In some ways chapter 2 of Sorcerer's Stone, The Vanishing Glass, almost feels like the real beginning of the series. Yes, I love chapter 1 and it's crucial to our understanding of Harry's back story and the two worlds Rowling is setting up side by side. But chapter 1 feels almost like a prologue. When we move to chapter 2, we move to Harry's point of view (not first person, but still very much his POV) and there we stay for much of the rest of the series thus far. It's always a notable exception when we venture outside of the realm of what Harry is seeing, thinking and doing. The beginning of Goblet of Fire is one example -- though even there we end up realizing we're experiencing the scene through Harry's dream/vision/scar connection. The beginning of Half-Blood Prince when we get to hang out in the Muggle Prime Minister's office is yet another instance. But for the most part, we travel through these books by dogging Harry's footsteps. We're privileged -- and limited -- to see what he sees and experience what he experiences.
The fairy-tale feel of the book increases with this chapter. We haven't gotten to the enchanted castle yet...that comes later! But we've already met a giant -- or at least someone giant-sized. In this chapter we get to see poor Harry at the hands of his wicked stepmother....er....wicked aunt and uncle. There really is a Cinderella-type feel to his environment -- he has to sleep in a cupboard under the stairs, his clothes are all hand-me-downs that don't fit, he's tormented by his cousin which puts him somewhere in the vicnity of the role of "younger brother," which is always an intriguing role in fairy tales.
If the cupboard feels a bit over the top, recall that we're being given a glimpse of two worlds or worldviews. The Dursleys live in a materialistic, naturalistic, non-imaginative world, and they'd like to keep Harry shut up in that world. It seems fitting that when he lives with them he lives in a tiny, cramped, dark environment with no windows. What amazes me is that it hasn't cramped Harry's spirit and heart more than it has. I put that down to the fact that, although he doesn't yet know it this early on, he's been shaped at a deep heart level by his mother's sacrifice.
There are so many wonderful moments in chapter 2 that I can't possibly recount them all. Here are just a few of my favorites. Many of them are foreshadowing moments, or moments where Harry is tapping deep into memories of a world he doesn't consciously remember:
--Harry dreams of the flying motorcycle (p. 19)
--Harry tells the Dursleys "I won't blow up the house" when they're worried about leaving him there alone all day when Mrs. Figg can't babysit for him (p. 23)
--"Dont' ask questions" (p. 20) the key to Harry's survival at the Dursleys', and a deeply-engrained habit that I think comes back to haunt Harry later
--Harry's first vague memories of the night of his parents' death, and the green light that we know came from the AK curse (p.29). It's interesting to note that Harry strained his memory to come up with even this little bit of the scene.
--Mrs. Figg!
--parseltongue! (and don't you just love the humour in the scene with the boa constrictor!)
The scene at the zoo is such a classic example of Rowling working on many levels at once. It's a ripping good scene -- enjoyable and funny. It's a scene that gives us major clues to some of Harry's magical qualities, qualities Harry himself isn't fully aware of. And it's a scene that works on a symbolic level too, with Harry as a melter of walls, a bringer down of partitions, a sympathetic person who roots for the underdog (or undersnake, in this case) and already has a bit of a "saving people thing" going on.
I'm really rambling tonight. But I have to mention one more thing I found interesting as I re-read this chapter: it begins and ends with photographs. Photos are clearly very important to Rowling, who views them as deeply connected with a person's identity/sense of belonging and family/and view of himself. At the beginning of chapter 2, Rowling shows us the passage of time since the end of chapter one. We're given a look around the Dursleys' living room where we see the awful photos of the now 10 year old Dudley, but not one single photo of Harry. It's as though he doesn't live there at all. The Dursleys don't want to acknowledge his existence, or his part in their family, with a single picture.
At the end of chapter 2, we're told that Harry doesn't remember his parents at all -- not only is he not allowed to ask questions or to talk about them, but there are no photographs of them in the house either. That absence of photos will be touched on again beautifully toward the end of the book when Hagrid makes a gift of a photograph album to Harry. But more than that, we see that photos, images, reflections are intimately connected to a person's knowledge about himself and his own story. The discovery of his own story and its significance is what most of the Harry Potter epic is about.
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Friday, February 16, 2007
The Million Dollar Question
I had one more thought on the very first chapter of Sorcerer's Stone. I LOVE how Rowling gives us the million dollar question, the key question, the question everybody desperately wants answered, right off the bat on p. 12.
"It's -- it's true?" faltered Professor McGonagall. "After all he's done...all the people he's killed...he couldn't kill a little boy? It's just astounding...of all the things to stop him...but how in the name of heaven did Harry survive?"
This is brilliant. First of all (if I can risk sounding like a broken record) it just shows such tremendous artistry. Rowling is putting this very important question right up front at the beginning of book one. It gives me great confidence to know that she's always known where she was going with this saga, and how she wanted to shape it. This question has always been one of the key questions at the heart of Harry Potter. And she's a savvy writer -- she puts it right out there from the get-go and makes us all intensely curious. We don't know the answer when we first hear it asked. Even Dumbledore doesn't know the answer (though he clearly has guesses).
Six books and hundreds if not thousands of pages later, we do know more than we did at the start. We know Harry survived because of his mother's love, his mother's choice to sacrifice herself to save her son. But we still don't know all the details about that night, and frankly we're just getting more and more curious as the story goes along. Harry's finally getting curious too, because he's finally planning a trip to Godric's Hollow at the beginning of Deathly Hallows.
I love the feeling of being strung along by a good story-teller who knows what she's doing!
I've got a long post coming on chapters 2 and 3, which are some of my favorites. Hopefully this weekend!
"It's -- it's true?" faltered Professor McGonagall. "After all he's done...all the people he's killed...he couldn't kill a little boy? It's just astounding...of all the things to stop him...but how in the name of heaven did Harry survive?"
This is brilliant. First of all (if I can risk sounding like a broken record) it just shows such tremendous artistry. Rowling is putting this very important question right up front at the beginning of book one. It gives me great confidence to know that she's always known where she was going with this saga, and how she wanted to shape it. This question has always been one of the key questions at the heart of Harry Potter. And she's a savvy writer -- she puts it right out there from the get-go and makes us all intensely curious. We don't know the answer when we first hear it asked. Even Dumbledore doesn't know the answer (though he clearly has guesses).
Six books and hundreds if not thousands of pages later, we do know more than we did at the start. We know Harry survived because of his mother's love, his mother's choice to sacrifice herself to save her son. But we still don't know all the details about that night, and frankly we're just getting more and more curious as the story goes along. Harry's finally getting curious too, because he's finally planning a trip to Godric's Hollow at the beginning of Deathly Hallows.
I love the feeling of being strung along by a good story-teller who knows what she's doing!
I've got a long post coming on chapters 2 and 3, which are some of my favorites. Hopefully this weekend!
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
"Daddy's Gone Mad, Hasn't He?"
I've been mulling over just how I ought to be rationing out the chapters with this re-reading of Harry Potter. I need to exercise restraint because it's hard to put Rowling's writing down, and I don't want to blaze through all the books in a couple of weeks. The way I figure it, we have about 18 weeks until Book 7. Maybe closer to 19, but it doesn't much matter. The point is that leaves about three weeks per book. Granted, the first and second books are vastly shorter than the fifth and sixth, so that's maybe not the best way to judge. But for now, I'll stick with this, and as Sorcerer's Stone has 17 chapters, I should be reading less than a chapter a day. I've already blown that by reading the second and third chapter, one right after the other. But then those two chapters go together so well...
It's in these two chapters that Rowling establishes the Roald Dahl-esque misery of Harry's home life. It's quite a Cinderella story, with this poor orphan boy spending his first ten years reviled by three relatives so repulsive, it's difficult to determine who is the worst of the bunch. No wonder he dreams of being whisked away, though until the letters begin to arrive, he has little reason to hope this could ever be the case.
Of the three relatives, Petunia probably has the least to do in these two chapters, as she is greatly overshadowed by her husband. Mostly, her purpose here is to indulge Dudley to a sickening degree, much like Mr. Salt does with the ill-fated, uber-obnoxious Veruca in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. She dotes on her son but is beginning to fear him, realizing that she has created a monster capable of temper tantrums whose effects would probably register on the Richter scale, though probably not attributing any blame for his behavior to herself. It is she who heads off his massive meltdown by offering to buy him two extra presents (21), after screeching at Harry to get up and make breakfast so everything will be perfect for Dudley's birthday (19), perhaps in anticipation of just such a tantrum if it isn't. After her simpering assurances that she won't let Harry ruin Dudley's birthday, she falls nearly out of sight for the chapter, and in the next, she's so mortified at the thought of associating with her sister's crowd and so intimidated by her husband's increasingly irrational behavior that she spends most of the time cowering.
Dudley has developed a striking personality now, having grown from "a large pink beach ball wearing different-colored bonnets" (18) to "a pig in a wig" (21). I'm struck first by his utter aggression. His favorite pastime is beating up on Harry, and his friend gleefully join him in picking on other unfortunates at school who happen to arouse his ire. Once he receives his Smeltings stick, Vernon actually encourages him to use it to whack Harry (33) (though he perhaps regrets this when he finds himself on the receiving end of more than one of its blows). Beyond Harry, in this short space of time, Rowling mentions Dudley whining for his dad to bang on the glass of the snake enclosure (27); mowing down old Mrs. Figg on his bike (31), though presumably this was an accident; running over a dog with a miniature tank (37). He seems to harbor no affection for anyone or anything, never showing any gratitude to his parents for all their indulgences.
He's also a couch potato who schedules his life around his television shows and gets woozy if he's separated from his computer for any length of time. (I fear I see a trace of myself in this description - harrowing indeed!) It's strange to see so much technology stuffed into these chapters since the bulk of the series is devoid of such modern implements, with Hogwarts students going about their daily business in much the same way as witches and wizards a thousand years ago would have. I think Rowling may have a bit of a Luddite streak. I think I do too - though you certainly wouldn't know it from the amount of time I spend glued to my computer!
We get hints of Mrs. Figg and Aunt Marge here. Of the first, we learn little except that she is evidently a stereotypical crazy cat lady. She doesn't seem so bad, just a bit musty and eccentric and certainly not the companion of choice for a ten-year-old boy. Still, her treatment of Harry appears to be better than the Dursleys'. Of Marge we see even less, but we can guess. We're told "she hates the boy" (22), though evidently she is fond of Dudley, as she has sent him a birthday gift. We also get some sense that Marge and Vernon are probably fairly fond of each other, since she bothers to send him a postcard (34), though its contents apparently consist of complaints (35). It's no great shock when we actually meet this Debbie Downer that she is as unpleasant as her brother.
But Vernon is the main focus here. You can see where Dudley's temper came from; Vernon always seems on the verge of popping a vein, his face rapidly changing colors, his voice conveying a low threat that could become an explosive bellow at any second, particularly if anyone hints at the existence of anything abnormal (as when Harry casually mentions his dream about the flying motorcycle (25)). He's a conundrum because in his desperation to keep everything nice and normal, he throws his house into a state of chaos. I love "He hummed 'Tiptoe Through the Tulips' as he worked, and jumped at small noises." (40) The more he tries to keep Harry's people out, the more frazzled he becomes. I'm rather surprised that he makes such an effort. If this boy has made them all so miserable for the past ten years, wouldn't it be nice to be rid of him for the bulk of the year? But I guess the fear that the neighbors will figure out what's going on and come to associate the Dursleys with all that magical nonsense far outweighs any satisfaction they would receive by getting Harry out of their hair. What did Vernon plan to do, though, after that miserable night in the shack? Even if they'd avoided the letters for that day, did he think that would be a permanent solution?
It's interesting that of all his physical characteristics - scrawniness, perpetually unkempt and magically shaggy hair, green eyes, round glasses with Scotch tape across the bridge of the nose - the only one he likes is his scar, the first indication that Dumbledore was right about it coming in handy (20). Harry has no idea how he got it, of course; the Dursleys frown heavily upon questions, so he is completely in the dark when it comes to his origins, and when strange things happen he doesn't know why. It's simply a part of who he is. We learn here that he's a Parselmouth (28), though we won't encounter that word for quite some time or realize the significance of that ability. But it's a nice moment; Harry sees a creature in captivity and empathizes, even though this is a large and potentially dangerous beast. This bodes well for his future interaction with Hagrid's menagerie!
And speaking of Hagrid, things are about to get really good...
It's in these two chapters that Rowling establishes the Roald Dahl-esque misery of Harry's home life. It's quite a Cinderella story, with this poor orphan boy spending his first ten years reviled by three relatives so repulsive, it's difficult to determine who is the worst of the bunch. No wonder he dreams of being whisked away, though until the letters begin to arrive, he has little reason to hope this could ever be the case.
Of the three relatives, Petunia probably has the least to do in these two chapters, as she is greatly overshadowed by her husband. Mostly, her purpose here is to indulge Dudley to a sickening degree, much like Mr. Salt does with the ill-fated, uber-obnoxious Veruca in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. She dotes on her son but is beginning to fear him, realizing that she has created a monster capable of temper tantrums whose effects would probably register on the Richter scale, though probably not attributing any blame for his behavior to herself. It is she who heads off his massive meltdown by offering to buy him two extra presents (21), after screeching at Harry to get up and make breakfast so everything will be perfect for Dudley's birthday (19), perhaps in anticipation of just such a tantrum if it isn't. After her simpering assurances that she won't let Harry ruin Dudley's birthday, she falls nearly out of sight for the chapter, and in the next, she's so mortified at the thought of associating with her sister's crowd and so intimidated by her husband's increasingly irrational behavior that she spends most of the time cowering.
Dudley has developed a striking personality now, having grown from "a large pink beach ball wearing different-colored bonnets" (18) to "a pig in a wig" (21). I'm struck first by his utter aggression. His favorite pastime is beating up on Harry, and his friend gleefully join him in picking on other unfortunates at school who happen to arouse his ire. Once he receives his Smeltings stick, Vernon actually encourages him to use it to whack Harry (33) (though he perhaps regrets this when he finds himself on the receiving end of more than one of its blows). Beyond Harry, in this short space of time, Rowling mentions Dudley whining for his dad to bang on the glass of the snake enclosure (27); mowing down old Mrs. Figg on his bike (31), though presumably this was an accident; running over a dog with a miniature tank (37). He seems to harbor no affection for anyone or anything, never showing any gratitude to his parents for all their indulgences.
He's also a couch potato who schedules his life around his television shows and gets woozy if he's separated from his computer for any length of time. (I fear I see a trace of myself in this description - harrowing indeed!) It's strange to see so much technology stuffed into these chapters since the bulk of the series is devoid of such modern implements, with Hogwarts students going about their daily business in much the same way as witches and wizards a thousand years ago would have. I think Rowling may have a bit of a Luddite streak. I think I do too - though you certainly wouldn't know it from the amount of time I spend glued to my computer!
We get hints of Mrs. Figg and Aunt Marge here. Of the first, we learn little except that she is evidently a stereotypical crazy cat lady. She doesn't seem so bad, just a bit musty and eccentric and certainly not the companion of choice for a ten-year-old boy. Still, her treatment of Harry appears to be better than the Dursleys'. Of Marge we see even less, but we can guess. We're told "she hates the boy" (22), though evidently she is fond of Dudley, as she has sent him a birthday gift. We also get some sense that Marge and Vernon are probably fairly fond of each other, since she bothers to send him a postcard (34), though its contents apparently consist of complaints (35). It's no great shock when we actually meet this Debbie Downer that she is as unpleasant as her brother.
But Vernon is the main focus here. You can see where Dudley's temper came from; Vernon always seems on the verge of popping a vein, his face rapidly changing colors, his voice conveying a low threat that could become an explosive bellow at any second, particularly if anyone hints at the existence of anything abnormal (as when Harry casually mentions his dream about the flying motorcycle (25)). He's a conundrum because in his desperation to keep everything nice and normal, he throws his house into a state of chaos. I love "He hummed 'Tiptoe Through the Tulips' as he worked, and jumped at small noises." (40) The more he tries to keep Harry's people out, the more frazzled he becomes. I'm rather surprised that he makes such an effort. If this boy has made them all so miserable for the past ten years, wouldn't it be nice to be rid of him for the bulk of the year? But I guess the fear that the neighbors will figure out what's going on and come to associate the Dursleys with all that magical nonsense far outweighs any satisfaction they would receive by getting Harry out of their hair. What did Vernon plan to do, though, after that miserable night in the shack? Even if they'd avoided the letters for that day, did he think that would be a permanent solution?
It's interesting that of all his physical characteristics - scrawniness, perpetually unkempt and magically shaggy hair, green eyes, round glasses with Scotch tape across the bridge of the nose - the only one he likes is his scar, the first indication that Dumbledore was right about it coming in handy (20). Harry has no idea how he got it, of course; the Dursleys frown heavily upon questions, so he is completely in the dark when it comes to his origins, and when strange things happen he doesn't know why. It's simply a part of who he is. We learn here that he's a Parselmouth (28), though we won't encounter that word for quite some time or realize the significance of that ability. But it's a nice moment; Harry sees a creature in captivity and empathizes, even though this is a large and potentially dangerous beast. This bodes well for his future interaction with Hagrid's menagerie!
And speaking of Hagrid, things are about to get really good...
Valentine's Day
In the spirit of Gilderoy Lockhart's excessive regard for the holiday, here is a parody of James Taylor's Carolina in My Mind in which Ron spills his guts to Harry about his feelings for Hermione. Enjoy!
It's High Time
It's high time I go and tell Hermione
Just how much I love her.
I can't stop thinking of her.
I wish that I could smother her
With kisses. When will I
Have the guts to tell Hermione? It's high time.
Harry, she's the only one.
Can you tell the way my heart is pinin'?
Hear it pounding like a drum.
I wish I could be good at this; I'm tryin'...
Oh, when will I tell Hermione? It's high time.
I wonder if she's really blind
To how I feel when she's around.
She has such a clever mind.
Has she guessed my deep desire? I'm dyin'
To just go and tell Hermione. It's high time.
It's high time I go and tell Hermione
Just how much I love her.
I can't stop thinking of her.
I wish that I could smother her
With kisses. When will I
Have the guts to tell Hermione? It's high time.
Harry, it's just not right
There's no defense against a fella fallin'
Into love at second sight.
Back when we first met, how could I know then?
Oh, when I go, I'll tell Hermione it's high time.
When that Granger was a stranger still, she found me
Acting like a dolt, a goof, a goon,
And it seems I'll be an imbecile forever.
Can she forgive me
When I go and tell Hermione? It's high time.
It's high time I go and tell Hermione
Just how much I love her.
I can't stop thinking of her.
I wish that I could smother her
With kisses. When will I
Have the guts to tell Hermione? It's high time.
It's High Time
It's high time I go and tell Hermione
Just how much I love her.
I can't stop thinking of her.
I wish that I could smother her
With kisses. When will I
Have the guts to tell Hermione? It's high time.
Harry, she's the only one.
Can you tell the way my heart is pinin'?
Hear it pounding like a drum.
I wish I could be good at this; I'm tryin'...
Oh, when will I tell Hermione? It's high time.
I wonder if she's really blind
To how I feel when she's around.
She has such a clever mind.
Has she guessed my deep desire? I'm dyin'
To just go and tell Hermione. It's high time.
It's high time I go and tell Hermione
Just how much I love her.
I can't stop thinking of her.
I wish that I could smother her
With kisses. When will I
Have the guts to tell Hermione? It's high time.
Harry, it's just not right
There's no defense against a fella fallin'
Into love at second sight.
Back when we first met, how could I know then?
Oh, when I go, I'll tell Hermione it's high time.
When that Granger was a stranger still, she found me
Acting like a dolt, a goof, a goon,
And it seems I'll be an imbecile forever.
Can she forgive me
When I go and tell Hermione? It's high time.
It's high time I go and tell Hermione
Just how much I love her.
I can't stop thinking of her.
I wish that I could smother her
With kisses. When will I
Have the guts to tell Hermione? It's high time.
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Princess Diana
This is probably way out of left field, but I received a book about Princess Diana as a birthday present yesterday, and it got me thinking about the fact that her death basically coincides with the beginning of book seven, assuming the action starts at the end of the summer as it usually does. Considering that this series is so deeply rooted in England, that the affairs of the Muggles are receiving more focus as of the sixth book, what with that odd conference in the first chapter, and that her funeral was one of the most iconic moments of my generation, I just wonder whether it will tie into the book at all. Actually, the ceremony at the end of book six was reminiscent of that memorial; certainly it was an event of comparable proportions in the wizarding world. Anyway, I doubt it will come up, but when I realized the timing of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, I couldn't help but wonder...
The Boy Who Lived
I actually got a bit of a shiver when I opened up Sorcerer's Stone to begin re-reading it the other day. It was a happy shiver -- I'm always happy to revisit Harry -- but it was also a shiver of wonder. I have always loved the title of this very first chapter: "The Boy Who Lived." And I continue to be hopeful that Rowling may yet use that exact same title for the very last chapter of book 7. I can't help but feel it would be magical for Harry Potter's story to come full circle!
Like Erin, I was immediately caught up in Rowling's descriptions of the poor old plodding Dursleys. They're humorous, but also pitiable in their afraid-to-imagine state. One detail that especially jumped out at me was how Vernon "always sat with his back to the window in his office on the ninth floor" (3). Of course, on the particular morning when we follow him to the office, there's a lot going on outside that office window -- and Rowling lays stress that he doesn't see the owls swooping around outside. One wonders how many other things Vernon Dursley misses simply because he's made a habit of not looking, of closing himself off to a wider view of the world.
As I re-read the books, I hope to note certain recurring themes or symbols, and I have a feeling that windows/glass/walls/partitions/barriers will be fairly major in that catalogue. When you think about it, Rowling is really writing about two very different worlds that exist side-by-side. Some people are willing and able to move in and out of both, while some are completely closed to the other world, to the point where they even deny its existence. But I'm getting ahead of myself!
Ah, Dumbledore! How we love you! From the very beginning, there is such fun and magic to the man. I'm glad Erin pointed out all the wonderful things Rowling does with characterization in this first chapter, with Dursleys, Dumbledore, Hagrid and McGonagall (yet another favorite). Many of the people who don't like the Harry Potter books don't like them on religious or moral grounds (though I find that painfully hard to believe sometimes) while others dismiss them as literary-poor. I think it was literary snob Harold Bloom (correct me if I'm wrong) who pretty much dismissed Harry on the grounds of this first book, and even cited a handful of cliches on page 4 alone (one wonders if he bothered to read past page 4). I think one phrase that bothered him was "stretched his legs." Frankly I find this very nit-picky criticism. While certain phrases like "stretched his legs" may not be the freshest language, I think we can all agree that in many ways they're simply familiar and comforting story-telling conventions. And I have a hard time not crediting freshness and imagination to a woman who, in that same chapter, gave us a map-reading cat and a magical Put-Outer.
The mention of Sirius' motorbike always gives me a bit of a thrill. To see such a detail here, so very early, shows how very carefully designed this entire seven-installment series has been from the start. I wonder...will we see that motorbike again? After all, Sirius did will everything to his godson. And then there's that casual mention of Dumbledore's that "scars can come in handy" (15). Does even Dumbledore really understand fully at this point just how true that will be in Harry's case?
Shivers! Delightful shivers!
*******HP1:1*******
Like Erin, I was immediately caught up in Rowling's descriptions of the poor old plodding Dursleys. They're humorous, but also pitiable in their afraid-to-imagine state. One detail that especially jumped out at me was how Vernon "always sat with his back to the window in his office on the ninth floor" (3). Of course, on the particular morning when we follow him to the office, there's a lot going on outside that office window -- and Rowling lays stress that he doesn't see the owls swooping around outside. One wonders how many other things Vernon Dursley misses simply because he's made a habit of not looking, of closing himself off to a wider view of the world.
As I re-read the books, I hope to note certain recurring themes or symbols, and I have a feeling that windows/glass/walls/partitions/barriers will be fairly major in that catalogue. When you think about it, Rowling is really writing about two very different worlds that exist side-by-side. Some people are willing and able to move in and out of both, while some are completely closed to the other world, to the point where they even deny its existence. But I'm getting ahead of myself!
Ah, Dumbledore! How we love you! From the very beginning, there is such fun and magic to the man. I'm glad Erin pointed out all the wonderful things Rowling does with characterization in this first chapter, with Dursleys, Dumbledore, Hagrid and McGonagall (yet another favorite). Many of the people who don't like the Harry Potter books don't like them on religious or moral grounds (though I find that painfully hard to believe sometimes) while others dismiss them as literary-poor. I think it was literary snob Harold Bloom (correct me if I'm wrong) who pretty much dismissed Harry on the grounds of this first book, and even cited a handful of cliches on page 4 alone (one wonders if he bothered to read past page 4). I think one phrase that bothered him was "stretched his legs." Frankly I find this very nit-picky criticism. While certain phrases like "stretched his legs" may not be the freshest language, I think we can all agree that in many ways they're simply familiar and comforting story-telling conventions. And I have a hard time not crediting freshness and imagination to a woman who, in that same chapter, gave us a map-reading cat and a magical Put-Outer.
The mention of Sirius' motorbike always gives me a bit of a thrill. To see such a detail here, so very early, shows how very carefully designed this entire seven-installment series has been from the start. I wonder...will we see that motorbike again? After all, Sirius did will everything to his godson. And then there's that casual mention of Dumbledore's that "scars can come in handy" (15). Does even Dumbledore really understand fully at this point just how true that will be in Harry's case?
Shivers! Delightful shivers!
*******HP1:1*******
And So We Make a Beginning...
This is a most appropriate time for me to begin re-reading the Harry Potter books, as I received the first as a birthday present eight years ago. Having never heard of the boy wizard with the broken glasses and lightning bolt scar, I harbored few expectations, aside from my aunt's generally distinguishing eye for great children's literature. As I recall, it was at least a couple of weeks before I started to read the book. I'm not sure at just what point I became riveted, but I fancy it was chapter four, since that marked the dramatic re-entry of Hagrid and Harry's revelation that his life was about to change dramatically. Though re-reading the first chapter, it seems I ought to have been hooked from page one, and certainly once Dumbledore showed up. There is such magic in Rowling's manner of writing, and such humor...
I find it interesting that there have been so many objections to Harry Potter, and it almost seems as though Rowling anticipated this with her painstaking description of two of the worst sort of Muggles. (That's not to say that those who disapprove of the series must of necessity be boorish and uncharitable; I know many lovely people who wouldn't touch Harry with a ten-foot wand. Yet I can't help but think of the Dursleys, and especially the first paragraph, when I see such virulent protests. The opening almost serves as a disclaimer: If you relate to the Dursleys' way of thinking, you probably won't like this book much...) I especially love "He hurried to his car and set off for home, hoping he was imagining things, which he had never hoped before, because he didn't approve of imagination." (5)
After shadowing Vernon for the day and seeing him home to his shrewish wife Petunia, it is quite a relief indeed to happen upon Albus Dumbledore, whose eccentricities shine like a beacon despite the trouble he takes in extinguishing the street lamps on Privet Drive. His relationship with Minerva McGonagall is quickly established; we see them as close friends, and though he is in a position of greater authority than her, there is a distinct playfulness in his manner that she lacks, though she is clearly not without compassion. McGonagall has a lighter side, but most times she comes across as very strict, stern and no-nonsense, and her disapproval is certainly aimed in many directions when we first meet her. She reminds me a great deal of a teacher I had in middle school, a marvelous teacher when all was said and done, but that didn't prevent her from being feared by most of the students. McGonagall is a formidable woman, the sort one doesn't want to cross.
But Dumbledore... Of all the characters in Rowling's world, I think he must occupy my second-highest slot, and in this first chapter we get several examples of his gentle wit, so sadly underdeveloped in the films. (Thank heavens for "Alas... earwax!") We see that he is amused by McGonagall's Transfiguration, sitting stiffly on a brick wall as a cat all day when she could have been celebrating. Then, while she is pressing him for information regarding Voldemort's demise, he randomly offers her a lemon drop, and then, when she persists with her query, calmly lectures her on the silliness of saying "You-Know-Who." When this prompts her proclamations of Dumbledore's greatness in being the only wizard Voldemort feared, we get this: "It's lucky it's dark. I haven't blushed so much since Madam Pomfrey told me she liked my new earmuffs." (11) And then, after she asks whether he might fix Harry's scar, he refuses, saying, "Scars can come in handy. I have one myself above my left knee that is a perfect map of the London Underground." (15)
And then, of course, there is Hagrid, my favorite of all, and while McGonagall's first hint of him is an indication of his clumsy absent-mindedness, it is immediately followed by Dumbledore's sobering statement: "I would trust Hagrid with my life." (14) The description that follows is marvelous - I'm excessively amused by the comparison of his feet to "baby dolphins" - and his tender farewell is telling. I especially like his blubbering into his handkerchief. It's impressive how strikingly Rowling manages to paint five very distinct characters in the course of 15 pages. I was also struck by the fact that the motorcycle Hagrid was riding belonged to Sirius Black. I had no memory of that detail; certainly I didn't think it of much importance at the time, and if it came up again in book three I've forgotten. But it's an interesting little tidbit...
Well, that should do for my first post before I get too carried away. I am going to enjoy this exercise a great deal...
I find it interesting that there have been so many objections to Harry Potter, and it almost seems as though Rowling anticipated this with her painstaking description of two of the worst sort of Muggles. (That's not to say that those who disapprove of the series must of necessity be boorish and uncharitable; I know many lovely people who wouldn't touch Harry with a ten-foot wand. Yet I can't help but think of the Dursleys, and especially the first paragraph, when I see such virulent protests. The opening almost serves as a disclaimer: If you relate to the Dursleys' way of thinking, you probably won't like this book much...) I especially love "He hurried to his car and set off for home, hoping he was imagining things, which he had never hoped before, because he didn't approve of imagination." (5)
After shadowing Vernon for the day and seeing him home to his shrewish wife Petunia, it is quite a relief indeed to happen upon Albus Dumbledore, whose eccentricities shine like a beacon despite the trouble he takes in extinguishing the street lamps on Privet Drive. His relationship with Minerva McGonagall is quickly established; we see them as close friends, and though he is in a position of greater authority than her, there is a distinct playfulness in his manner that she lacks, though she is clearly not without compassion. McGonagall has a lighter side, but most times she comes across as very strict, stern and no-nonsense, and her disapproval is certainly aimed in many directions when we first meet her. She reminds me a great deal of a teacher I had in middle school, a marvelous teacher when all was said and done, but that didn't prevent her from being feared by most of the students. McGonagall is a formidable woman, the sort one doesn't want to cross.
But Dumbledore... Of all the characters in Rowling's world, I think he must occupy my second-highest slot, and in this first chapter we get several examples of his gentle wit, so sadly underdeveloped in the films. (Thank heavens for "Alas... earwax!") We see that he is amused by McGonagall's Transfiguration, sitting stiffly on a brick wall as a cat all day when she could have been celebrating. Then, while she is pressing him for information regarding Voldemort's demise, he randomly offers her a lemon drop, and then, when she persists with her query, calmly lectures her on the silliness of saying "You-Know-Who." When this prompts her proclamations of Dumbledore's greatness in being the only wizard Voldemort feared, we get this: "It's lucky it's dark. I haven't blushed so much since Madam Pomfrey told me she liked my new earmuffs." (11) And then, after she asks whether he might fix Harry's scar, he refuses, saying, "Scars can come in handy. I have one myself above my left knee that is a perfect map of the London Underground." (15)
And then, of course, there is Hagrid, my favorite of all, and while McGonagall's first hint of him is an indication of his clumsy absent-mindedness, it is immediately followed by Dumbledore's sobering statement: "I would trust Hagrid with my life." (14) The description that follows is marvelous - I'm excessively amused by the comparison of his feet to "baby dolphins" - and his tender farewell is telling. I especially like his blubbering into his handkerchief. It's impressive how strikingly Rowling manages to paint five very distinct characters in the course of 15 pages. I was also struck by the fact that the motorcycle Hagrid was riding belonged to Sirius Black. I had no memory of that detail; certainly I didn't think it of much importance at the time, and if it came up again in book three I've forgotten. But it's an interesting little tidbit...
Well, that should do for my first post before I get too carried away. I am going to enjoy this exercise a great deal...
Friday, February 9, 2007
Re-Reading Harry
Welcome to "Re-Reading Harry," a blog journal set up for the express purpose of musing on the wonderful Harry Potter series by JK Rowling.
With the recent announcement that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the seventh and final book in the series, will be released on July 21, 2007, we have only a little under six months to re-read and savor the first six wonderful books in the series...without knowing how the story will conclude.
My friend Erin and I were reflecting on how much we'd enjoy re-reading all six books as we look forward to the final tale. So we decided to set up a space where we could share our thoughts as we re-read. Here is where we'll offer musings, questions, speculations, reflections and all manner of other inspirations on our favorite young wizard and his moving story.
With the recent announcement that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the seventh and final book in the series, will be released on July 21, 2007, we have only a little under six months to re-read and savor the first six wonderful books in the series...without knowing how the story will conclude.
My friend Erin and I were reflecting on how much we'd enjoy re-reading all six books as we look forward to the final tale. So we decided to set up a space where we could share our thoughts as we re-read. Here is where we'll offer musings, questions, speculations, reflections and all manner of other inspirations on our favorite young wizard and his moving story.
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