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08-13-2007, 08:44 PM
| | |  Christopher Hitchens is Hermione's Man
British-American author and columnist wrote his own, slightly critical review of the final installment of the Harry Potter series in Sunday's New York Times.
*Warning: These following articles contain language and mature opinions. Read at your own risk.* Quote:
The question is the same if inverted in a Manichean form: how can Voldemort and his wicked forces have such power and yet be unable to destroy a mild-mannered and rather disorganized schoolboy? In a short story this discrepancy might be handled and also swiftly resolved in favor of one outcome or another, but over the course of seven full-length books the mystery, at least for this reader, loses its ability to compel, and in this culminating episode the enterprise actually becomes tedious. Is there really no Death Eater or dementor who is able to grasp the simple advantage of surprise?
Quote:
Yes, well, one sees why he is confused. The exchange takes place during an abysmally long period during which the threesome of Harry, Hermione and Ron are flung together, with weeks of time to spend camping invisibly and only a few inexplicable escapes from death to alleviate the narrative. The grand context of Hogwarts School is removed, at least until the closing scenes, and Rowling also keeps forgetting that things are either magical or they are not: Hermione’s family surely can’t be any safer from the Dark Lord by moving to Australia, and Hagrid’s corporeal bulk cannot make any difference to his ability, or otherwise, to mount a broomstick. A boring subtext, about the wisdom or otherwise of actually uttering Voldemort’s name, meanwhile robs the apotropaic device of its force.
He also shares some opinions with writer Stephen King, but while King is J.K. Rowling's man, Hitchens is Hermione's man through and through! Quote:
Hitchens's is the less embarrassing of the two; though it's packed with useless verbiage ("For all this apparently staunch secularism, it is ontology that ultimately slackens the tension that ought to have kept these tales vivid and alive"), it does make some nice points about the lack of religion in the Potterverse as well as some reasonable complaints about Voldemort's "boastful explanations," a writer's tic that annoys a lot of readers. He also reveals that he can't quite conceive of the innate sexiness of Ginny Weasley; Chris Hitchens is a Hermione man!
This article from New York Magazine compares and contrasts the authors' takes on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows!  | |
08-13-2007, 08:53 PM
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#2 (permalink)
| | Ashwinder
Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: HERE
Posts: 1,600
Hogwarts RPG Name:
Bridget Gails♫♪♫
| California Dreamin'
ok...well...um...ya...that was quite comfussing to read!
and i disagree...well...y dad tells me these same things (if they can use magic, then why not do this and that) but whats so great about the
HP series and our amazing JKR is that each person in the magical world has a different level of power, an there are also different kids of spells. some are dangerouse, and some are not! maybe a spell to make hagrid lighter dose not exist! i mean..and all this thing about "school boy" well, this si what the efin story is about! if harry potter would just die when he was one, then there would be no interesting story! and harry isnt just some school boy, he has these love power things...so...yea, all these adults who say mean things about harry...are just...no harry potter friends of mine...but i gotta admit, that ginny/mione thing was pretty cool...hehe.well, i have bin writing WAY to much, so...um...yea
Edit: first to post!WOOT!!
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Last edited by R&Hr; 08-13-2007 at 08:58 PM.
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08-13-2007, 08:55 PM
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#3 (permalink)
| | Jobberknoll
Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: The Netherlands
Posts: 480
Hogwarts RPG Name:
Esmeralda Beck
First Year |
hahaha sexiness of ginny weasly!!
second to post?? yay
Last edited by Accio Firebolt; 08-13-2007 at 08:56 PM.
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08-13-2007, 08:55 PM
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#4 (permalink)
|  SS Featured AuthorNiffler
Join Date: May 2004 Location: The Burrow
Posts: 2,921
| Fan Fic Queen
I feel slightly obligated to disagree with Mr. Hitchens about the religious symbolism within the Harry Potter books...particularly in Deathly Hallows.
In fact, on Sunday (August 12, 2007), my family and I went to 1:00 PM Mass at our Church. Sunday's Gospel reading was Luke 12: 32-48, and a certain verse popped out at me as I read along... Quote:
Originally Posted by Luke 12:34 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Making sure I was hallucinating, I went home after Mass and looked it up in my copy of Deathly Hallows. This is what I found... Quote:
Originally Posted by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows p.325 American Edition: Harry stooped down and saw, upon the frozen, lichen-spotted granite, the words KENDRA DUMBLEDORE and, a short way below her dates of birth and death, AND HER DAUGHTER ARIANA. There was also a quotation:
"Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." *shrug* Mr. Hitchens (as well as some extreme Christian organizations) may ignore the moral center of Harry Potter, but I won't.
Shannon 
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08-13-2007, 08:57 PM
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#5 (permalink)
| | Jobberknoll
Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: In My House
Posts: 473
Second |
Ok.....Im confused!
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08-13-2007, 08:57 PM
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#6 (permalink)
| | Fwooper
Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: in my little box
Posts: 9,958
Hogwarts RPG Name:
Molly Woodrow
Graduated
Ministry RPG Name:
Jordan Woodrow
Magical Games & Sports |
There are some interesting points but I think they may be forgetting that DH is a book. Not real life. It doesn't have to be perfect. A little use of imagination might be required, but all in all, I thought it was great.
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08-13-2007, 09:09 PM
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#7 (permalink)
|   Magical Menagerie Mod
Madame Malkins Mod
SS 100 Triumphant
NLFC ModBasilisk
Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Middle Earth (GMT-6)
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Alex Greingoth
Fourth Year  x9
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Accidents & Catastrophes | Haaaaave you met Ted? || Elle Woods | | Go Go White Sox! || Potterwatch Enthusiast
Ok...I really don't agree with much of that stuff 
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08-13-2007, 09:20 PM
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#8 (permalink)
| | Lethifold
Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: England.
Posts: 22,286
| I'M A GLEEK! | | Rupert & McAvoy ♥ I'm a Cutie Patootie
OK, I don't understand  But of what I do get I don't agree with ... I think.
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Last edited by Katieluff; 08-13-2007 at 09:22 PM.
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08-13-2007, 09:29 PM
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#9 (permalink)
| | Hippogriff
Join Date: Sep 2003
Posts: 3,673
Graduated | Miss Sarah Bippity Boppity Boo!
Quote:
Originally Posted by r+h4ever1  I feel slightly obligated to disagree with Mr. Hitchens about the religious symbolism within the Harry Potter books...particularly in Deathly Hallows.
In fact, on Sunday (August 12, 2007), my family and I went to 1:00 PM Mass at our Church. Sunday's Gospel reading was Luke 12: 32-48, and a certain verse popped out at me as I read along...
Making sure I was hallucinating, I went home after Mass and looked it up in my copy of Deathly Hallows. This is what I found...
*shrug* Mr. Hitchens (as well as some extreme Christian organizations) may ignore the moral center of Harry Potter, but I won't.
Shannon You are exactly right, and I was so excited to hear that quote at mass this week!  Yeah... there are always going to be people who will argue on and on about there being no symbolism or moral nature of the books... maybe they ought to reread 
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Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real? | |
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08-13-2007, 09:41 PM
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#10 (permalink)
|  Keeper of Ginny's AttitudeBatty BellaGriffin
Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Dancing in the rain.
Posts: 9,238
Hogwarts RPG Name:
Tara Elizabeth Kensington
Ministry RPG Name:
Tessa Maria Kensington
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im confused...
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08-13-2007, 09:51 PM
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#11 (permalink)
| | Thestral
Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: District 7
Posts: 35,038
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First Year x8
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Magical Games & Sports | Beavers Are Adorable | I Am Unicorn | Mrs. Shia LaBeouf | T-I-Double GUH-ER | White Chocolate
Okay. ... That's a bit confusing!  Well, with what all I understood, I agree.
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08-13-2007, 10:21 PM
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#12 (permalink)
| | Hippogriff
Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: TeXaS!!! UsA!!!
Posts: 3,462
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haha..lol
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08-13-2007, 10:39 PM
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#13 (permalink)
| | Crup
Join Date: May 2005 Location: United States
Posts: 2,388
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That was quite confusing. And I though I had a wide ranged vocabulary... | |
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08-13-2007, 11:01 PM
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#14 (permalink)
| | Bicorn
Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: DRFC,EWFC,RGFC,TFFC, SBFC, DAFC
Posts: 1,774
Hogwarts RPG Name:
Jill Garza
Third |
lol. I don't really get it.
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08-13-2007, 11:03 PM
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#15 (permalink)
| | Thestral
Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: In a fairytale
Posts: 38,493
Hogwarts RPG Name:
Jillian McGuffin
Sixth Year | Gryffindor Goddess
That was kinda weird yet insightful... | |
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08-13-2007, 11:07 PM
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#16 (permalink)
| | Poltergeist
Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Cardiff, Wales, UK
Posts: 17,095
Hogwarts RPG Name:
Marcella Riddle
Graduated | Kaplinski Rival Sorting Hat Machine
A review is meant to be critical  otherwise what's the point? A text is meant to make you think - books are there to be analysed - they have a meaning beyond just entertainment. It seems Mr. Hitchens has not heard the phrase "suspend your disbelief". We know HP is a bit illogical - what maniac, other than Voldemort, waits until May-June every year to attack a school kid? And as for me? I'm Luna's woman!
Last edited by EmmaRiddle; 08-13-2007 at 11:12 PM.
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08-13-2007, 11:32 PM
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#17 (permalink)
| | Faerie
Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: In a Sanrio store spending big bucks!
Posts: 3,874
Hogwarts RPG Name:
Cocoa
Third |
Umm..ok!
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08-14-2007, 12:28 AM
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#18 (permalink)
| SS Featured Author Niffler
Join Date: May 2004 Location: The Burrow
Posts: 2,921
| Fan Fic Queen
Quote:
Originally Posted by lightstar1154 You are exactly right, and I was so excited to hear that quote at mass this week! Yeah... there are always going to be people who will argue on and on about there being no symbolism or moral nature of the books... maybe they ought to reread ..or read it at all! I didn't know you were Catholic too! Yay! Anyhoo...Obviously, and most importantly, the books are entertaining and have classic characters with whom you can fall in love. But, I think they are very enjoyable for the older readers because they give you something to think about. They have depth, something you can really sink your teeth into. They start conversations. They spark creativity in fans...fanfiction anyone? And they have great messages, and I think that is going to only help them become bestsellers even twenty years from now! Quote:
Originally Posted by EmmaRiddle A review is meant to be critical otherwise what's the point? A text is meant to make you think - books are there to be analysed - they have a meaning beyond just entertainment. It seems Mr. Hitchens has not heard the phrase "suspend your disbelief". We know HP is a bit illogical - what maniac, other than Voldemort, waits until May-June every year to attack a school kid? And as for me? I'm Luna's woman! All very true, Emma. I think he is trying too hard to be critical, if that makes sense. Like you said, he needs to be able to read rather than critique every little thing. It is, as I said above, mostly written for entertainment...
Shannon
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08-14-2007, 12:30 AM
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#19 (permalink)
| !!!!Awesome!!!! Faerie
Join Date: May 2004 Location: in Howarts offcourse
Posts: 4,128
Hogwarts RPG Name:
Mari Elizabeth Allen
Fourth Year |
ok.... i'm really confused
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08-14-2007, 12:35 AM
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#20 (permalink)
| | Puffskein
Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Puerto Rico
Posts: 160
Hogwarts RPG Name:
Luna Hermione Potter
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All this critics are CONFUSING  !!!!  Poor Harry | |
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08-14-2007, 01:37 AM
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#21 (permalink)
| | Kneazle
Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Floating on a cloud
Posts: 3,149
Hogwarts RPG Name:
Brittany Lynn Ross
Fourth Year | Darth Potter
Thats neat...
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08-14-2007, 01:42 AM
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#22 (permalink)
| Wotcher, Harry!
Slytherin Babe Crup
Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Philadelphia
Posts: 2,025
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Well, I don't think many people share his opinions!! Quite a few of them seem to be assumptions about the wizarding world, which is why I think they're hard to agree with - he takes JKR's writing and he seems to question the world itself. But I learned long ago, along with everyone else, that it really isn't our place to question why magic works certain ways - JKR knows how and why, she wrote it, and that's the way it is. Let him write his own world and he can make it as he wishes, without all the imperfections he sees in Harry's. I, personally, don't mind it. | |
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08-14-2007, 02:16 AM
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#23 (permalink)
| Tonks Is My Woman Kneazle
Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: In the middle of now
Posts: 3,123
Hogwarts RPG Name:
Sakura Maharene Salome Tamaka Lada
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OK That was a bit confusing but I do not 100% agree with him .
~Maria
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08-14-2007, 02:54 AM
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#24 (permalink)
| | Lethifold
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 21,477
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wow lol | |
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08-14-2007, 03:17 AM
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#25 (permalink)
|  Admires Ginny's Sanity DA Galleon KeeperSS Featured AuthorClabbert
Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Limerick =)
Posts: 2,546
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Mione Borthwick
Sixth Year |
=-O I don't agree with him at all. I'm at a loss because this man seems, to me, to be completly narrow minded.
And just as a side note...I go to church every weekend..but I didn't know where those quotes came from...he just needed something to pick on! *grumbles*
Last edited by mione_girlgwp; 08-14-2007 at 03:19 AM.
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