The Half-Blood Prince, Interrupted (by a holiday in Australia)
“Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince” was a book of two halves for me. I read half of it in June and planned to read the second half of it on two long haul flights to Australia. Weirdly, I found the flights unexpectedly entertaining and spent the whole time people-watching and enjoying the plentiful-yet-miniature snacks and drinks that the BA staff brought round. I had dinner-bed-and breakfast (as it were) to Singapore, then dinner-bed-and-breakfast (as it were) to Sydney. Got nothing read. Didn’t watch anything.
On holiday there, I read three Australian books: “The Secret River” by Kate Grenville (a historical novel about transportation/colonisation – and I am not sure if reading it was colonising or decolonising – I was quite conflicted about it…); “Cloudstreet” by Tim Winton (a fabulous novel with heart and soul and voice – highly recommend); thirdly, I read “The Narrow Road to the Deep North” by Richard Flanagan (about an adulterous affair and a Japanese prisoner of war camp – an odd mix of sentimental schmaltz and abject horror).
I think I therefore had about a month of a gap in the middle of “Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince” – but eventually got there. So saying, I had forgotten the first half of the book by the time I started the second half of the book – and flicking through the first half isn’t all that enlightening.
When talking about this book, someone asked me, “Is that the one with Slughorn?” This was a helpful way for me to pin down the main thing in the book. Yes it is.
Slughorn is a teacher at the school and Dumbledore knows that Slughorn has a memory about Voldemort that will enlighten him about Voldemort’s nature. Harry is tasked with getting the truth out of Slughorn. Eventually, Harry gets Slughorn drunk enough to give him the actual memory. Dumbledore and Harry familiarise themselves with the memory and then set off on a mission to find and destroy one of several bits of Voldemort’s soul that he has left hidden in significant objects.
The end of the novel goes horribly wrong for Harry, and worse for Dumbledore – but at least JK has set up the last book as a set of sinister dominoes for the reader.
I look forward to watching the movie of “Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince” so that I can remember the first half of the action!
One interaction I found interesting was between Tom Riddle and Dumbledore in a memory Harry is watching:
‘They do not call me “Tom” any more,’ he said. ‘These days I am known as –‘
‘I know what you are known as,’ said Dumbledore, smiling pleasantly. ‘But to me, I’m afraid, you will always be Tom Riddle. It is one of the irritating things about old teachers, I am afraid, that they never quite forget their charges’ youthful beginnings.’
He raised a glass as though toasting Voldemort, whose face remained expressionless. Nevertheless Harry felt the atmosphere in the room change subtly: Dumbledore’s refusal to use Voldemort’s chosen name was a refusal to allow Voldemort to dictate the terms of the meeting, and Harry could tell that Voldemort took it as such.
Later, Dumbledore does pretty consistently refer to Voldemort as Voldemort – indeed he is one of the few that names He-who-must-not-be-named directly at all. But it is interesting to see the delicate balance of power between these two at this point, historically– how Dumbledore’s rejection of Tom’s self-identification highlights the subjective/objective issues at the heart of one’s own identity.
So. Nearly there. Please stow your tray table securely and put all your belongings under the seat in front of you or in the overhead locker.
Wee Scoops 