There is no 'N' in strumpet, you Diplodocus.

July 26, 2007

Best HP7 review comment yet

Courtesy of Nightfly, of course.

Below the fold for the 3 of you who haven't read the book more...

Posted by: caltechgirl at 12:06 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
Post contains 81 words, total size 1 kb.

July 23, 2007

Questions for J.K. Rowling

Not that she'd ever even find my humble little site, but I know we all have burning, unanswered questions about things in the Hogwarts Universe. Let's discuss, shall we?

Mine below the fold, and spoiler-iffic discussion (hopefully) in the comments! more...

Posted by: caltechgirl at 01:57 PM | Comments (9) | Add Comment
Post contains 370 words, total size 2 kb.

1 One niggling detail that bothered me -- what was the deal with Stan Shunpike? In the last book, Harry and Dumbledore were both convinced he could never be a Death Eater, in this book he is. Did he turn? Was he Imperiused? Was he spying for someone? It wasn't explained or justified in any way.

Posted by: Ian Hamet at July 23, 2007 03:12 PM (i5qPG)

2 There was some discussion that Stan was under the Imperius curse, and then he went to Azkaban, IIRC, so he may actually have been a good guy, and it wasn't just speculation. Not sure, though.

Posted by: caltechgirl at July 23, 2007 06:19 PM (qPLLC)

3 I'm guessing that Draco recovered sufficiently from the whole thing to be considerably less repulsive ten years down the line. Though I'm not sure how much of that would be real personality improvement and how much would be that those he needs to impress would be less repulsive. But yeah, eeeewww.

Posted by: Deb at July 24, 2007 10:04 AM (Z7+lJ)

4 Here's something that has not been answered to my satisfaction: Is Snape a vampire or part vampire? He has always been described as bat-like, cloaked in darkness, darkness of the dungeon, etc. And then, it this book, when Snape flees Hogwarts, he flies off like a bat. Surely if he were an animagus we would know, right? She doesn't come right out and say it, so I'm still wondering.

Posted by: Phoenix at July 24, 2007 01:10 PM (4N2f4)

5 i dunno.... Scrimgeour was always described as if he was a lion animagus... or Crookshanks, but he was neither. I think JKR just likes the animal similes...

Posted by: caltechgirl at July 24, 2007 01:19 PM (/vgMZ)

6 Okay, but page 599 says... "With a tingle of horror, Harry saw in the distance a huge, batlike shape flying through the darkness toward the perimeter wall."

Posted by: Phoenix at July 24, 2007 01:28 PM (4N2f4)

7 And, just before that, snape escapes by jumping out of the window. He was carrying a wand, but no broom. So, he either wingardium leviosa'd himself or he flew out that window without benefit of a broom. Or...he learned how to fly sans broom like Voldy.

Posted by: Phoenix at July 24, 2007 01:33 PM (4N2f4)

8 Sorry I'm late. I don't think Hagrid has a Patronus. He was expelled in his third year, so he never learned that spell. ... Ron's terrier and Hermoine's otter are probably meant to be personality clues. It feels right to me (even if I can't explain quite why). ... However, I share your puzzlement about Draco. This may have been one of those "left on the cutting room floor" bits, but she set us up for a big change of heart that didn't really get there; it would have helped us get behind his marriage later on.

Posted by: nightfly at July 27, 2007 10:29 AM (PuuC1)

9 I agree on many of these question and im really puzzled .... What i wonder is Who is the headmaster on Hogwarts? Is it Harry himself or anyone else in the near being.... And why did Lupin die off scene? I thought his char. was worth a little more than that. And why didnt Harry use the marauders map when going to find Voldemort when they were looking for him in hogwarts ... was there too many people around? I will leave these question and be visiting this forum now and then..........

Posted by: Alexander at July 28, 2007 08:12 AM (BHpHh)

Hide Comments | Add Comment

July 22, 2007

Emerging from my Harry Potter Haze...

Of course, I was done with HP7 on Thursday night, courtesy of the dude who photographed the "carpet" book. Thanks, bud. You rawk.

We did go out yesterday morning and get 2 copies, and I finished it with DH yesterday evening (we were reading aloud).

To make up for it, we set ourselves up for some more serious house work, and this morning we nearly finished the front room.

But this evening I am going to snuggle back up with Harry, Ron, and Hermione and re-read a few favorite moments.

So, what did you love? What did you NOT love? Spoilers sure to abound in the comments, if you're a slow reader.....

My own thoughts in the extended: more...

Posted by: caltechgirl at 04:09 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
Post contains 290 words, total size 2 kb.

1 I was SO happy when Neville turned out to be such a hero! The parts that bothered me the most - the students who died fighting in Hogwarts, Dobby ::sniffle::. I was thrilled when Molly Weasley kicked Bella's butt! I laughed out loud at that scene. And what about Kreatcher? He was awesome!! Ack! There's so much I loved about the book, I feel like I am going to pop!

Posted by: Kate at July 22, 2007 04:44 PM (XargM)

2 I loved the thing insanely, but I haven't wanted to get too excited around Jay since he's only a bit more than halfway through it. The way that man reads my mind, he'd figure some of it out by my extreme level of happiness. Ditto on Snape. If he hadn't turned out to be exactly who I thought he was, I'd have been crushed. I really appreciated that she went ahead and let things unfold logically, rather than trying to be all tricksy. Well done. Very well done. And can I say again that I'm happy the Snape thing turned out the way it was supposed to? LOL.

Posted by: Deb at July 22, 2007 05:37 PM (Z7+lJ)

3 Got my copy Saturday, but haven't read it yet. Instead I am doing what I promised myself... going back and reading from the very first book, slowly, enjoying it. When I finally get to book 7 it'll be that much better! Yeah, I should take my temp; I could be SICK! LOL!

Posted by: pam at July 23, 2007 05:32 AM (l6NIn)

4 I love that JK broke with tradition and formula on this one. It felt much more adult somehow. I, too, was not surprised with Snape's revelations. I was a bit peeved at one thing, however. I feel that Dumbledore's compartmentalization of information really hurt the Order. I continue to see about a bajillion symetries between the story and WWII, but that's nothing new. I loved the way that Kreacher transformed after being shown some kindness. I liked the addition of a pragmatic and realistic Aberforth. It really really upset me when both Tonks and Lupin died, leaving their child orphaned like Harry was. Dobby's death didn't hit me as hard, but it was nice to see him go out on his own terms and in a noble endeavor. I really liked seeing the entire magical community rally there at the end. Somehow, it pleased me to see the Malfoys brought so low and then redeemed, if grudgingly. Snapes death made me really angry but not because I felt sorry for him, but because it so purely defined Voldemort: so evil that he would kill even his most trusted lieutenant (however wrongly - he never knew that Snape had betrayed him) for an advantage - without really thinking things through.

Posted by: Phoenix at July 23, 2007 09:34 AM (4N2f4)

5 What I most wanted from the books was Snape being innocent, and he was, so I was happy.

Posted by: Ith at July 23, 2007 03:55 PM (1sIg4)

6 I too was surprised by the Harry/Ginny and in the epilogue, the Ron/Hermione romances/marriage + kids thing. I think it was a little strange given that in the other books Ron and hermione always seem to bicker and argue, whereas Harry and Hermione really seemed close. I was expecting them to hook up. It was almost as if both H/Hr were too afraid to tell each other of their love and it fell through. Harry did save Ginny's life, and he does seem to like her. They never kiss though (?)And in the 6th book Ron is all over Lavender. You'd think they would be the couple in the end, Harry + Hermione, and Ron + Lavender.

Posted by: Francis at July 27, 2007 05:42 PM (mWQIO)

Hide Comments | Add Comment

July 18, 2007

The First Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Review!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows hasn't been made available to the press yet, but the Baltimore Sun obtained a copy and has posted a review (link not necessarily spoiler-free) (SPOILER-FREE QUOTE!):

Readers could enjoy Rowling's temporary, folksy fix for chasing away the blues (eat chocolate) while applauding the more permanent balm she offers: Concentrate with all your might on the events and people that have made you happy.
Book seven is no less penetrating, but it lacks much of the charm and humor that distinguished the earlier novels. Even the writing is more prosaic, less fanciful.
But, how could it be otherwise?
By book seven, Rowling is no longer inventing her magical world. Here, characters are accustomed to it, so it holds few surprises for them -- and by extension, for us.
In addition, Harry and his friends are no longer children. The early books, in particular, were enchanting because we could watch Harry and his friends struggling with exceptional powers, which they had not yet mastered. So a young witch or wizard would mount a broomstick for the first time and promptly be bucked off. It wasn't unlike watching real boys and girls take their first steps or learn to read -- skills every bit as magical and mysterious as casting a Summoning Spell.

By the end of the article, she does give away some minor spoilers, so read the whole thing at your own risk.

Spoiler stuff below the fold for the brave amongst you! more...

Posted by: caltechgirl at 06:49 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
Post contains 634 words, total size 4 kb.

30kb generated in CPU 0.0148, elapsed 0.0643 seconds.
74 queries taking 0.054 seconds, 159 records returned.
Powered by Minx 1.1.6c-pink.

Search Thingy

Monthly Traffic

Pages: 2599
Files: 94
Bytes: 23.7M
CPU Time: 1:42
Queries: 192281

Content

Posts: 1959
Comments: 6192

Feeds

July 26, 2007

July 23, 2007

July 22, 2007

July 18, 2007

Search Thingy

Recent Comments

Categories

Archives

Blogroll

Monthly Traffic

Content

Feeds