 |
2006-10-19 17:08
From: Irsis
(Hangzhou)
a review of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Book 6)
 
Spoiler warning: key plot disclosed
Okay, I've finished reading the book, twice, very very disappointed! Maybe that it's Rowling being too busy (or too rich?) to put her heart in her books as she did when she wrote the first three Harry Potter books, this book is total crap! Don't be mad with me now, I've got loads of reasons to draw to the conclusion.
1. Harry's Romance
Just like every other teenages, I couldn't help noticing that Harry's romance is a total mess. I'm not saying this is not right, because it's just the same thing with most of the decent boyheros. And his crash into Cho is absolutely reasonable (which boy doesn't fancy a beautiful and mature girl when he's young, anyway) and so is his split with Cho as they indeed live a different purpose. But his love (at least that's what Rowling has in mind) with Ginny was completely unbearable. It's as if Rowling wanted deliberately to choose a girlfriend for Harry, so she looks though the girls in Hogwarts, and of course no body except Hermione, Ginny and Luna are in Harry's side from beginning to the end, but as you know Hermione is taken (by Ron) and Luna is too weird for Harry (very possible lover for Neville) and there only left Ginny. So she had to make Ginny as good as Harry to look as if they are attracted to each other themselves without her arranging all this. So she abruptly makes her so beautiful that many boys had fallen for her (though as far as I remembered she appeared with all those freckles and even if she's grown a lot and has changed from a cute little girl to a beautiful young lady, the freckles won't dissolve. In this case, isn't making her the most charming girl at Hogwarts a bit exaggerated? I mean of course she's not ugly, and she may looks lovely, but being attractive to boys would't suit her at all ) so intellegent (though I doubt if a girl of such genius will write things on that stupid diary), gives her high Quidditch skills (this one is more likely). I'm not saying I don't like her. In fact, I think she's cute and I love her being a simple girl without much thought, I think that would attract Harry enough as he should be tired of the glamorous things but seeks honest and simple in his significent other. But when Rowling does so much for Ginny to become a "perfect" young lady (or the perfect one of Harry, as in her mind), I just hate it!
2. Dumbledore's Age Problem
Of course I know one cannot be always powerful or always right, even the greatest wizards of all time, but I just hate the way suddenly Rowling makes everything Dumbledore says or does wrong, (in which case means, Harry Potter is the one with a clear mind to make the right decision) it's intolerable! Dumbledore is wrong about Severus Snap, which directly leads to his death, and which Rowling gives a incrediblly stupid reason for his trust on Snap, that he's sorry about James's death. Though Dumbledore always believes the good in people, he has to be an idiot to believe Snap would ever be sorry for James's suffering! And another reason un-fully-explained in the book is that Snap may have saved Dumbledore or someone really important on some occasion, but a wizard like Dumbledore (earned so much trust and respect during all those years) shouldn't be that easily fooled! The only way to explain this is that even Rowling herself can't find a decent answer to the question of what made Dumbledore trust Snap, and which is, sadly, one of the essencial question in the book.
3. Revenge of Severus Snap
It's reasonable that Severus Snap has being on Voldemort's side all along, and so is his betrayal of Dumbledore or even murder. But I just couldn't accept the fact that he, the one James and Sirius had always looked down upon, played tricks on and laughed at is so powerful and intellegent a wizard, so smart and even invented the jinxes later being used on himself! This is inexplainable! If he is the half blood prince as he claimed, if he invented those smart jinxes, shouldn't he be the only one aware of those little tricks for at least quite a while? Or at least he should be wise enough to defend himself against them, or are you trying to tell me as pride as Snap is, he's determined to lose face in front of James and Sirius to make them what? ignore his unusual interest in the dark art? If then, he's the biggest prat in the world, for even so, Sirius is well-aware that he's no good wizard.
4. Death of Sirius Black
Okay, so we've got to Sirius Black. He's one of the most attractive person in this whole HP series, he's intellegent, adventurous, emulative and brave. But that doesn't mean he just acts on impulse without any thinking or planning! Yes, he's pride, but isn't the same thing with all high intellegence people? When he appeared in POA and the pensive in GOF, he's just like this, but Rowling depicted him more and more imprudent or even stupid ever since OOP, and in HBPDumbledore even said somthing like "he finally knows what he's doing", damn it, Rowling, do you know what god damn you are writing?! And I've said this again and again, Rowling wrote Sirius Black's death in GOF because there's nothing else special about this book, and if she didn't, there weren't going to be so many mourning websites, or so many discussions. And now, even after this "for-commercial-use-only" death, she's distorting his character to an idiot.
5. Ministry is full of Prats!
From what we read in the job interviews (in the time of Tom Riddle and in the time of Harry Potter), Hogwarts only suggest the best students to work at the ministry. And think, the Order of the Phoenix, which is made up of Aurors, but Aurors are in fact from a department of the ministry. But it seems that Rowling has already developed the habit of turning the minister, whoever he is, into a prat! And with a leading biggest prat, the whole ministry is full of prats! That's why they always act on THEIR best interest and makes Dumbledore won't cooperate them, and so won't Harry. WHAT THE HELL IS THE LOGIC IN ALL THIS SHIT?! The best ones go to the ministry, where they become Aurors and then work for the Order, but at the same time, the ministry is crap ... What the sense in that, in making the minister idiot? Does Rowling want to show her dissatisfaction in the British Parliament? Tony Blair has just said some very nice words about her work! So she wouldn't be expressing her politic opinion in this way, so what the sense in that?!
This review is helpful to 1 person.
Haha~~I hate Harry's Romance, as well as other people's. I cannot imagine how in HP6 they suddenly all fall in love......It's just stupid......
but as to other parts....i don't think they are that bad...
|
2006-10-31 14:02: katya
I gotta say I mostly agree with you, esp. on part 5. I didn't enjoy HBP as much as I did the others. My only hope is that the final installment will put all the pieces of the puzzle together and it'll all make sense.
|
|
|
| |
By J. K. Rowling
Scholastic, Inc.
ISBN: 0439784549
Release Date: 2005-07-16
Hardcover
List Price: USD 29.99
 More descriptions and reviews
More reviews from Irsis:
Reflection of the Past  
~~~Old Old... Not that Bad
Dynamite!
Another Review
All reviews (6)
|