Review: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

While previous Potter books slide by with only mild infractions, Phoenix makes a large blunder that's much harder to avoid. There's no throughline. Or perhaps it's better to say nothing is driving the plot. In the previous books, the title would spell out what is the center of that particular volume. Here, the Order is more of something that is just introduced. Leaving the plot to be far more fragmented and about world-building than anything else.

Not to say the book is bad. It doesn't fly off the rails to become something completely different. I'm looking at you Frank Herbert and C.W. Lewis. It's just that the book sacrifices itself for the sake of the overarching plot of the series. Caring more about what has happened and what will happen instead of what is happening. Also, the most interesting plot points happen outside of Potter's purview. Or am I the only person who wants to see a break out from a magical prison?

Everything else I could say about it would be minor in comparison. Luna Lovegood is underutilized. Hagrid's 'adventures' could have been an email instead of a meeting. Despite a lack of a mysterious plot this time around, we still get a long explanation at the end.  One that just boils down to: all of this could have been avoided if Dumbledore would have just said something. While aspects like this give me pause, none of them are deal breakers. Though I will say that reading it today allows me to see one character is meant to be more of an aspect of society that leads me to one inescapable conclusion:

Professor Umbridge is just Ron DeSantis dressed like Jackie Onassis. Change my mind.

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Review: Meditations: A New Translation

Meditations: A New Translation by Marcus Aurelius
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

There is a strange dichotomy to Meditations. There is great wisdom to be had while also containing rambling nonsense. The thing you have to understand is that this book is a series of entries some guy made of his, sometimes completely random, thoughts. Conceitedly, that's basically what philosophy is. Forced perspective in written form. And, as with the rest of the human race, not every thought is a winner.

I will also note that I have not read any other translations of Meditations. So I'm not qualified to note if this is a good one or not. Considering how many people a book like this has to go through before getting published, I would imagine that it is at least passable. People's opinion on this subject tends to depend on which translation they read first.

If you're looking to study Stoicism as a whole, I would like to recommend not starting with this. Most of Aurelius' words are built upon centuries of other stoic philosophers, and there are themes related to Stoicism that need a precursor. The idea of Logos being chief among them. I will say it's the pinnacle of Stoic thought, but that is what makes it a terrible starting point.

Petty grievance time: I read the Kindle version, and there are no links from the passages to the notes. Only from the notes to the passages. Making it a daunting task to go back and forth to further dive into some of the harder to understand passages. Only to find that some of the notes literally say "the latter part of this passage is unclear." Thanks for that.

Overall, there is a lot of here to take in. In only one read-through, I made a shit ton of highlights and notes. Yes, some of it doesn't make sense. Yes, some translation issues remain. Yes, Aurelius repeats himself on more than one occasion. But, once you filter everything down to it's core concepts, this book has wonderful things to say. Knowledge isn't a singular answer. It's a puzzle that you have to put together piece by annoyingly stubborn piece.

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Well, that happened.

 

I finally took the plunge and published my novel. Honestly, I should have done it years ago, but final edits and good old-fashioned fear kept me from doing so. And, to double down on the honesty, I don't think I'm the same person I was when I wrote this book. I'm still happy with it and all that, but I think if I started on it today it would come out differently. Not better or worse, it's just I've been through a great deal these past several years.

Recent events have stirred something in me. Made me take a second look at what's important and what I want to do with what's left of my life. Or it might be better to say that the incremental improvements I've made over these years have been accelerated by a return to focus. Making me far less tolerant of bullshit, including my own.

I won't bore you with any more details. I'll let my novel do that. All I can ask is that you give it a chance. I'm not very good at selling myself, or my work. Making the mistake that quality can speak for itself and people don't need to be tricked into buying stuff. But, let's face it, we do. So, hover your mouse over that buy button and close your eyes. Imagine the most beautiful desirable thing you can conjure, that hitting that button will make that dream come true. It won't, but just imagine. Then, just hit buy.

For those who do give it a chance, thanks and I hope you enjoy it.

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