The end was in sight

As I sat watching the epic final battle between Harry and Voldemort inside a cold, dark theater, a single thought kept repeating in my head.

Please don't disintegrate, Voldemort.

He disintegrated. Typical Hollywood bullpoop.

Prior to the movie's release, fans of the franchise were getting all teary-eyed and sentimental. They said that it was finally all over.

For me, it was all over in 2007 with the release of the final book. The movies mean nothing to me. I did watch all the movies of course. More in hope than expectation.

Like me, those who bothered to read all the books would say that the Harry Potter series was something unique. I was first introduced to the books by a cousin of mine, and read Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone when I was eleven. I loved it, as not only was Harry eleven years old throughout the book, but he had so many traits that were similar to mine. He was short for his age, bespectacled, knobbly-kneed and rather quite. Not to mention he had a tendency of looking at everything with awe and wonder.

In a sense, the books were a part of me growing up. I remember when the rest of the world began to get caught up with the series. There were those midnight releases, where thousands of fans queued up to get their hands on the latest book. Of course, I had to wait till the next morning to get my copy. But as soon as I did, I would read for hours on end, until an eyestrain-induced headache would force me to stop. I would take meticulous care in making sure that I read every detail and looked down at the "speed readers" who would read the book in one go just so that they could brag about it.

So as you may have guessed by now, I loved the books. But I never had the same affection for the movies. You can say that that's because I've always been a bit of a bookworm. Ever since I learned how to read, it remained my hobby.

Which reminds me of something a lecturer of mine told us recently.

"People get so caught up with all the technology that they've forgotten the importance of reading. No one bothers to read anything these days. It's all about skimming and scanning."

And I wholeheartedly agree with him. In an age where speed and efficiently counts for everything, we've been reduced to one-line-spouting machines. Where we once used to pour our emotions into handwritten letters, we now Tweet. We could easily look at the Harry Potter franchise for proof.

The books had everything. It portrayed the emotions of the characters in a most marvelous fashion and described the environment perfectly. In short, you really felt as though you were part of the world described in the books. They tested your imagination in ways you would never think were possible.

However, you don't need to use your imagination while watching the movies. Everything was provided on a silver platter. Or perhaps everything is the wrong word.

Harry Potter was portrayed as a Gary Stu. His best friend Ron merely came off as a less intelligent sidekick who occasionally spouted comic relief moments. Hermione's actress had the annoying knack of using her eyebrows to do all the acting. Many of the major characters were reduced to 30 second roles. There were uncountable out-of-character moments and major scenes in the books were omitted with the excuse that they would "make the movie too long", which fails explain why numerous scenes which were not in the books, and completely irrelevant to the movies plot made it. Basically, it was yell, crash, burn, lots of bright colours and special effects and- huh? The movie's over already?

For me, I'll always remember the literature. The movies, their actors, actresses, produces and directors can go stuff themselves, without sounding too rude.

A review of Deathly Hallows

First of all, apologies to everyone who were expecting this post about 24 hours after the book was released. I managed to lay my eager hands on it a little later than I'd initially thought, & I took my time reading it. True, I still could've posted this last month, but a mixture of tight schedules & extreme laziness prevented me from doing so. Alright now enough ranting. Now for the review...

As expected, this book was packed with more action than the previous six. We were introduced to Harry as follows;

"Harry was bleeding."

And what a way too! It really summed up the whole book, heartstopping moments galore!

And the deaths!! JK wasn't joking when she asked us to be braced for all the deaths. The passing away of Fred hit me hardest, maybe because it happened so suddenly. But then, a Weasley had to die, otherwise the story might have looked a bit fairytale-ish don't you think? Snape's death was pretty sad too, but at least he died, according to JK, as "a flawed hero". I suspected him of being a good guy when Dumbledore "pleaded" to him in Half-Blood Prince. After all, Dumbledore ain't afraid of death...

Poor old Teddy Lupin...I had this hunch that JK would finish off all the Marauders, but Nymphadora Tonks too! So sad, its like Harry Potter all over again, eh? I also had this nasty feeling that either Ron or Hermione would die, but thank goodness!

Finally, the Deathly Hallows!! My sympathies go with all of you who spent precious hours speculating what it might mean. After all, who would've thought of that a cloak, ring & stone would be involved? This is the reason I don't like predicting stuff. As the saying goes, "Expect the unexpected".

The only disappointing part of this book was perhaps the epilogue. Instead of showing us our favourite characters as middle-aged parents, JK could have shown us a few after the final battle, possibly Fred's funeral, what happened to Hogwarts, the Ministry etc. But then, this didn't dampen the "WOW WHAT A RIDE!!!" effect after reading the whole book. Not for me, at least.


So our journey with The Boy Who Lived ends here, though I'll bet its effects will remain for generations to come, if not forever. Hope you, like me, enjoyed the book!

IT'S FINALLY HERE!!!!

After so many months of anticipation, we're only a few hours away from getting to lay our hands on what will surely be one of the greatest masterpieces of the 21st century; Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows. Like me, HP maniacs all over the world are counting down the hours, which seem to be dragging on for months.

I actually suffered a scare about a week ago when I realised that I didn't have enough money to buy the book, and had actually resorted to buying it next month! (oh, the horror!!). But thanks to my dear cousin, who has been borrowing my HP books for the past few years, decided to do me a favour by buying the book herself. God bless her.

Now, all you fans must be aware of the reported leaks about the story. There was the friggin New York Times for one, who decided to post a "review" on their website and gave Ms Rowling a nasty surprise. I dunno whether it was a true review or not, but I didn't read it anyway. After all, we didn't wait all these years for nothing. (there was also some idiotic guy who confidently claimed on his talkshow that Harry would be starting a muggle business at the end of the book. Git.)

So, while we're all feeling giddy with excitement, let's look back at the past books & how they've affected us (I can't believe its all going to end!!).

Book 1: I had actually seen a trailer of the Sorcerer's Stone movie (I hate it when they change the names, why couldn't it be friggin Philosopher's Stone, there's a distinct difference in the meaning of the two words) before I even learnt of this book. I saw a young Daniel Radcliffe jumping up & trying to clutch at some letters that were flying about everywhere. Then I saw Hermione teaching Ron 'Wingardium Leviosa' & everyone swishing their wands, and also the goblins at Gringotts. I thought they were conducting some wierd orchestra then, and had no idea as to what it really was. Anyway, I first read this book when I was 11 years old. A cousin of mine went abroad to India & brought the first 4 books, and recommended them to me. He claimed that they were very "funny". It was a book, plus it was funny and these were two things I just couldn't resist. It took me 3 days to read the first page, but after that, I was just glued right till the end. It was fascinating...

Book 2: I called my cousin a few days after Book 1 and managed to borrow Book 2. Spent virtually all my free time slumped on a chair and reading it. It was fantastic...

Book 3: Managed to get hold of it, but unfortunately my mom prevented me from readin coz it was during the exams after all. It was a long & agonizing wait, but I eventually got through it and spent the holidays once again slumped on a chair. I found this book a little strange though. Not in a bad way, mind but maybe coz Harry was showing signs of growing up, while I was still only 11.

Book 4: By this time, I had introduced Harry Potter to a couple of people. Both of them loved it and have remained avid fans since. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and after reading it, I was delighted to find out that the first movie was going to be released soon. Then there was that long wait till the 5th book was released.

Book 5: I remember the hype that was caused even here in Male'. They released the book at 4.00 in the morning, though I didn't go there. I only got it that evening just before I went to bed. This book was very different from the previous ones. All that time I thought I was going to read about the adventures Harry & co would be facing while they were at Hogwarts. But this book was a lot darker, more emotional & to my intense delight, looooong. A sinister plot was shaping up. Admittedly, I didn't understand some of the emotional aspects of the book, like I felt irritated at times when Harry lost his temper. I re-read this book an year or so afterwards, & understood some things that I would not have even thought of before. You know, its part of growing up. Anyway, I devoured this one in 8 days (I had to go through a tough, tight schedule...thats my excuse. I like to take my time while reading too, feeling everything thats written in it. I just don't understand these so-called "speed readers") & was already anticipating the next one.

Book 6: I just loved this one. The first few chapters where Harry spent at The Burrow & the Hogwarts Express were a little disappointing, coz I thought they were very rushed and didn't have the same emotional qualities seen in the previous books. But it was just brilliant afterwards. It was dark, it was sinister, and of course there was all the fluff and funny moments. But Ms Rowling showed her brutality by killing off one of my favourite characters at the end. I actually could not believe it at first, and reread that part. But overall I enjoyed it immensely. The plot was just brilliant.

Book 7: Here we're at last. Its been a long, wonderful journey, a journey that began when both Harry & I were 11, and its going to end with both of us as 17 year olds. Its ironic that I read the first book 7 years ago! Its goin to be a busy week for all of us (my unit tests begin next Sunday...gah!!) and I would like to wish you all the best on the final outcome of the book. I'm feeling all giddy at the moment; I can smell the book now...(and I don't care what my English teacher says; I'm NOT going to spend all week reading Newsweek instead of, according to her words, "Stupid, childish stuff like Harry Potter")

Let's all thank Jo for providing us with this miraculous feat of ingenuity. This may be the last book, but the legacy of the whole series will never die. For evidence, see Star Wars. It ended 30 years ago and still remains strong. And now I'm off.

-Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!