Tuesday, July 19, 2005

Now that i'm done with Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince...

ok.. i'm done with the book as mentioned previously.. Before the launch of the book, i had stopped myself from surfing around.. and looking up news on the book cos i don't want to spoil the enjoyment of the wonderful writings of Ms. Rowling.

i think that it's a really good book... and Harry displays the typical teenage behaviour. Given the amount of angst that he harboured inside him in the last book, it's nice to read about how he has accepted his 'role' in the wizardry world and what he must accomplish... in other words.. grow up and realises that he needs to have a final showdown with the Dark Lord.

i'm really glad that this book did not disappoint at all. A real page turner.. and it's great that we are finding more about the characters... the characters that we have been reading from the past 6 books. They grow on you.. that's the best part about reading a series... however.. the bad part of a series... is the waiting.. especially when it is written during your era :) This book rounds up lots of loose strings.. and preps the readers properly for the next and final book.

Ms. Rowling hasn't started on the final book yet!!.. and i definitely can't wait for it to come out. Of cos.. when it does.. i'd definitely be feeling pretty mixed-up about it. No more Potter books to look forward to!!!

Anyway.. given that i have finished the sixth book.. i've been prowling for more reads.. and of cos there had been rumors that you can find the e-book online.. and it was out even before the launch of the book. What's interesting was that Rowling doesn't believe in ebooks. And what was posted online were scams. And there were reports of a different ending too... as in it differed from the actual book. Now.. that got me curious.. after all.. wouldn't you be interested to read an alternate version?? Especially when you have nothing else to read? *boo-hoo*

So i went a-looking for ebooks of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (well.. there are no legal versions). but man.. there are so many out there... and after downloading a few different versions and from various websites... you know something??? it's the ACTUAL book!!

hrrrmmpp.. i don't know if it's a good thing or not.. i'm actually in 2 minds about it. On one hand.. i think that Ms. Rowling deserves to be paid for her talents and writing.. and not forgetting bringing the joy of reading back into the lives of the millions of people out there. On the other hand... the books are so expensive... and i detest the whole marketing of all the merchandise and the characters... i think it's too much (overkill), cheap, crappy and tacky.. then again.. the other extreme was Bill Watterson's Calvin and Hobbes... he actually hated the commercialisation of his comic strip and believes that commercialsation robbed him of his integrity and ended it (while pirates did a roaring trade with the bootleg printed tees of his comic strips).

Oh well... after so long.. i still miss Calvin and Hobbes.. i really wish that Watterson would draw his strip again... meanwhile... anyone interested in my old Calvin and Hobbes treasury collection? I want to get this!

p/s... i do wonder what Watteron is doing now... after retiring from drawing Calvin and Hobbes for so many years (10 years exactly). Does anyone knows?

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