Musings on the subject of Harry Potter (again)

There is a good saying in Croatian that I cannot translate into English and retain the same idea. But the gist is that while everyone talks about different subjects, the person in question always returns to the same.
In my case, that would be Harry Potter.
Well, it is the season after all, what with the last movie playing. :)

Since I'm on vacation, and I obviously needed it (vacation that is), as the only thing I can read at the moment is HP. Not being interested in reading is in my case a serious sign that I am stressed out. So, I'm de-stressing through HP, as that one always works.
And here are my musings on the subject:

• The HP series ALWAYS works when I need to relax and find peace and calm in my life.

• I hate the fact that the movies made me forget so many details from the books (especially beginning, as I usually skip that and read the longer books).

• I don't know how many times I re-read the series, but I seem to be getting all the hints as to what is to come, only now. I can see where certain points in the story are going to come back later on as important details as to what exactly is happening. And I think Rowling is a genius the way she incorporated those little hints all over the books.
• Books are much better at getting Harry's tragic and black childhood understood. Movies cannot transfer that bleakness onto the screen. Nor everything going through Harry's mind. Which brings me back to the question how much can people actually get from the movies.

• I need to learn to read more slowly. Because I think that is the reason why I missed many little gems and hints hidden in the stories.

• I wasn't sure movies ought to have had so many fun moments (especially later on) but they are there in the books as well. And I laugh much more this time around reading. I'm frustrated much more too, though.

• Bravery is something you are born with. So is the ability to be a true friend.

• I wish there was more of the backstory what happened between Hermione and Krum.

Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows, Part 2.

As you all probably know by now, I'm a huge Harry Potter fan.

So, of course I had to watch the last movie as soon as it started playing here, which was yesterday.

Basically, I am content. :)

I've had serious misgivings about The Half-blood Prince movie, but both Deathly Hallows movies were great.
Now, I have no misgivings regarding the changes they made to the story as it works great in the film, every part of the book I consider important is in this movie and in the midst of all that destruction that is the end of the Voldemort-Potter story, the movie managed to put in some scenes that make you laugh.
In my case, there are also scenes that make you cry as well.  But it's never pathetic and the love causing them feels real.
And speaking of scenes, I don't know what rating this movie has, but I wouldn't recommend children watching it. It is rather brutal and dark.

I've had no problem following the story and understanding why things happen and who did what, but again, I can't help but wonder how do people who never read the books manage to follow the story and how much do they actually get out of it? I have to think not as much as the readers of the books.

I'm not going to give any spoilers as I don't want to ruin the experience of those who didn't watch.
I just can't help but feel a sense of closure I didn't really feel after reading the book.
I guess that's due to the fact that I wanted it to go on and in the mean time, I had enough time to come to terms that the story is finished and now that I saw it on the movie screen, it finally feels done.
And I mean that in the best possible way.

As I'm already planning when to go see it again. :)


P.S. I need to add one observation more. I think Daniel Radcliffe is an outstanding actor as there are parts in the movie when one might consider his acting stilted when actually he is portraying the HP character as he is supposed to. Harry doesn't feel comfortable in all the situations happening in the book/movie and that is portrayed by Daniel's acting.

Finally a HP movie worthy of the book

Honestly, after the disaster that was the HP 6 movie, I didn't expect the first part of the Deathly Hallows to be so much better. I don't know if it was directed by the same person (I never remember these things) but if it was, I think whoever it was listened to what people had to say after movie 6. As someone who is a huge fan, I watched all the movies again previously to Deathly Hallows coming out, except for movie 6 because I'm still boycotting it. It was just a huge disappointment for me.

So, I am extremely glad that this one was everything I expected after reading the series several times. It's dark, it sticks to the story so well that I, for a chnage, didn't have any complaints as to the changes that were made for the movie, which I think is a first for me, the story feels real and the acting is excellent. There really isn't anything that I have any complaints about - except the fact that I need to wait 8 months for the last installment. But I waited so long for the last book, I can survive these 8 months. I'm a bit scared of thinking how tragic that one is going to be, but well, the book wasn't very happy (or almost at all).

One thing I'm wondering though is how are people who haven't read the books enjoying these movies?! I just can't imagine not reading the books but going to watch the movies (and I know many who did exactly that). I keep thinking they must be missing so many things I take for granted as I read the books and they have no underlying knowledge why some things happen or what they represent. Not to mention the fact that they probably forgot the stories (and little important bits of information) from the previous movies.

Can you tell I'm a huge fan? :)

Harry Potter musings

I don't want to write reviews of Harry Potter books - I could write about the Croatian translation which I was forced to read when starting the series again as I couldn't locate my English one. It's incredible how a translation can be at the same time brilliant and completely miss the point. The words JK Rowling invented were put into Croatian geniously but the language in which the book is written is in my opinion completely wrongly translated. This is a children's book and is written in such a language (I recommend it to my friends whenever someone wants to brush up on their English) but I cannot read the Croatian one in the same manner. It displays the richness of Croatian language but I have to concentrate on what I'm reading in order to understand, and I keep wondering how are the children reading it managing. And if there is one thing this book has to do, it has to be approachably written (translated) for children. But this is not what I wanted to discuss.

I wrote recently about the depressing turn my life has taken and the first thing I could think of of alleviating that pain and depression was Harry Potter books. And I'm happy to be reading them from the beginning (I usually re-read just the last 3) because the movies made me forget how many things are actually missing from them.

But the point I'm trying to make is, Harry Potter is my therapy. When I need to feel better and want to lose myself in a world where my problems don't exist, I go there (sometimes I go to Middle Earth as well, but HP is more approachable). With each reading, I get more and more from these books. The friendship, the loyalty, the bravery, all in the face of much adversity, human evil and pain (both physical and emotional).

The books are progressively darker (and longer which is a great plus) and even though people start to die, the evil starts to spread, and friends are sometimes not there for you, the reader never loses the thread of hope that being true to the human ideals we should all posess is what will win in the end and bring about a happy future.

I just finished the fourth one and I wouldn't be writing this post but reading the book 5 if only I was able to find it. Like I said, I keep offering them to people. :) So now I have no idea where it is. I'm not really worried about that (although I do wish I could have started with it tonight) - tomorrow I'm off to my favourite bookstore because they notified me that some other books I ordered have arrived, so I'll just add this to the pile. I can live with not starting to read it tonight, but tomorrow I have to go on. :)

New books challenge! Summer at Hogwarts

This one is definitely for me (yes, I'm aware I said the same for the Romance Summer challenge too). :)

But the thing is, I love Harry Potter books and I was thinking about reading some of them again but not sure where to start so now I know. At the beginning. :)

If you are interested in participating, head on over to Loving Books and enjoy. You have 2 months (summer at Hogwarts) starting June 1 to finish all 7 books (which is plenty of time).

Hope you join!

P.S. It seems she was a bit mistaken (I realized it only when I started reading the series again). Summer holidays at Hogwarts start with the July 1.