Harry Potter: A Review

My apologies for not posting in the last week.  I don't have anything like a good excuse to offer, so I'll just shut up and get on with this book review...

So.  I've finally read some Harry Potter.  My brother and I have breezed through the first three books: The Philosopher's Stone, The Chamber of Secrets, and The Prisoner of Azkaban.  We enjoyed them pretty well.  So now it is time for me to attempt to give a balanced review.  This review is for the beginning of the series in general.  From what I've heard, things get darker as the series progresses.

HARRY POTTER REVIEW- the first three books, at least
Here is the link to the Squeaky Clean Review for the first book (you can find the others from there).
Disclaimer: I unashamedly write from a Christian perspective.

The POSITIVE.
The best element of Harry Potter is the writing.  The plots are breath-taking.  You think you know who the bad guy is, and then BAM!  It's actually the last person you'd expect.  I giggled and laughed.  I was on the edge of my seat.  These are very hard books to put down.  There are no hanging threads in this series-- every single tiny event will be shown to be vital:  And if not in that book, then in the next.  I envy this writer's talent.
Another positive element is that Harry Potter's best protection from evil is love.  How many books have that, eh?  When Harry Potter is saved from the baddie the first time, it is because his mother loved him so much she let herself die instead of Harry, something Voldemort can't understand.  And that continues to play a large role through the series.

The NEGATIVE.
Well, there's the magic.  That's a major part of the stories, but I know it can digested by some people better than others, so I'm not going to condemn (nor discount) the magic right off the bat.  For me, I began to be disturbed in The Prisoner of Azkaban with the divination classes.  Even though the fortune-telling was shown to be phony, the palm-reading and such was still creepy to me.  More so than the whole the-dementors-will-suck-out-all-your-happy-thoughts-and-finally-your-soul thing, which I guess is odd.  In any case, Harry Potter is not for those who don't like wands and flying broomsticks in their stories.
On another note, the kids break the school rules constantly, even when the rules are obviously in place for the students' welfare.  They hardly ever get punished properly.  Then the reader is faced with the fact that the bad guy would probably never have been defeated if the children had not broken the rules.  Not the best way to set an example for the young people reading the books, is it?
Language wise, there's some uses of d--- and the Lord's name in vain.  At one point, a character starts to say an insult, but is cut off, and many readers' minds will fill it in as a Vulgar Name for Illegitimate Children.

THINK ABOUT IT.
Something interesting struck me while I was reading these books.  Despite all the magic, what a sad little world the characters inhabit.  Look how close their world is to disaster:  Voldemort is so powerful, and the only person who can defeat him is maybe Dumbledore or maybe Harry. 
And then it amazed me to see this contrasted with the real world:  Where the end of time is already written, and we can know Who wins!  Where our King can defeat Satan with one little word!  We write stories as a way to reflect God's Ultimate Story, but our little creations can only look deathly pale in the glory of His handiwork.  What an awesome God and what an awesome world we live in!

CONCLUSION.
I've been putting off entering the world of Harry Potter for quite a while.  Now I might have a few friends saying to me, "See-- told you you would like them."
But, after all, I think it was a good idea (in my case) to wait until I felt ready to read the series with a level head.  I think I would recommend the first books if just to enjoy J.K. Rowling's incredible writing style.  But I seriously warn any reader to keep in mind that she is not a Christian, and her writing will reflect that.  We must "Test all things, [and] hold fast what is good." (1 Thessalonians 5:21)
So enjoy, but with caution.  (:


Oh, and-- well, a little late now, but Bookworm Day was yesterday.  November 29th is the combined birthdays of C.S. Lewis, Madeleine D'Engle, and Louisa May Alcott.  Have a bookworm-ish weekend, all!  God bless!
ps. Did Azkaban make anyone else think of Alcatraz? I mean, their names sound the same and they're both on islands...

Literary Descriptions

Have you ever read a description in a book and then breathed in wonder: "How beautiful! I can just see it!" Well, I have actually been keeping track of my Favorite Descriptive Lines, and have been trying to add to it.  For right now I just have two. If you know some good ones, please share in the comments!

 

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Great shadows sprang up and fled, and for a second they saw a vast roof far above their heads upheld by many pillars hewn of stone. Before them and on either side stretched a huge empty hall; its black walls, polished and smooth as glass, flashed and glittered... Then the light went out.

-- The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien
 

The walls of Palace Var trembled again, broke into millions of tiny pieces, and fell as rose petals drifting across the blighted plains of Arpiar.

-- Moonblood, by Anne Elisabeth Stengl

 

Book Reviews?

When I first began this blog, I thought I would be writing some book reviews.  And I think I will be, but they will be the type that praise (or critique) the writing or the philosophy contained in the story.  (Hey, philosophy's cool!  In little bits.  Please don't be scared of me...)

So I thought I would recommend to you all a great website that better examines stories' moral content: Squeaky Clean Reviews.  I know, great name, right?  They will tell you if a book has swearing, sexual content, any questionable spirituality, etc.  They're pretty thorough.  All books are held to a Christian standard.  Reviews are written by other teenagers and adults and are edited (if necessary) by the website editors.

Yes, I am one of the many reviewers on there.  But I won't tell you who!

God bless!

And I Went Mad

A Bookworm and Her Books
Those who know me personally know I am generally a serious and practical person.  Coupled with my know-it-all attitude, I also happen to be pretty annoying -- but that's beside the point (for now).

I can assure you that I am really quite crazy; it's just all in my head.  I monitor all my craziness on its way out.  On the inside, I am a deep-thinker -- in a very rambling way -- and actually (who would have thought it!) get very excited about things.

But those who do know me will also know that there are a few things that set me off -- set me off in a good way, I mean.  There are things that set me off in a bad way, too, but I won't get into those.  LOL. 

In case you haven't noticed already, this post is going to ramble even more than usual.  Strap on your seat belts, folks.

Okay, so I have very few things that make me ecstatic/hyper.  It doesn't happen too often.  Perhaps that is partly why my hyper state absolutely terrifies my brothers.  Or perhaps it's the way I go about it.  When I'm ecstatic, I don't know how to get my excitement out properly, so I get really jittery and go around the house spasmodically shouting and punching the air with my fists.  I know, scary, right?  I just act all calm and all of a sudden
 
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Ahem.  Sorry.  That was my teen-aged kitten.  He's practically begging for my attention right now.  He's a very stubborn little guy.  I'll try to keep him m;l .y2lkkk77777777777777fc8 cybkmuuuuuuul0,pj +h */huj

Darn you, Skittles!  *Off to the side* Yeah, yeah, go sit on the bed and look all cute.  Whatever.  And I still have your drool on my arm.

Anyway, what I was saying was, that I'll be calm and then suddenly remember that there's something really exciting!  And then I go into that whole dance-and-giggle-like-a-lunatic thing.

yeesh.  That kitten completely stole the show.  I'd better finish this post up quick.

Just about the only things that really make me as described above are: seeing old friends, BOOKS, Narnia, and maybe an awesomely good movie.

So, this week I got two books in an amazing series (If you want to check it out) that I have been dying to get for about a month.  So I get them.  I've known they were in the mail for a whole weekend.  They're in their neat little packages.  I can just imagine the beautiful covers underneath the paper and the stories inside...

And I have to wait for the weekend to read them.  When all my schoolwork is done.


AND I WENT MAD.

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Note: All kitten-scratchings in this post are authentic.  And, don't worry, folks, I'll have that short story up tomorrow or the day after.