Reading update, three more to add!

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#34: Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury.

I'm not going to give you the summary of this here, because I figure that everyone BUT ME has already read this. What I want to know is, what was I reading when every single person I've talked to was reading Ray Bradbury???

#35: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling.

I know that some of you who read the blog do not read Harry Potter books, and that's fine by me. Please realize that I have read a lot of opinions about them, both pro and con, and have come to an informed decision to read them. If you want to read something about why, you might check out Steven Riddle's post over at Flos Carmeli (link to the right) about what he thinks of them, and this article from First Things. If you'd like to discuss it with me, please do so via e-mail, not via comments. I have no objection to discussion, but at this point, I think it's pretty much been done to death on the blogs. So, if you wanna talk about whether or not the books should be read, then let's email, OK?

Anyway, as to the book, much the poorest of the lot, in my opinion. The entire book was a set up for book number seven, and not enough happens until the last 1/4 of the book. As always, Rowling's characters are cardboard. These books are all about the narrative drive. And when that falls short, there's just not much there there.

A few good moments: Fleur's reaction to Bill's injury: priceless. Dumbledore's visit to the Dursley's: I wish I had his presence of mind to keep on pleasantly in the face of rudeness.

If you're a Harry Potter reader, what I'd suggest is waiting until book 7 comes out and reading 6 & 7 in tandem as one long book. That would probably be more satisfying.

#36: Belly of the Beast by Judith L. Pearson.

A nonfiction account of the WW2 experiences of a medical corpsman Estel Myers. He was taken prisoner in the Phillipines in 1941 and suffered unimaginable hardship for more than 3 years in a Phillipine POW camp before being herded onto a "death ship" headed to Japan. 1600 men started the journey, almost 1300 perished before reaching Japan. Through it all, he remained a decent, hardworking man who just decided he wouldn't die. A mind-numbing account of how inhumane man can be to man.


Wow, seems like I've read a lot lately. Well, that's coming to a screeching halt, at least in numbers. I started An Instance at the Finger Post this week. This is gonna take me awhile.

4 Comments

mind if i borrow #36?

Did you ever read Bradbury's Dandelion Wine? I liked that a lot, too.

Something Wicked This Way Comes and Dandelion Wine were two of my favorite books when I was young. I must have read each at least a dozen times.

Hi MammaT
Get hold o fthe video/DVD Something wicked this way comes as well, it was a good watch. Ray Bradbury's short stories collections are worth reading too, I think as a young adult I overdosedd on him and other writers in that fantasy/scifi genre, it would be worth going back to read him as an adult. Beats Stephen King and other potboiler writers any day.

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This page contains a single entry by MamaT published on August 3, 2005 10:16 PM.

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