolkien’s darkest tales, it also shows the genius of the author as he created his epic tales of Middle Earth. The problem with that; however, is that like so many of his other stories (e.g., The Silmarillion), this tome is filled with an extraordinary number of genealogies compounded by the fact that many of the characters (especially the main ones) are continually changing their names – not dissimilar to that which occurs in the Bible. At times, so much effort must be made to identify the key figures, that reading becomes a real chore.

In many ways, reading this book seems somewhat analogous to examining the rough drafts of an exhaustive composition by a masterful composer; the working versions of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony (not my personal favorite) actually sounds laughable prior to the final polished opus. Audiences were not meant to savor anything but the composer’s finished work: the same seems to apply to many of Tolkien’s pre-Hobbit Middle Earth stories.

All in all, I would have to recommend this book to serious Tolkien fans, but only after they have developed a mature grasp of his true masterpiece – Lord of the Rings.

Kite Runner, The

The Kite Runner[rating:5/5]

Has it really been that long since I’ve read a book? Apparently so – just too many other things going on (almost none of which have been “fun”). Anyway, I just finished Kite Runner a few days ago and am finally getting around to writing a review of it; here it is:

Without question, this is a fabulous book; in fact, it is one of the most beautifully written that I’ve had the pleasure of reading in a very long time. Not only is the story extremely well crafted and the characters extraordinarily human, but the author, Mr. Hosseini, has an astonishing gift to tell a story in which each personality is fully exposed – the good, along with the bad. His work is so masterful, that one quickly becomes deeply immersed with key figures to an extent where their emotional tenor is almost felt as if they were your own. Considering that this story evolves around a boy from Afghanistan who later emigrates to the United States – a background that is most certainly foreign (no pun indented) to that of most readers (including myself) – Mr. Hosseini has been able to delve into the human psyche that transcends cultural boundaries.

One thing that I found to be particularly fascinating is the author himself comes from a background as a non-native English speaker, and yet reaches a level of expressiveness through his words that transcend even the most astute authors in a manner that makes his prose not only live, but conveys meaning through a richness that is uncommonly good.

Of course, not all that occurs in the Kite Runner is good; not by any means. In fact, some of it is rather horrifying and evil but, for the sake of spoiling the story for others, I will not go into those details here. Furthermore, the story takes many surprising and unexpected twists (I confess, I had no idea what the story was about prior to reading it), but that only adds to the effectiveness of the plot.