July 20, 2007

  • 10 ... 9 ... 8 ... 7 ...

    Lines are forming all over the world in anticipation of 12:01 - the witching hour.  Hour that the final Harry Potter book will be released.  Do you have your copy on reserve?

    Speculation about the series conclusion has been a matter of grave sport on the internet for months.  Snape, friend or foe?  (I'm gonna come down at the last minute and vote for friend because foe is really obvious, but I'm also gonna guess that he dies in this final book.  I know that if I were Rowling, I'd kill him.)

    After 10 years and millions of words - a few even written outside the books, what is left to say?

    I'll say that after having avoided the books for several years on the recommendation of people who warned of spiritual malfeasance, I picked up a copy of the first one.  I was not only pleasantly surprised by the story, I was heartily disillusioned by the people who had given me "solid" information including supposed quotes from the books that simply were not there.  I'm never impressed with someone who argues badly and lying about your opponent is about the worst argument I can imagine.

    So I read the book.  And then the second.  And then the third.  Sure there are sections of clunky prose (most of book five) and sometimes the pacing is off, but overall they are good reads.  Of course, I want more from a book than a quick read and Rowling delivered.  Sometimes heavy handedly but her philosphy and her grasp of psychology have been really delightful.  Her 12 year olds really did seem like 12 year olds.  And they have grown each year in ways that reveal subtle but effective passage through their teen years.  That's an authorial feat I admire. 

    The stories themselves are mythic.  They make the journey laid out in Joseph Campbell's "Hero of a Thousand Faces" and are replete with literary references from Homer to Shakespeare, the Bible, and Beatrix Potter.  How cool is that? 

    Early critics were unhappy that sometimes Harry and his friends chose the lesser path as when Hagrid gives Dudley a pig tale in the opening of the tale or when Harry blows up his Aunt in the third book.  Well, I like it that they don't always do the right thing.  I don't always do the right thing.  And it makes a better story in my eyes to have real people making less than stellar choices along the way but doing the right thing when it comes down to to the big moments of their lives. 

    There have been some spoilers posted on the internet already.  Famously a couple of newspapers posted reviews on Wednesday and Thursday.  I'm not much put off by that, I'd read the book even if I already knew the ending just to see how Rowling handles getting us there.  

    But I'll be reading it tomorrow.  My book is on a UPS delivery truck that's probably idling around the corner from my house as we speak so that it can be delivered first thing in the morning.  Tonight, I'll be packing.  I've already disassembled the boys' beds (at least in terms of the bedding) and got their matresses in plastic wrap.  I've set myself a goal to finish filling 10 boxes tonight.  So I'd better get back to it. 

    Too bad I don't have one of those wand thingies ...

     

     

Comments (10)

  • time for you to gasp...never read any of the books!

  • i'm betting snape is a friend...whether he wants to be or not.  and i think he'll die in the end, too.  but i think he'll do so to save harry.  i already think that's why he killed dumbledore.  i think he made one of those promises...like he did to whatit's mom...an unbreakable vow...is that what it's called?  i think he promised dumbledore he'd do that for him.

    o_o   omg.   you know i didn't read one...not ONE of those stinkin' books.   until this year.  then i read all six...thanks to my BROTHER who said "here...try the first two and if you don't like them, fine."  GAH.

    and now i don't want to read the last one b/c i don't want it to end.   he [the brother] and i went to see the movie tuesday night at the Imax.  there i was...3D glasses and all.  bahahaaa... lordy.  i'm a dork.

    and here we are in the holler for the last time...on the eve of the release.  and no where to find a copy.  sigh.  we're going to CostCo monday when we get back to KC.  he said he'd buy me a copy of my own.    but then i'll want to find a place to sequester myself for a few days to read and savour every word. 

    you know, scholastic books is suing the two bookstores in NYC who released the books ahead of schedule.  i'm hoping they pull their account with the stores.  i can't believe any store would have the nerve to do that.  i mean what makes anyone think they have the right to see a book before anyone else?  pff.  pffff.   i did hear that the NYTimes review was done in a way as to not let the ending be known.  but still... 

    you're packing.  and i'm helping to pack 60 years of cra...er...stuff for my parents.  thank bob they got rid of a chunk of it either to the dump or garage sale. 

    well fine.  i just blogged your blog.  and i typed "blooged".  i'm soooooo tired.

  • I have my name down for it at the library. Probably won't pick it up until Monday, though, so I have two more days to avoid spoilage.

  • i was checkin out that bill in the previous posts about sending women home early. it'll never work. i can't imagine going home 24 hours after that surgery. my doctor had hoped to send me home after 24 hours but when he took a look at me the next day he knew that was not going to happen. he thought cause i was so healthy i'd recoup quick and be out the door. i ended up barphing for two days and so they had to keep me. Truth is, i wanted to go home after 48 hours and they made me stay. something about i had to keep one meal down before they would discharge me. the same thing happened when i had a hysterectomy. i kept throwing up so they made me stay two nights. home would have been more comfy.

    oh, and the Doc that was jokin with me while i was paralyed, i was ok with that cause i think it helped keep me and my daughter calmer. if he was too serious we may have gone into panic. My daughter did great. she will be 18 in November and she really handled it all calmly. one would think being the spazzzz that i am it would take more than a shot of lidocaine to knock me into next week!

  • Best to you on moving day.

  • i just checked out some of the comments. the thing about being sent home with the drainage tubes is really unavoidable. Mine were in for almost 2 weeks. they had to be emptied twice a day, measure the liquid and recorded. then i had to clean the end of the tube with an alcohol pad before inserting it back in the bubble. The hospital taught us how to do it before the surgery at the preop appointment. I can see how an older person would need help with it. and if it is not done properly, there can be infection. Fortunately we have a great hospital and insurance.

  • Best dammm blog you have writ in a decade.

    Welcome back!!

    Sail on... sail on!!!

  • wand or not, thou art magickal.

  • Yikes! Not only do I not have my copy on reserve I didn't even know there was a countdown. I'm sooooooo out of touch. How did that happen?

  • A wand thingie would be sweet, wouldn't it? 

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