Finally Finished Half-Blood Prince

[selenite0]

Yep, Dumbledore bit it. Which I expected:

sooner or later, the mentor has to step aside (or fall by the wayside) for the others to grow into the hero's journey. - JMS

It was time, possibly past time. I also think it was being used to put Snape on an arc similar to Anakin Skywalker’s—by committing this act of evil, he’ll now be trusted by the evil one and get close enough to strike at the right time. If the next book ends with Voldemort blasting Harry with lightning-curses and Snape grabbing him and tossing him into a pit, JKR needs to have her copy of Return of the Jedi taken away permanently.

I think the whole "get this secret from Slughorn" subplot was just a training exercise to show Harry that some problems can't be solved by pointing a wand at them. Dumbledore manipulating to the last.

Ginny took "breaking up for the good of humanity" awfully calmly. I figure she’s just waiting for him to get down and lonely so she can snog him at the wedding. While remaining broken up, of course—"just this once, it doesn’t mean anything." Followed by other snoggings of opportunity and then being romantic post-war.

Hmmm. PREDICTION: If they go All The Way three chapters before the end of the book Harry snuffs it in the final confrontation.

Overall I enjoyed it. Not among my top favorites, but I’ll cheerfully read it to the kids. I’ll agree that the the Tom Riddle origin story is trashing hell out of the "choices decide fate" moral. But I’ll blame that on British immersion in history rather than secret agendas.

Comments

[mycroftca.livejournal.com]

Amen to the second line of your post.

I simply wasn't sure if Dumbledore would fall away in this book or the next one. For that matter, he might not have died, but might have been captured in the last novel, leading to the confrontation between Harry and Tom.

[phoenixsinger.livejournal.com]

I really enjoyed the "secret from Slughorn" plot. Even if Dumbledore was being manipulative (which of course he was, anything else would have been out of character) it is still a valuable lesson.

I think anybody who dated Harry had to expect the "breaking up for your own good" speech. And I give Ginny the sense to understand his heart wasn't in it. Yup, he'll split up with her--till Voldermort is dead. Wouldn't really want Harry as a significant other anyway. Way too many issues.

JK keeps getting darker and darker. Wait a while to read this one to the kids, OK? Though I have to admit this wasn't nearly as harrowing a read as OotP. Sirius' death was more unexpected to me. He had been my favorite character, someone I identified with.

As for Patrick, he's hopeless. When I allowed him to guess who had killed Dumbledore, then informed him he was wrong with "Harry", his response was, "There are other characters in these books?"

I've gotten him to read about half of Sorcerer's Stone, and that's all. He said these were really kiddy books and that Quidditch was entirely too lopsided. If he'd read on a bit, they get adult enough...

But that's another rant for another time, sorry.

I don't particularly like the books he picks out for me, either.

[selenite.livejournal.com]

JKR on death of mentor:
http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/extras/aa-jointerview3.html
JKR: Yeah, well, I think if you take a step back, in the genre of writing that I'm working in, almost always the hero must go on alone. That's the way it is, we all know that, so the question is when and how, isn't it, if you know anything about the construction of that kind of plot.

ES: The wise old wizard with the beard always dies.

JKR: Well, that's basically what I'm saying, yes.