Giant value...giant variety

I went on a trip to the Giant hypermart at Tampines today. I stuck close to my kids, only about 7 of them signed up for the trip but it was a great experience, talking to them about the products, answering their queries and selecting the doughnuts (Oooh the temptation! I settled instead for a packet of cashew nuts.). And I saw a side of them I wouldn’t have been able to see at school. One or two boys were running around when they were mostly docile during class time. Heh heh “tanduk dah keluar!” Oh and yeah, one ‘mat’ at the seafood section also made this comment, “Banyaknya anak!” That tickled me.

No.7

After a grueling few days of self-restraint and snatches of reading, I finally finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows on Tuesday night. Yes I bought the book. Caved in because I did not want to face the trauma of finding out what happened from others before I got to read it.

I still marvel at how Rowling crafted this amazing series that appeal to both children and adults alike. As an adult I still am drawn to them, read them over and over again and yet, at the end of this book, the first thought that came to me was, “After all, this is a children’s series.” It does have the feel-good factor at the end, good triumphs over evil that sort of thing. I probably would have preferred a more dark and tragic ending. My ultimate tragic speculation was that Harry lived while others he loved died for him.

My other thoughts:

I was shocked that people were getting killed almost right at the start of the book. I expected deaths but woah the speed of them dropping dead was alarming. Overall, the pace was alright, even though it felt kind of rushed (though wonderfully adrenaline pumping and I got gradually scared as the story went along!) it did span almost a year before the final battle.

This final book revealed all that needed to be revealed and answered a lot of questions. I only wish I had a greater insight into Voldemort; that I had gotten to know more about him. On the other hand, I liked how Dumbeldore’s past was explored and showed that he too, was flawed. That’s the beauty of the books I think, how it talks of real values and issues and about conscious choices being central in one’s life and how you live with them, good or bad.

It was interesting to see how quite a number of the fans’ predictions were accurate. One of which I made was that Snape had been in love with Lily. Severus Snape…his story touched me most of all. I cried when his time came. That point, when he whispered to Harry, to look at him…to see Lily’s eyes. And when Harry declared to Voldemort that Snape,“….loved her (Lily) for nearly all of his life, from the time when they were children.” That was heart-wrenching.

And as most of my friends (who were willing/forced to listen) know, the only thing that I was sore about was the couplings!! Harry should be with Hermione and Ron…well, with someone else. I have nothing against Ron, really. I love his humour and his oblivious nature but as the Riddle-Hermione said, “Who could look at you, who would ever look at you, beside Harry Potter?” I said as much, less cruelly and without meaning to diss Ron. Ginny was never really instrumental in the book. I just cannot see why Harry would go for her even in HBP. Even though I knew how it would end, I am still in denial. My Harry-Hermione fanfiction is still a work in progress, hmmm should I post it here? Let me think about it.

Oh and yes, I could do without the epilogue – Nineteen Years Later thingy. I just felt that it was not necessary.

Sigh…my few cents worth.

Got to get the book back from Amelia so that I can read it again.

OOTP 2

Ok my second viewing barely improved my opinion.

Sazryna: Same for her.

Amelia: Same for her.

(Yes, us girls are HP freaks!!)

Arman: No opinion heh heh. He was fidgetting throughout.

Cyrus: As a movie watcher (not a reader of the series), he said that a lot of things were not properly explained. But found it alright overall.

I hope my subsequent viewings will change my opinion :p

P.S: Deathly Hallows released today!!! Should I get it? All the other books I have are the paperback variety. Suzi SMSed just now to tell me she got hers!! Aaarrrgghhh....decisions, decisions.

The Perils of Planning

For the past 2 weeks, I have been continuing my observations with the kids and rattled my brains and my nerves trying to figure out what learning activities to do with them. The Planning workshop helped a bit I guess but I still had a major headache to decide what was appropriate.

For Week 3 I did the name theme with them to start off with what was familiar. I got some encouraging responses. They like to do art and crafts (like me!!!). After some more research on the Net, I decided to do a Phonics approach because for me I felt that that was a major stepping stone on the road to reading. I will also incorporate crafts in the activities as well as book readings. That’s my formula for now. I’ll see where we can go from there.

OOTP

Caught Order of the Phoenix last night with Lin and Saz. Suffice to say, at the end when the credits were rolling, we turned to each other and said, “Rrrriiiggghhhhhttt.”

I was rather disappointed with the movie. If GOF was to me chunks of the book, retold in consecutive splats, OOTP was a collection of snippets of the story. It felt rushed and everything to me flew as fast as Harry’s Firebolt.

I appreciate the difficulty of turning a 956 page (Brit version) book into a movie but I felt that some modifications and tweaking were a bit off. One example would be the scene where Harry was being possessed by Voldemort. It was ridiculous that Harry turned to Voldemort and made that mini-speech about how he should be pitied or something like that because he will never have friends or know love. I guess the impact is greater when you read it; that Voldemort was dispelled from Harry’s body when Harry started to feel the pain of Sirius’s loss and the love and emotion that coursed through him made it unbearable for Voldemort to remain in him. Oh and yes, Dumbledore’s conversation with Harry at the end was too short!! Barely explained anything, especially for those who did not read the book. Kreacher could have also been featured more. And my favourite scene – the Cho-Harry kiss post mortem was blotched up!!!

Ah but I am no film maker.

I did love the way the Daily Prophet headline articles were weaved into the movie and Dolores Umbridge’s portrayal was spot on. I also liked that they tried to make the magical world seem more realistic. If I’m not wrong, that was the first time I heard music being played in the common room! The soundtrack was a bit strange to me at first, too dream-like but it grew on me after a while. The way the Death-Eaters were depicted was also wonderful. It was scary seeing how they apparated in black smoke. And as always…my dear Harry, Hermione and Ron. I think it’s because of them that I go watch the series.

Oh well, I still will buy the DVD. If my calculations are right, it should come out in November.

For now, the countdown to Deathly Hallows begins.