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The End: Harry Potter Book 7

Posted in books, Harry Potter, pop culture with tags book review, Harry Potter on August 1, 2007 by Paxton

Harry7 Well, I finished the book at lunch today. What can I say, I am almost a little stunned right now. The ending hasn’t had a chance to sink in, but I can easily say that the ending was everything I wanted it to be. Well, really, I would have accepted almost any ending Rowling would have given us, but I really enjoyed this one.

As a whole, the book, as some might say, drags a bit in the middle. However, I started the book at a leisurely pace. I wanted to savor it. If you look closely at the picture I posted on my entry last week, I was only about 200 pages in…and that was Wednesday…4 days after the book had been released. I was really taking my time enjoying the book. This is why I think that part in the middle didn’t drag for me at all. It actually had some really good character moments for our 3 heroes. Then, right after this, the action in the book really picks up and by last weekend I was starting to get excited. I really started pounding through the book. I read at lunch, in bed at night (much to the dismay of my wife), even in the bathroom at work (oh yes, my book has been ‘flagged’). I was obsessed again with the story and the final 200+ pages just flew by.

There are some unbelievable moments in this book that pretty much wrap up all my questions and answer some lingering questions I never really knew I had. Some of the actions in the book had me screaming and throwing the book across the room, only to be bawling like an infant 2 chapters later. It’s an emotional roller coaster ride. As I finished reading the book at Firehouse Subs today, people gave me the “eye down” as I started whimpering and crying like a 9 year old girl with a skinned knee. Yes, it was embarrassing, but I couldn’t help it. Wonderful, wonderful book that I loved with my whole heart. I loved the characters, I loved the world created in the book, I loved the journey the stories take us on. Just unbelievable writing. Makes you wonder how far ahead this was planned. I mean, the end had to have been planned by at least book 5. At least. Probably even book 4. Wow.

Like I said, I’m of few words right now because I’m literally only a few hours from finishing it. A journey that began in the Tampa airport in 1999 has finally reached it’s destination, and I couldn’t be happier. I think I may take a day or two before I read another book. A respectful, reading silence if you will, for what will surely go down as one of my favorite book series of all time.

I eagerly look forward to JK Rowlings next venture. Hope everyone else enjoyed it. Potter-palooza can now end (at least until the final 2 movies come out).

🙂

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What Have I Been Doing?

Posted in Harry Potter, humor, life, random with tags Harry Potter, personal on July 25, 2007 by Paxton

Pick a Number…

Pick a Color…

Reading Harry Potter

The little paper thing says to stop bothering me and let me finish Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

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Book Review: Harry Potter Parts 3-6

Posted in books, Harry Potter, pop culture, reviews with tags book review, Harry Potter on July 19, 2007 by Paxton

Two days, my friends. Two days and I will have Harry Potter Book 7 in my sweaty little palms. Oh that moment will be sweet. So sweet. Possibly even bittersweet, because I’ll know, that this is it. The end. Now I’m depressed.

Enough of that! Welcome to Part 2 of my Harry Potter book reviews. As you can see below this, I have reviews of Harry Potter books 3 – 6 ready to go. If you missed the first reviews including books 1 – 3 then click right here. If you read those already, then you, my Potter-fied little friend, are ready to move on to the conclusion. Continue below for the 3 books that lead into Saturday’s long awaited adventure.

Harry Potter 4 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire – Goblet of Fire was released in Spring of 2000. I had preordered the book on Amazon and it arrived, I believe, on the day of release. That makes Goblet of Fire the first book I bought on release day. This was also the first book to really get long. I mean this book was twice as long as Prisoner of Azkaban. Also, this was the first book I remember everyone, including the media, go absolutely crazy for on release day. The popularity for the Harry Potter series literally exploded right before this book and it’s probably because the book before it was so gosh-darn good. I didn’t read it right away because I wanted to savor the flavor a bit, and later that year I would begin reading it. This book was good. It was long, and packed with so much information and action that it’s almost hard to grasp the entire situation, but the book was GOOD. The Tri-Wizard Tournament? The Quidditch World Cup? Mad-Eye Moody? Dragons? Are you kidding me? AWESOME. And the end? The battle in the graveyard? Classic. Completely blown away. I’ve read this book several times and I can’t wait to read it again. This book really ups the ante for our hero and the ending really kick starts everything that happens in the next 2 books. The sheer orgy of action and story that falls forth from this book is almost intoxicating and had me itching for the next chapter. Unfortunately, I didn’t know at the time, that the next book would take a little longer to release.

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Book Review: Harry Potter Parts 1-3

Posted in books, Harry Potter, pop culture, reviews with tags book review, Harry Potter on July 18, 2007 by Paxton

Time Cover1

Potter-palooza continues!!!!

This is it. This is the home stretch to the last and final Harry Potter book, Year 7: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Will all of our questions be answered? Is Professor Snape good or bad? Is Dumbledore really dead? Will someone else die? Will Voldemort finally be defeated? Will Harry become an Auror? Will he go back to Hogwarts for his seventh year? Who knows? I don’t. I hope at least some of these questions are answered in some form or another. Regardless, there will be no more Harry Potter adventures. I don’t even know if JK Rowling will continue writing books, much less continue stories in the Potter universe. This is a momentous occasion. We are on the brink, and it’s f’n KILLING ME.

Thank goodness I at least had the deliciousness of a new Potter movie (which is FANTASTIC by the way) to tide me over. Now I gotta sit here and wait for Saturday. That should be the theme of this week; Potter-palooza: Waiting for Saturday. In preparation for the momentous occasion on Saturday, I am going to take a look back at the first 6 books in the Potter series. Are you ready? No? Well catch up, people, cause it’s time to roll out.

Harry Potter 1 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone – The first book was published in the summer of 1997. It would take a year or so for the word of mouth to really get started. Take a glance at the Time magazine cover at the top of this article. It was published in September 1999. I was flying to/from Tampa and saw this magazine in the airport. I was wondering, “Who the hell is this Harry Potter and how did he make the cover of Time magazine?” Word had really been getting around and I was curious. Having just finished a book and nothing left to read, I wandered into the airport book store and browsed a paperback copy of the first book. By this point in time the second book was already published and the third book was just getting ready to come out the following summer. I decided to buy the first book and see if it was any good. Little did I know that this would start a love of the series that was almost embarrassing. This first book introduces you to the entire universe of Harry Potter. You see Hogwarts, Hagrid, Dumbledore and Harry meets Ron and Hermione on the Hogwarts Express for the first time. It’s all new and shiny. It’s a great underdog story because you see how really badly Harry is treated by his aunt and uncle and how he goes from living in a cupboard under the stairs to being one of the most famous wizards alive. I cry every time I read this book (well, every time I read any of these books). Unbelievable start to one of the best series of books I have ever read. If this had been no good, then I never would have picked up Book 2…

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Movie Review: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Posted in books, Harry Potter, movies, pop culture, reviews with tags Harry Potter, movie review on July 16, 2007 by Paxton

I’m going to keep this review quick and simple. I finally got to see this on Saturday night. And it was everything I wanted it to be. The special effects were unbelievable, the story was riveting. I LOVED IT. It’s been several years since I actually read this book, so the vast amounts of subplots and scenes that were cut didn’t affect me as much as I expected. It was every bit as exciting as I wanted it to be. The final showdown with Dumbledore and Voldemort was epic and all of your favorites return. Just awesome.

I avoided news on this movie like the plague. I didn’t want to know anything. As a matter of fact, here is how much I didn’t know about this movie: I didn’t realize Helena Bonham Carter was cast as Bellatrix LeStrange. That blew me away. It was truly inspired casting as she looked exactly how I see her in my head when I read. That character figures heavily into the next book and possibly the final book also. I also loved the scene where Dumbledore escapes being sent to Azkaban by Fudge. That was a cornerstone scene I remember from reading the book and I was very happy with how that turned out.

After all of that schoolgirl gushing, was there anything I didn’t like? Well, yes. As my friend, Jen, points out at her review, things seem a bit rushed. There is so much information flying about that the filmmakers have to get across to you that you can’t get a full appreciation for all the wonderful characters in this story. There are maybe two scenes with Aurors Kingsley Shacklebolt and Nymphora Tonks. They are 2 very cool characters that are much more fleshed out in the book, but, sadly, there’s no room for them here. Same with the house elf, Kreacher. He’s a darkly funny character you see in the Black home that gets maybe two scenes in this movie but you get to learn more about him in the books. Once again, this a problem not really with the movie, but with the format of film. In order to faithfully make the book, the movie would need to be 4 hours long.

I think the filmmakers stayed true to the gist of the story and gave you all the pertinent information to move you successfully into the next movie. And in the process, gave us a ton of eye candy to enjoy the ride. That’s pretty much all you can ask. For anything else, you should just READ THE BOOK.

This installment is almost tied with Prisoner of Azkaban as my favorite. Look to the right, you’ll see I gave it 4 stars. It easily earns this and my highest recommendation.

Stay tuned as Potter-palooza parties on with reviews of Harry Potter books 1-6 as I endure the agonizing wait for Book 7.

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