Book Reviews

The Left Hand of Darkness Review

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One of my favorite quotes from this book comes from the introduction of the 50th anniversary edition. The author, Ursula K. Le Guin, said,” Science Fiction is a metaphor.” Indeed, the world inside this book is entirely a metaphor. The first few chapters are not easy to read. The book starts to make sense when the author delves into detail about the Gethenians’ sexuality in Chapter 7. The Afterword by Charlie Jane Anders is also insightful. It made me view gender in a different light. I see why this book is great for gender studies and discussions.

Synoposis

Genly Ai is sent to a planet called Gethen, also known as Winter. His job is to convince the inhabitants to join an intergalactic civilization. There, he faces resistance, obstacles, and challenges from the inhabitants. They don’t understand why their planet is in danger from outside threats. With the help of Estraven, a powerful and influential lord, Genly Ai finally understands Gethenian’s worldview.

The Concept Is Interesting

I find it ironic that I went into this book because I don’t read enough books by female authors. It’s as if I have already assigned myself some stereotypical views on what I know about gender. Ursula K. Le Guin is far from typical. The way she tells the story in the Left Hand of Darkness is methodical and scientific. The story is so factual that it sounds plausible. I believe the author was building her story around a question: Have we considered what we think to be true is not influenced by the narrative of our physiology?

“Truth is a matter of the imagination. The soundest fact may fail or prevail in the style of its telling…” –Chapter 1

In this book, the author presents a concept where people experience a unique biological cycle called kemmer on an imaginary planet called Gethen. The inhabitants can shift from male to female, which make them ambisexual. It takes an insider (Estraven) to betray one’s kind to convince an entire planet to accept Genly Ai’s proposal. I can’t say, though, I enjoyed her writing style. It’s creative but not artistic.

Final Thoughts

The Left Hand of Darkness is a dense read despite only being 367 pages. I did, however, enjoy the last half of the book where the story starts to come alive. A reread of the book might make me appreciate it more. I am pretty sure I miss the little detail that helps enliven the world. Truly recommend this book for those who want a challenging read.

Germinal: A Book Review

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gloomy miners

Do you know what it is like to be unemployed at 21? And then, when you finally find employment, you realize you’re overworked and underpaid. You barely make ends meet because you have bills to pay. You bite your tongue and go to work anyway. By the end of the day, you are so exhausted. Rinse, repeat, and start all over again the next day. It’s a recipe for depression when you don’t have time to improve your skills and take care of yourself. It also doesn’t help when social media amplify how far behind you are compared to your peers. Some people are just more luckier in life than others. It’s a different type of stress. But can you imagine being broke, cold, and starving?

Homeless and out of work, he had only one thing on his vacant mind: the hope that the cold would be less severe once day had broken (Chapter 1).

In this book, Germinal by Émile Zola, we follow the journey of a young miner named Étienne Lantier. He leads a protest for a better quality of life for his coal-mine comrades.

Synopsis

Étienne is a former mechanic who found work at the Le Voreux mine in Northern France as a miner. He became exceptionally skilled at his job, but he was not content. All around him, he saw the horrendous, poor working conditions of his comrades. It wasn’t just working conditions that were awful. There was no future or hope for a better standard of living. Many families worked in the coal mines for generations. When the mining company starts to cut wages, the miners begin to feel the blow. How can anyone work with an empty belly? It makes sense to revolt.

What Stood Out to Me from this Book

Certain events don’t just happen randomly or overnight. It’s something that has been germinating underground. When it can no longer contain itself, it erupts. The miners are cold and starving. All they want is some bread. However, Mme Hennebeau, the spouse of the coal mine owner, fails to understand their situation. She said, “So they’re on strike. Well, what’s that to us?… We’ve still got to eat, haven’t we (P.202)?” Of course, there is something to do with her. The miners toil in the coal mines with empty stomachs. They can no longer work to provide the bourgeoisie (their employer) with a luxurious lifestyle. How can the upper class be so delusional? This book reminds me of the film Parasite by Bong Joon Ho. It’s a powerful film that highlights the contrast between the working class and the wealthy.

Final Thoughts

Of course, there is more to this book, but I want to keep it light and nonpolitical. The writing style isn’t flowery, but romantic enough to lighten up the prose. It is a dramatic book filled with human compassion and love. It’s also a book about hope and, at the same time, hypocrisy. Étienne leads a protest to revolt against the bourgeoisie. Along the way, he realizes he is becoming one of them. He starts to see himself above the miners. This poses a lot of questions. Revolution is not an easy task, and the aftermath is not always as pretty as envisioned.

Rediscovering White Fang: A Review

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I am feeling nostalgia for simpler days. So, I purchased a used copy of White Fang by Jack London at the local bookstore. I found it while I was browsing books for fun. It’s one of the books my 4th-grade teacher read to us. At the time, I couldn’t appreciate it like every other coming-of-age book. I remember thinking why is our teacher reading this boring book to us? Most of us fell asleep at our desk. Me? I was staring outside the window. Now that I am around her age, I think I understand why she picked this book. She was trying to civilize us wild schoolchildren and it worked like magic!

Anyway, the book is so good. It fell apart midway through as I was reading it. Okay, I confess, that’s half the truth. The book was already in poor condition when I bought it. On the back of the book, there is a coffee stain! But for $1.50, I cannot resist. I also like the book’s cover. It looks old-fashioned. The large print is also appealing. After all, a book is less valuable if it’s just on the bookshelf as decor. Books are meant to be explored and read.

White Fang on top of other books and pink pen next to it

Synoposis

White Fang is a wolf, but is also a quarter dog. This makes him a special creature. He is wild but also domesticated. Thus he has an advantage over purebred dogs and wolves. His hybrid breeding enables him to navigate the harsh Yukon environment, and the brutality of the man-gods (humans) he encounters.  As he goes through different man-gods, White Fang comes to civilization once he meets the rightful one. The rightful one is just, fair, compassionate, and strong.

Writing Style

I was instantly captivated by the writing style. The prose is so poetic. The first paragraph of the book throws me into the cold wilderness. I feel it:

The land itself was a desolation, lifeless, without movement, so lone and cold that the spirit of it was not even that of sadness.

I also like how the author describes the wild as a frozen-hearted savage. It’s the perfect stage where dog eats dog to survive. The writing is so intense that I felt as if I were in the book!

There were a few things, however, I did not enjoy about the book. It was more of a personal thing, though. After all, the book was published in 1906. Time has changed. Perhaps, not always for the better for some folks, but regardless, time has changed. I don’t know how I’d feel living inside a white picket fence governed by a self-righteous man-god. I would find it difficult, especially when he is unfairly transactional.

Final Thoughts

Overall, it’s a great book, but one that feels foreign to me now, and yet familiar. It’s a weird feeling that I cannot describe. It’s comforting; at the same time, alienating. I guess being an adult means learning how to think for oneself. We are all shaped by our environment.

Book Review: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

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This blog post is more like a writing prompt, but readers can treat it as a review despite some spoilers. I hope this does not discourage you; instead, I hope it piques your interest enough to pick up the book if you haven’t already read this classic.

When I was a kid, I remember reading the first chapter of a random book and being amazed at the author’s command of words.  There’s a godly presence to the writer when she can manipulate words and draw images in the reader’s mind. Naive little me believed everything that is printed. It was not until later in life that I realized that even the most profound writers are as blind as the lowest common denominators–limited to one’s frame of mind.  Oh no, I’m not insulting someone’s intelligence but to remind us that humans are full of erroneous beliefs. Yes, I can hear someone saying Frankenstein was published in 1818. Mary Shelley is the product of her time, and as a modern reader, I should be forgiving, but I just can’t!  Asian cultures are slothful? South America is the land of savages? No way can I tolerate such worldviews! I am Asian-American. As an outsider like the Frankenstein’s monster, I can only appreciate the book (European culture) from afar.  The book was one of the most beautiful prose I have ever read, and I wish I could love it more but I cannot. I am no ally to outdated, prejudiced ideologies.

The book is classified as horror, but it feels more like a tragedy. College boy Victor Frankenstein from Geneva, thirsted for something more and decided to create life only to abandon it. Why? One vocabulary described his ambition: ennui, which is a noun meaning “a feeling of listlessness and dissatisfaction arising from a lack of occupation or excitement (Oxford Languages dictionary. I googled the vocabulary).” Yes, Victor Frankenstein was carried away with his studies. He was not content with idleness like his spiritual friend Henry Clerval. Frankenstein was ambitious, and that became his ruin.

What a glorious creature must he have been in the days of his prosperity, when he is thus noble and godlike in ruin. He seems to feel his worth and the greatness of his fall (p.200).

The plot sounds pretty simple when I summarized it like that– but it made me reflect on the classic literature books I have read previously (Macbeth and Crime and Punishment) which have a similar theme: the human’s conscience becoming the prosecutor. In Frankenstein, Victor attempts to redeem his error by becoming the prosecutor; meanwhile, the monster becomes his persecutor. Every decision Victor has made against the monster leads him further into misfortunes. Like a wild game of chase, he cannot escape his tormentor, who happens to be also the monster’s tormentor. Not even the beauty of the European Alps and pristine lakes can soothe the mind for too long because both are a slave to each other existence. His burden is so heavy that he globalizes it. To him, he has unleashed a horrific machination against humanity, a “sensitive rational animal (p.200)” that will defile all of Europe!  But is the monster at fault? Some have argued that the monster is more human than Frankenstein. I believe so. So does that make all us a bit like monsters?

There are so many angles I could look at from reading this dense book of 211 pages, which makes it great for reading discussions.  I can’t help but wonder myself what Frankenstein could have done differently with the monster. Why create a monster without weighing the consequence? How did he know that it was the monster who committed murder? The way how the story unfolds made me believe it’s about colonial racism, but I can’t say for sure. That’s why a second reading may be worth the time for someone like me who is always fishing metaphors.

P.S.

I often wonder where the phrase misery loves company comes from. Is it from this book? Frankenstein and the monster could not live without the other.

Four Books by Asian Authors I Enjoyed Reading

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Although I wrote a lot about video games, at the core of this blog, it is my passion for metaphors.  I  have been diverting my attention from gaming to reading books instead! Reading is quite relaxing for a change. 

In no particular order, I present my list

Books #1 How to Pronounce Knife by Souvankham Thammavongsa

I saw a book vlogger review The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet, and she dissuaded me from reading the book due to its rape scenes. I haven’t gone far enough in the book to put the book down or come across the icky section, but I dread it. So I watched her other book recommendations from her and discovered How to Pronounce Knife.  The book comprises short stories broken into chapters about the lives of Lao refugees attempting to assimilate into Western culture.  The book was enjoyable and easy to read.

Do I recommend the book?

Absolutely. It’s interesting to learn about how culture assimilates and the difficulties they face. It makes us readers a bit more empathetic to different ethnic groups.

Book #2 The Chronicle of a Blood Merchant by Yu Hua

If you like one book, most likely you want to read more from the same author. That’s why I picked up the Chronicle of a Blood Merchant. I’m a big fan of To Live because I strive to live a quiet, simple life. Something about the prose resonates with me on a spiritual level. This book did not fail to entertain and teach me something about the human heart. What does blood have to do with family? Plenty. It’s a story about a father who goes the extra length to feed his family by selling his blood.   What I learned is that there’s a difference between sweat money and blood money. Sweat money is earned for things you need to get by, but blood money is earned at the cost of your life for another life ( I may write an essay on the blood metaphor at a later time).

Do I recommend the book?

Yes. If you are looking for a feel good story about a father and son relationship, I highly recommend this book.

Book#3 The Last Empress by Anchee Min

I picked up this book accidentally at the second-hand bookstore while browsing books for fun. I was attracted to the yellow book cover, which depicts a woman wearing an elaborate hairdo. Little did I know it’s a book about the “evil concubine” that I often see in Cantonese drama series. From what I remember throughout my childhood, Lady Yehonala (Empress Cixi) was portrayed as an evil old lady. After reading this book, my opinion of her changed.   When Guang-hsu asked her whether she preferred an antique Han vase over the English gifts of toothbrush and paste, she responded: “I am more pleased with the toothbrush and paste…Now I get to protect my teeth from falling out and can also contemplate how to prevent the country from its own decay (p.144,).” Empress Dowager knew that China was dying and acknowledged that foreigners had the upper hand regarding military technology.   Her willingness to face foreign threats made her a better leader than the emperor who was too fixated on outdated ideals and traditions.

Do I recommend the book?

I highly recommend this book if you enjoy reading about Empress Dowager Cixi, and I also recommend this book for those who enjoy poetry. I love the imagery in this book.

Book#4 Empress Orchid by Anchee Min

I liked The Last Empress so much that I picked up the first book in the series!  Yep, I did not read the books in order. To be honest, I prefer reading about her when she became a mature woman more than when she was a young naive girl whose dream was to marry the emperor and bring fortune to her family, which unfortunately did not end in a fairy tale. The main reason why I prefer the second book is because I didn’t care much about the romance between her and the emperor.  However, what I found most fascinating about the book was the depiction of the Forbidden City. It’s like a glamorous cage where everyone is restricted to customs and traditions.

The book goes into more detail about her survival in the Forbidden City and her personality. She methodically weaved her way into the heart of the emperor to prevent herself from becoming among one of the many thousands of abandoned crazy old nuns who were left unloved by the emperor. With her wit in navigating the imperial government, she became a great politician, assisting and advising the emperor on many political matters.

If had been a man and been able to set foot outside the palace, I would have gone to the frontier and come back with my own strategies(p.154).

-Lady Yehonala

From the mid-1880s to the early 1900s, China faced many threats such as international imperialism and the Taiping Rebellion. It’s hard not to admire her bravery and her mental strength. 

Do I recommend the book?

I don’t think I have to recommend this book because it’s considered national bestseller.

There you have it! My reading list is small, but it’s pretty long for someone who reads a lot for work. I may go into details for each book at a later time. So how about you, have you read anything interesting as of late?

Note: Feature imaged is from the Eiyuden Chronicle Hundred Heroes

What I Read in February

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I thought I would do each review for each separate book but I didn’t want to spend too much time writing essay-like reviews. So, instead, I write mini-reviews. Hope you enjoy!

Lavina

Sometimes when you are quiet, you sort of get looked over. Pretty much you’re invisible. It’s sort of like Lavina, an important character that is mentioned briefly in Virgil’s epic poem, the Aeneid. She is the last wife to Aeneas the Trojan hero. In this novel, the author Ursula K. Le Guin attempts to give her a voice by retelling the epic poem through her perspective. Overall, it was a lovely read with a feminist streak that doesn’t victimize femininity as a lesser role:

The chief duty of a king is to perform the rites of praise and placation as they should be performed, to observe care and ceremony and so understand and make known the will of the powers that are greater than we are. It is the king who tells the farmer when to plow…In the same way, it is the mother of the family who tells the household when to rise.

-Lavina, p. 205-206

Lord of the Flies

What a poetic read. Lord of the Flies was epically horrifying, although I can’t say I entirely agree with the author’s opinion about Indians (I don’t think they are savages). However, I do agree with the author’s point of view for the most part. The author argues that society is prone to collapse into a primitive state when we fail to think sensibly. What better way to illustrate the point by putting a group of schoolboys on an island? As I was reading this book, I wondered how different the story would be if it were a group of girls. Do you think the world would be nicer? Nah…it would be just as bad. Where there are people, there will always be politics because the true nature of humans is the beast itself. It’s scary to think a beast has so much control over the mass but what is more scarier is that we allow it. The Lord of the Flies is no different from the Lord of the Corpse.

Well, that’s it for now. These are the two books I finished in February. On top of gaming, I am currently reading Persuasion by Jane Austen and Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet but probably will drop Pillars of the Earth if I feel too uncomfortable. I haven’t gone far enough into the book, but I heard the rape scenes are quite violent and unecessary. On the other hand, if Oprah Winfrey vouched for the book then it must not be so bad because so far, I think the story is pretty interesting.

Charlotte’s Web Review: The Sedentary Spider

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I typically gravitate toward writing essays these days but refrained from writing them. You can only sit in one position for so long in solitary that your mind starts to play tricks on you. I did not know all this time I was like a sedentary spider that weaves her words at the corner of the web. Don’t worry, unlike Charlotte the spider in the book, I am not bloodthirsty. I don’t eat my prey. And unlike her, I don’t get enough fresh air, which is something I hope to change. To resolve this problem, I attempted to step outside from time to time. Say hello to the trees and the squirrels. Once I feel recharged, I sink into my thoughts again, allowing creativity to flourish new lines. And that was what inspired me to write a poem instead of a formal review for this blog. I took the lessons learned from the book quite serious: The quote, “Never hurry and never worry…Keep fit, and don’t lose your nerve (p.64)” stuck in my head for weeks. Miraculously, it lifted the invisible chains that thwarted my creative progress into thin air. I feel lighter because I am most happiest when I am in Creative Mode. I hope you enjoy the poem.

The Sedentary Spider

Collect your thoughts from yesterday

to lock it away

because yesterday was very much like today

and I hope it will always stay

The poem is a reflection of my elementary school days, which I considered to be one of the happiest and carefree times of my life. Our teacher gave us an assignment that involved drawing an insect. I drew a picture of a spider I found from flipping through the pages of the animal encyclopedia. My drawing was so good that my classmates asked me to draw a spider for them. All I did was imitate the drawing in the book. I gave it hairy, brown legs and menacing dark slit eyes. Feeling elated by my natural-born talent, I agreed because I was impressed with myself too. It was my first time drawing a spider, and because of my effort, we all got A+ for our assignments. What more can a little girl ask for in life when she is appreciated and liked by her peers? Life is much easier when we all get along. Of course, adult life is more complicated, and perhaps that is why I tend to retreat back to elementary days. Sometimes I like to keep things simple.

If there is one important lesson, I learned from this great book is to always give thanks and credit to those who work behind the scenes. After all, no one suspected it was a spider that wrote “Some Pig” on the web. Yes, Wilbur became the famous pig, but it’s Charlotte’s miraculous work that saved his life. Like many readers, I was touched. It’s a great book about true friendship and about finding innovate ways to help a friend from becoming someone’s crunchy food (p.98)!

Book Review: Where the Crawdads Sing

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I appreciate flowers. I appreciate flowery words used to make Nature beautiful and comforting–that includes the marsh. This book reminds me of a fairy tale more than a story based on true life events because it’s all dreamily poetic. So, if you are looking for a story that will make you feel good and you want to be in tune with nature—this is the book. It’s all powerfully feminine just like Nature. Sometimes that’s all you need. Let her embrace you with her wild beauty. She will heal your ailing mind.

In this book, we follow the story of a girl named Kya, the protagonist, who grew up in the marsh. First, her mother left. Then one by one, her siblings left her too. Eventually, her abusive father left her as well. By age 10, the girl is left to survive on her own in the marsh, digging and selling mussels. Kya reminded me of a southern-style version of Lara Croft (a video game character). Instead of raiding tombs, Kya studies the marsh with sensitivity, embracing all the life it has to offer. She is a naturalist, an artist, a poet, and a scientist without proper schooling. Because of her mysterious ways, she is known as the Marsh Girl and is shunned by the locals. And yet, her wildness and beauty got her involved with two men from the local town called Barkley Cove, a made-up belief place by the coast of North Carolina. It’s a romance, murder mystery story with a flare of drama mixed with science. I think it’s a great mix of genres and a refreshing one.

I read some negative reviews on Goodreads, arguing that the protagonist is unrealistic and there are some inaccurate presentations of North Carolina’s dialects. I wouldn’t know since I am not from the region. However, it didn’t bother me because I understood what the author, Delia Owen was trying illustrate with her characters and the story the entire time: As the author stated, Kya is in all of us and one in a million (p.438, mass ed.). The author used science to explain the plot and the reasoning behind her characters’ motivations such as mating, social acceptance, loneliness, and isolation. For instance, if you have never lived alone for years and did not communicate with anyone daily (texting doesn’t count), the world can feel lonesome. When you have that much alone time, you start to ease the loneliness through your surroundings by acknowledging the liveliness of Nature. That’s how Kya survived all those years by herself. The marsh became her mother:

“Sometimes she heard night sounds she didn’t know or jumped from lightning too close, but whenever she stumbled, it was the land that caught her.”

-Page 40, Where the Crawdads Sing

As a character, Kya is innocently pure like Nature. I love how the author used her character to link with the civilized world. As a reader, I see it through the interaction between the locals and kya. From the outsider’s perspective, she is nothing more than bare-footed swamp trash. She couldn’t even read until the age of 14 or 15. And yet, the author paints her in the most beautiful light by mixing poetry into the story to evoke longing and empathic feelings. In this book, the marsh is beautiful and pure unlike the socially constructed society.  Religion, culture, customs, and social economics can make a society appears more barbaric than the marsh. Unlike humans, Nature is not prejudiced. She doesn’t ostracize people based on class, intelligence, genetics, etc. Instead, she provides shelter and abundance. All you ever need is within grasp, and the best part is that she gives it freely without expecting anything in return except for your embrace just like a good mother.

I enjoyed the book and its imagery of the marsh, but didn’t care much about the romance part. It was however, suspenseful enough to keep me turning the pages. There were a few parts that made me laugh hard.  I highly doubt I would watch the film. There’s something about written words that often get lost when it’s turned into a motion picture.

Book Review: To Live by Yu Hua

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I finally got a library card. The librarian asked me if I was older than eighteen-year-old when she handed me the library card application. She must be blind because if she would have looked a bit closer, she’d noticed I have a few white hair strands, which I like to think it’s the effect of gaining wisdom over time. Although, I did take her question as a compliment. It means I have a youthful aura! Who can say no to that? I do have the curiosity of a five-year-old when it comes to consuming knowledge.

The first book I checked out at the library is To Live by Yu Hua. It must be destiny because I accidentally found it browsing through the bookshelf. I watched the film version directed by Zhang Yimou many years ago. I believe I checked out a copy of the film from the library as well. The film is great, but I love the book more! The book is so good that I had a hard time putting it down, and now that I finished it, I am sad I don’t have anything else to read. Well, I do have things to read but none speak to me like this book:

It’s better to live an ordinary life. If you go on striving for this and that, you’ll end up paying with your life (p.231).”

-Fugui

Do you like the quote? There you go, my secret to eternal youth apart from eating fruits and drinking a lot of water for supple skin! I’m partially kidding. Of course, I bet you are here because you want to know my thoughts on the book and not listen to me rave on about my vanity. Well then, I am happy you are here! I will tell you why I love this book.

This book is poetic without convoluting the story. It’s about living and escaping death on many occasions. The story follows a man by the name of Fugui who comes from a rich family. Due to his negligence, he causes his family to fall from fortune into poverty because of his gambling addiction. But is it a fortune in disguise? This book is a page-turner. I was so engrossed in the lives of the characters that I took a moment to pause from reading whenever something bad happen to the characters. Fugui narrates his life in a way he does not turn it into an epic tale or dramatize it by asking for sympathy from his audience. There is no real-life hard lesson in this book. Instead, it paints a picture of people who have lived and endured severe hardships like that of an ox.

Another thing I enjoyed about the book is that the author doesn’t bluntly criticize a political system. However, in the Translator’s Afterword, the translator mentions Yu Hua’s reality of communism is more brutal in the book than in the film version (p.243). I agree. In the book, the National Army and Liberation Army appear the same when we compare them to the common, ordinary folks. For instance, there is a part when the Nationalist troop conscripts Fugui at gunpoint, which causes him to separate from his family for a few years until the Liberation Army sets him free. Initially, I thought the author is in favor of the Liberation Army until I learn about its political agenda. When Fugui and his family successfully smelt the iron just in time for National Day, I was just as shocked as Fugui to learn that the smelted iron is used to make bombs:

We’ll be able to make three bombs out of this iron, and all of them are going to be dropped on Taiwan…We’ll drop one on Chiang Kai-shek’s bed, one on his kitchen table, and one on his goat shed (p.118-9)!”

-The village’s Team Leader

As you can see, the seriousness of the plot is balanced well with humor. For one, Fugui and his family think they failed when the fire burned through the cauldron only because they didn’t know what and why they needed to smelt the iron in the first place. They just follow whoever is in charge. It made me wonder what difference does it make if the orders are coming from the Nationalist or the Liberation leader? Both political parties don’t have the common people’s best interests; people at the bottom are put to work like animals until there’s no more life in them. If humans drag their feet from time to time, it only makes sense that animals would do the same. A good leader empathizes with his followers and knows when to let them rest and when to make them work (p. 234), and I could not agree more with the author’s point of view.

Throughout the book, there was not one dull moment. Everything was intense. I felt all sorts of emotions. I caught myself with teary eyes, and at times, laughing from shock. What I saw was a grim picture of how everyone was caught up in a political mess. In the end, I finished the book feeling grateful that I am still alive. As my father said, I’m lucky that I wasn’t born in the middle of a war. The world can be a dark place, but there’s still warmth in it if you look hard enough. At least that’s what I take from this book.

Note: I tried not to go into detail about certain events in the story to support my arguments. I had to stop myself from attempting to write a full-blown essay. I hope I give enough information about the book to pique your interest. It’s my love for great books that prompted me to write this review.

Reflecting on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

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One thing I admire about J.K Rowling’s writing style is that it’s clear and concise. I had no problem remembering the plot from the previous books because she did a good job at refreshing readers’ memories by taking the time to explain important events. But the greatest magic she did to me has opened my eyes to a new way of seeing the world. As I mentioned before in one of my previous posts, I was never really a fan of sports, but I could appreciate it now when the author used Quidditch to illustrate teamwork and good sportsmanship to support and fight for the right cause. Also, I learned what bravery looks like and why it’s the greatest trait above all else. It takes a lot of courage to conquer death. In fact, the entire story of Harry Potter is like the Christian Gospel for the Wizarding World. It’s meant to soothe and cradle the anxious soul who are fearful of death or have lost a loved one.

Since the beginning of the first book, particularly Book 6, I have always seen Dumbledore as the embodiment of good and wisdom (p.360). To me, he is like God, all-knowing and omniscient and Harry Potter had to have faith in Dumbledore’s instruction even though like Christ he was on a mission to be slaughtered like a pig (p.687). How is this not a parable of the Christian faith? The entire series is bombarded with Christian tropes such as the trinity (Hermione, Harry Potter, and Ron are metaphors for mind, body, and soul); the serpent as being the lesser being; the number 7 as a holy number; finally love, love conquers all. If you are familiar with the Christian faith then you know what I am talking about.

The scale of the story followed the same structure. God sent his beloved son to die for our sins. In other words, a hero sacrifices his life for the greater good. Harry Potter was born to destroy evil and that’s why he is the Chosen One who comes from the House of Gryffindor, which is the greatest House out of all the Four Houses. Why is that? Wit, ambition, and hard work are all great traits but bravery tops it all because they don’t fear death. The Four Houses are just metaphors for the virtuous traits that benefit and develop a stable society. I agree with the author. Great leaders don’t just lead by example but are selfless. Harry Potter puts himself in danger many times for others even for Draco, his enemy! That’s why the author made her point about bravery as the biggest virtue on several occasions by using Ron, the insecure character to show readers that anyone can be great and that there’s bravery in everyone. An example is a part where Ron saved Harry from drowning in Forest’s frozen pool in Chapter 19:

‘You’ve sort of made up for tonight,’ said Harry. ‘Getting the sword. Finishing off the Horcrux. Saving my life.’

That makes me sound cooler than I was,’ Ron mumbled.

‘Stuff like that always sound cooler than it really was,’ said Harry. ‘I’ve been trying to tell you for years.’

Book 7, p. 379

As I was reading, I kept wondering what’s the significance of the Chosen One in relation to the story other than fighting evil. That plot in itself is too generic. Then I realized Harry Potter is the symbol of youth and bravery on the verge of corruption in a society. When I saw it in that light, I became more appreciative of the story as something more than just a children’s book. You see, if Dumbledore is the embodiment of goodness and wisdom, then Harry Potter is the embodiment of hope and change. Wouldn’t all parents want to see their children become better than them in some form? Parents would only hurt their children’s future if they make their children serve them by abiding by old outdated traditions. The western concept of rearing children is far different from Asian cultures (particularly Eastern and Southeastern Asians) and that came as a shock to me. We are taught to respect and serve our elders–not challenge them as we see in the Order of the Phoenix. Harry Potter’s behavior was appalling to me in Book 5 when he was upset that Dumbledore left him in the dark, but sometimes it’s necessary to continuously challenge an established society for the sake of the “greater good” which will benefit all. After all, it takes a brave person to stand up and make changes to a decaying society even at the expense of one’s own life.

So, has my opinion of Dumbledore changed after learning that he’s not a family man and that it was out of selfish ambition that he wished to make peace with the Muggles so that both worlds can live in harmony? Not quite. Like Harry Potter, I felt a little betrayed, but the author did a great job at explaining his actions and redeeming him. Like Voldemort, Dumbledore operated in secrecy, pulling strings to see his plans come through. He wasn’t all that different from Voldemort who was lusting after power and domination. But there is a huge difference between the two. If you can recall the statement in the Sorcerer’s Stone: “To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure (p. 297), Dumbledore accepted his immortality whereas Voldemort didn’t. That’s why Voldemort will always fall short. It’s kind of like how Satan will always be less than God or why the number 6 is less than 7. So yes, I still like Dumbledore for many reasons and believe that his traits reflect Christian virtues. One of them is the fact he is modestly humble. He is talented and gifted but chose to be a headmaster of a school rather than be the head of the Wizarding ministry. The logic is that if you want to make a huge impact in the world, you start off in the classrooms. Training and disciplining young wizards and witches have a huge impact on the future of society. That’s where changes really happen. It always starts small, especially if you want to make the world a better place, but of course, great ideas don’t always follow through as we see with Tom Riddle, who turned out to be the evilest wizard. But it’s better to try than not try at all.

Another interesting point made by the author was the concept of respect for all life. Dobby, a slave elf who falls at the bottom of the wizarding community food chain is as grand as Dumbledore. However, when he died, all he got was a small burial and not an elaborate ceremony. It made me think about how society tends to place importance on social structure. Someone from the bottom of the food chain is just as impactful as someone on top. It was a nice touch to say that no matter how small someone’s place is in society, they can make a huge impact!

I could go on and dive deeper into the world of Harry Potter because I enjoyed every single moment of it and learned how to see new perspectives such as the concept of gold and treasure from the point of view of the goblins, but I decided to conclude my thoughts for now. Everything in this book makes sense. There’s the notion of empathy, forgiveness, and acceptance just like the Christian faith. Perhaps, it’s the statement that Harry Potter and Voldemort are one of the same kinds but at the same time different that confused religious people. Still, when it comes to great literacy work, nothing should be taken literally. It’s the lessons that are important.

Now I just need to watch the first two Fantastic Beast films before I can see the third one in the theater to get caught up with Harry Potter. While I was reading Harry Potter, each time I finished a book, I watched the film, comparing and contrasting them. Of course, the books are way better, but the films are cool too. This whole experience took me about 4 months but I am glad to say I have now graduated from Hogwarts and know what bravery looks like. Snape is the bravest and is my favorite character. Maybe if I feel like it, I might write an essay about why I think so, but I will just leave it for now. That was a lot to take in, I am sure.