Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Have you ever read Harry Potter? Maybe you have because the series is really famous all over the world.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling, the sixth book in the bestselling series, was released on July 16, 2005, in the United States, Britain, Canada , Australia and Japan so on. But regrettably, if we want to read the Japanese version of this novel, we must wait until May 17, 2006. It’s too long for me, for everyone who lives in Japan and likes Harry Potter.
Do do you think I could wait so long? No, no and no. I couldn’t wait. So I started reading this book last summer and finally managed to finish reading just two days ago. Of course, it was really difficult for me to read a foreign book like this perfectly, even though it is aimed at children aged ten to twelve. I managed to understand most of it, though. How come? It was because I had some straight tips from a book by Christopher Belton which helps Japanese readers understand Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince .
Overall, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is really fun! It may be the best book I’ve ever read; it certainly has all the excitement and wonder of Rowling’s bestselling previous Harry Potter novels. If you want to read this excellent book as soon as possible, I recommend that you try to read it now rather than wait until May 17. I’m sure this book is worth reading.
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Comments (5)
Rudolf
wrote on January 27, 2006:
A couple of years ago, Miyachi-sensei taught a course on a Harry Potter book—the students didn’t enjoy that course very much, however, because they felt the weekly reading assignments were too tough.
Why do you recommend the book? What did you find especially good about it?
And jsut because I’m curious: What are those “straight tips” in Belton’s book? You’ve got a pretty impressive command of English—don’t you think you could have made it through the book without Belton’s guidance?
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Kayo
wrote on January 27, 2006:
Thank you for your comment, Rudie. There are so many reasons why I recommend the book. I can’t explain well, but first; this book is easy to get because it’s so famous all over the world. Second; I’m not sure but, you guys have ever read one of Harry Potter series, so maybe you are willing to read the newest book, I guess. Third; you can learn more about everyday conversation, some vocabulary and western culture. Well, these are just my opinions.
“Straigh tips”, I mean, are some hints. As you know, there are so many vocabularies that we Japanese can’t find exactly right meaning , the sentences unfamiliar to us, the words that are peculiar to the Welsh dilaect or something in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
In such a case, we can use Belton’s book for refering the vocabulary or peculiar phrases or something.
I’m so sorry but I’m uncertain about my answer for your question. If you have another question, I was wondering if you could say again.
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Luag
wrote on January 29, 2006:
Be very careful while reading this book, do not let anger against Severus Snape cloud the plans of Albus Dumbledore, the first and the last 3 books, especially the Order of the Phoenyx, are very impotant -- this is from a 40 yr old man that has read all the books 5 times (each).
With these books you will learn about growing up, you will learn language skills, everything. I recomend it…. I can't give you a reason in specific… the best is read the book and you'll know why.
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tiffany
wrote on January 31, 2006:
harry potter and the half blood prince is my BIBLE. It was possibly the best book of the series!
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Rudolf
wrote on January 31, 2006:
Kayo—your entry is a cross between, on the one hand, a diary entry which states that you have read the book and that you liked it—on the other hand it also attempts to be a book review; after all you recommend the book to other people.
It’s a perfectly fine diary entry, but as a review it falls short for the very simple reason that you do not say why you recommend the book—or why you found it enjoyable.
Re-read Abigail’s Review of Pride and Prejudice that you commented on and you will find that everything she says about the new movie version helps me form an opinion of that new movie version: she offers an analysis, compares this version with the older version, etc. She concentrates on this movie and tries to answer the same old question that review readers have. The question is: is the work being reviewed any good? If yes, why? If not, why not?
That the book is easy to get (every book in print is easy to get these days: you can even order foreign books directly from abroad), that it is part of a series, or that you can learn English from it—all of these statements are true. But none of these statements tell me much about this particular book.
Hi Luag and Tiffany—it’s nice that everyone seems to agree on the issue, but why is this book good? Why is it better than the other books in the series?
Luag—what exactly can a reader learn about growing up? Is the main character believable as a real human being rather than a cardboard character? Does he go through any personal growth, for instance?
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