Movie Review : What's A Nice Girl Like You Doing In A Place Like This?

A Martin Scorsese Original! Student Film Now On Youtube!

Here it is.

Made in 1963, this 9-minute, Black-and-White, Eclectic Piece shows just what the guy is made of. A Dead-pan Dark Comedy, it follows the life of Algernon (Harry to his friends), an aspiring writer, and what happens to him after he acquires a painting of a boat. Well he gets obsessed with it, thats what happens! He tries to get over it, to reclaim what little life he had, to write at all, but to no avail. He goes to an analyst (Ah, the sixties,) holds parties, gets laid, gets married, goes on honeymoon, has children, but is still obsessed :(

Eventually, he becomes so obsessed, well, you can probably guess what's coming. Or maybe not. Watch the film. It's as funny as only the Dead Pan-est of comedians can be, has Excellent Avant-Garde Direction (lets see who can identify all the Scorsese fixtures!) Editing of the kind that can only be found in the fifties or very good parodies of Narrative-driven, documentary style films of the period, and the Script! This from Scorsese? Who knew!

Seriously, Watch It!

That link again, is.

Movie Review : Rhapsody In August

I finally popped my Kurosawa Cherry and I have to say, it was a little disappointing. Not nearly as long as I would have liked, no intensity, and I can't believe I had to wait half an hour before - Anyway, here it goes.

Rhapsody In August, 1991, is one of Akira Kurosawa's last films. It could be said to be one of his weakest films (just my luck) but is nevertheless well-made, and a good story. The film centers around an old lady, Grandma Kane, a Hibakusha, and her four Grandchildren one summer in her home in the mountains near Nagasaki. Kane is a Bomb survivor (that's what Hibakusha means) and a Bomb widow - her husband was teaching in a school near Ground Zero on the day. Forty-five years later, they get a letter from Hawaii, from someone claiming to be Kane's older brother, who moved away before the war and built a Pineapple Empire (Those Damn Imperialist Japs!) from scratch. The kids' parents go to visit them, leaving them with Grandma, who doesn't really remember her 10 brothers and sisters, and frankly, doesn't care.

Here is where you really start seeing what the film is about - The Generation Gap, their differences in viewpoints, the clothes they wear, things like that.

The kids (who wear jeans and t-shirts with American brands on them) have a difficult time adjusting to life in their Grandma's simple country home, where they are bored out of their skulls. Their primary concern is convincing Grandma to agree to go to Hawaii, because that would be so cool. They reconnect with the Nagasaki Situation, because earlier it was something they just read about in school. They visit Ground Zero, and their Grandfather's school, where a mangled, half-melted jungle-gym is left as monument to those who died on August 9 (Some critics have said this sequence, among some others, seemed to antagonize Americans and showed a very biased, one-sided view of the War; but personally I feel it was a depiction of the Aftermath of the War.)

Grandma, almost stereotypically, really enjoys taking care of her children, and telling them stories of her younger days - about the day of the Bombing, the Kappas in the waterfall, and her brothers. The children, though attentive, seem to have a hard time to actually connect to the situation (but the children were definitely weak characters and were mainly in the film to either listen to Grandma Kane or narrate about Nagasaki) The children are best seen as a representation of the third generation (Sansei, Look at me go!) after the Bomb, showing that they care, while still being hopelessly disconnected, and of course, still being kids from the eighties.

Kane's children return from Hawaii, raving about their new rich relatives; revealing something else about Human Nature, and (I guess) the Japanese equivalent of Baby-Boomers. They hadn't told the Hawaiians about Grandpa dying because of the Bomb, in case they offend them (and more importantly cause them to lose their possible Pineapple Plantation jobs), but they find out anyway, because of a telegram Grandma sent.

The Hawaiian brother's son, Clark (Richard Gere), who is a Second-Generation Japanese American (Nissei, I'm getting really good at this) comes when he finds out, and expresses his sorrow over not realizing it before. There is a scene where he first meets Grandma Kane, and apologises for not doing much for his Aunt, to which she replies "That's all right" in Japanese, and "Sank You Bery Much" in English, which was again taken by critics to be depicting an American apologizing to a Japanese for the Bomb, failing to see it as a Japanese-American apologizing to a Family Member, for personal reasons. Clark's visit, Kane's children's dreams of riches, are stopped short when they receive a telegram telling him of his father's (Kane's Brother's) death. Kane feels deeply for this, apologizes for not meeting her brother one last time before his death, after which she starts reliving the past, braving the storm to go to Nagasaki to find her husband in the final scene.

I couldn't find any of the famed Kurosawa trademarks except for the use of the Weather to forward the story and reflect emotions, and the fine authenticity of the costuming and other 'minor' props. Not a single wipe, in other words.

The film contains some memorable scenes, such as the one where Kane's friend comes to meet her, to remember those who died on the day, and they sit across from each other, talking by being completely silent; When they hold the memorial at the Buddhist shrine Kane goes to, and the youngest grandchild sees a line of ants from the shrine to a blazing pink rose, referencing a song the children keep singing, Schubert's 'Heidenroselein'. And of course the final scene of the film, where Kane is seen walking into the torrential rain, with just her frail umbrella for protection, while her grandchildren run after her; the absolute final scene being Kane marching against the storming rain, her umbrella turned inside out by the wind, resembling a flower, held like a gun, with the strains of the Heidenroselein song heard in the background.

I still don't know what the song actually means, but it makes for one helluva scene.

Not exactly what I expected of Kurosawa, but still worth a watch. His older stuff is much better I've heard.

Here's a collection of better reviews for the film.

Book Review : The Manticore's Secret

I don't know why I do this to myself. This among other things.
Fool me once and all that.

The Manticore's Secret is the sequel to Simoqin (See the post on that if you want to know how I feel about that) and is just as dissappointing. I still don't know why I did this, I can't even read it for more than a couple hours each day, took me like a few to get through the whole, damned, 500 pages of black ink, self-indulgent, somyGodssoHollow I can hear the irrelevant echoes of Yuppie Git ringing through my head even now. I would die inside if it weren't for you Mama Cass.
You should ignore that last part if you aren't Mama Cass.

The plot follows Kirin, Maya, Asvin, Spikes, Djongli, Amloki, (introducing) Red and a myriad of Exciting! characters through what I'm sure the author would like to think is an intricate plot but is really just confused (too many loose ends, too much presumption, if X always knew A about Y, as stated on pg 376, e.g, why didn't they do something about it before, like say pg 10, or even when everybody was just lying around waiting? If J is possible, why hasn't it been seen before? If everybody is not to be trusted, in this labyrinthan exploration of political intrigue, why do they, even though they know what the other is trying to do to them? Do you really expect us to believe you aren't making this up you as you go along? and so on)

New characters introduced every few pages, creatures introduced as soon as the author can finish reading his 'reference' books (nudge-nudge wink-wink), an inherently stupid (and downright offensive, to me at least) mixture of High Fantasy and Pop Culture referential humor (Scary Movie 3, Epic Movie, and the like) (My Gods the Matrix most of all. And he didn't even take the good parts, just the fight sequences. Stupid Stupid Stupid.)

And I'm really not trying to get personally here (cause then the shit would really start flying) but Godssakes Man Read A Book! A Real One! There Is A Place To Experiment and Prolesytize, But This Is Not It! Collect Your Thoughts, For One. Everything doesn't have to be all or nothing, End-of-the-World, Meaning of Life shtick. Especially not stories stapled together from bits of your favourite books from when you were fourteen (or older perhaps, I dont this guy, but seems a lot like me) held together by people you made out of cardboard.

Or maybe I'm just upset I paid 300 bucks for it, I don't know.


P.S. - If anyone (who has read the book, although I strongly suspect the only one who reads this blog ever will be V) was wondering about the Chubbies (ugh) they're TeleTubbies crossed with creatures from Galaxy Quest (Alan Rickman, Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, you remember.)

Movie Review : The Simpsons Movie

Spider-Pig, Spider-Pig,
Does Whatever A Spider-Pig Does,
Can He Swing, From A Web?
No He Can't, He's A Pig.
Look Out, He's Spider-Pig

Now how can you not laugh at that?
Maybe if it was someone other than Homer Simpson doing it.
Well, a smile at least.
There you go.

The Simpsons Movie (Drumroll Please!) can be called the work of 17 years and many, many fine artists come to fruition; or, alternatively, another merchandizing shtick by the Fox Corporation to cash in on the Simpsons before people get too brainwashed on Family Guy.
Either way, It's about time! The Simpsons Movie is 87 minutes of Good Old Fashioned Irreverant DisFUNctional Family Fun! Also Including Thrills! Chills! Satire! Prophecies! Itchy And Scratchy! Self-Parody! Underage Frontal Nudity! The Environment! And Spider-Pig!
Spiderpig, Spiderpig....

Ha Ha Ha Anyway, the film follows roughly the same format for a regular Simpsons episode - The Family goes somewhere, which leads to something happening, either to, or because of them, which leads to something else happening (all of this takes about half the time of the whole show,) and the rest of the show is spent trying to fix what they did because of the first thing. In this case it was Green Day Concert, Environment-Protection Measures, Dome Put Over Town To Prevent Leak Of Deadly Mutanagenic Pollutants, Saving Town From Imminent Annihilation, in that order. I'm not going to go into details, I'm sick of that.

Well, OK, but just a few gags and thats it. You're gonna have to see the film to find out about Cargill and Boobie-Lady.
The film opens with an Itchy and Scratchy episode to end all I&C episodes, revealing the lust for power and glory present in the hearts of all mice. Later, we see Homer daring Bart to skateboard naked through the streets of springfield (and dares the universe to protect his modesty, so to speak) (Look, Just watch the film, OK) and Homer riding a bike in a 'Maut Ka Gola!' (if anyone remembers their Circuses right.) And SpiderPig of course.

But the gags are just the tacky highlights, the spit that really holds the hair together is the strain of Love and Family that form the back-current of the story - The complex relationship of a couple after years of marriage, the questioning of a father's love after years of alienation, and, uh, I'm sure Lisa and Maggie are in there somewhere as well.

But really, the film is a true embodiement (emfilmment didn't really sound right, so...) of the Simpsons Series. It's particular form of Satire, (which by the way, still hasn't been truly ripped-off. People have tried, but failed. Badly.) is still intact in the film (which is more than I can say for some of the newer episodes) all the while maintaining a timeless quality. The plot follows the usual arc for a half-hour episode, except on a much larger scale, but not enough to be considered a milestone (other than of course, being the First Simpsons Movie.)
According to sources, the film underwent almost a hunded script changes, many during production, which almost never happens in an animated film due to budget concerns. If anyone remembers many things from the older theatrical trailer were also cut from the movie. Matt Groening has gone on record saying that almost two film's worth of material was cut from the film, but would be included in the DVD (Sources linked on Wikipedia Page).

Last paragraph-ly, recommended for Simpson's fans who miss the older episodes, recommended for fans who like the newer ones, recommended for noobs who want to see what the big deal is about. Very little of the humor is Pop-Culture-Specific, and even then plays on the image of the US as held by the Right Minded People (who not long ago really were Right Minded People, but are now Left Minded People.) The subtle humor of the film (as opposed to Naked Skateboarding and Mutant Squirells) tackles the Simpsons' two favourite topics, Politics and Religion. But, to be more on the point, it takes on the Simpsons themselves, what they have put up with all these years, how they have grown, and how they will move forward.
As Maggie puts it in the Easter Egg over the credits - "Sequel."

Movie Review : Marie And Bruce

Marie And Bruce (2004) (That's Right, No Link. It's Just That Good,) is a 2004 film based on the 1978 Play of the same name by Wallace Shawn (You remember him. You won't know his name, but you remember. Some might remember him as Susan's clingy Agent from Despo, other's as a Voice they heard on many Pixar films, some might even recall the Comedy Director from the Prelude to Melinda & Melinda. If you do remember that scene from Melinda & Melinda, keep that in mind, because it reflects Wallece's style so much it's almost ripped-off from his earlier cult classic, My Dinner With Andre, which is notable enough to deserve a link.)

Starring Julianne Moore and Matthew Broderick, the film relates the events of one day in the married life of Marie (See Above) and Bruce (Likewise;) that day being the End of the Beginning of the End of their Marriage - a time when the Typewriters are thrown out the Windows, the Unsaid is Said and the Darlings are added for the extra sting. It's a Comedy.
The film follows the two, both Neurotic, Hostile and just a little bit Pathetic, on their day, as they run errands, attend a party and end the evening with a dinner for two. Marie is featured for much the first part of the film, showing her frustrated demeanour and utter desperation, while being tired and sick at the same time. The heat wave going on doesn't help either, and only adds more for the actors to work off (It looks better in a bad marriage if you're sweaty and wearing a washed-out slip and slippers). Marie's real sickness (she has the flu) is compared to the feelings of sickness - fatigue, nausea, headache - that she has left for Bruce (which are portrayed excellently by Julianne Moore in her scenes with Matthew Broderick.) Away from Bruce though, she has the most surreal experiences, those that highlight the sense of peace and calm she craves and fantasizes about; of finding quiet little gardens and charming company among the dead concrete of New York. Her day focuses more on what she makes of her surroundings, or rather what she wants to make of her surroundings, her senses sometimes working with her, sometimes against. Who we first see as a Bored, Vindictive Nag, actually start feeling sorry for by the end.
Bruce on the other hand, we first see as a Meek, Spectacled Cuckold, in a corner and harassed by his old lady (who begins the day by throwing his typewriter out the window.) He has lunch with his friend before the party, where he enjoys a humorous, and historically significant anecdote about New Yorks sewer system, and a memo regarding their construction. In the later part of the film, when Marie has reached the party after her Surreal experience, we have Bruce relating his day, which really makes us rethink the Shy Dork persona we had chalked him up as. He spends his day walking around aimlessly, doing and thinking nothing much. He goes to a diner, wonders whether he should help a woman sitting next to him with her (possible) sorrows, and then maybe go up to her apartment to fuck her, but decides against it when his (extremely) clumsy attempt falls through; instead, he checks into a seedy hotel to masturbate, where he spies on a woman in the building across the road. All this makes him lose track of time, so he rushes (walking quickly in long strides so as to avoid sweat) to the party. Bruce's description of all this is about as interesting as mine.
At the party their dynamic from breakfast is continued, except Marie is perhaps more sick and tired (mainly from the inane, meaningless conversation around her,) and Bruce has the upper hand for a while. They talk for a while (which is the really fun part,) even though Marie is trying to tell Bruce that she is becoming physically sick and Bruce is just out to have a good time with his friends.
After the party, they leave for dinner, where the Finale takes place. Like the rest of the film, it would be difficult to describe without going line-by-line, but her's a rough outline. Hollow Bruce cannot understand what Sick Marie is trying to tell him, even though she's so pent-up she's practically bursting, and after Bruce gets put-down by the loud men in the next table, Marie let's it all fly out and tells Bruce she's leaving him. Bruce of course doesn't understand, even when Marie describes how he is a non-living person who doesn't care or feel for any other human being, after which Marie bursts out in tears and an apology - whether it is out of the love they once had or just pity, I can't tell. Bruce still holds that she can't leave him, because He loves Her and She Him ... and he got a new typewriter to replace the one that broke this morning.
Now imagine Matthew Broderick looking puzzled and hurt and Julianne Moore screaming in frustration - It makes for a good scene. I really can't describe it well enough, but the ending is the best part of the film, with fine acting by the cast, great dialogue, direction, editing, just a damn good scene. And Funny As Hell. The film ends with them returning home, with Bruce drunk on port and Marie just supporting him till they reach home, which probably shows some insight into their relationship. Or maybe it doesn't, and that's just what they usually do. Whatever. It Ends.

Excellent Acting. Excellent Direction/Editing. Excellent Dialogue. Good Script. Watch It.

Book Review : The Simoqin Prophecies

Hmmm.
I'm still not sure about this one.
One minute I think, 'Well, it's funny, some of it. And there are a lot of references to other stuff I like. It's well constructed. And there's a few jokes, here and there. And references.'

But the next minute I think, 'It's not a spoof, it's not serious, WHAT IS IT? It's just concepts and ideas cut and pasted from other works held together by a slow, dragging plot leading up to a non-ending. Why is there so much extra, added stuff? The story is fine at its core; is the author embarrassed or something, so he feels he has to make jokes about it? Should I be excited over what is essentially a 500+ epilogue?'

Right. The Simoqin Prophecies, by Samit Basu, is, as stated on the cover, India's First Ever SFF (Science-Fiction/Fantasy) Novel in english. [Hence my predilection to hate it. Trust me on this - Any thing advertised as India's First Something, is going to be pretentious, assuming and an overall ripoff. Let's see how India's First Female President turns out (Prove Me Wrong Pratibha, Prove Me Wrong.)] The basic story revolves around Kirin, the orphan with mysterious magic powers whose parents were killed by an Evil Overlord, Maya, the tough warrior-woman/sorceress, who has a Bridget Jones-y diary, and Asvin, the bumbling hero, 'nuff said. These three are in a world populated by magical objects, fantastic races and takes on the Adventure-Fantasy-Mythology genres, with countries that might remind you of some general areas on our planet, and they have to prepare to defeat an Evil Overlord, who is about to return according to ancient prophecies. With the help of Vamans and Centaurs, Knights and Ninjas, the protagonists must train, gather magical artifact after magical artifact, and prepare for an eventual, all-encompassing War.
And the author expects us to overlook all this by claiming it's a parody.

Well, it is, I think one minute. It mocks the root, the very basics of the genre.
But, I think, It does not do that all the time. One moment it's sarcastic and playing on stereotypes, another it's ignoring those same cliches and going the same way it's supposed to be parodying.
Well you can't expect an absolute farce. It's a subtle satire, with takes on many highly regarded works, including many Indian ones. It's a light story, with a strain of parody all through the regular storyline.
Ha-Ha, I think right back, because Strain I did as the plot went from anticlimax to anticlimax, alternating between Sitcom humour and Revisionist jokes, actually some of it was pretty good, but do I have to go through twenty pages of drawling, boring exposition to get to it?

But that's not the reason why I'm so upset (I have noticed that I seem to hate contemporary authors almost on principle). I can leave aside the fact that nothing happens in the story until the 350th page, and the fact that the plot is slightly more gripping than the DaVinci Code (or its first draft Angels and Demons.) Completely disregard the internal inconsistencies that so bother a geek like me, the number of times I had to suspend disbelief, or the number of times it all
seemed to me like a bad episode of Xena.

The reason why I am so upset is because this, this whole Gameworld thing, the world its set in, the creatures, the places, even some of the characters, they wouldn't be possible without the influence, nay Inspiration from the works of a certain Pterry Pratchett. The city of Kol, while suitably Bong-connected, is a cheap xerox of Ankh-Morpork, complete with Magical University, Filthy Streets and Benevolent Dictator - speaking of whom, the two-dimensional 'Chief Civilian' does not even compare to the Patrician. The Fragrant Underbelly does not begin to touch the glory, the infamy of the Mended Drum, and stands just as an unnecessary set in the B-movie that is - I could keep this up forever. The meat of it is that Gameworld is heavily inspired from Discworld (those who don't know can pick up any Terry Pratchett book from their nearest bookstore) which is the setting of a series of comedic, satirical fantasy novels. I could go on about the similarities, but it hits you better if you read it yourself.

But wait, think I, both are parody/homages to the Fantasy genre, there's bound to be some similarities,

Not like this Sonny-Jim! Calling a Dwarf a Vaman is cute, but not very interesting when you're still talking about axe-wielding, armor-wearing, vault-building, honest-to-Tolkien Dwarves (the fact that they are urban and control much of the city's economy because of their special relationship with gold shows the Pratchett influence in Simoqin.) If we're still talking about the same thing, why bother changing it! There's no parody or revisionist element here, except maybe saying that Vamans find it insulting to be called Dwarves, which is stupid in its own way because the Sanskrit term Vaman refers to Very Short People (I can't bring myself to Little People. You might as well call them Elves.) Short People, humans in other words; Dwarf, on the other hand, refers to the Norse mythological and Fantasy creature characterized by being four-feet tall and always ready to kick your ass. What's so offensive about that? The Vaman/Dwarf thing is stupid and unnecessary, the story would have been fine without them, and I think the author just put them in there because he likes to drop names.
And even more so with Trolls - who are called Pashans in the book. Now, to those who don't know, the Discworld Troll is a thing of beauty. It really is. Terry Pratchett took the old scandinavian monster, formerly restricted to living under bridges and turning to stone during daylight, when not tying to eat goats or heroes, into the respectable, valid, silicon-based (that's Made Of Rock for those who didn' t get it) Living Beings that us fans of Discworld have grown to love and cherish. Basu put them in there for a couple of lines because they came with the bar that he lifted Ankh-Morpork, then forgot about them.
And Golems! Now this was really the last straw (actually it was the fact that he put a board game playing Goddess that really burned by biryani, but that happened later, just when I was starting to enjoy it, actually) There is one Golem in the book, and it has been taken as is from Feet of Clay by Terry Pratchett, and while it could easily have been anything else in the entire multiverse that could be used to get a person from point A to B it was in fact a Clay Robot from Discworld that pulls a Rickshaw. This was because the author has no imagination whatsoever and really loves his Fan-Fiction.

Okay, maybe that was a little harsh. And maybe this review is turning into a rant. Not to say that it is uncalled for! But there is a time and a place.
There are good things in the book as well. The introduction of Rakshases and Vanars as fantasy creatures was done with skill, althou I still don't get why the Vanars were exempt from parody and portrayed as a Cruel, Mighty, High-talking Race, who were jilted by the filthy Curs in the Cities! (Example: 'The Day is Nigh when we shall arise and have our Vengeance on the Humans! I spit at their feet, ptooey!') The characterization of the talking birds and Asurs was done well enough, but I'm too pissed about the other stuff to give a fair review. The asurs were clearly inspired from Tolkiens Orcs and were put in a Pratchettian environment; and the names of the Storks (G. Subramaniam Stork etc) could be from Jonathan Livingston Gull (only in name though.)
Another example of the excellent characterization are the Evil Artaxerxians (who have a Sultan and people called Omar,) who have an ancient rivalry with the kingdom of Avranti (who have people called Asvin and things like Asvamedh;) and the Evil Skuans from the North (who are tall and blond) who are just evil without having any one rival in particular.
Other lands mentioned are Ventelot, who are different from Skuanmark and are good for no apparent reason other than because they were good in the books the author must have read; Elaken, which have pyramids of Pharoahs (funny how some words just don't change across worlds, isn't it?) pyramids that have Scorpion Men in them who grant wishes for no apparent reason (for more on the Scorpion Man, see The Mummy Returns, which has the same Scorpion Fella described in the book; and a couple other places which could have been used for satirical or comedic purposes, but were instead used as straight analogues because the author needed someplace for Samurais and Sirens and a bunch of other stuff to come from. And he needed a lot of stuff.


But what I must get to, after all this huffing and puffing, is that it's still a readable story (Well, the second half of the book, really.) It's very familiar, but it's nicely executed, and fun - if you're the sunday driver kinds. And it's really fun to catch all the references, especially to all the works you love and admire
[Although they're mainly Pop Mythology and Monty Python's Holy Grail - and here's another thing, the difference between referential humor, and a direct ripoff - If it is in a single scene during the story, and used to gently nudge the story along or get a little laugh, it's a reference, a nod to another, better storyteller, like the Knight in the Forest ("None Shall Pass!") But if it's in a crucial suppporting role, and eventually comes of use to one of the main characters, such as saving their life or something, it's a ripoff, like Steel-Bunz.
Which brings me to another thing. Just when I was really starting to enjoy the book for what it was, there jumps up a Dice Playing Goddess (See Golem Part of Rant Above) and a were-human, both glaring Pratchett "'references.'" Around that time I gave up on the story and started feeding the fire that you see before you.]
I may have mentioned this before, but the author tries to be apologetic by being satirical, and making oblique references to better authors - like when the Sphinx cannot think of a good enough puzzle she asks "What have I got in my pockets?" and the character says that's not really a riddle, blah-blah-blah and the Sphinx says that she learned the riddle from someone, whom she then ate; and a little later when the Evil Overlord claims that he got the idea for a magic book to contain his soul, that would later help the protagonist bring him back to life, he got that idea from woman in Ventelot, whom he then ate - which shows the common theme of taking ideas and then eating those who he got it from. I really don't know what to make of this, but I'm sure it means something (presumably something not too megalomaniacal.)

In short, Creatures stolen from other books, Places stolen from Here, Forced Irrelevant Puns, Some Funny moments here and there (Imagine a Chris Martin Movie,) Characters that don't do anything on their own, but have things happen to them (Did I mention the Bumbling Hero, The Orphan whose forehead hurts a lot, and the Warrior-Woman who has the Bridget-Jones Diary and falls in Love with Idiot Hero and Mysterious Magicboy, creating the most heart-rending Love Triangle since Betty-Archie-Veronica,) Some nicely disguised Elves, Some good work with the Vanars, Nice work expanding on Rowling's Centaurs, Liked the Feluda reference (Lalmohan, heh,) liked the 'Chariot', Not much action (movement, i.e.) in the plot, Bad ending (which really messes up the entire book. The reader feels ripped off when there's no pay-off at the end;) but nothing too great. Some potential though, but I heard the next book is about completely different characters, so ...

Book Review : Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Do I even have to say it? Harry Potter. Last Book. Read It. And Weep.

The Harry Potter Phenomenon begun in 1997 with the publication of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Sorceror's Stone in American editions,) though many people missed it and only caught up when Book 4, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, came out (which also started the kind of hype now inseparable with Harry Potter.) The series relates the life (at least the interesting parts) of one Harry James Potter, who, through sheer chance, bravado, and a little love, defeats the most powerful dark wizard the world had seen in a long time.

Sounds familiar? A lot of people think so. But these are the same people who say that every story is the same, that every Hero must have his Quest, and that Star Wars is ripped off from Flash Gordon. Let us leave these individuals to their grumbling, their camomile tea, and their stuffy libraries of 'Original Works', while we review J. K. Rowling' s Harry Potter.

A work in seven volumes, straddling High Fantasy and low (comic, even) fantasy, Harry Potter is set in a world hidden among ours, a world of Magic, of Wonder, of funny little words and giggling puns; a world still rooted in the realities we face everyday, yet aloof enough to not be bothered, cool enough to make us envy it. The series follows Harry Potter's School Days as he leaves behind his abusive foster family for this Secret World of Mystery and Magic, and begins his trial-ridden journey towards solving the many Mysteries that surround him, and the Destiny that is his Birthright.
Gods know why it's so popular, though.

The latest installment, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (and as we all now know, for sure, the last one,) details Harry's coming-of-age (in a formal sense; the whole series is a coming-of-age story) and the defeat of Voldemort. While most of the books follow an almost rigid format of story progression (and this one does as well if you care to note the dates,) this one deals more with Harry, and his friends', Ron and Hermione's, attempts to bring about the downfall of Voldemort.
Armed only with bits of information, odds and ends left to him by Dumbledore, and help from unexpected sources (Voldemort, for one), Harry must race to find and destroy all Seven Horcruxes, the objects that hold pieces of Voldemort's soul; but how can he complete this impossible task when Voldemort keeps them under his very no- uh, -slits? And what of the Deathly Hallows? And all the other plot devices from the previous books, what about them? Find out that, and much more, in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows! Available Everywhere where books are sold.

[Knew I wouldn't be able to keep that up for long. So much for serious critique... No, but seriously, the book really does have that kind of feel to it. There are a lot of angry pre-pubescent Potterheads out there, and they want answers - and they want it nicely spelled out. It took Rowling four books to tell them that Harry's Mom took a curse for him (thus, entitling him to protection for life, just one of the perks of being a wizard.) And many of those very costume-wearing fans still can't believe that Snape was a good guy after all, even though you could see it coming from Book 1. And I personally had been waiting a long time for the dirt on Dumbledore, but was still waiting on that Goat story. This was another nice touch Rowling added - little references to names and incidents mentioned casually in previous books, throwbacks to memorable scenes - nice. Now, whether it was tribute to the previous books, proof that Rowling wasn't just making it up as she went along, or Fan-service, I don't know ... but I liked it. Reading the book makes you feel so warm and fuzzy inside you sort of forget about the inconsistencies. And the ending though, where I almost expected one of them to go "Tell me Punk, You Feel Lucky? Well, Do Ya!"]

Deathly Hallows broke the set pattern of the Harry-Potter story-progression (which usually coincides curiously well with the school calendar) and made the book fast-moving and gripping; following Harry as he searches for answers and direction. For perhaps the first time in the series, Rowling shows just how 'Real' Harry's world is - we see vicious, orchestrated attacks, a cunning fascist coup, what it takes to be a hero, what it takes to be a villain, the confusion Harry faces when he has no one to guide him and his friends have left him (without which a coming-of-age story is just kidding itself), the Practical versus the Romantic, Greater Good over Individual Gain, the Corrupting Nature of Power, the Dark side of Light and the Light side of Dark. The 'Darker' tone the books were taking (Although for a series that begins with a double murder, I don't know how much darker it could have gotten) was softened with the humor that was considerably less in the two previous books, while not taking from the maturing tone of the narrative or the characters' development.
The end of the series was marked by the long-awaited Final Battle between the forces of good (Order of the Phoenix, Random Schoolkids) and the forces of Evil (Death Eaters, Assorted Evil Creatures.) The plot hurries away (with some of Rowling's choicest adverbs helping it along) towards the finale, keeping you on edge (who wouldn't be, really, when you've missed that much sleep. What's that? You DID fall asleep after the first 18 hours! Hunh, noobs ...) keeping you on edge while you're still reeling from the many revelations made in the last few chapters and the loose ends are tied tight enough till you realize that there's only one thing that can happen, only one thing that must happen - You just don't know how.
Well, take my word for it. It's worth finding out the hard way.




[P.S. - Harry could have been a little more imaginative naming his kids though ...]