Booklist & Must-Haves:
Eragon
Ignorance by Milan Kundera
The Annotated Legends (Dragonlance)
The Princess Bride
LotR journals and jewelry on
this site
first strike...
I did it! Harharhar! I just filled that thread with so much spoilers, I 'm pretty sure I'm gonna receive a warning or something. What the hell do I care right? Right! Okay, now I'm going back to reading Artemis Fowl.
wtf?!
I can't believe she locked my thread at peyups! That stupid moderator! I can't believe someone from UP wasn't able to understand that the thread was a polite way of not spoiling the fun for anyone who hasn't read OotP yet! Wtf?! Okay, if she claims that a thread exists, might as well post there...
The Dante's Inferno Test has banished you to the Seventh Level of Hell!
Here is how you matched up against all the levels:
Take the Dante Inferno Hell Test
murderer or the murdered...
I'm done with The Order of the Phoenix.
I can't say that I liked it, but I didn't hate it either. I was prepared to read OotP as a transitional book- something like a long outtro to the "rebirth" of Voldy and an intro to the second war coming. I didn't really expect it to be some sort of pseudo independent adventure like TSS or TCoS.
I was, however, shocked at what had become of Harry. Did Harry lose his personality somewhere between Book 4 and 5? I can understand about being feisty, about answering back (this really intensified upon learning that Sirius was his godfather), but please, tell me why Harry has suddenly turned into the ultimate whiny spoiled brat? He was shouting and/or snapping at everyone in 3/4s of the book. He was rude even to his friends. Okay, so maybe he has a lot of bottled emotions and angst inside, but whatever happened to keeping control and using one's head? I couldn't believe it when he repeatedly boxed Draco during that Quidditch match. Yes, he probably deserved it, and yes, Harry was provoked. But resorting to such violence? And what about throwing all those things in Dumbledore's office? Maybe JK Rowling doesn't give a sh*t about Harry being a role model for some of the younger kids who read the series? Or is Harry's behavior really being influenced by Voldy from the start, hence the temper tantrums?
What happened to the Cho-Harry loveteam, for want of a better word? Personally, I really prefered a Harry-Ginny team up, especially seeing how Ginny's character grew. She and Neville had the most character growth in Book 5, IMO. But see, JKR built up this Cho-Harry thing, then suddenly deflates the whole thing in the next few chapters. What's up with Cho anyway? She's acting like a stereotypical female. On one hand, I wouldn't want to date a girl like her if I were male. On the other, given Harry's irritatingly obnoxious behavior, maybe they deserve each other.
The book was full of raging hormones! I'm not complaining. Harry et al are human after all. But it seemed kind of out of character for Hermione to suddenly start acting like a Dear Abby. Or maybe it's some sort of character growth/development too? To show that she can be girly and not nerdy all the time? Whatever the reason, she has got to be the only character who was using her brains in this installment. Well, maybe Ginny too. Harry just plain lost it. Maybe he had an aneurysm and somehow lost the ability to think? In-your-face na nga yung instructions sa kanya, nagpakatanga pa siya! Study Occlumency to prevent Voldy from "reading and manipulating your mind"! But what did he do? Opened his mind up to Voldy. Make yourself at home, Voldy. Help yourself to my brain!
Now, the parts I liked.
1. The prophecy. I kind of expected this. I dunno why, but I had an inkling even in Book 1 that Harry's birth and purpose were prophesied, thus making him Voldy's prime target. It makes sense then, why Voldy had to kill a seemingly innocent and helpless baby.
2. Neville Longbottom. Thank God JKR finally decided to put some life into Neville's character. Yeah, he's still as clumsy as ever, but at least he's doing something productive like learning those DADA stuff. I just feel sad cause I think what motivates him to learn that well and fast is his rage against The Death Eaters (and Voldy) who tortured his parents and his desire to somehow avange them.
But what I especially liked was the amazing fact that Voldy's archenemy might have been Neville, as explained by Dumbledore. What an amazing idea by JKR! That they were at first unsure as to who really was "the one"! That it could have been Neville! But alas, in the same page, JKR ends this possible source of speculation by saying that it is Harry cause he is the "marked one". Sayang. It would have been an exciting subplot- something that will surely make the readers keep reading. But then, this move is quite justified by Dumbledore's (and ergo JKR's) explanation that it was Voldy himself who chose Harry. It kinda shows that even thougth something is predicted/prophesied or destined to be, our choices still have some effect on the fulfillment of that prophecy/prediction.
Yun lang muna.
the boy who lived...
Harry Potter Book: The Order of the Phoenix came out at 12MN yesterday. Guess what? I have 2 copies. =) Well, see, way back when Book 4 was just a couple of months old, I apparently made a reservation at Powerbooks Arnaiz for Book 5. Then I forgot all about it. When National Bookstore started coming out with their reservation list, I had one copy reserved at their Ermita branch. Mog got that copy today, and I'm getting the other one from Powerbooks tomorrow. Cool. Lucky Mog. =) It's 800+ pages long, according to him. Easy reading. I hope it was worth the long wait.