Christ Symbolism in Strike6 For Easter

April 9, 2023 by 1 Comment

Happy Easter, Western Christians!

A dear friend, Lancelot Schaubert, sent me the picture below this morning, an image from a church, I’m assuming, somewhere in New York City. It’s of a hearth/altar whose carved centerpiece is a Pelican, a mother feeding her chicks from her own blood:

If you want to know the connection between this image, Rowling, Ink Black Heart, Christ’s sacrificial, maternal love and His relationship with the members of His mystical body in the Eucharist, not to mention my work, scroll down this Strike6 post to read ‘The Pelican At Last.’

Again, Happy Easter! And thank you, Lancelot, for the wonderful picture.

Filed Under: Hog Pro Notes

Did Jesus Visit St Mawes in Cornwall?

April 8, 2023 by 1 Comment

The Daily Mail presents the case for the legend of Jesus having traveled to Cornwall with Joseph of Arimethea, a maternal uncle, on a business trip to buy tin, a necessary component for bronze-making: ‘Did Jesus visit Cornwall? It sounds beyond belief. But according to local folklore, he sailed here as a teenager with his tin merchant uncle.’ I wonder if Dave Polworth was aware of this legend and if they weren’t connected to the mysterious caves he and his new friend were about to explore before Leda intervened. Surely Aunt Joan would have told her nephew about the Jesus Well, the Druids, and the tin connection?

That’s as close as I want to get to an ‘Easter piece’ here at HogwartsProfessor. I hope your celebrations of Western Easter are joyous!

Filed Under: Cormoran Strike, Hog Pro Notes

New Lou Berney Novel: Dark Ride

March 28, 2023 by Leave a Comment

“When people say they want to read a really good novel, the kind you can’t put down, this is the kind of book they mean. Exceptional.” – Stephen King on November Road

If you’re looking for good books to read between now and the appearance of Running Grave, the novels of Lou Berney come highly recommended, as you can see in the video above or at Berney’s website about his two best known works, Long and Faraway Gone and November Road. Berney was my primary adviser in my MFA studies and almost all of our conversations (and my consequent papers) were about story structure; Long and Faraway Gone has the most intricate scaffolding of any book I’ve read (and mapped and enjoyed) with the exception of Troubled Blood, and, like Strike5, the structure complements and advances reader experience of the novel’s meaning. The Dante echoes in November Road will engage any serious reader of Robert Galbraith (and of Rowling’s Christmas Pig).

The good news today for his legion of fans is that Berney’s new book, Dark Ride, has been given a publication date. I have pre-ordered my hardcover and Audible copy, as well as marked 23 September on my calendar. I will be contacting him, in addition, in the hope that he will agree to be interviewed here about Dark Ride or his previous books.

Again, if you’re in need of a break from yet another read of Ink Black Heart or Aurora Leigh, please give November Road or Long and Faraway Gone a try — and let me know in the comment boxes if you’re interested in discussing either or both here at HogwartsProfessor. I expect that, if you do read either or both of those novels, you will be nearly as excited as I am about Dark Ride‘s publication.

From the book’s Amazon page: [Read more…]

Filed Under: Hog Pro Notes

Rowling Twitter Themes: Women in Iran, Trans Violence, and Government Idiocy

March 25, 2023 by 1 Comment

When a feminist in New Zealand is attacked by trans activists, what is the headline in The Daily Mail the next day?

JK Rowling blasts ‘repellent’ New Zealand ‘mob’ after British trans critic Kellie-Jay Keen is doused in tomato sauce and evacuated by police before she can speak at rally

  • ‘Transphobe’ Kellie-Jay Keen hit with tomato juice and may not continue her tour 
  • JK Rowling has since hit out at trans rights protesters in New Zealand and the UK

By BRIDIE PEARSON-JONES and MAILONLINE REPORTER

PUBLISHED:| UPDATED:

As disturbing as the attack of Gender Theory Extremists was, I’m skeptical that the story would have merited a mention by Fleet Street if the world’s most famous author hadn’t flagged it with a series of tweets on her twitter platform to her 14 million followers. Many of those followers are journalists who recognize that Rowling’s name in a headline is click-bait gold.

Rowling-Murray clearly understands this as well and uses her unique second-job as online-influencer to highlight transgender violence and attacks on freedom of speech (not to say ‘reason’), to keep the world’s attention on the plight of women in Iran, and to call out government officials for their efforts to reduce women’s rights in the UK.

Join me after the jump for examples of all three themes on Rowling’s twitter feed. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Hog Pro Notes, Twitter

Is There New Hope for Fantastic Beasts? Ezra Miller Proves Me Wrong, Again

March 20, 2023 by Leave a Comment

I’ve predicted that Ezra Miller was down for the count (and with him, The Flash film franchise) in almost every report in the last several years of his arrests, confinements, apologies, and theatrics. You can search the site for those statements of surety that this troubled young man could not possibly climb out of the hole he had dug for himself this time.

The Flash premieres in theaters nationwide on 16 June. Except for my weather predictions for the opening of Order of the Phoenix and Half-Blood Prince, I think this means that my batting average for pre-event speculations is an almost perfect .000. My hat is tipped to the Warner Brothers wizards, their lawyers, media masseurs, and psychologists, for pulling off what I thought was impossible: the redemption of Ezra.

Does this mean that the Fantastic Beasts franchise might be saved — and Aurelius Dumbledore survive to see Beasts5 and the battle between Albus and Gellert? I’d tell you what I think is going to happen, but then you’d know what was really in the cards by playing the percentages.

Filed Under: Fantastic Beasts, Hog Pro Notes