Lethal White: Every Ibsen ‘White Horse’

November 5, 2018 by 3 Comments

I received a note from Odd Sverre Hove the day after Lethal White‘s publication and my first post on the subject had gone up. Mr Hove is a correspondent of many years, a theologian living in Norway, and a serious reader of Rowling/Galbraith. He wrote me to say he was as interested in the Ibsen epigraphs from his play Rosmersholm quotations from which Galbraith uses as chapter headings throughout Lethal White. I responded with a beg-letter asking him, my only friend who could read Ibsen in the original language rather than English translation, not to mention with knowledge of Ibsen’s theological and political concerns, to share the ‘White Horse’ references in Rosmersholm and his thoughts as annotations. He did so promptly and I alluded to his notes in my first piece post-publication about the meaning of the white horses — but I only received his permission to share these notes late last week. Please find below the Ibsen ‘White Horse’ notes with Odd Sverre Hove’s commentary at last! 

Three notes as preface:

(1) If you haven’t read the play and want some context, the Wikipedia summary of what some feel is Ibsen’s best can be found here and the online text that Rowling cites as the translation she used can be downloaded here.

(2) Strike is familiar with the play and Robin notes the Biblical link in their conversation on the drive back to London after the group interview at Chiswell House (chapter 44, p 378): “Isn’t there a play where white horses appear as a death omen?” “I don’t know said Robin, changing gear. “Death rides a white horse in Revelations (sic), though.”

(3) The Rosmersholm epigraph at the murder scene, chapter 35, just before the end of Part 1 and the beginning of Part 2, is “… the White Horse! In broad daylight!”

Enjoy Odd’s excerpts and commentary on the “White Horses of Rosmersholm” after the jump, the white horses that didn’t make my seemingly exhaustive list of white horse possibilities pre-publication or anyone else’s that I know of! [Read more…]

Filed Under: Cormoran Strike, Guest Posts

New Beasts in Crimes of Grindelwald; Rowling ‘Beast Within’ Theme Comment

November 4, 2018 by 3 Comments

The first fan screenings of Crimes of Grindelwald have happened and, remarkably, the audiences there have not yet tweeted out all the secrets of the latest Fantastic Beasts film. [Stand by for the inevitable wave of spoilers!] For those of us who have to wait until the 13th or 16th, enjoy the snippet above with some of the new Beasts in Crimes, and, for the readers more interested in what Rowling is after thematically in this series, check out these interview comments she made about the film, especially those about the Obscurus and Maledictus.

On Credence:

Rowling: “You could justifiably have believed Credence had been killed, but, in fact, you can’t kill an Obscurial when they’re in Obscurus form. He survived, but the big question for him now is, ‘Who am I?’ His quest for his true identity is what propels him and becomes one of the major story strands in this movie. Who is Credence?”

“He developed an Obscurus, which is both a coping mechanism and something that will ultimately kill you. Except it hasn’t killed him, so we know he must be very powerful to have survived this condition for so long.”

On Nagini, the Maledictus:

Rowling: “A Maledictus is someone who carries a blood curse that, over time, turns them into a beast. They can’t stop it, they can’t turn back. They will lose themselves…they will become the beast with everything that implies.”

“These movies have given me the chance to tell a story about Nagini’s origin. There were always hints because the Naga are mythological snake beings, so her name was an allusion to the fact that she may have had human antecedents, or she may once have been human herself. Through the years I have been asked about it, but I never wanted to give away this dollop of her backstory. But now I get to reveal it, which is very satisfying and fits perfectly into the theme of this movie.”

Have you wondered about the Christian content of Fantastic Beasts compared with the Hogwarts Saga? All signs — not to mention this post on the literary allusion implicit in the Maledictus by Beatrice Groves — point to this “beast within” theme as the heart of it and the path of fallen creatures to redemption after temptation and, well, sin. This may very well be the heart of the Dumbledore story, “how Dumbledore becomes Dumbledore,” and the crux of the Credence/Corvus ‘power vs love’ story-line. ‘Accio, November 13th!’

Filed Under: Fantastic Beasts

Lethal White: The Top Ten Things We’ve Learned About It Since Publication Day

November 3, 2018 by 1 Comment

Debbie Moltisanti wrote me last month to say, “I just completed my first read of Lethal White. Interested to hear some of your thoughts, John.”

I don’t know whether to laugh or cry at this request; since Lethal White’s publication date, I have posted “some of my thoughts” and those of other Serious Strikers in 25 pieces here at HogwartsProfessor.

This request worries me a little, too. Could serious readers of Cormoran Strike not know the fascinating reveals and theories that thave been written up here in the six weeks since Lethal White was published? It’s time for a Round-Up post to facilitate easy catch-up for those just now finishing Lethal White as well as a one url link to speed simplified sharing of the treasures to be found here.

1. The Mythic Content and Context Of Cormoran Strike

Rowling’s classes at the University of Exeter were divided between French and ‘Classical Studies,’ which seem to have been much more about mythology than Latin, Greek, or Ancient History. Harry Potter is largely her re-telling of the Orestes cycle, Newt Scamander’s adventures a re-visiting of Theseus and the Minotaur (The Beast Within!), and, through Joanne Gray’s and Evan Willis’ independent researches, we know that the Cormoran Strike novels are a postmodern revision and adaptation of the Castor and Pollux stories. For the most up to date discussion, post Lethal White, of this connection Evan Willis’ ‘The Mythic Context and Hermetic Meaning of Cormoran Strike’ is an absolute must-read post. He reveals, I believe, the likely direction of the next two books and the finale while explaining the swan brackets of the current book and ‘How to Read Myth Revised.’

2. The Goblet of Fire echoes in Lethal White

‘Does Lethal White Echo Goblet of Fire?‘ was our ‘out of the gate’ look at whether Strike 4, as the previous three Strike novels had, included pointers to and echoes of its equivalent number in the Harry Potter series. I listed seven in the post, other readers shared their several important finds in the comment boxes, and there are many, many more; Robin’s relationship with Sarah Shadlock at the finish is almost exactly the same as Hermione’s control of Rita Skeeter at the end of Goblet. The connections between the Minister of Sport and the Minister of Culture, however, and the patricide defining the work are the undeniable links.

3. Lethal White as Cuckoo’s Calling in Reverse

In ‘Is Lethal White a Re-telling of Cuckoo’s Calling?‘ I opened the structural discussion of the Strike series post Lethal White, which despite Rowling’s implicit and explicit denials, seems to be running as a seven book ring cycle. The first true test of that theory was not possible until we had the fourth book, which, if the series is a seven book ring, will have to have significant pointers to the first book in the series, Cuckoo’s Calling. I discussed several interesting parallels and Louise Freeman in the comment boxes shared quite a few plot details — I love the Robin retail store undercover and the secret note hidden where a man wouldn’t think to look — that nail it down. I call this find ‘In Reverse’ because Billy Knight is “Bat shit insane” and violent at the start and is, if not perfectly rational at the close, much, more together than at the beginning. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Cormoran Strike

Fantastic Beasts Cast Visits Alabama?

November 2, 2018 by 1 Comment

I posted a video last week of the Fantastic Beasts principal players in the red carpet appearance they made in Beijing, the People’s Republic of China. This was not a surprise; though Chinese Box Office for Hollywood productions is way down, blockbuster films like the Marvel and Wizarding World franchises make hundreds of millions of dollars there. Perhaps it is because earnings there are way down that a large part of the ensemble cast was dispatched to the totalitarian capital of the world to stir up fan interest there.

More videos of the event after the jump —

Yesterday the same crew, actually even more of the Crimes of Grindelwald cast, showed up at Parkside Junior High School in Baileyton, Alabama, population 610. I kid you not. Here are some pics from various twitter feeds to show it really happened.

Why did they travel en masse to this backwater town in Alabama to visit the Junior High School there? Because Parkside Junior High was re-made this past summer into a veritable Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Read the whole story of the school’s transformation here.

I am skeptical, no, true confession, I am cynical when it comes to the motives of global corporations and any do-gooder activities they support. But this was a really neat thing they did seemingly in appreciation and to applaud the efforts of a group of teachers to re-enchant the lives of their students.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Fantastic Beasts

Lethal White: Robert Glenister Audio

November 1, 2018 by Leave a Comment

From Hatchette Audio UK:

“Have a listen to Robert Glenister in action here, reading by which has just made the Audiobook Shortlist

(See link below to free reading sample; audiobook available for purchase here — and that Amazon page has another free sample.)

How good is Robert Glenister‘s reading of the Cormoran Strike mysteries?

His audiobook of Cuckoo’s Calling won a National Book Award before Galbraith was outed as Rowling, i.e., before anyone had heard of the series, Glenister’s reading was acknowledged by industry professionals as exceptional. And he’s only getting better, book by book. I’ve read Lethal White twice — and listened to it four times.

Hearing the various regional accents, the differences in class pronunciation, and the emotional content of the character’s voices makes such a difference in getting Cormoran Strike. I recommend Glenister’s readings without reservation.

There is one downside, however. Short and handsome Tom Burke, already a visual failure in representing Cormoran on the teevee screen, will always be an audio non-starter, too, to anyone who has heard Glenister’s Strike, the voice of a smoker, overweight, and struggling heroically with chronic pain.

Filed Under: Cormoran Strike