Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (JK Rowling)

Another Potter!  The third book of seven, things really start cooking in this one.  It's Harry's third year at Hogwarts, and a prisoner, Sirius Black, a servant of Lord Voldemort, has escaped from Azkaban prison.  His target appears to be Harry, and the school is on guard, expecting Black to use any means possible to reach the boy wizard.  I'll say no more about the plot.

It's taken three books, but I am starting to really get into the Potter series.  The plot twists in this one were excellently constructed and (to me) totally unforeseen.  Overall, it was really well done.

The only thing that really bothers me about the Potter series so far is this: the students always do things on their own, not involving the teachers, and get themselves in serious trouble in the process.  It certainly builds the suspense, and the concept is commonly used to do so, but it just bothers me.  Still, I must confess, the pages fly by, so I can't complain too much.

Rating: A+

The Ingoldsby Legends

The Ingoldsby Legends is a classic of old
Wherein humorous and macabre tales are told
Often in rhyme, though not all the time
And this volume brims with literary gold

"Comic verse" is often the way it's described;
Though humor's the goal, wisdom's often imbibed
by reading each story, no matter how gory
you may find it's just what the doctor prescribed

Some poems are goofy; some tales are sad
Most rhymes are witty (though some are quite bad)
Penned in a hurry, by a man without worry
And no less than a minister, I'm inclined to add

Extremely popular, it was in its time
but sadly no longer, as if it's a crime
to soak in the pages- though wisdom of ages
is contained within the marvelous rhyme

So why the fall from so lofty a perch?
Why has this gold mine been left in the lurch?
For several a reason- I'll discuss in due season
After conducting a thorough vocabulary search

Some humor refers to events now unknown
And sadly, some hints of bigotry are shown
(though in the age victorian, says the average historian
this is all too common, and makes modern man groan)

So while decent value is found in this book
And though it could do with a close second look
I well understand, why it's not in demand-
shifting values have diminished the original hook

If you enjoyed this oddball review
The Ingoldsby Legends might appeal to you
Go check it out; if you give me a shout
I'll lend it out for a week or two

If instead you think I'm not right in the head
Turn away- there exist other books to be read
(or, for a better review, you'll find this will do)
Enough! It's late, and I'm off to bed

Rating: A

School Time

image from here

With 2013, I've decided to start a new series: thoughts on family.  To protect our identities (as we are superheroes), I'll use false names for us all.  I'm John Mark (32)- you should know that by now.  I have a daughter, Natalie (just about 3), a son, Luke (6 months), and a beautiful wife, Beth (age withheld for marital security). Though these are intended to be (at least a little) humorous, I start on a more serious note.

My daughter Nat turns 3 in less than a week, and today, she started preschool.  I thought I'd be happy- she spends most of the time at home screaming, and our ears were looking forward to a rest- but I found myself going through my day in a somber mood.  Instead of my typical fun or epic tunes*, a line from a song from my childhood (Jodi Benson, Here in My Heart, 1991) ran through my head all day:   

every step that you take, will be farther away,

Some times, I confess, I look forward to her growing up.  I grow tired of her reliance of us for everything.  "Get a job," I frequently tell her, "and stop being a leech."  I want her to be independent, both for her sake, and for mine, so she stops bothering me to do seemingly trivial things**.  But with that independence comes something I don't want to part with- her nearness, and (the illusion of) control.  Right now, Beth and I are Nat's world.  We control what she does, with whom she plays, etc.  What she learns, she learns from us, and she's around us all the time, which can be fun.  Starting today, there will be several hours a week where we don't know what she's doing, and we can't control it.  She'll learn things we don't teach her.  She'll probably learn things she shouldn't.  She'll pick up good habits, and bad ones, all from people other than us. She'll get teased and picked on, because that's what kids do, and we won't be there to stop it.  We'll be there increasingly less often, because she's getting farther away.  This bothers me.  It's scary. 

We like to think we can control our lives, and those of our children.  We don't, and can't.  And I hate thinking about that.  But, it's truth, and truth sets us free***.

Another tough pill to swallow comes in the very next line of the song:

but to stop you is not what I choose

Some parents choose to keep their kids close- too close.  They try to protect them from the world- to control them and what they experience.  But it's not right- I can't do that.  I must let her go.  I have to pray for her to succeed and thrive, knowing that, in so doing, the gulf between us will only widen.  What's good for her will be bad for me.  That's what love is, sometimes- doing the best for another, though it hurts you to do so.

"I can do it myself!"  I hear this so often from Natalie.  And, as I write this, I think of how often I long for the future- when she will be self-sufficient and really can do it herself, to include entertaining herself for more than five minutes without destroying something of value in the house.  Maybe I should be content with where she is now.  Maybe I should stop yearning for the future.  Remember, John Mark, remember- every step that she takes will be farther away.  Is it annoying to help her with everything?  Yes, but some day, I'll want to, and she'll look at me and say "thanks, Dad, I got this."  Or, more likely, she'll say "get lost," and I'll reply "don't you talk to me like that," and then we'll have a big fight, and she'll stomp up to her room, and I'll follow, and when she slams the door in my face I'll take it off the hinges, and she'll freak, and so on and so forth.  My eyes were misting; they're not now, for some reason.

<we interrupt this digression in a probably-futile attempt to return to topic- the editors>

Nat, I pray you grow up strong in many areas, and I'll do my best to not hold you back, but equip you for this world.  And, know that, no matter what, once you're out on your own, you're welcome back home only on major holidays.  Seriously; any other time, and we'll have big problems.


*like Rasputin by Boney M or The Lord of the Rings soundtrack
**like exchange her orange spoon for a red one at dinner that one time.  Because clearly that was extremely important.
***unless the truth involves revealing our role in a large-scale money laundering operation.  Then the truth might get us arrested.  But the saying is generally valid.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (JK Rowling)

Another Harry Potter book done.  I hate to be conformist, but I am reading these in order, so this time, Harry's in year 2 of Hogwarts, and encounters more mayhem.  I normally give at least a brief plot review, but have decided not to for the Potter books.  Google it if you don't already know it.

How was book 2 of the Harry Potter saga?  Like book 1, it was very good.  A few minor things started bothering me this time around, as they seem to come up often:
1) Harry, Ron, and Hermione almost never tell their instructors the truth.  I get that in some cases- avoiding Snape or unstable teachers, but they never even confide in Dumbledore until the end.  It makes for more suspense, certainly, but seems as though they're making it harder than it has to be.
2) Harry gets caught often in awkward situations- being in the wrong place at the wrong time- and that starts to wear after a while.  (Almost) never his fault, it makes for a lot of suspense/drama throughout the book, but can be tiring.  In a way, I was reminded of Ken Follett's World Without End.  Also an excellent book, the characters there are always involved in so much drama that, towards the end, it gets increasingly unbelievable, and it starts to take away some of the magic.

To me these are pretty minor points, but if they continue in the books, I'll get increasingly bothered by it.  For what it is- a children's book- it's excellent.  My personal struggle in reading is just to remind myself that this is not epic fantasy- and not supposed to be.  It's a kid's book, and a good one.

Rating: A

The Highland Clans (Alistair Moffat)

Two books in a few days; don't expect this pace to continue.  But, as the holidays wind to a close, I've been able to snag a bit more reading time than normal.

The Highland Clans tells the story of, well, the clans of the Scottish Highlands.  Having ancestry from that area myself, I was looking forward to this one.  I was (mostly) disappointed.  It claims to be a history of clans in general from prehistoric times to the present, but what I found was an account that meandered,  back and forth through time, presenting issues with a decent amount of confusion.  There are nuggets of goodness in here, but not many.  I'm sure there are better histories of the highland clans.  On the plus side, there are many pretty pictures.

Rating: C-

Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone (JK Rowling)

My first book of 2013 didn't take long to finish, though to be fair I "cheated" and started it yesterday.  Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone is immensely popular, so I don't feel a detailed review is necessary.  I daresay everyone knows the story- an orphaned boy, living with cruel relatives, finds out he's a wizard and is sent to Hogwarts, a school for such folk.  This book tells the story of his first year there.

How was it?  Well, I really liked it.  It is children's literature, so it doesn't have that "epic" aspect to it like, say, A Game of Thrones, but it is really good.  I couldn't help but notice material that must have influenced Rowling- I saw echoes of Star Wars (the concept of "no light or dark, just power" is almost verbatim Sith) and Lord of the Rings (the antagonist, Voldemort, cannot yet take physical form, and is questing to do so- sound familiar?) in there- and that's fine and good.  I enjoyed the humor throughout, which contrasted nicely with the suspense elements.  I'm told the series gets better and better- good stuff.

The danger with any series of such extreme popularity is expectation- mine was set sky-high- and it mostly delivered.  I was a tad disappointed early on by the lack of wisdom- it seemed only an adventure tale- but there were a few nuggets of gold as the story progressed.  I'll end with my favorite such line, from Dumbledore: "the trouble is, humans do have a knack of choosing precisely those things that are worst for them."

Rating: A

So begins 2013: A Look Ahead

Happy 2013!

I've found great value in planning my reading (though I'm always open to changing the plan for the right book).  So, what does 2013 look like on the reading front?  As previously posted, I plan on reading less in 2013 than 2012.  I'm shooting for 36 works, most of which are on my British reading list.  Regarding said list, 2013 is the "year of the series."  I plan on reading (or finishing) the following series this year:

- Harry Potter (7 books)
- The Lord of the Rings (3 books)
- Sherlock Holmes' adventures (4 books remain)

That will take care of 14 of the British books on tap this year.  The two British selections I'm anticipating most, though, are The Ingoldsby Legends and the Mabinogion Tetralogy.  Never heard of them?  Me neither, until this past year, and both sound excellent. Look them up!

On the non-British front, I hope to have a decidedly Russian flavor this year, as I hope to tackle:
The Master and Margarita (Nabokov)
War and Peace (Tolstoy)
Notes from the Underground (Dostoevksy)
Nicholas and Alexandra (Massie)
George F. Kennan: An American Life (Gaddis)
Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe (Applebaum)

So, Lord willing, it looks to be an exciting reading year.  I did the numbers- I plan to read about 15,900 pages this year.  Sounds like a lot, but again, quick math tells me that's only 44 pages/day- about 45 minutes.  Very doable.

One final comment: I'm very nervous about reading Harry Potter.  For some reason, I believe I will not enjoy them.  But, I'll plan to read 3 at least, and if I'm not hooked by then, so be it.