Book Three We begin with t he Fellowship broken, Sam and Frodo are off to Mordor, Boromir is dead, Merry and Pippen have been taken by Orcs with Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli following their trail. In the first half, we flip-flop from the kidnapped hobbits and the three companions. Even though they are under brutal, […]
Book One: We begin in Hobbiton, in preparation for Bilbo’s eleventy-first birthday, exhibiting all that is good, clean (and a little odd) in other words what is worth fighting for — a very clever and fun opening to a novel. Although the night slowly becomes dark from there. After Bilbo’s sudden disappearance and Frodo’s inheritance of […]
I read The Horse and His Boy a few years ago and remember thinking that this installment did nothing to add to The Chronicle’s storyline. After rereading it, I realized how wrong I was. Shasta and his horse Bree travel from Tashbaan to Narnia almost like someone immigrating to the United States in hopes of […]
I was so depressed after finishing Prince Caspian, learning that Peter and Susan were too old to return to Narnia, thinking these books would never be the same. Well I was wrong. Edmund and Lucy seem more mature, perhaps because their elder siblings are out of the picture, and their cousin Eustace, pompously adds humor […]
Even though I read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling every year, this time it’s different. With the up-coming last film approaching, it feels like an end to an era. I promise I won’t go weepy-eyed on you, or at least I will try… I cried, I laughed and then I […]
As I saw Sarah Palin in Dolores Umbridge in The Order of the Phoenix I’ve found Barack Obama as Harry Potter in The Half-Blood Prince. Let’s start with the basics shall we? Both Harry and Barack have been dubbed “The Chosen One” at one time or another bringing hope and the thought of change to […]
I have a whole new appreciation for this book and another reason to loath Dolores Umbridge — Dolores Umbridge is Sarah Palin! The similarities are glaringly obvious. I shall start at the beginning with her being McCain/Fudge’s right-hand man {or women}. Both where not well-known outside of their community before being promoted to a higher […]
J.K. Rowling continues to draw toward two major themes, love and prejudice. Love, through Harry with those surrounding him with a strong desire to protect him. His mother giving her life to save him, Dumbledore through the stupidity of blind love consistently finds excuses to avoid telling him the true reason Voldemort attacked thirteen years […]
Part of this may have to do with Alan Rickman’s delivery of the line but my favorite quote of all the Harry Potter books/movies is spoken by Professor Snape while substituting for the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher Professor Lupin, “Turn to page 394.” on page 394 is the chapter on werewolves and […]
There has been much debate as to when to read The Magician’s Nephew. It was the sixth book in the series to be published (1955) but in 1994, Harper Collins took possession and reordered the series chronologically putting The Magician’s Nephew first as a prequel to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Purists, often […]