HEY! Keep it down - I’m readin’ here!

August 8, 2007 by wilmington.

Six whirlwind weeks of wordy French later, I’m in a brief break before fall classes begin.

Finished the O’Brian series (see below) but will wait to comment on that. Have also managed to - more or less - maintain a cone of silence around myself regarding Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Since I’ve never re-read any of the series, I went back and re-read Azkaban, the last half of Order of the Phoenix, and Half-Blood Prince. Partially to remember the various clues and plot threads, but also to re-connect with the world of the books rather than the movies.

After only a few chapters into Azkaban, I realized how much funnier the books are - all the little throwaway bits about the portraits at Hogwarts, the absurd scenes of children in their magic classes, Rowling’s steadily improved dialogues.  She really hits her stride in Half-Blood Prince including a brilliant, long scene which manages to deliver the key moments in the Ron-Hermione relationship (for which readers have been waiting for at least 3 books at that point) all in the middle of a Herbology lesson in which the three friends are wrenching disgusting and dangerous pods out of murderous stumps…and then squeezing larvae out of them. The ridiculous situation does not take away from this dramatic payoff, and you have to marvel at how Rowling is able to balance the tone in such a loaded scene

I have my theories about what will finally happen to Harry and friends/enemies. So far - 200 pages into Hallows - I might still be right.

Some off-the-beaten-path (for Harry Potter stuff, anyway) links to Potter-related articles and reviews. Note that some should not be read until you’ve finished the books!

Some guesses BEFORE Hallows came out: http://www.christianitytoday.com/books/features/rumorsofglory/070625.html

Review of Order of the Phoenix movie: http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NzZmZTA5MzhhNzk1NzI4Zjk2ZDQzZGEyMWQwYzQyMTc=

Reviews of Hallows: http://article.nationalreview.com/?=ODkyNTkxZDlkNzljNjJmNzgzMmZlYzhhODJkYTJmN2Q=

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/julyweb-only/130-12.0.html

 And an article about Rowling and Christian themes:

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/augustweb-only/131-43.0.html

During my farewell moments to Harry Potter and lingering thoughts about the many adventures of Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin: Cicero! Nietzsche! Calvin! See…I really am in a Ph.D. program…

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