Godless Mom in the Bible Belt

Tuesday, July 19, 2005

Don't worry, no spoilers.

I finished Harry Potter last night, it was my favorite book thus far.

I first discovered Mr. Potter when I was pregnant with Liz. I had heard of this new sensation that was sweeping the world but I figured I had more important things to read at the time (arrogance.) Once I discovered I was going to have a child in my life I decided I'd better take the time to reacquaint myself with various bits of kid's pop culture so I wouldn't be an entirely lame parent.

I picked up the first couple of Harry Potter books and grudgingly opened to the first page. Two days and two books later I was hooked. Ms. Rowling has created such a fun world and such interesting characters it is almost impossible to not immerse yourself completely.

I've thoroughly enjoyed the movies thus far too, my only problem being that now when I read the books I see Daniel Radcliffe's face instead of the Harry I originally imagined. But Daniel has a nice face (and I predict it will be an incredibly handsome face in adulthood) so I don't mind this small invasion of cinema into my book brain.

Brain candy? Yes. Very simple read? Yes. Totally worth the time and effort? Definitely!
posted by GodlessMom, 6:54 AM

11 Comments:

Blogger dddragon said:

I finished it last night. I've thoroughly enjoyed the series, and have read them all multiple times. My Kiddies started out being about the same age as Harry and I read the first couple of books to them. These are just the kind of book I enjoyed (along with Science Fiction) when I was a kid, and continue to enjoy.
Posted at 7:40 AM  

Blogger Fred said:

I finished the book this morning. I thought this one was well done; maybe the best of all.
Posted at 8:56 AM  

Blogger S said:

I've only read a handful of the books, restrained by time, not lack of interest, and I really like them as well. I liked the movies and thought they did a great job of casting the charcters, Ron and Hermione especially look just like I pictured them from the books. I ws a bit dissapointed in the last movie when the kids were wearing "trendy" street clothes, it seemed weird, but I guess there was a reason for it. I think we'll have to wait a bit to get the new book, maybe birthday or something
Posted at 9:03 AM  

Blogger dAAve said:

I guess something is SOOOO wrong with me that I have no interest in these things. I seem to be the only one. Oh well, it helps to complete the circle.
Posted at 9:28 AM  

Blogger BarbaraFromCalifornia said:

You and dddragon! I am so impressed with both of you!
Posted at 9:32 AM  

Blogger Kim said:

I have only read the first one, and I did enjoy it. However, I have never felt the urge to read further, except when the whole world is talking about the new book. I went to College Board's AP National Conference this weekend, and everyone, not just English teachers, was talking about the book. I was actually surprised that so many were so interested in this book. Maybe I should check out all the other books too.
Posted at 10:19 AM  

Blogger Saur♥Kraut said:

I just finished it last night and agree, this is the best one yet. Some of her earlier writing was a bit awkward, but this flowed and is truly an excellent novel.
Posted at 12:51 PM  

Blogger Blueberry said:

I am re-reading Order of the Phoenix while my husband gets the honor of hogging the new one! Glad to hear ya'll enjoyed it. We both love the series, they are just so addictive!
Posted at 3:50 PM  

Blogger TLP said:

Everyone seems to agree that it's very good. I love the series.
Posted at 4:26 PM  

Blogger Saur♥Kraut said:

I love the series too. I never could understand that Christian fundies who slammed the series but were OK with the Narnia series. But that's OK by me, or I would've been elbowing them out of the way too.
Posted at 8:40 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

They're ok with Narnia and Lord of the Rings because they were written by avowed Christians so they can't bear a bad message. Also, the real heroes of both stories are people who don't use magic; meek, Christesque figures who prevail through hope, love and honesty.

In Narnia, the Witch is evil, in Lord of the Rings, Magic leads to death and destruction. Even though Gandalf is one of the heroes, he is not always trusted by the magicless Men and Hobbits, the real heroes.

At any rate, that's my guess, it's all really bizarre to me. The key here is that kids are reading like never before. Besides, correct me if I'm wrong, but it sure seems like Jesus used a lot of magic himself.

Much ado about nothing, they're afraid of anything that might make people think or look at the world differently, especially children.
Posted at 8:52 AM  

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