Somewhere in your career, your work changes

I spent my last half-day in UOB last Monday (more than half a day, actually); it was a somber mood. Not that there was a bawling episode, I was simply too excited to face another chapter in my career life. Tomorrow, I’ll be starting on my new job; I’ve just heard from friends that my desk is waiting for me – completely cleaned by my boss.

As for my other friends who are thinking of changing companies, good luck on your attempt; I do hope it pushes through. To another who’s moving to another country, all my best wishes on your next adventure. Here’s what I leave to you from my good friend Jane Fonda:

If the career you have chosen has some unexpected inconvenience, console yourself by reflecting that no career is without them.

Christmas Begins

Josh saw the Batman show in Raffles City, one of the malls here in Singapore, last weekend. So he’s pretty much in the Batman mood right now. He still got the Batman tattoo in his forearm, and pretty much says that he wants to see Batman every time he wakes up. Oh! And he even brought his little Batman figure in church.

Harry Potter lives in our house! Josh simply loves his Gryffindor jump suit that it is so hard to convince him to get out off it.

Bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and celebrate

When someone is about to leave work for another, why do they treat you like a fattened calf off for an execution? I’ve been treated to some hearty, succulent meals these past days because – well – I’m about to leave the company.

After two years and three months working in the Trade Finance team in the Business Solutions Department of UOB (United Overseas Bank), I’m off to go back to the previous company I worked with, Maybank. Why is that so? Call it whatever you want – expanding my horizons, career advancement – but, really, it all boils down to the fact that I got a better offer, and that I’ve had enough of the crappy people I deal with in my current job (not my Filipino colleagues though). I still have one more workday left, and I pretty hope I have turned over all the outstanding stuff I had been working on this past month (that’s for you, Santi *wink, wink, budge, nudge*).

Am I the first to leave the team? Nope, more like the third. It did wonders to my good friend Vincent; he’s gaining some weight now for the less stress he had to deal with at work – even if his work place is far from his home. Life is indeed great, huh, Enteng? However, I have no hopes of gaining weight, I am planning of losing them, actually. What, with all those free meals and the holidays coming, who hasn’t gained some additional pounds?

Ironic isn’t it that the title of this entry was lifted from the story of the Prodigal Son?

He Who Must Not Be Named

Just who is this Dark Lord that’s terrorizing Harry’s life? We saw him living off as a parasite on the back of a professor’s head on Harry’s first year. In the Chamber of Secrets, all we saw was his sixteen-year old memory from a fifty year-old diary – is it just a memory? He’s been silent on Harry’s third year at Hogwarts; but, now, he has put the boy who lived under a terrible danger – an elaborate plot to finally kill the boy who hindered his rise to power.



Who is Tom Marvolo Riddle, the one who fashioned himself to be called Lord Voldemort? When do we finally get to really know him? Is he pure evil or just a poor boy gone bad? Oh, you’ll have to wait for the sixth film, but here are some quick facts. He is, indeed, a descendent of Salazar Slytherin (as he claimed in Chamber of Secrets). His mother, Merope Gaunt, is a witch, while his father (Tom Riddle) is a rich Muggle who abandoned his wife upon learning who she really is. The young Tom was raised in an orphanage in London after his mother died an hour after giving birth. According to Dumbledore, “he is one of the most brilliant students Hogwarts has ever seen."

For now, just be scared that he is finally back, and wait for his remarkable duel with Dumbledore on the fifth movie, Order of the Phoenix. See him here after his rebirth, and how fabulous Ralph Fiennes is.

Why is it such a big thing when Voldemort said that he could touch Harry now? Well, the young boy was protected by an old charm when his mother died to save his liFe (as explained by Dumbledore in Philosopher’s Stone). The blood of his mother, which runs through his veins, protects him – the same way that he has to stay with the Dursleys, for his Aunt Petunia, the only sister of Lily Evans, could protect Harry from the dark wizards. In taking the blood of his enemy (Harry’s), Voldemort is now sharing that same blood with Harry.

People have asked why is he so freakin’ after a young baby? Blame Trelawney – that hag professor of Divination whom you have met in Prisoner of Azkaban. She made her very first prophecy, and somebody overheard it and told Voldemort.

“The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches ...
Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies ...
And the Dark Lord will mark him as equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not ... And either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives.”

The sad thing is that Voldemort only heard of the first two lines.

Exorcism of Singapore

Singapore is a country known for its strict rules and a heavy-hand in the enforcement of its laws. This is a country where one could be caned for drawing graffiti on the walls. A place where in 2001, it’s a big news that there was a total 4 murder crimes committed for the first quarter of that year, which is a huge jump from the previous year.

As the government try to loosen up, and as the economy have finally risen up from the slack brought about by SARS and Asia’s economic downturn, crime in the state seem to have risen as well. Did the times change the people?

It’s a common story to hear maids mistreated by their employers – not given enough food, not given any proper sleeping area, sexually harassed by their male employers, or even physically assaulted. To see in that news that an employer pimps her maid is a new and shocking story.

Murder crimes are even becoming more gruesome: victims’ bodies are chopped up and scattered all over the island; a child raped and stored inside a small box to rot.

The only saving grace in this country is that crimes don’t go unsolved and that the implementation of justice is fast.

Finding heaven in another world

Life is full of second chances. You can leave behind a sad memory in your past and try to live a life anew. Old memories may haunt you, but the promise of a renewed tomorrow tides you over.
A very good friend took the plunge for another chance of finding love’s true happiness, and I truly hope that he finally finds it.

We pray that the home you will share has much joy and laughter, and be filled with a special kind of love that will last forever. Congratulations on your new life together.

Here comes the anorak

I read last weekend a write-up about geeks having a field day this holiday season with the onslaught of blockbuster films based on books. Just because I read JRR Tolkien, C.S. Lewis and JK Rowling, can I be called a geek? I’m no nerd (supreme nerd, that is).

Okay, I have voiced-out some of the things I wish they should have shown in Goblet of Fire, but I’m not screaming sacrilege for what the filmmakers have done. And I don’t spit out page numbers of books to refer to some scenes. I don’t belong to that group of people who would look so surprised that somebody doesn’t read these books either.



I am the type who would be willing to share information and explain things that non-book readers would find beguiling in the film versions. Here’s one in GoF:

Bartemius “Barty” Crouch, Sr (the one who has the moustache of Hitler and has a seemingly small voice for a man) is not the Minister of Magic; he’s the head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation. In the days of Voldemort’s rise to power, Crouch Sr. is famous for tracking down dark wizards (as you may have seen in the courtroom scene). He captured and imprisoned wizards in Azkaban without a trial – even his very own son Barty Crouch, Jr (who was reported to have taken part in the torture of Frank and Alice Longbottom). From then on, he fell from grace. When his wife felt that she was dying, she convinced him that she would take the Polyjuice Potion to take the form of their son and die inside the prison. And so, everyone in the wizarding world believed that Barty Crouch, Jr. had died inside the walls of Azkaban. Crouch Sr. kept his son inside their home under the Imperius Curse and care of Winky, their house-elf. Thinking that he still can control his son, he even allowed him to watch the Quidditch World Cup under an invisibility cloak (yes, you’ll soon learn that not only Harry owns that type of cloak) with Winky; and amidst the fanfare of the game, he took Harry’s wand.

When the Death Eaters caused mayhem after the games, it was Barty Crouch, Jr. who conjured the Dark Mark in the sky (as shown in the film) but it was unbeknownst to anyone except Winky. From then on, Barty Sr. lost his son, but told no one; Barty Jr. then met-up with his Dark Lord and helped in the plan of kidnapping Harry Potter: he impersonated Mad-Eye Moody, who was to become the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts during Harry’s fourth year, and manipulated the Triwizard tournament by putting in Harry’s name in the cup and did his best to help him. He turned the Triwizard cup into a portkey to carry the winner (Harry) to Voldemort.

Crouch Jr. killed his own father in the Forbidden Forest. When his true identity was revealed and told the whole tale under the Veritaserum (truth serum), Cornelius Fudge (Minister of Magic) arrived and sent a Dementor to administer the Dementor's Kiss to Barty Crouch, Jr., leaving him worse than dead.

Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves

I’m a huge fan of the TV show Lost, which is now on its second season. Though season one is not yet finished in the local channel, I’ve already completed the whole first season ages ago. I’ve been totally excited waiting for the start of the second season in the States. Since the first episode aired, I’ve been downloading each episode a day or two after it aired.

We’re in episode seven now, and all I can say is that this show never seem to stop to amaze me. What I really like about this show is that it has a fairly large cast of different personalities, and the characters were thoroughly fleshed out through flashbacks of their previous lives making the relationships they were building with other survivors more complex. Seeing these past lives show the viewers that these strangers have a certain connection in their pasts and that somehow led them all to the island.



The mystery of the island is all-together a different matter; it’s intriguing in its bizarreness – along with the creatures on it.

Can people really turn into savages when left to their elements? This show is just too reminiscent of the book Lord of the Flies by William Golding, only that there are more challenges and the characters here are adults. Is man inherently tied to society, and without it, he would likely return to savagery?

Teenage angst in the magical world

I’ve been giving way too much space for the latest Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, so I guess let me finish it off by giving a thorough review of the movie. If you don’t read the books and only watch the films, please be warned that I’d be giving away major spoilers. If you read the books and want to be surprised when you watch the film, then by all means, don’t read this; because you are up for a series of spoilers. But fret not, it’s not like I’m going to give you a blow-by-blow account of what happens in the movie.

So here we go.

Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) just turned fourteen and he’s spending the last weeks of summer before his fourth year at Hogwarts with Hermione (Emma Watson) and the Weasley family; they went to one of the most awaited sporting event in the wizarding world, the Quidditch World Cup. In here, they get to meet the famous Viktor Krum (Stanislav Ianevski) and the Death Eaters (followers of Lord Voldemort), and for the first time in thirteen years, the dark mark is seen again. Before such incident, Harry’s scar had been hurting and had a dream of Voldemort inside an old house with his loyal minion Peter Pettigrew (Timothy Spall) and pet snake, Nagini.

Peter Pettigrew? Yes, Ron’s (Rupert Grint) rat, that animagus (used to be a friend of Harry’s father) that escaped during that scuffle in Prisoner of Azkaban. (I’m going to discuss here something that was left out in film three.) Remember the map given to Harry on his third year? Weren’t you surprised that Professor Lupin knows that that bit of old parchment is a map? Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs are friends and very much familiar with Remus Lupin (David Thewlis). Moony is Lupin, because – well – he’s a werewolf; Wormtail is Peter, of course, because he turns into a rat; Padfoot is Sirius Black (Gary Oldman), who can turn into dog; and Prongs is Harry’s father, James, who has a stag for an animagus – stag is Harry’s patronus, ever noticed that?

Back to the fourth year, Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) welcomes back the students and announces that there won’t be any Quidditch for the school year, but there’s going to be a Triwizard tournament instead. This is a very dangerous competition of three famous European wizarding schools and it will be held in Hogwarts, and – oh – students from the Beauxbaton Academy and Durmstrang Institute will be spending the whole year in Hogwarts. Just so you know, Beauxbaton isn’t an all-girls school, but in the movie the girls were so feminine that they fart butterflies (that’s from John Noe of Leaky Cauldron); Durmstrang isn’t an all-boys school either.

Though Harry and Ron wanted to enter the tournament, they can’t, because of the age limit, and besides it’s the Goblet who decides who’s going to represent each school. Like in the Harry Potter tradition during Halloween (first year, troll in the dungeons; second year, first attack of the basilisk; third year, Sirius Black enters the Gryffindor tower), a curious thing happened during the triwizard selection. After spitting the three names of the champions: Cedric Diggory (Robert Pattison) for Hogwarts, Fleur Delacour (Clémence Poésy) for Beaubaxton, and Viktor Krum for Durmstrang, another parchment off-shoot from the goblet and Dumbledore shouts: Harry Potter!



This made Ron angry and jealous, of course, because Harry got in the limelight again; only Hermione believed that Harry did not voluntarily put his name in the cup, and was terribly worried for him. Someone is definitely rooting for Harry to die in the tournament, and so the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Alastor “Mad-eye” Moody (Brendan Gleeson), was asked to keep an eye on Harry.

The movie’s backbone is the three tasks that the champions will to go through in the tournament. The first task is getting the golden egg from a fire-spewing dragon; the second task is diving into the Black Lake to rescue the “thing” they’re going to miss the most from the merpeople; and the last task is going though a maze of tall, vicious hedges with mini-tasks in each turn. In this final task, Harry was finally brought to face his nemesis, Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes), in his newly created body.

Interspersed with all this danger is another kind of daunting task Harry has to face – the opposite sex. The Yule Ball is at hand, yet our famous hero can’t find the courage to ask the pretty but older Ravenclaw seeker, Cho Chang (Katie Leung), whom he’s got a crush on since third year. On the other hand, Ron finally notices that Hermione is a girl, and who is getting the attention of the famous Quidditch player and triwizard champion, Krum. Though, Harry is pining for Cho, he spends most of his time with gal-pal Hermione, which led Rita Skeeter (Miranda Richardson) to believe that there is something far deeper between these two than friendship.

This is the best Potter film, and Mike Newell (Four Weddings and A Funeral) did his job well – when Alfonso Cuaron transformed the franchise for the better (more artsy), Mike took it one step further. Steve Kloves did an amazing job in condensing the 700+ pages of the book into one amazing movie experience. Patrick Doyle contributed so much with the musical score keeping the theme started by John Williams and further enhanced with pop overlay. Five years since the release of the first Potter film, the three lead young actors have finally blossomed into their roles. Though we have already much of the Hogwarts grounds, viewers were treated with the all-new, beautiful owlery, and, of course, the vast sets for the world cup and the humongous maze.



Hard core book fans might grimace while watching the film, please remember that all the 700+ pages couldn’t be crammed into a two and a half hour film. Don’t fuss over the minutiae. Okay, you missed the Dursleys and seeing Dudley with a swollen tongue; or Winky, the whiny elf of the Crouch family; or Dobby the free elf, who helped Harry with the gillyweed and giving Harry socks for his Christmas present; or Hermione going on and on about the elves welfare; or the visit at a cave with Sirius Black and Buckbeak; or Bill Weasley meeting his future fiancé Fleur; or Mrs. Weasley worrying about the twins; or Percy Weasley being such a pompous ass; or the whole Quidditch game between Ireland and Bulgaria; or the magical creatures inside the maze.

There was never a dull moment or scene all throughout the movie; the first fifteen minutes of the film already covered more than one hundred and fifty pages of the book. The Dark Mark was awesome, both in the sky and in the Death Eaters’ forearms, only that Barty Crouch, Jr (David Tennant) conjured it late in the mayhem at the Quidditch cup; it was suppose to be during the attacks of the Death Eaters, which caused them to stop and scamper, and it was Harry’s wand that was used. One thing I miss though is hearing Fleur speak. We don’t get to hear her say, “But evidently zair ‘as been a mistake. E cannot compete. ‘E is too young.” She was supposed to be arrogant and Hermione hates her. Or Krum, who only have two speaking lines: “You ‘av no right to be ‘ere, only the champions ‘r allowed inside the tent.”. I wish they showed how he’s having a hard time pronouncing Hermione’s name: “Vare is Herm-own-ninny?”

The first task was amazing; though it wasn’t in the book that the dragon’s chains snapped and that it chased Harry all over the Hogwarts’ grounds. You can tell from that scene that Harry was a goner, only that you know there are three more books to cover. I love that they have given more thought on Neville’s (Matthew Lewis) plotline, and that spiel “Oh no, I killed Harry Potter!” was hilarious. The Patil twins looked okay, but I wish they look more gorgeous. In the movie, it was implied that they belong to the same house; Padma is actually a Ravenclaw. We also get to see the bookworm Hermione – finally! Hermione looked gorgeous at the Yule Ball, but hard-core fans were screaming that she’s wearing the wrong colour. She’s supposed to wear a periwinkle blue dress and Harry a bottle-green robe – colours of the house the sorting hat first thought of putting them in (Ravenclaw and Slytherin). Speaking of Slytherin, I love the ferret scene; I bet it will set off a thousand fanfictions. Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton) is turning to be such a suave; I wish we got to see him in his all-black outfit during the Yule Ball as a treat for all those fangirls.

The actress who played Cho Chang was chosen for her heavy Scottish accent, and you could see right through her that she got the hots for Harry. She looks so sweet and all, but if you read the books – well, we all know how a horrible person she could be (a human hosepipe). The underwater second task looked great. They made the bubblehead charm look chic, but the persons they have to rescue beneath the lake looked so unreal (obviously they used dummies). The merpeople looked scary and so are the grindylows. Even though I missed seeing Dobby giving Harry the gillyweed, it’s logical to replace him with Neville.



I wish they have given more depth to the fall-out between Harry and Ron, than just saying things like “You’re a great foul git, you know that!” I wanted to see Harry terribly angry at Ron’s jealousy that he threw a badge at Ron and wished him to get a scar of his own. We don’t get to see much how Ron was so jealous of Krum after the Yule Brawl that he ripped his Krum toy figure. Rupert Grint did a good job in this film, gone are his scared-yucky facial expressions, and his comic timing was spot-on. Speaking of comic, this is the humorous among the four films, though ominously dark.

Seeing Cedric’s character go inside the maze almost made my heart skip, and I finally broke down when Harry returned with his body after the graveyard incident. The return of Voldemort (pronounce it with a silent T please) was excellent. It was everything as I have imagined in the book – even how he looks like. One thing that bothered me was that You-Know-Who didn’t have a hard time making Harry bow down with the Imperius curse; but the Priori Incantatem phenomena was just as how I pictured it.

The Moody sub-plot was well presented; it was way too obvious for the book reader but a good surprise for those who only watch the films. Hmm, I wonder what’s he drinking from that flask, bet it’s not pumpkin juice. The Prefect’s bathroom scene was so hilarious, and for one moment I was scared for Daniel’s modesty. Moaning Myrtle (Shirley Henderson) was so funny and she was close to making the film rated R18. We miss the kiss on Harry’s cheek from Hermione, though; but who cares? It’s not like they’re going to get together. Right now, even if I have a Harry loves Hermione bracelet, I’d root for Moaning Myrtle and Harry getting together. You know, Harry dying in the last book and he goes back to Hogwarts as a ghost and he and Myrtle spend most of their time at the bathroom – only that Myrtle is dating some boy now during Harry’s sixth year, that stuck-up snob. Whee! There's another dropped-out part wherein Krum comfronts Harry about Harry and Hermione's relationship, who cares? It doesn't matter; they're not gonna end up together, anyway.

Seeing Dumbledore saying to Harry that difficult times lie ahead for him almost made me cry one more time. Yes, Harry is up for more deaths. If Cedric’s death here can break you to pieces, wait for the coming death in the Order of the Phoenix and that other momentous one in the Half-Blood Prince.

Goblet of Fire was made to be a blockbuster movie and it is. I would love to watch it one more time in the theater and again and again in DVD.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask; I’d gladly clarify some things for you. I have more pictures, but if I post them all, you’ll be seeing the entire film.

Here comes the dragon!

One more day to go and you could finally watch the Goblet of Fire. Actually, I'm going to watch it tonight, and I'm pretty excited. Hard core fans, who have seen the premiere in London and New York, are saying that "hands down, the best Potter movie yet." Okay, It was Mr. Mugglenet – Emerson Sparks – who said that.

You'll get my review soon – like tomorrow.

Tell me where it hurts

Herman scheduled us last night for an hour of full body massage. I haven’t had a full body massage for years, so I was pretty excited to have an hour lying in bed and a masseuse kneading my flesh. So I laid face-down in bed and placed my head right smack into that hole; then a thought came to me. Why can’t they put a mini-video screen below that bed? It can be pretty boring just staring at the floor beneath you; luckily my masseuse got nice toes.

Forty dollars down the drain and my whole body now aches.

It is Christmas in the heart that puts Christmas in the air

Christmas is in the air – in our house, that is. We already finished putting all the trimmings in our Christmas tree; and I have already completed wrapping up all the presents for kids. I feel so proud of myself! Only gifts left to shop for are for adults and for the kris-kringles.

Parcel for you, Mr. Weasley

Parents these days may be wondering if it’s okay to bring their children to the theater to watch the latest Harry Potter film. Seeing the trailers in the local network, TV mobile, and even in the MRT, one knows that the movie has its shares of intense moments – not to mention that it is rated PG13, unlike the previous three.

Keep in mind that Harry is getting older and as the story progresses it becomes more sophisticated – the magic and fantasy moments intensifies. The older he gets, the greater the challenges become; more tragic things to overcome. So some old-fashion common sense is needed on deciding whether your child is ready for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

I know mine isn’t; he’s even scared of the full trailer. Though he didn’t freaked out inside the theater when he saw it shown during the Batman flick; he could probably go through with it when the DVD version comes.

Although, here’s one clip from the film he loves to watch over and over again – probably forty times the least. I can’t still point out which part he likes the most: Ginny saying “I’m not wearing that. It’s ghastly!” or Hermione giggling.

The mettle of a hero

The eagles! The eagles are coming!

Ooops! Wrong movie; maybe even the wrong book. Oh shite! It’s the wrong series.

The Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire mania, the fourth book to be made into film, is up in high gear. Its worldwide release is on the 17th of November. The world premiere, which was held at the Odeon Leicester Square in London last November 6, was a huge success. It’s had its French premiere last Tuesday, November 8, and the US premiere will follow on Saturday, November 12 at Ziegfeld Theater in New York. Critics have said that this is the best Potter movie yet.

The film is rated PG13 for some frightening scenes – well, there’s at least two murders in the book. Like I’ve said before, the books are getting darker and darker, and definitely we’ll expect the films to follow suit. The production team faced a daunting task of putting a huge book (600+ pages) into one compact, interesting movie – not to mention that this is considered to be one of the favourites among fans.

The Goblet of Fire is one of my favourite HP books – probably second on the list. Considering that this is the middle book in the series, everything that happened in here changed the world of Harry Potter upside down. This is the arc, the turning point, the slingshot, and the ominous thing that makes one feel that difficult times lie ahead. This is the book wherein Harry finally became the hero, for in this year he had gone through tests that measured his worth.

So what would one expect from this film? Viewers will be given one thriller ride of dragons, underwater tasks, duels, Quidditch world cup, deceptions, murder and hormonal urges.

Here’s a low-down of what you’ll miss:
1. Dobby the house-elf from Chamber of Secrets and the new “she” elf Winky
2. The Dursleys (that family Harry stays with during the summer)
3. The House-Elf Liberation Front or SPEW
4. Sirius Black as Padfoot (the dog) – though you’ll get a sight of him like a molten lava
5. The other Weasley brothers (Bill, Charlie and Percy)

And here’s what you should look forward to:
1. Quidditch World Cup
2. The Hungarian-tail dragon
3. Harry in a bath-tub with Moaning Myrtle
4. Harry swimming like a fish
5. The Yule Ball (Hermione’s transformation)
6. The Yule Brawl
7. Harry asking out a girl
8. Hagrid falling in love (yucks!)
9. Voldemort (He Who Must Not Be Named)



Get you tickets now! I know I bought mine for the digital experience on the 16th. Yes, you got that right – a day earlier than the release.

As for the first line... Peter Jackson, when do you plan on working on The Hobbit? I miss Middle-earth.

Pabaon sa Paglisan

Don’t you just hate it when one member of your team is about to leave, and your boss comes to tell you that you have to handle some of the jobs of that person leaving? Life sucks! You’re already juggling between projects, and here comes another wherein you know nothing at all. I’ve been there one, too many times, and I know one friend who’s about to go through with it. Here’s what I have got to say to Kuya Gorgeous, “Don’t fret! DiDi will be there to help you, for sure. Bwahahahaha!”

Zoned Out

I’ve been gone ages, haven’t I? Things were pretty much hectic on all fronts that I haven’t got the time to really think things over (yeah, right, like I do that!). What have I been up to lately? Nothing much, just read a few books, and I’m still recovering from a few sick days that really pushed me to stay in bed (Don’t you love being under medication? Everything is a blur.)

I finished a complete re-read of the Half-Blood Prince (if I haven’t mentioned that yet). Well, I’ve finally appreciated how wonderful the story is. It may not be one of my favourites, but it is way up there. There’s just many questions answered, but there are still new ones raised.

I’ve started reading C. S, Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia; well, because the movie is opening on December and partly out of curiosity because the Harry Potter books are pretty much compared to this series. I read them not in the order the books were published, but according to the author’s preferred order – in chronological sequence of events. I’ve already finished The Magician’s Nephew, The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, The Horse and His Boy, and only got a few chapters left in Prince Caspian; three books more to tackle, that is. I completely understood now why the religious people laud about these works – right from the first book published, The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. We’ll see if it is pretty much obvious in the film adaptation.

It was a different world but totally not far from the worlds of Tolkien and Rowling – all riddled with witchcraft and sorcery, magic and pure evil; although in Narnia, I don’t think the White Witch Jadis is something you can compare to Lord Voldemort or Sauron or Morgoth.

The characters in Narnia aren’t truly drawn out – bet the filmmakers are going to have a hard time – they were there like pawns for a brief moment of time in the land not leaving much of an scratch on the reader’s mind. Not so much as the characters in Tolkien’s Middle-Earth, wherein they shape the story and the geography of the place. Lewis’ world is parallel to our world today (maybe in the 1950s) – in a different plane; whereas, Tolkien’s is somewhat ancient – like the reader could feel that these may be the stories of his predecessors (far, far away but possible).

Not that I am saying that Narnia is not any good; it may not just have reached the level of what I am expecting from it. It is, after all, children’s books. Maybe if I read it before I read Tolkien’s works, then I could have appreciated it in more. But hey! I haven’t finished the whole series yet – so I’m still hoping for some redemption in the next three books.

Books can mean anything the reader would want them to be. When one sits down to read a book, somewhere in his mind he had an idea of ‘what kind of book he is holding’, and that affects his reading of it. All books are complicated things: muttering to the readers in different contradictory voices, refusing to stay the same when we go back to them; tying them down robs them of their magic.