HP7

At last , I have read the finale of the famous series. I'm so happy to reach the end, if only to find a closure to this much over-rated series. To celebrate my completion of the series, here is a recap of what I think of each book.

Book 1 - The Sorcerer's Stone

Short and enjoyable, I think of it as a boarding school story (ala Enid Blyton's Mallory Towers) with a magical twist to it.

Book 2 - The Chamber Of Secrets

A little more elaborate than the 1st one. Still ok as a simple children's story. I really enjoyed her inventive ideas on Muggles, Squib, Quidditch etc.

Book 3 - The Prisoner Of Azkaban

Here is where JK Rowling starts getting more creative, and more long winded. Very enjoyable , and the climax of the story regarding time manipulation is a nice touch.

Book 4 - The Goblet Of Fire

The best book of the series , here is where things really gets exciting. A highly inventive Quidditch World Cup starts off the story, an exciting Triwizard tournament and it ended with the resurrection of Lord Voldemort. With both the good and evil side gearing up for the ultimate battle, I just cannot wait to get my hands on the next book.

Book 5 - The Order Of The Phoenix

How I wish the series will just end with Book 5 . Instead I have to suffer 3 more books before I get the ultimate battle promised in Book 4. Back to Book 5, this one is a real yawn , lots of teenage angst and romance, and what the heck is The Order of the Phoenix , again ? Yawwnnn ...

Book 6 - The Half Blood Prince

More problems for the teenagers, more underground rebellion for the adults . And oh yeah , for this book, I know what the title means ... the Half Blood Prince refers to Snape, but why is he half blood ?? Don't remember , and don't care to remember ....

Book 7 - The Deathly Hallows

More red herrings thrown our way ... the Deathly Hallows ? I find that I don't even care to know what the Deathly Hallows are, just gimme the ending fast !

And it finally did end .... a little sad to say goodbye to the Boy Who Lived with us for like 10 years. And we know that he did get married and have kids and probably lived happily ever after. Kids ?? Yikes ??!! Can there be a Harry Potter The Next Generation ?

Fantasy Books to Movie Adaptation: Love Them, Hate Them

Would I say I love or hate the way many classic fantasy books have been adapted to movies ? Well, I cannot say that I truly hate them, for I am always excited whenever Hollywood announce such projects. I do not really love them too (except maybe for the Peter Jackson's LOTR) , for what we usually get are dumbed down, Hollywoodised fantasy turned into action movies.

Reading any book , especially fantasy genre , requires a huge dose of imagination. I would say my imaginations usually exists in 2 dimensions, rather like figures in a comic book. In a movie, to see my imaginations take shape in 3D, in full colours, in impossibly beautiful scenery settings is wonderful, but at the same time sad. For these beautiful scenes will overwrite my initial visions. The feeling is just not the same anymore, and even if I reread the books, I find it hard to recapture the initial feelings. And then, I realise these new visions does not even belong to me , but to the directors' , and shared by millions of viewers.

In the end, there is only hope. Hope that the producers and directors do their best to keep true to the story. It is a good chance book lovers to share with movie lovers in the wonderful stories, and along the way, also bring new fans that will read the books because of the movie.

Light is The Left Hand Of Darkness

So that is the answer to the rather cryptic title of this book.

It took me more than one year to finish this book, and the book has accompanied on 2 working trips to Japan. This has been one difficult book to 'digest' , although Ursula K. Leguin has always has my deepest respect and admiration for her Earthsea series.

This book about the world of Genthen has two interesting concepts as its basis : that it is an icy and genderless world.

It is really fascinating to see how Genthenians adapt to a world stuck in perpetual Ice Age. From clothes to transport to housing and the physiological aspect, the Genthenians has evolved to adapt to the harsh environment. It is thought-provoking to ponder what will happen to us, human beings when another Ice Age strike Earth, for surely we will survive, but how ?

The concept of being genderless most of the time is interesting too. For the Genthenians will only turn into a male or female during the "kemmering" state, a few days in a month when they are sexually active. For the rest of the time, they are neither a she nor a he, with no sex drive at all. As the world is not divided into the dominant and docile sex, the concept of war and agression is unknown to them. Thus, Genthen turns out to be a peaceful but harsh world. It really makes one rethink about "All men are equal" in a new light.

Although this is one interesting story, the pace of the story crawled slowly, as the writer lavishly create this world. This is certainly not a page-turner , but an elegant story set in a interesting world that rightly deserve its status as a sci-fi classic.

Quill , the Japanese film

Quill was shown on 8TV as a Labour's Day special . Quill chronicles the 11 years of life of a Labrador that became a guide dog for the blind . Although I was surprised it was dubbed in Cantonese , the voice actors did quite a good job here .

I expected Quill to be a touching tale of a dog's life . But the film style here is more documentary-like , which can get quite boring . Although Quill is quite a cute Lab , the funny or touching moments are few and far in this film . The problem is Quill is such a good , restrained dog that there is not a single bark from him throughout the film . His happiness or unhappiness is expressed by a few whimpers at most . The viewers only get to know of Quill's feelings through the narrator of the story .

I love dogs but somehow dogs that does not bark seem unnatural to me . I think I would much prefer Marley (of the The World's Worst Dog fame) more than the obedient Quill .