Finished Monday, in fact. I’m not disappointed. I’ve read a couple of reviews that compare books 4 and 5 to Empire Strikes Back.
I’d have to agree. Darker turns, more psychological, and the good guys don’t “win” so much as “get away.”
The only thing is, I hope that Rowling doesn’t resort to an army of House Elves to overthrow the Death Eaters and save the day, a la the Ewoks in Return of the Jedi.
Oh god.
When you take the metro, there are good and bad things about it. The good thing is that you’re not alone, there’s plenty of people to watch. The bad thing is, well, you’re not alone.
Cases in point:
Bad:
I see the guy as he leaves the train. Warning lights go off in my head. There’s something not quite right. I keep him in my peripheral vision as I pass through the turnstiles. Glancing backwards, I see he’s lighting a cigarette before he puts his farecard in. I see Redskins gear all over him.
Great, I think. The fucker’s local.
I walk towards the escalator as quickly as possible. I’ve just come back from kung fu class and while I’d rather start climbing up, I decide to wait it out.
Not twenty seconds later, there’s whistling and catcalling from Mr. Redskins.
“Hey man, you like that shit up there?”
I ignore the guy. Hopefully, it’ll just stop.
“Hey!”
“Man!”
He tugs on my gear bag. My head twitches.
“You like the pussy, right? Right there?”
The woman directly in front of me starts walking up the escalator. Mr. Redskins starts making appreciative noises.
My head goes slack as I think about what the hell this guy thinks he’s doing. As women pass, he continues to catcall. Some turn back to look at him. For a moment, I’m afraid that they think I’m making the rude comments.
My silence obviously unnerves him. “Shit man. That’s your problem. You learn the book too much. Turns you into a faggot.”
At that, I turn, give him the finger, and walk up the escalator.
Good:
Sitting down on the metro, I see three other people walk in. I notice that each of them is holding a very thick book. The spine is grey and the rest of the book is a grey blue. I recognize the book immediately, because I’m reading the same thing. They take separate seats on the train, and open their books.
I interrupt the woman next to me.
“You took the book cover off of your book, any particular reason why?”
She looks at me and shrugs. “I do that with every book.”
“Even children’s books?” I hold up my copy of J.K. Rowling’s Order of the Phoenix.
She smiles. “Okay, you caught me.”
I point at the man sitting across from me. “You?”
He nods his head. “Busted.”
In this small moment in time, we have a small club.
I guess if we’re going a pound a page, it’s technically an 870 pound gorilla.
Okay, I saw this video, thanks to ExplodingCat, and I still don’t understand it. It’s titled, “Weekend,” and if I ever have a weekend like that, I think I can die happy.
This video is not, I repeat not work safe. There’s a computer generated Ganesh, ninjas, a guy screaming, “Respect to the man in the ice cream van,” a crown of thorns, and girls in loincloths gyrating suggestively.
I still don’t understand it. I may have to watch it a few more times.
Just to make sure.
So, until the 800 pound gorilla arrives on the 21st, I’m reading Angels & Demons, by Dan Brown. I have to say that it’s a fun read. Every few pages or so, I have to get on the internet and look up little bits of technology to see if they really exist.
For instance, the Large Hadron Collider. The 16 mile circumference of the collider will be used for several experiments, starting 2007. In theory, the LHC could be used to produce antimatter, which is a vital plot point in Brown’s suspense thriller.
The pace is fairly breakneck. Now there’s a six hour countdown, and I’m only on page 125. The book is 600 pages long. I’m interested in seeing how he keeps me turning the pages.