Harry Potter

Harry Potter

I don't think there is a person on this planet who has not heard of Harry Potter. Whether you have read the books or seen the movies there is no doubt that the Harry Potter fandom is quite extensive. When the books first came out there was a huge hoopla about it being "Witchcraft" and/or "Devil Worship" but for those of us who have read the books know it is simply a story about a boy and his attempt to rid evil from the wizarding world. That's about as simple of an explanation I can make to sum up the entire 7-book series. Because anyone can find the synopsis for each of the books simply by going to amazon.com or barnesandnoble.com I will simple give my reactions to the individual books.

1)  The story begins in "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone", or if you're like my best friend and bought her book in England, it's "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" which I think has a cool ring to it. I originally picked up this book, not because I had any desire to read it, but because the cover art was fantastic! Huge thanks to Mary GrandPrè who jump-started my love for reading. It was a few months before I even cracked open the pages but as soon as I finished the last line of the beginning chapter, I knew this was a book I was going to finish. The line was:

"He couldn't know that at this very moment, people meeting in secret all over the country were holding up their glasses and saying in hushed voices: "To Harry Potter - the boy who lived!" 

Even now I get goosebumps whenever I read that line. It's amazing when you think about how much something so simple can change your life.  I couldn't wait to get my hands on the second book and thankfully I didn't have to wait too long because my Godmother, may she forever rest in peace, sent me the second and third book for Christmas. I think I had finished both the second and third book before my Christmas break was even over...and the long wait for the fourth book began.


2) The second books picks up a few months after the first book cuts off, as most of the books do. Since Harry's story mostly consists of what happens to him during his actual school year, we don't see much of what happens to him during the summer--at least not until later in the series. "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" was probably my least favorite of the entire series. Not that it wasn't good because it was! By the time I had gotten into the books, the third book had just been released so I basically breezed through the second book so I could catch up but then after reading the third book (which I'll talk about later) the second book was basically forgotten and stored away until the details became relevant later.

3) The third book is by far my favorite in the entire series...If you looked at my Recommended Book Series page, you'll have seen the evidence of how much I loved this book even though it is mostly destroyed. "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" is still considered one of my favorites and I still go back to read it every so often. Unfortunately, I felt the movie did not --at all-- pay due justice to the book. To me, this was the first time we see Harry's loyalty, friendship and trust be tested to the max. The ending of the book was my favorite part. Not only do we finally find out the truth of what happened 12 years ago when Harry was 1 year old--which lead to him being the boy who lived--but we also meet one of the best characters in the whole book series. Well, actually two best characters: Sirius Black and Remis Lupin. The ending of this book we finally get to see Harry become a person and by that I mean, he finally makes a stand, and his strength of character finally comes out. I stopped seeing him as a wimpy boy who was only going through the motions but as young adult with a purpose.

Sadly...I still can't watch the movie without cursing at it...they obliterated the ending...*sigh*

4) "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" was also one of my favorites, despite it taking me months to read it. The beginning of the book was very dry and hard to get through. I started it and then left it unopened for four months before finally picking it back up and breezing through the beginning to get to the good stuff--Harry back at school. Not that the beginning doesn't set the stage for the rest of the book because it does, but it all seemed so unimportant at the time. This book taught me a few things: One--If J.K. Rowling writes about it...it's important at some other point in the series and; Two--J.K. Rowling wasn't afraid to kill someone. These two things become very important later in the series. Nevertheless, Goblet of Fire was probably the most exciting book because it was all about competition--there were dragons, and merpeople and a maze with other mystical creatures. Up to this point, it seemed like Hogwarts was the only wizerarding school but we actually get to see other schools that are like Hogwarts, which was entertaining.


5) "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix"  is the most memorable in the entire series for a couple reasons: the day this book was released I was suppose to be catching a plane to California for a family vacation but because I wasn't willing to wait the two weeks to read the book, I forced my mom to take me to a B&N before going to the airport which gave me about a 30 minute window of opportunity. Luckily, it all worked out and I was able to read the book during my flight and every night of my vacation. Another memorable part of this book came later during the second week of my vacation when something...terribly sad happens. I remember calling my mother at like 2 in the morning crying--which in hindsight was a stupid thing to do on my part because my mother absolutely freaked. Which is understandable considering I was in a different state and God only know what could have happened to me. I still smile at the memory, my mother laid into me after that...Nevertheless, something terribly sad happens in this book and once again, I was reminded that J.K. Rowling wasn't afraid to kill someone in her books, despite it being a "young adult" novel. At 25, I have to admit that although most Young Adult books don't tackle anything more complicated than friendships or relationships--I've read a lot of young adult novels--this series was realistic. Sometimes...bad things just happen. So I give special kudos to J.K. Rowling for being realistic in an unrealistic world.


6) "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" was the beginning of the end. I know, you're probably saying "Well duh..." but unless you've read the books, you don't really know what I'm saying. This book is where things start to fall apart and come together for Harry and the wizarding world. While we've been getting bits and pieces of the truth with regard to Harry and his ultimate foe, Lord Voldemort, throughout the entire series it's all been scattered pieces of information but we are finally given the big picture in this book, if not all the answers. This all happens at the cost of one of the best characters of all--Professor Dumbledore. This is probably the most pivotal point in all of the Harry Potter books--Harry is seriously tested once again in this book and once again we watch him rise to the occasion and now he's not simply a character with a purpose but a young adult with raw determination.  Although there is a twist at the end of this book that caused a lot of people to go "Whoa! I can't believe that!" I never lost faith in that character. I can't explain why, but although all clues throughout the series seemed to point to this one character being a bad guy, I never lost faith. I just knew he wasn't a bad guy...again, I can't explain it. Not that I didn't have my small doubts after the twist in this book, I never completely turned on him. I had to trust Dumbledore and it paid off in the end.

7) "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" was 784 pages of amazing action. Obviously, this is probably everyone's favorite or second favorite book of the series because it was the climatic end of the series. We finally get all the answers after a long 10 years of waiting and even though it was terribly sad, and there was more death than, I think, any of us HP fans were prepared for. I mean...seriously...more death than we were prepared for--we had to say goodbye to characters that had been present in the books since "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" and although we were sad to see them go, we also rejoiced at the ending because Lord Voldemort was vanquished. We finally see Harry reunited with lost loved ones and then watch him stand toe-to-toe with Lord Voldemort as an equal rather than as some frightening figure that looms at the edge of the book pages. I was actually glad to find out they had split this book into two different movies because otherwise, they would never have been able to do the book justice. We spend the first half watching as Harry fulfills Dumbledore's last wish and watch as Harry, Hermione and Ron's friendship is tested but once they get their sh*t together, watching them work together to put the wizarding world to rights is pretty friggin' amazing. My favorite line still remains "Not my daughter, you bitch!" which was uttered by Molly Weasley when she takes on the very talented and unpleasant Bellatrix Lestrange.

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Despite the series taking ten years to reach a conclusion, I was not disappointed with it even in the slightest. Except maybe with the several deaths that take place in "Death Hallows". I almost stopped reading after the first truth death during the final battle against Lord Voldemort. I had to stop reading for a couple hours, which is saying something because it takes place during he book's climatic ending--a part of any book I like to call the "Don't Bother Me Unless Someone Is Dying" part of the book. You know, the part of the book you rationalize and make excuses that it's ok to be late to work...or is that only me? Then you hear about all the other deaths and you're just floored...wondering how J.K. Rowling could do this?!?!? Luckily, when the second part of the "Deathly Hallows" movies was released on DVD/Blu-Ray, the special features had an interview between J.K. Rowling and Daniel Radcliffe where they discussed the ending of the book and I could finally understand the meaning of all the deaths. If you haven't seen that interview, I suggest watching it....however you can....

Like I stated before, no one can deny that Harry Potter swept the world into a frenzy--whether it was good or bad--and spun a story of magic, mystery and love that will forever live on in the hearts of those who loved the series. I feel justified in saying that it's epic story will live long and flourish along with the classic Lord of the Rings. Oh calm down LotR fans, I didn't say they were the same, just that they both gained a huge audience and countless love from their readers and Harry Potter is no different in that aspect...so calm down, it's ok!

I would recommend these books to anyone and hope that they appreciate it as much as I do.