Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Hardcover: 652 pages)

Wonderful Book

By Roselina  Jan 21, 2005 | 67 out of 126 found this Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince review helpful

Pros: Mostly

Cons: One

When the Harry Potter books began developing a devoted following, I wondered what all the hub-bub was about. As a lover of literature, I reasoned that a book about a young wizard could not possibly compare to works written by authors that I loved: J...ack London, J.R.R. Tolkien, Kate Chopin, Albert Camus, Herman Melville, etc. But then my curiosity won out, and I sat down to read one of the books; surprisingly I found myself enthralled. Rawlings brought me back to the first time I read “Little House on the Prairie” by Laura Ingalls Wilder, and “Where the Red Fern Grows” by Wilson Rawls. She brought me back to when I was six years old, and I fell in love with the cartoons “The Last Unicorn” and “The Secret of NIMH.” All of these works are different from one another, as is Harry Potter when compared to them. But they all have one essential thing in common: the ability to draw you into the story and the ability to warm your whole being.Harry Potter may not be filled with the thought-provoking symbolisms found in Melville’s or Chopin’s works, but when it comes down to the essentials, we can’t ignore Rawling’s ability to kindle that special whimsical and care-free feelings that come with youth. And those of us, such as myself, that are beyond that age of youthfulness can revel in being brought back briefly to the time when life had no worries. Truthfully, I would have to say that the last book in the series, “The Order of the Phoenix” lost a bit of the “charm” that had presented itself in the other books. The main character “Harry” seemed to be stuck in a constant flux of self-pity, and the ending left you wanting. But the book should be viewed as an entire series, and we have yet to see the final developments of Harry’s tale. Looking at it from that perspective, I am more than confident that Rawling’s will rise to the occasion and bring Harry’s story to a close that will satisfy all of her fans. Read more Less