Only Mostly Dead

I’m now into the final run of book 3, just past the big expository scene where we find out that Scabbers is Pedigrew and that it’s he, not Black, that betrayed Harry’s parents. I don’t particularly like that chapter. I’ve been thinking about this and that this is perhaps why I prefer the ending to book 2 (see also yesterday’s comment on that). I like Rowling’s writing generally and she’s good at setting up a mystery, laying clues upfront, planting misleads. However she often writes herself into the kind of corner where she’s left with a lot of exposition to do.

So here for instance we have a whole lot of Black-Potter-Lupin-Pedigrew-and-Snape backstory explained. Also there’s a tendency for extra characters to turn up just in time to have their part explained. This happens with Lupin, Snape and Pedigrew (who’s there but as a rat). So although there’s talk of murder I almost get the feeling of a stage farce.

Having said that once we’ve gotten through the exposition we’ve got a clear run at the ending – Lupin turning wolf, Harry facing the Dementors, the time-turner stuff – all good fun and all in my immediate (next 30 mins) future. (I mention them now because I suspect tomorrow’s entry will have a lot more to do with Goblet of Fire.

Not sure what to say about the book. I’m enjoying it but not sure what there is to say about it. Harry’s seeing “the Grim” everywhere, Dementors are giving him a hard time, he’s not allowed to leave Hogwarts. Basically things aren’t going well. The mystery is unfolding nicely. Oddly I don’t find it as dark as the previous book. Maybe because I know the big threat is actually not a threat at all which is not to say there isn’t danger in this book. Also Voldemort’s not the threat.

In real life we have to struggle with the fact that making the right choice may not lead to “rescue” or success. I suppose in book 5 Harry suffers under Umbridge for insisting that he’s not lying about Voldemort returning. But that’s the only example I can think of off the top of my head where Harry makes a good choice and suffers for it.

So I agree with the sentiment that it’s our choices that are telling about who we are as people. I think the hidden message, that if we do choose right then we’ll ultimately win through in the end, perhaps even directly because of it (like the Fawkes incident), is harder to accept. But these are stories and stories aimed largely, if not exclusively, at children – so perhaps such morals are not unexpected.

Maybe I need to pick an incident to focus on.

For today though I think I’ll explain why I’ve put Moaning Myrtle down as my favourite character. On SoF there was some discussion of the likeability (or not) of Snape. Some said that this has less to do with the character on the page and a lot to do with the casting of Alan Rickman in the movies. In the same way I think the memory of Shirley Henderson in the movies helps me like Myrtle. I do think the character is funny and I do feel somewhat for her. Whilst she’s clearly irritating to Harry, Ron and Hermione, she’s also got reason to feel aggrieved.

Back to my vague generalisations – I am enjoying this. For the same reasons as previously mentioned – the brisk pace and the way mystery unfolds. When she doesn’t take too many diversions Rowling is good at plotting. I also think that there’s more of a sense of brooding menace about this book. People are being attacked and ‘frozen’, whispers of blood and killing. The books do get darker and more adult as Harry grows up and you can see the progress from book 1 already.

The early part of Chamber of Secrets follows the pattern of the first book to some degree, though you’ve got Dobby appearing. Certainly there’s an attempt to bring the reader up to speed in case they haven’t read the first book. That’s mildly irritating.

And now, finally, (funny to say finally after only 3 days), on to Harry Potter. My memory is that I struggled a little to find this book interesting. This time around I can’t put it down. I am drawn in by all the scene setting and background exposition stuff. It’s fun to notice all the little references you wouldn’t have known about before. Hagrid borrows the motorbike he flies on from ‘young Sirius Black’.

On the challenge generally, I’m finding it tough. I enjoy the reading when I get down to it but “pottering around” (‘scuse the pun) takes up far more time than I realised. I got up at 11:15 today (I was reading til 3) and didn’t start reading until about 20 minutes ago. I read for a few minutes and then remembered I needed to blog. I was hoping to get 2 hours in before 3 and then go to the shop. I’m not worried about not making the target for today, but I do worry that I won’t be ahead as much as I’d like. It feels like Harry Potter is an easier read but my average pages/hour stubbornly stays below 50. Which means 3-4hours a day.

Well I could, but most often don’t. But the page count targets help me keep focussed.

OK, so how’s it going to work? Well I have 23 days (I started yesterday) to read 4,032 pages. Which means I need to read 176 pages a day. I tend to average 60pages an hour on the Harry Potter books. So that’s 3 hours a day. Which sounds a lot but don’t forget I have two weekends where I can probably get a lot more done and be ahead of the game. Also, I have been reading in my lunch hour. So I really only need to manage a couple of hours on a work night. Which requires some focus – no sitting down thinking I’ll watch 5 minutes of TV and looking at my watch an hour and a half later – but is doable.

There is at least one evening I won’t be able to do much reading – Thursday 12th July – that’s the day the Order of the Phoenix movie comes out. I should be in the middle of that book by then. I’ve calculated I’d need to average 225 pages a day to finish it before then so I may not manage that. But we’ll see.

I’m committing myself to updating the blog once a day with a few thoughts on the reading so far. This should take no more than 20 minutes and should give some summary statistics – current book, page, culmulative count so far, lag/lead on target.

I’ll do my inaugural ‘thoughts’ post in a moment based on yesterday’s reading, but I’ll just note that I only managed 96 pages yesterday and I forwent my lunchtime reading for the creation of a natty little spreadsheet that helps me track my progress. Basically I enter the page number of the current book and it shows where I am versus where I need to be. I need to be careful not to get distracted by stuff like that. I have books 3 & 4 as ebooks and I found myself thinking that I could adapt an open source conversion program to make a Linux ebook viewer. Or I could not waste reading time and read them in Windows!