litpick: harry potter and the deathly hallows

harry potter and the deathly hallows - j. k. rowling, scholastic, 2007

this is possibly the only review i'll be making of a harry potter book, particularly because i hadn't amassed a certain degree of interest as opposed to what i have with a richard matheson story. i wasn't at all, a potter freak, as what my wife would coin me, but rather a reader with an eclectic taste; so it seemed that potter's existence on the literary world was, i'll attest to my account, a dish for a pair of eyes to feast on. although it didn't create much of the similar attraction it had grappled the million or so readers with its tale of wizardry and stuff, i must say that it somehow provided me a sense of exuberance and transient entertainment whenever i open its velvety decorative frontispiece.

harry potter and the deathly hallows is, honestly, a joyous banquet of literary diversion to ogle on. perhaps, an appropriate curtain for the boy who has captivated millions. it would be hypocritical to say of rowling's prose to be elementary, however, such narrative fundamentality was the reason of its initial and ultimate success. harry potter's audience is a mixture of ages; of diverse upbringings; and possibly of a cornucopia of lifestyles.

deathly hallows, while the final installment of the series, has answered the many questions that has plagued the millions (or better yet, the billions) of its followers, it also managed to bring a necessary closure. closure, in a way, of rowling's yearning to end a boy's journey to childhood, and the commencement to adulthood. the book focuses more on what its readers anticipate---probably why rowling chose to satiate the queries her previous books had left dangling on the crevices, rather than an administration of last rites to a story that demands a fitting finale. nevertheless, rowling's last potter adventure bowed on an acceptably high note.

i wouldn't emphasize much on what the plot of the book decides to undertake as it would prompt unnecessary details that may or may not be considered spoilers (in anyway, i'll avoid putting in facts as much as i can). potter's adventure takes off from where the previous one ended, and in such a way that i could, perhaps, associate similarities with lucas' star wars or tolkien's ring trilogy. however deftly woven to form a plausible course to conclude such a fantastic machination. from the whereabouts of minor characters that unexplicably find themselves on the rearview; backstories of mentor-apprentice relationships; to allegiances that we didn't think could transpire. the lack of details on the events leading to the final chapter is one thing i perceive worthy of rash disappointment, but i won't complain.

rowling's reported announcement of her decision to ditch potter's story for a serious endeavor in writing has secured harry's legacy. to many, it could define a desertion of sort. to others, it might meant closure befitting a wonderful tale. for some, it merely suggest that fans of harry potter can now take rest.

litpick: ring

Ring - Koji Suzuki; Vertical Press, Inc. 2006 (originally published 1991)
Sadako in prose is frighteningly real than the Sadako in film. Koji Suzuki's attempt at horror fiction is Japanese gothic. Nakata's storytelling is eyecandy. No wonder, many say the book is better than the film. Pop-culture tastes like Matheson casserole. Film is particularly faithful, though the tickle in the frightbone is purely visual. Kills the thinking. Numbs the imagination. Leaves no room for the mind to function. Suzuki's narrative arrives straight. No chaser. Omits the tv monster for plausibilities. Suzuki's moniker as the Japanese answer to Stephen King is overrated. Blurb cliches read compelling and well-written, save for minor translation glitches and redundancies. Plot twists on Sadako revolves on noirish similiraties, trudges crime and science fiction with rooms to maneuver and think horror. Read with the lights on, I advise.

the butcher

Le Boucher - Claude Chabrol

Chabrol's moniker as the "French Hitchcock" somehow lives up to his name (I think the comparison to the master of suspense is rightly justified in someway). Although the film starts pretty slow and Chabrol's emphasis on the character development does a great deal of significance to the outcome of the plot, i believe it is safe to say that the suspense comes from the nature of relationship of the two characters rather than on the events that precipitated the whole shebang. The film tells the story of Helene, a schoolteacher (Stephanie Audran) and her slightly-clandestine affair with the town butcher, Popaul (Jean Yanne), and the series of killings that rock the small village. The plot is not particularly complicated, and Chabrol's focus on the humanity of the characters only allow enough space for the killings to transpire. There are hints of Hitchcockian conflicts to note: the shared secrets and suppressed guilts, and Helene's discovery of the real identity of the perpetrator that ultimately results in a surprising ambiguity.

My Night at Maud

Ma Nuit Chez Maud - Eric Rohmer

I think that it was pretty appropriate that I managed to see this for the season. Although devoid of religious inflections, somehow its blatant sketch of the moral dilemma the protagonist exuded is enough reason not to watch The Passion of the Christ nor The Ten Commandments for Lent. Rohmer's film is not heretical at all, even for the fact that most arguments presented revolves on Blaise Pascal's philosophies versus the church's preachings. Trintignant plays the morally conflicted bachelor whose stringent Catholic beliefs taught him that he could never be with a woman unless he is bound to marry her. Soon, he finds himself spending the night with a divorced doctor named Maud and the exchange of words between them is somewhat witty (sometimes I think Linklater must have made some riffing of his own to his Before Sunrise/Sunset) and profound but likewise sensible. It's basically a feel-good morally-resolved love story, but not in your run-of-the-mill sort of way.

reposts

i'm doing a repost of the mini-reviews i made at PinoyDVD...

so, read on.