Harry potter

Everyone has written about Harry potter. What new are you going to write about him?
-Nothing.

I watched the 6th Harry potter movie (Half blood prince) last week and then felt the maddening urge to read the 7th book again. And thus yesterday i started to read the 7th book and finished it before i went to sleep (3 am). Harry potter 6th is probably the best of all the harry potter movies so far. As the characters have grown up, even the movie directors have come of age. It still lacks some key things such as no role of Voldermort (if you have such fine actor playing him, use it), half blood prince logic is not explained properly etc. But even with its flaws, it still a good movie to watch.

The seventh book(deathly hallows). What makes Harry potter 7 interesting is that it meets the readers expectations in terms of how the series should end. A lot of criticisms against 7 has been that the writing is very ordinary, there is no prose etc. My answer is so what? The best part to me about 7th is that it combines all the great things discussed in the first 6 books. It is like the last episode of Seinfeld where they call all the interesting characters of all seasons. In 7, we get the gringotts bank, the wand maker, the place where he was born, the chamber of secrets, the roof of requirements, the pub in hogsmeade, kreacher, dobby etc. Everyone gets a part to play in the final conclusion and it is done in a way that fits everything. To me Harry potter is like a puzzle where pieces come together at the end. It is very difficult to meet the expectations of so many fans and the beauty of hp7 it does so and in a way that is not only fitting but a perfect one.

One of the constant questions that are asked is Which one is better? Harry potter series or Lord of the rings? In terms of movies, there is no doubt, ofcourse it is the LOTR trilogy. In terms of books, it is a very hard question. But if i had to choose i will give my vote to LOTR. LOTR is more of a story and less of a puzzle. Harry potter is a great book to read the first time, it is a puzzle having twists and turns etc but once you know the secrets, there is little excitement to read it again. In contrast, in LOTR even if you know what is going to happen, the beauty lies in the way it happens. The writing is very nicely done. Plus LOTR talks more about the good and evil, burden, sacrifice, greed etc. It plays with these emotions very well. Its characters are better defined and have more depth in them. In harry potter, it is almost black and white either you are good or bad. But in LOTR, this is not the case. Elves and dwarfs do not like each other, Aarweh's dilemma etc.

But both are the best fantasy novels that i have read so far.