"J.K. Rowling’s monumental, spell-binding epic, 10 years in the making, is deeply rooted in traditional literature and Hollywood sagas — from the Greek myths to Dickens and Tolkien to Star Wars — and true to its roots, it ends not with modernist, Soprano-esque equivocation, but with good old-fashioned closure: a big screen, heart-racing, bone-chilling confrontation and an epilogue that clearly lays out people’s fates. Getting to the finish line is not seamless — the last portion of the final book has some lumpy passages of exposition and a couple of clunky detours — but the overall conclusion of the series and its determination of the main characters’ storylines possess a convincing inevitability that make some of the pre-publication speculation seem curiously blinkered in retrospect."
Link.
ADDED: Where did she get her copy? At the bookstore apparently...
"A copy of [the book]...was purchased at a New York City retail outlet today, although the book is embargoed for release until 12:01 a.m. this Saturday."
Okay, I'm, like blogging the review as I read it. I'm going to stop, read the whole thing, and then blog it.
ADDED: Okay, it turns out there are too many spoilers in the NYT review (!), so I'm not going to read it until after I read the book.
10 comments:
It's not too bad. You probably read the worst of it. She doesn't say who gets killed.
You're just a make-believe friend. Should I trust you?
I wonder how many kids (and big kids) get the book at midnight and skip to the end! I just saw the movie of the 5th book tonight - how fun, 3-D glasses and all.
I hope it isn't spoiled for too many folks. Myself, I haven't a clue who will die. I just can't imagine.
I'm going to go see the movie on Monday after jury duty. I can't wait. I want to see the movie before I start the book. I'd like to reread Half-Blood Prince before starting the new book, but that ain't gonna happen. (Note to self: Why not? What else have you got going on?)
Apparently, we have it on Imax and 3-D Imax. I saw Croching Tiger Hidden Dragon on 3-D Imax, and wasn't wild about the 3-D part. But I'll see whatever they've got seats available for when I get there on Monday.
Yeah, you shouldn't trust me at least until I send you that text message! But I'm not sure if I'll get a chance to sit in a bar again before I go on vacation.
Maybe Friday or Saturday I'll TM you from Hartstene Island, a place that's so obscure that Mapquest acts like it doesn't know about it. I'm sure I'll be inspired by the Chateauneuf-du-Pape and the nice little Burgundy I'm bringing, but I doubt there will be any reception. (And I may not want to ruin the "Here's to good friends, tonight is kind of special" rustic island campfire mood by breaking to text-message my blog buddy.)
Or maybe Tuesday I'll text-message you from Niagara Falls, a place I never thought I would ever visit (until this morning when a friend called and asked if I wanted to day-trip there from Toronto). Right now international TM-ing sounds a little extravagant for an imaginary friend, but I'll probably get tipsy enough that it will seem like a great idea!
Yeah, don't break any vibes.
Niagara falls--no kidding. That always reminds me of Lois Lane.
Don't 100% count on not having to serve on a jury. I got called a couple years ago and was shocked that I ended up having to serve on a 1.5-week criminal trial.
Not that I tried to get out of it or anything, but somehow I ended up telling the attorneys how I'd
just visited someone in jail. I thought for sure the prosecutor would kick me off.
We ended up being a hung jury in the end, in a sad, sad case about a couple of rowdy teenage roommates, one of whom shot the other.
Though I did not agree (at all) with many of their conclusions about whose testimony was most convincing, I reluctantly sided with the majority and their guilty verdict. The judge made us deliberate for two whole days, trying to convince the stubborn holdout juror to come around to our way of thinking. Ugh. As the one who was closest to his side, I did most of the talking, while everyone else got so irritated that they started insulting the poor guy.
Anyway, the moral of that story for me was hope and pray that you never have to decide whether to submit to a jury trial, the ultimate crap shoot.
I was on a trial in 1999 or 2000 (poss'n w/ intent to sell cocaine base [i.e., crack, 50 grams to be specific]; verdict: guilty). I thought it was a positive experience. There were disagreements but I felt we came to the correct verdict. I thought about it for several weeks afterwards. I felt then, and I continue to feel, that we made the correct decision. I would be delighted to serve on a jury again, but not right now.
I have two reasons to believe they'll let me go: 1) it would be a financial hardship because I'm self-employed and I'm in a crunch, and 2) just last year when I wasn't working at all, I did a 180-hour internship at the Public Defender's Office.
From my experience during the last trial, I learned a lot of people who appear for their summons in San Francisco do not speak fluent English and this is strongly disqualifying (although not entirely, because one of the jurors did appear to possess strong English-speaking skills in the juror room).
I was surprised to be selected then because I lived in the neighborhood just a few blocks where the alleged crime allegedly occurred, and I am a chemist and there was extensive chemistry testimony.
Pizza just came. So I gotta go.
So, I think it could go either way in terms of them selecting me. But I don't think they would select, impanel, and get very far on the same day. I'll be out before 4 or 5. Plenty of time to see a movie on a Wednesday before the evening rush.
I mean Monday.
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