Ms. Rowling Contemplated Suicide

March 25, 2008 by 15 Comments

How different all our lives would be!

For those who are not disturbed by interpretations driven by the Personal Heresy, this revelation would support the psychological or Jungian interpretation of the alchemy in the series. Either way, I know Ms. Rowling’s recovery from depression and consequent success will come to my mind the next time I am speaking to someone convinced their life is going nowhere and is meaningless; depression can be overcome and the world made better, much better, by those who have overcome it.

Filed Under: Hog Pro Notes

Wrocking and Rowling Wrockumentary!

March 24, 2008 by 7 Comments

And its premiere is in Spokane, Washington! Arabella, please send us a full report!

Okay, this isn’t exactly a HogPro-type subject, Wizard Rock bands not fitting neatly into the “Serious Reader” pigeonhole, but you all are in recovery from your Easter indulgences and travel, so we’ll get to the Grand Inquisitor/High Inquisitor links, to book reviews, and to Artemis Fowl beginning tomorrow. I met the twin towers who made this “wrockumentary” in Las Vegas at Lumos 2006. I was autographing books in a small booth with the Rev. Francis Bridger and they asked me if I would answer some questions about the meaning of the music in Harry Potter for their documentary. Sure; why not? [Read more…]

Filed Under: Hog Pro Notes

Hallows Movie in Two Parts: Where to Divide?

March 13, 2008 by 33 Comments

The LA Times story linked above is funny because the people interviewed insist this was strictly an artistic decision and that they don’t know how the book can be divided. I’m pretty confident that this is all for show. Why?
[Read more…]

Filed Under: Movie Thoughts

On Literary Influence: How Austen and Shakespeare Affect Rowling — and Vice Versa

March 12, 2008 by 5 Comments

Travis Prinzi, brother Potter blogger and fellow Zossima Press author, sent me an email two weeks ago about a Russian professor who believes that the best way to understand Voldemort is an echo of Dostoevsky’s character Raskolnikov from Crime and Punishment. He posted on the subject at Hog’s Head — a Pub for Potter and the conversation on the resulting thread was very good. The speculation that Severus was the real Raskolnikovian echo I thought was especially intriguing.

My thoughts about this went in a different direction, so, rather than hijack Travis’ post, I add my two thoughts here, namely, (1) that this kind of comparison confirms the theory that Ms. Rowling’s books will prove to be a gateway to English and World literature and (2) in a post-Deathly Hallows landscape where Harry Potter is the shared text, we will come to understand other books and the tradition as a whole through her books, like it or not. Literary influence is not a one way street, oddly enough, but sometimes works ‘present to past’ as well. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Jane Austen, Shakespeare

“Ms. Rowling Endorses Abortion, Gay Love, and Pacificism!”

March 11, 2008 by 25 Comments

Well, no, she hasn’t.

She did say that she has “always thought of Dumbledore as gay,” that she is against homophobia, and that homosexuality is a quality she considers a “shade of character,” not anything especially defining about Dumbledore. Ms. Rowling even seems a trifle put out that readers haven’t universally welcomed her sharing this extra-textual shading with us: [Read more…]

Filed Under: Hog Pro Notes