Something must have held up the owl ...

As you recall, I was planning on doign along Harry Potter post on Friday. I didn't get to it then, and then Saturday morning I started to write, but it was long and rambling and had no point. Yeah, what else is new.

Anyway, below, here are Saturday's incomplete, formless Potter thoughts. I'll probably take up the topic again, soon.

But first, we've all heard the rumors about the "Every Potter book is based on a Beatles album" thingy, right? Well, as I understand it, here's how that breaks down ...

Sorcerer's/Philosopher's Stone ... Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

Begins in the past "It was 20 years ago today." Important lessons: I get by with a little help from my friends.

Chamber of Secrets ... Magical Mystery Tour

More whimsical and satirical. Important lessons: all you need is love.

Prisoner of Azkaban ... Rubber Soul

Rowling breaks out of the "book for kids" mold to show what a rich, complex world this is. Important lessons: In my life (I love you more.) Think for yourself.

Goblet of Fire ... The Beatles (The White Album)

Experimental, exploring the world, sometimes less than wholly successfully (though clearly, Rowling didn't plan that part). Important lessons: (You say you want a) revolution (... you better free your mind instead)

Order of the Phoenix ... Revolver

Often grim, sometimes bleak, but with hope. Important lessons: Tomorrow never knows.

To early to say on the last two, of course, though we can assume one will be Abbey Road and one will be Let it Be, depending on which Rowling considers "the last Beatles album."

Okay, now that scattershot Saturday entry ...





I could try to pretend I’m writing this before I bought my copy of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, but I would be lying.

Sorry, see this STONE SOUP thing has kept me on my toes, so I couldn’t crank an entry out before midnight. Also, it was my freakin’ birthday.

Anyway, I have the copy and … I’m not reading it yet. See, I had decided I needed to reread Book 5 (Order of the Phoenix) first to make sure I remembered everything.

Here’s one thing I had forgotten … it’s a great freakin’ book. I’d forgotten that. I remembered it being rather grim … and very long. But I forgot what a great blend of mystery, thrills, and comedy it is, how skillfully Rowling brings together little bits and pieces of her fantasy world. The characters have gotten so rich and fleshed out by now, that the littlest hint of interaction between supporting players can turn into a great scene. That scene where Dumbledore announces he has found a new Divination teacher, and Firenze the centaur trots in? Masterful.

I remembered thinking when I first read it that A) this was decidedly a book written after JK Rowling had become an international celebrity. There’s so much stuff about Harry dealing with tabloids, bad press about himself, etc. I can’t imagine that JK Rowling is as much a target of the notorious British tabloid press as your average Spice Girl, but I’m sure she’s had to put up with a lot.

It’s also B) the first book written after films had been made. It’s quite filmic, like she’s writing little parts for the CGI guys. At times she’s practically writing “the camera zoomed in on the doors swinging open and Hagrid staggering in.” Nothing seriously wrong with that, of course.

And it’s tempting to read it as C) a post-9/11 book. All the material about repression of the truth, paranoia, fascist government decrees, etc. You could also read it as a conservative take on that, though -- with foolish liberals sitting on their hands with their bean sprouts and pottery, while evil grows in the world. My guess is that Rowling is probably a lefty, but what do I know? And it doesn’t really matter -- it may be informed by current events, but it’s no allegory.

Perhaps the greatest creation of the book is Dolores Umbridge, the series' first real female villain, and the first unaffiliated with Voldemort. Hey, I love the Dark Lord, but we’ve all seen demonic magical masterminds in fiction before. But a kitten-loving cardigan wearing evil bureaucrat … that’s new.

So I’ll finish book five today or tomorrow and get stuck into book six. I’m intrigued.

What does “The Half Blood Prince” mean? There’s been no hint that there is a monarchy within the Wizarding World. Is there? Is this Prince the Prince of some other country?

For that matter, here’s something I’ve debated with other fans … is the Ministry of Magic entirely self contained, or is it a shadow branch of the regular British Government? Like, Tony Blair named a minister of Finance, Defense, Silly Walks, etc., then secretly appointed Fudge M of M? (hardcore fans point out that the books are set from 1991-1998, so technically John Major was PM for most of that)

I’ve read a bunch of web stuff, including some very fun Q&As with Rowling on her own website, and archived interviews on The Harry Potter Lexicon.

For one, I’m intrigued to see that she doesn’t want fans to feel sympathetic for Snape. Hmm … ‘cause I’m totally in this guy’s corner. Yeah, he’s mean to Harry, but sometimes Harry is an insufferable shit. But he’s saved his life, and risked his own to fight Voldemort, and has evidently had a brutal childhood and adolescence. I feel like, if Dumbledore trusts him, I should. But now I wonder … has this all been a setup?

She also seems to have dropped the whole “hey, Harry might die” game she was playing for a while. I never bought it for a minute, myself.

Luckily, she hasn’t been playing up the death angle so much this time. Last time so much of the promotion was “Read the book and see who dies” -- there probably is at least one death in this one, but I’ve heard much less about it.

Other things …

Lily Potter intrigues me. It’s supposed to be important that Harry has her eyes, and they’re green … which is the Slytherin color. I had thought it was possible that young Lily Evans was a Slytherin herself. But apparently in some other texts – not an actual book – JKR has said Lily was a Griffindor, too. Still, it’s also suggested that Voldemort didn’t necessarily want to kill Lily … hmm …

SPOILERS FOR BOOK 5 …

I had a fun idea for this one. Harry keeps trying, at the end of 5 to find some way to contact the deceased Sirius. Meanwhile, all his ancestors had portraits painted of them which could talk. Might there be one of Sirius? Perhaps poorly done, so it’s not a good representation? Harry tries to talk to it and finds it frustratingly unlike the real thing?

The development of Ginny as a character has been fantastic. From shy little girl to self-possesed young woman, considerably more mature than Harry or Ron. Amanda hopes she'll wind up with Harry, and perhaps she will. I'd probably prefer is Harry weren't paired up romantically at series end. Really, how many of us meet our lifelong mates in high school.

I'm fascinated by the places where JKR has kept brilliant notes and plotted things out ingeniously, and the places where she just clearly hasn't thought things through. I know kids love Quidditch, but the game makes no freaking sense at all. 150 points for catching the snitch? 10 for a goal? But what sort of game has something worth ten points but nothing worth less than that? Yeah, I know she came up with a historical explanation, but still. Also, I think the movies made a very wise choice in dressing the characters in more than just robes. Yes, I know wizards dress differently from muggles, and yes, students at Oxford wore robes all the time as recently as the 19th century, but come on! No pants at all?

In fact, in general, I'm not quite sure how Wizards seem to know so little of muggle life.