I finished Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince early yesterday morning. In total, it took me about twelve hours to read, with of course, a few breaks and naps in between.
I won’t go into any specific details, as Jim is not yet finished reading his copy. I’ve had to keep my mouth shut since yesterday morning … not that it’s been hard. I came away from this book feeling exactly like I did when I saw Revenge of the Sith: DEPRESSED!
I think I cried non-stop through the last 3-4 chapters. (Ladies, prepare to have a box of tissues on hand!!) I mean, there were a lot of funny moments, and a few shorter tear-jerker moments early in the book, but the ending was … well, it was what I was hoping wouldn’t happen. (the cover art told me a lot before I started reading it)
Hell, my eyes are tearing up now just thinking about it. I think that’s the downside to being a fan, when a character dies that you’re attached to you feel a sense of loss — even if it’s just a fictional character, it was still someone to which you could identify and relate.
You Star Trek and Star Wars fans know *exactly* what I’m talking about!!!
Part of me wishes I hadn’t read this book, but I had been waiting for what seemed like an eternity since Order of the Phoenix and couldn’t stand it. I am a little concerned about the next book and how things will turn out in the very end. I also started thinking about the movie that’s scheduled to come out this fall, about the fourth book, Goblet of Fire. That book pretty much starts Harry’s “descent into darkness” (as I like to call it). GoF and each book after it show a more angst-ridden Harry who experiences everyone and everything turning against him. It’s going to be pretty hard to keep these next few movies “kid-friendly.” Reading Order of the Phoenix was hard, so I imagine watching the movie will be just as bad. (assuming of course it’s made)
But I digress … overall the book was very good. It answered a couple of questions I’ve had from the last couple of books, and confirmed something I figured would happen.
So now what? Now I’ll patiently wait the next couple of years for the next and final installment of the Harry Potter series and hope for the best.
Michael Hanscom
Prairie and I were both pretty quiet for a few moments after finishing the book (and while I didn’t tear up, she did). Pretty heavy stuff there…and _lots_ of curiosity about where things are going to go from here. There just seems to be so much left to cover in the last book!
If nothing else, though, we’re up for a fun couple years of speculation…