Harry Potter rankings
I finished reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (book kindly made available by the vegetative Irishman). Felt that the tying up of the ends was satisfactory if not spectacular. I think the endless waiting, all 400 pages of it, for them to get out of the tent and do something, got to me. The last 200 pages went in a rush and a whoosh. I must confess to turning the pages hurriedly when that happened. Alas, the fact that I had read the sixth in the series 2 years ago meant I did not get a lot of the references and continuity, and was too bored to look it up. Perhaps, this explains the slightly tepid reaction.Anyway, Stephen King wrote a far more peppy defence of J.K.Rowling, which makes a great read in itself.
A disclosure: I started off feeling a little snooty towards the Harry Potter series when it first made the bestsellers' lists. 'Twas the third book that made me a bit of a fan (I even raised my hand as a Harry Potter fan on saturday at the Comics quiz :-)). But before the fans get cocky on having scored another point, here's a personal ranking of favourites in the series:
1. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
2. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
3. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
4. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone