Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Áldom az eszét annak a kiadói fejesnek, aki azt mondta: "Te, ez a Rowling, ez tud. Engedjük neki, hogy kiírja magából, amit akar. Ha hatszáz oldal, hát hatszáz oldal. Hagyjuk, hogy kiteljesedjen." És lőn. Nekem talán ez a kötet tetszett eddig leginkább a sorozatból - bizonyára azért, mert mindenre van benne idő. Kinyílnak a szereplők, Dumbledore végre nem bujkál Harry elől, Pitonból is többet kapunk (az ápolatlan hajú szereplőkért rajongók nagy örömére), és arra is van mód, hogy főhőseink kamaszodásában jobban elmélyedjünk. Mert hiába lángol körülöttünk a létezés, a kamaszodásnak (és az ezzel járó romantikus zöngedelmeknek és csúf hajbakapásoknak) még egy szakajtó Voldemort se show more tudna gátat vetni.

Különben meg az a szokás alakult itt ki a gyerekekkel, hogy ha elolvastam egy kötetet, akkor esti mese gyanánt összefoglalom nekik a történetét. Alighanem a Félvér Herceggel lesz a legtöbb bajom. Az eddigi részekben ugyanis mindig volt egy fő szál, ami vezérfonalként húzódott végig a történeten, és úgy-ahogy le is zárták a végén. Ebben sokkal kevésbé tapasztaljuk ezt. Több ösvényen kolbászol a történet, talán a legkarakteresebb Malfoy titokzatos machinálása, illetve a a horcrux-tematika, de Rowling fő célja inkább az utolsó rész felvezetése, no és persze a kötetet záró gyomros előkészítése. Különben a nyitány végtére is valahol megnyugtató: legalább világossá vált, hogy Voldemort színre lépett, senki nem nézi hülyének szegény Harryt, hogy gonosz varázslókat hallucinál minden csipkebokorba. De ezzel együtt a nemzetközi helyzet fokozódik, mert a rút kígyópofa egyre merészebb, áldozatai egyre számosabbak, a Mágiaügyi Minisztérium pedig csak annyira képes kezelni a helyzetet, mint a mi szeretve félt vezetőink a járványt. Úgyhogy az ifjú Potternek (akit hirtelen megszaporodott rajongói "Kiválasztott" néven emlegetnek) még inkább szüksége van a szoros együttműködésre Dumbledore-ral, illetve országos cimboráival, akik viszont a már említett kamaszodásból kifolyólag sokszor inkább olyan háttérzajként funkcionálnak, ami csak elvonja a figyelmet a sorsdöntő összecsapásról. (Ezt nem bántásból mondom: kell az a háttérzaj, mert különben össze is roppanna az olvasó a fenyegető veszedelem súlya alatt. A gyerekes civódások olyanok ebben a tekintetben, mint pihentető szusszanások a következő elviselhetetlen feszültséget ígérő események előtt.) És hát Potternek is megvannak a maga hiányosságai, például makacs ragaszkodása a saját hipotéziseihez, amelyek eléggé megnehezítik, hogy barátaival zökkenőmentesen együtt dolgozhasson.

Dobrokol az ember türelmetlenségében, hogy mikor olvashatja már az utolsó részt - egyfelől akarja tudni, hogyan végződik ez az egész, másfelől viszont fél is, hogy az utolsó rész után nem lesz másik, amire várhatna. Én megláncolom mindenesetre kíváncsiságomat, tartok egy kis szünetet, mert azok pártján vagyok, akik szerint a jó dolgokkal töltött időt, amíg lehet, húzni érdemes. show less

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is an excellent story and does quite a lot to offset how much I didn't care for Order of the Phoenix.

First, Harry is not nearly as annoying as he is in Order of the Phoenix. Perhaps he's growing up, perhaps Rowling realized that she'd perhaps overdone it and turned it down again. There are a few iffy moments around relationships this time around, but they're much easier to read and feel much more natural, at least to me.

Second, things happen. Where Order of the Phoenix felt like it was spinning its wheels, Half-Blood Prince goes full tilt towards the end. After reading it, we know far more about Voldemort than we ever did before, including how he survived and what it will take to kill him. True show more allegiances are revealed and people die. So very much happens; it's even more impressive that this book is actually decently shorter than the previous two.

And oh man the twists. It's fairly well known now, but nevertheless, it's fairly impressive how powerful the last few chapters of this book are. It's something that likely had to happen for the sake of the story, but that doesn't make it any less.

It's not quite my favorite book of the series, but very close. Well worth the read. show less

Good, solid story. I’ve always wondered a bit at Ron and Hermione not cottoning to Harry’s suspicions about Malfoy -seems like they would, to me, after all they’ve been through- but getting to know Dumbledore better and watching a full on Slytherin be a likeable and good person is reward enough to read the book.

I’m finding it difficult to write about these books individually. I tend to see them in their epic form, like Lord of the Rings: one story in an epic arc. Parsing this one out is more difficult because it relies and refers so heavily to the previous 5 books. I wonder what it would be like to read this first? To have this book be your introduction to the HP universe? I think it would work even though you would not show more experience the nuance of the complex contextual world Rowling has created. Enough is explained that a first time reader would not founder, i don’t think.

Reading this now for the third or fourth time, i have discovered subtleties in the characters and interconnectedness of their stories. For instance, the off-hand way Rowling describes potion-making gives us insight into the depth of certain characters. Snape’s first speech in the Philosopher’s Stone lovingly delivered as though he were caressing the subject really grounds a certain theme throughout the books. Potion-making is a subtle art requiring great patience and attention to detail. There is also an eclectic aspect to it that drives it away from monotony and dullness because you have to have knowledge of so many different aspects of the world- herbal, mineral, emotional, physiological, et al. the fact that some potions take many months to brew impresses upon us the diligent and carefully nurturing nature of someone who revels in this kind of thing.

Now, look at who Rowling puts before us as master potions-makers: Snape, Slughorn, and Lily Potter. It makes perfect sense that Snape is very good at potion-making and reveals his inner nature well. We can take this metaphor and apply it to his whole life as a double agent whose subtle activities within the vicinity of Voldemort and the Death Eaters helped to shape their downfall in ways that they were not able to discern. Like a cunning spider, he laid threads here and there in places that seemed innocuous but were nothing of the kind.

Slughorn, too, is a subtly complex wizard. We don’t see nearly as much of him as Snape but what we do see is intriguingly congruent with the potions-master persona. He’s a Slytherin but has kind and friendly disposition, wanting nothing but good for people. He’s savvy enough to elude Dumbledore’s attempts over the course of decades to wrest a very important memory from him and, when he finally gives him one, it’s edited.

Lily Potter we hardly see at all. Her times on stage as an agent are relegated to tiny snippets from memories and echoes of her ghost. Mostly, we know her through the adoration she garnered from those that knew her. We’re always hearing in understated ways how kind and loving and strong she was. How wonderful and full of life she was. How beautiful, inside and out. And, of course, we hear about her the most in reflections of her sacrifice to save her son and how Harry has her eyes- which are “windows to the soul.” everyone who knew her, loved her. Some, like Snape, actually fell in love with her. Others, like Slughorn, adored her because of her beautiful soul. She gave them all hope and a sense of happiness. what an impact she had on the wizarding world. Without her sacrifice and effect on others, Voldemort would have run roughshod over the world.

This has turned into almost more of a “fan theory” than a book review but i think this actually sums up my take on this book fairly well. show less

To solve the Riddle that was Tom, Harry must delve into the past.

Word spreads quickly, Voldemort moves openly, and in the midst of open war, all eyes turn to Harry Potter; once The Boy Who Lived, now The Chosen One. As the Ministry scrambles to mount a defense, Harry waits. For Dumbledore is coming, and together the two of them will embark on a secret mission, to uncover how a young boy became the Dark Lord.

Borrowing from its predecessors, the story opens from an outsider’s perspective, couching essential information through a comical scene between politicians. Then the story turns to its villains, offering a very human perspective which exemplifies what sets this volume apart. The quest for identity has long been a central theme of show more the Harry Potter series, but until now it has been almost exclusively focused on the heroes. Now readers get the rare opportunity to peer under the mask of the series’ various villains, including Lord Voldemort himself.

Relationships provide some much needed levity, as friends become entangled in a web of misunderstandings amidst budding romance. The light-hearted conflicts serve as a strong counterbalance to the seriousness of the main conflict, reiterating the familiar theme that even in times of war, life must go on.

+Strong Characters
+Strong Integration Between Subplots
*Strong but familiar ideas
*Romance Driven Subplots
-Predictable Outcomes

3.5 /5 show less

This review contains Major Spoilers for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (and some of the earlier books)

These are not children's books, I know that now. J.K. Rowling has been trying to convince me for years, but I didn't believe her. Things will always turn out okay in these books, I said to myself many times, and that's why they'll never be great. A good read full of wonderful characters. But never great.

And now I know how wrong I was. You have devastated me, Jo, and I hope you're happy.

The Harry Potter books have always been about children, even if not necessarily written for children. I know you'll see Rowling claim they are children's books, and certainly Walmart and Barnes and Noble will list them in the Youth section. But we show more know better, don't we? Those of us who have read the books as adults and been captivated by their strong sense of character and complicated plots, who have suspected for years that we've discovered something special where others have seen only kid stuff... well, we know for sure now, don't we?

I know now, for instance, that Rowling (like that wonderful bastard George R. R. Martin) is willing to kill off major characters purely for shock value. Though my earlier word seems to communicate the sentiment a little more clearly: purely for devastation value. Throughout the series, I have known Severus Snape was good. Despite his childish pedantry and sneering pettiness, it seemed that in every book he had at least one moment where, when it was truly important, he put himself in harms way to protect Harry Potter.

So, despite my position inside Harry's head, with all his doubts and accusations about Snape, I find I have behaved just like the adults around him. He knew all along, didn't he? I didn't listen, and now I'm paying the price for it. Part of me still refuses to believe that Snape is actually evil, that he killed Dumbledore in order to stay close to Voldemort, that he and the headmaster had discussed the importance of his position of trust among the Death Eaters, and that they'd agreed keeping tabs on the Dark Lord was more important than any individual. Even someone as vital, and good, as professor Albus Dumbledore.

But as the reality of what happened sinks in, I am forced to admit that maybe I've been wrong, and foolish, just like every other adult in Harry's world...

I stopped writing in the middle of that sentence and reflected for a minute or two. Reality? This is fiction. How is it I've been so affected by a book, one written for kids, no less? It seems I've been wrong about many things. About Severus Snape, about the nature of Harry Potter's usually delightful (but sometimes painful) universe, and about Rowling herself.

For a moment, I stare at Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince as it sits among its companions on the bookshelf in the corner of my bedroom, and think about how she rooked me, and how (for the first time ever) I want to read a book again immediately after finishing.

Because it is great, isn't it? They all are. show less

This one might actually be able to challenge Prisoner of Azkaban for favorite in the series. And that's really saying something because I LOVE that book like crazysauce. But reading through this series a second time with the ability to know what's coming and just sort of relax into the words and pick up all the brilliant details JK Rowling has left sprinkled along the way makes it that much better. Slughorn and Harry's sudden improvement in potions? Hilarious. The whole furtive thing with Ginny. Loved it. The Draco storyline, which before I only picked up on pieces of? SO SO good. And let's not even try to get into Snape without spoiler tags. The way this was written to say one thing and oh so carefully mean another was masterfully show more done. Snape, who has forever been the cruel teacher who despises Harry, which Harry simply can't see past, even here, has another side, and the scenes between him and Dumbledore, then him and Harry after Dumbledore's death... shivers... show less

Thankfully not as long as HP and the Order of the Phoenix, the sixth instalment in the adventures of Harry and his friends felt somewhat more disciplined than numbers 4 and 5. I was glad that Harry had moved beyond the emo-sulks of the last episode and was a bit more mature, if not always particularly smart or insightful.

There are lots of things to love about this book. The teenage romance sub-theme rang true. The flashback scenes using the pensive were also well done. Rowling cleverly uses them to engender understanding of, if not sympathy for, the motivation and psyche of the arch-villain Voldemort. Tension was built throughout the novel, but the continued flashes of humour lightened an otherwise very dark mood. And, of course, show more Stephen Fry's narration remains a joy.

There are also some less successful elements. There's no doubt that the book would have benefited from some more ruthless editing, for while it is tighter than numbers four and five, Rowling still shows a tendency to ramble. Her predilection for big reveal scenes remains tedious. Sure, the plot details need to emerge. But the long discussions between characters telling each other what they've been up to which book-end the most dramatic event in the novel rob that event of some its power.

I thought that I'd have a break and listen to another audiobook between this book and number seven, as I've done with each of the earlier books. But this time I can't. It's straight to the finale for me. show less