Half-Blood Prince Reactions
Holy Freakin' Crap! Holy Freakin' Crap!!
That's all I seem able to say, it seems. If you intend to read the book and haven't finished it yet, stop reading this post. I may say something you don't want to know yet. I don't want to spoil the surprise for you!
The book seemed to deviate a bit from the normal pattern. By that I mean, most of the previous books had a plot that had a number of minor climaxes (each progressively higher) that pulled back and eventually led to the major climax and denouement. Each book seemed to answer our questions, while still having us beg for more.
This book, though, was different. I didn't see the minor conflicts, only the build up of the bigger themes. This opinion may change upon re-reading, but this book even felt different. Harry is more mature and less angry. He still has the flaw of not thinking things might be dangerous, or to put it another way, he still fails to look a gift horse in the mouth.
As far as the literary crafting of the novel, this one was amazing. The plot fell together perfectly, as one would expect Jo Rowling's carefully crafted plot to do, but it seemed less contrived this time, and more..."holy shit!"
The identity of the Half-Blood Prince was not a surprise to me. In fact, I had a suspicion of his identity right after the name of the title was released. But, upon reading the novel my suspicion only grew to the point that there was no doubt left in my mind. The final unveiling of the Prince's identity was a ruse. The fact of the matter is that the revelation was somewhat lost in the climax which had two extremely shocking events that overpowered it. If one was going for dramatic effect, I can't help but feel that the revelation would have been better placed elsewhere, if only to give that mini-climax feel.
Malfoy's actions, I'm sorry to say, did not surprise me in the least. However, the death of a MAJOR character hit me like a Mac Truck going 90 mph hits a ground squirrel. I was stunned, shocked...nearly catatonic. I kept hoping that Rowling was going to pull the fake-out, but no such luck. The whole end had me bawling like a baby, particularly the funeral chapter.
There can be little doubt that this novel was meant to explain a great deal in preparation for the final showdown. I get that. I even understand why Rowling titled the book as she did, though until the very end it remained a mystery.
By that I mean, in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, it is clear early on why the title is what it is since the whole plot revolves around the Stone. Similarly, Chamber of Secrets is all about the Chamber and its mysteries. In Prisoner of Azkaban, we are introduced very early on to the Prisoner and are teased and tempted throughout the novel. The title of Goblet of Fire, too, is explained early in the tome, as is Order of the Phoenix.
However, this book's title seems like a red herring. I was convinced throughout the reading that Horcrux might have been a more likely title. That was, of course, until I read the climax. At that point, all became supremely clear.
The betrayal...damn, it just broke my heart. I still wonder if the final book won't reveal the "betrayal" to be a mistake, but I fear all evidence points to the contrary.
One major theme that I took away from the book was this: Everybody makes mistakes.
Dumbledore admitted to an old man's foolishness at the end of Book 5, but Harry discovers at the end of HBP, that this is not the worst possible mistake. No, the betrayal points out clearly the danger of trusting anyone implicitly, and that even the best of them can be taken in. Rowling expands on this theme by pointing out that Voldemort, too, has made a number of mistakes.
A second theme in the book seems to be Harry's realization that nobody can protect him but himself. He recognizes that both of his parent's died in his defense, as did Sirius Black, and now Dumbledore. Harry realizes that he is the captain of his out ship, and quite alone.
All in all, the book was good. Very good. But, it was so shocking that I'm not sure that my opinion isn't colored by the trauma. The book may very well be excellent, I'm not sure yet. I need to re-read it, this time slowly so that I can pick up everything I missed in my haste to know. My shock was so great that I felt at the end unsure of whether I wanted to read the last one or not. Silly maybe, but I've come to love these characters and I worry that Book 7 can only bring more pain.
Labels: Harry Potter
