Harry Potter & the Half Blood Prince
I just finished Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, the 6th book in the Harry Potter Series, by JK Rowling. We have one copy, my oldest daughter ordered it ahead of time and it arrived the morning of the release. She read it quickly, and currently Zack and I are sharing it. We keep trading off, and this morning we had a brief time when i convinced him that since we were on the same page, we should read together for a bit… so we sat on the big chair and read… my long lanky teenage son and me…just like old times…except he wasn’t really snuggling and we were both reading silently… he commented once or twice that it felt kinda silly…i imagine that his remarks were provoked my my beaming face, as it has been a while since we have read together, but the lure of Harry Potter outweighed his momentary awkwardness.
We sat there for the better part of an hour, until his stomach began to rumble loudly… i tried to read a bit slower, so not to embarrass him or put undue pressure on him to read faster, but once he got up to eat breakfast, i raced through the chapters, consuming as much of the story as i could before he returned, flashed his charming smile and asked if he could read the book now…please ;D
so the day unfolded with us trading the book back and forth, as i secretly hoped that his friends would call and ask him to go to the pool, i mean how could i not give him the book, when i am always on him to read more… and here he is wanting to read, so i couldn’t really say no and keep reading it myself… though i did put him off a few times…
True confession…i was thrilled when his buddies called and asked him to go out for the evening… and i had the book all to myself… i holed up in the sunroom and devoured the rest of the book. JK Rowling does not disappoint in this book. The ending is unexpected, hard and sad. i will not say alot, so as not to ruin it for those who are mid book…
I know that there is a lot of contorvery surrounding these books and that the conservative evangelial community have condemned them as promoting the occult. This is simply not true. Wizardry and magic are only part of the story, not unlike The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien or The Chronicles of Narnia, by C. S. Lewis. Like these classic stories, the Harry Potter series is a tale of good and evil, of the ultimate power of love over all that is dark, evil, and destructive, the importance of friendship, bravery, lack of prejudice…all good and godly lessons. So, I have to disagree with those who condemn these books. The themes of loyalty, integrity, and love are the greatest forces in battle against evil, are themes of the Christian faith.
Once you read it, email me and we can chat about it… it is just so hard to hold it in and yet i don’t want to give anything away… like who the half blood prince is… (my guess was wrong), what Malfoy is really up to, the true nature of Snape, and if Harry gets the girl? ;D
Otherwise, if you are reading it, let me know where you are in the book in the comments below and what you think so far….