Finished it Already!

I know I am not as fast as some who finished to book on last Saturday. I am not a book reviewer either. What I will do instead is just write about how I felt after finishing the series finale of the Harry Potter series.

Spoiler Alert!! Don't read further if you haven't finished the book or if you give a s#&$.

How did I find the book? Definitely interesting in parts. Rowling had me clutching the book till 2 o'clock in night on two consecutive nights before I dozed off. The way the story begins is like how you would expect - chaos ranging with the Dark Lord on his helm of power and thus causing a death in as early as second chapter. And then it flies like a speeding sedan doing 95 mph on a deserted freeway in middle of the night until it is slowed down by a jam caused by accident or something. For next twenty excruciating minutes, it crawls through the mess and once cleared, again it attains its original speed.

This is my first complain with the book. The middle part of the book, like a boring second session of the third day of a much anticipated test match, simply doesn't move. I know Rowling wanted us to understand that it is not easy for someone (especially for the group of Harry, Hermione and Ron - short on information, plan and consul) to find a goddamn horcrux. But then revelations such as secrets of R.A.B. and Gryffindor's sword come by without any efforts from Harry and Co. Things do fall in place, Harry is simply in right place at the right time. I felt I might as well have skipped few pages and missed nothing worthwhile.

Then the other problem is the whole Severus Snape's death episode. I was afraid that Rowling might pull a Wachowski, and she did. Snape's death is similar to Trinity's death in the Matrix Revolutions. How lame was that? Fortunately for Severus, Rowling redeems him at least after his death putting an end to one of the most vociferously fought cyber-battles similar to Emacs vs Vi: Is Severus Snape evil?

But that aside, other parts of the book were thoroughly entertaining. This book was by far the bloodiest in the series with as many as twenty deaths (WP) with six of good men, women, elves and animals passing on. With so many deaths, there is not much time to moan like there was in case of Sirius or Dumbledore. Or like the character of Harry, even Rowling makes us to deal with the death as an inevitable part of the life. The proceedings in Ministry, Gringotts and Hogwarts are nail biting. Malfoy Manor, Godric Hollows not so much. The humor in certain situations is notable and helps us keep the tension in check. And no, I didn't miss the Quidditch matches. Enough of it already!

So finally after all this, my conclusion? Not to be missed if you want to finish the storyline. Well, duh! But again, not the best book in the series either. That would be PoA or HBP.

signing off,

Two Launches

Take it from me, you been part of a really, really fortunate generation. How else can you explain this - within a space of three weeks, we are witnessing two greatest product launches ever (and by ever I mean since June 07). First the iPhone and tonight, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

I plan to go to our neighborhood Borders store just to see all the hoopla. For the records I had also driven ~15 mi in the torrential rains to our nearby Apple store to check out the iPhone. But unfortunately I had told the 'Apple Genius' that I was there to resolve an issue with my Macbook. So he allowed me in without standing in 'the line' outside, but also directed me to the remotest corner inside the store farthest from any iPhone :-) So I could not even touch it!

But back to Harry da Puttar, I am as excited as anybody to find out how the series ends. Especially after HBP which is a perfect stage for the grand series finale. Unless of course, Rowling pulls off a Lucas or a Wachowski. :-)

So there you go, my second post in two part series of the Potter posts. Happy reading!

signing off,

Bring Out My Freudian Hat

Yesterday night I had one disturbing dream. For all that matter, all my dreams, whatever I can remember of it anyways, are disturbing. I hardly remember my dreams if they are pleasant. Or maybe I have never had any pleasant dreams. And I don't know why I tend to remember the rest so crystal clear.

Now when I say disturbing, it usually involves death. And it tends to be anyone - me, a friend, a family member, a spider or another equivalent bug, a colleague or a complete stranger. Yesterday's dream death was particularly gruesome and gory. Like the Final Destination 2 opening scene, it was something to do with a pileup because of three idiots who were scampering across I-5. The other day, there was a huge spider devouring me and in the dim flickering light of the cellphone, I could briefly see its internal organs before passing out. Then one particularly fine morning in winter many years ago, I had fallen off the cliff and on my way down, I had met a particularly nasty person I knew back then. Even though in real life she had nothing but disregard for me, she seemed mellow in the face of the death. She did kinda start off the conversation, talked few good things about me for a while and finally had even apologized with teary eyes before bouncing off a protruding tree branch off the cliff.

Brrrrr!! Tonight is going to be a hell of a long night!

signing off,