Really, every Haymitch Abernathy scene in the first three Hunger Games novels has to be revisited in light of the revelations of his back story in Sunrise on the Reaping.
Sunrise on the Reaping: Structure Notes
April 10, 2025 by 5 Comments
I have explored the structure of the first three Hunger Games novels, the Katniss Everdeen trilogy, and it’s worth a quick review of the approaches I found most helpful before we make the deep dive into Sunrise on the Reaping, the second prequel novel.
First the only thing Collins has said about structure in her few interviews was this:
This is standard three act drama language:
Inserting Mockingjay’s plot points into this structure, we find a neat fit: [Read more…]
Sunrise on the Reaping: Travel Thoughts
April 9, 2025 by 2 Comments
My wife and I are just back from five days outside Albany, New York, and I’m excited about writing up my first thoughts on the structures of Suzanne Collins’ Sunrise on the Reaping and the several possible interpretations of Louella/Lou Lou, Haymitch’s “sweetheart.”
Tonight, though, due to unpacking and laundry responsibilities, I want to share the picture above — I was in Orlando’s airport bookstore and noticed they didn’t have any copies of Sunrise; my wife guided me to the front of the store where the above display was clearly for the book-of-the-month — and a story.
We stayed at a hotel near the Albany airport on our way home because the flight was scheduled for very early in the morning. When I checked in, the very pleasant woman at the front desk said, “Oh, you have stayed with us before; welcome back.” I explained that this wasn’t possible because I had not been in Albany except for a brief stop at my wife’s friend’s home outside the city on our honeymoon in 1987. She insisted that she recognized my face and my name.
She was clearly no older than her mid-forties, so I took out the card holder my second daughter gave me when she graduated from college (we went to the same college).
I asked the woman at the desk if she loved to read books, especially better fiction. She allowed that she was an avid reader. I gave her my ‘Dean of Harry Potter Scholars’ card and said, “Among a very small group of very serious readers, I am a niche celebrity.” She looked at the card, smiled, nodded, and asked me if she could keep the card or if I wanted her to take a picture of it and give it back. I said she could keep it, took the magnetic key-cards for the room, and thanked her for her help. [Read more…]
Ten Things You Didn’t Know about ‘Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone’ (2012)
April 3, 2025 by Leave a Comment
A good friend last week wrote to me saying that he had been invited to give a talk about Harry Potter at a local bookstore and he was flummoxed about how to introduce the ring composition idea without using PowerPoint slides projected on a screen. The bookstore didn’t have a projector or a screen or even a blank wall.
I was in exactly the same position in 2012 when I gave a series of “Ten Things You Didn’t Know About [Each of the Harry Potter titles]” at Oklahoma City’s wonderful independent bookstore, Full Circle. Incredibly, that talk was recorded and I still have a copy to embed here to illustrate my solution to the problem: hook your laptop up to a large flat screen television set and put it on the table next to where you’re speaking. For a crowd of thirty or less, if you’ve made the slides with a large typeface, it works like a dream.
I post this tonight to say to my friend, “If I could do this in 2012 without any technical assistance while maintaining full Luddire status, you can do this in 2025 while standing on your head and juggling” (he is very accomplished at all things technological and computers).
And, no, I have not watched this video through, and, yes, I disavow everything I said that is contrary to what I have learned and said in the almost decade and a half since I put that talk together!
The Rowling Library: Issue #100 Checks In at 100 Pages! A Real Celebration
April 2, 2025 by Leave a Comment
Patricio Tarantino, founder and editor of The Rowling Library e-zine, has knocked himself out for Issue #100 with not only an outrageous quantity of pages, a centenary one hundred, but with extraordinary quality as well. In addition to articles from TRL’s regulars — A. Dalla Palma, Rio Romero, Iris T. M., Oliver Horton, and several pieces from Patricio — Issue #100 features articles from Hogwarts Professor writers Nick Jeffery and Beatrice Groves, each contributing a signature piece from their research focus (Nick writes about the importance of the English class system in Potter and Strike and Dr Groves speculates about the epigraphs of Hallmarked Man and their possible alchemical meaning).
The only downside to the issue? It begins with a history of the magazine produced by The Rowling Library, which group also hosts a remarkable website of resources for Potter Pundits and publishes non-fiction works that focus on subjects of great interest to Rowling’s international audience. This introductory history ends with its author, Patricio Tarantino, admitting that Issue #100 may be the last hurrah for the e-zine. He writes:
This milestone—issue number 100—arrives at a crossroads. It could well be our final issue, closing a chapter that has spanned nearly a decade of dedication and passion. Or perhaps there will be a #101 appearing in May, just four weeks from now, continuing our monthly journey through the Wizarding World. The honest truth is that I don’t know yet which path I’ll take. The decision will come later, after we’ve had time to reflect on what these 100 issues have meant and where our energies might best be directed going forward.
For now, what matters most is celebrating what we’ve accomplished together—contributors and readers alike—in creating 100 issues dedicated to exploring, analyzing, and celebrating the work of one of the most influential and important writers of our times. Whether this marks an end or just another chapter, what truly matters is that we enjoyed every step of this magical journey together.
I hope the TRL team will consider publishing six issues a year rather than twelve or some other method of keeping the e-zine coming, though I appreciate the hard to believe labors of assembling issues with remarkable content of lasting value in a format that is simultaneously attractive and engaging.
Download the pdf of Issue #100 here or just start reading it. Congratulations to Mr Tarantino and the TRL regulars on passing the mammoth milestone of 100 issues with such grace and flair and many thanks for the many hours of challenging and instructive reading to be found in each new issue and the archives.
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