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Yeah, I know...

Wild Swans by Jung Chang

Same book for me!
Hey, it's big!

Same book for me! Will finish it eventually!

Grr, still reading the same book!
It is nearly 800 pages long.. ok, so I haven't been reading as much as I should have been, I will admit that!

I finished book 5 of the HP series this morning. is my only reaction to it. Very deep, very profound. I'm going to be mulling it over for a while. Can't wait until Book 6. I find it kind of interesting to read the prediction of who dies, and then to read who actually dies. I'll say no more as I have no wish to spoil it for those who haven't read it. Frankly, I think J.K Rowling is an amazingly good writer, and I wish she'd write something less 'hot button' than Harry Potter so all those who are freaked out by the magic could read something of hers and enjoy her talent. Having read Book 5, I can see what people mean by 3 and 4 being rushed, and J.K Rowling taking her time with Book 5 has produced a better novel. No questions there. 3 and 4 were good, but 5 totally floored me with its power. And, dang, it's *dark*. Very dark, definitely shows the ugly side of some characters, and Harry's far from perfect (a fact I enjoyed). I'm seriously considering buying 4 and 5 because I enjoyed them so dang much, I'll want to read them again and again.

Harry was being your typical hormonal, confused teenager. Frankly, I was glad to see him be something other than perpetually upbeat and happy and well-adjusted. Maybe she lingered a bit long on the time before Hogwarts, but I don't think she spent too overly long on it. The ending I would have liked is him going with those from the Order, instead of the Dursleys. As if the Muggles wouldn't love a good excuse to get him away for the summer. The one thing that bugs me about the books is they always go in the same order: the last few weeks of summer, in which he always ends up leaving the Dursleys, Hogwarts, something happens over Christmas break, the big climax, Dumbledore's explanation of everything, and then the train ride home. I'd like to see some variety in that pattern in the next book, but I'm not counting on it.

I have no idea what relationship you're referring to. I wasn't paying attention to that end of things, and was quite happy she didn't do any more with that end of things than was necessary for character and plot development. I disagree about Hagrid's story. I think it was, for Hagrid, totally in character, and his trip to Europe definitely helped to further the plot of Book 5. As for what he did afterwards, that also ended up helping the plot along closer to the end. I think that what J.K Rowling had in mind when she portrayed Harry as a typical 15-year-old boy was she wanted to portray him as real and someone that kids can identify with. He screws up, he learns from his mistakes, he cries, he lives with the concequences and keeps putting one foot in front of the other. I don't know if it's because I'm cynical and jaded, or because I've long grown out of the 'rosy glasses' part of my life, but I much prefer a book where things are real, rather than were they are nice and clean and the characters always do right. The mark of a well-written character is that you feel for them and get mad at them and get involved with the plot and the characters, and that's exactly what J.K Rowling's writing does. If you can stay detached, the author isn't doing enough to get you interested in their story.