Posted by David Kopel:
More Harry Potter:
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2007_07_08-2007_07_14.shtml#1184446357
To follow up on Ilya's post to kick off the weeklong build-up to Harry
Potter 7...I recommend that serious Potterphiles check out
[1]HogwartsProfessor.com. Some very sophisticated analysis. On this
page, you'll see links to buy some books--which I urge you to purchase
with expedited shipping, so you can read them this week, and thereby
understanding Book 7 in greater depth when you start reading it at
midnight on Friday. "Who Killed Albus Dumbledore?" and "Unlocking
Harry Potter" provide diverse analyses of the mystery, of Rowling's
literary techniques, and of the omnipresent influence of alchemy.
At the least, these books demonstrate quite persuasively that what
Harry (and the naive reader) saw on the Astronomy Tower in the
climactic scene of book 6 was certainly not the full explanation for
what was really taking place.
My own analysis, "[2]Severus Snape: The Unlikely Hero of Harry Potter
book 7" was originally published on the VC in 2005, and was cited by
the NY Times a few weeks ago. Russian, Polish, French, and Spanish
translations are available.
A few further predictions:
1. Especially given the alchemical necessity of a resolution
involving the combination of all four Houses, Luna Lovegood will
play a major role in book 7.
2. Harry's ability to speak with snakes (which he shares with
Voldemort) was important in early part of book 1, very important in
book 2, and has been mostly ignored since then. I predict that it
will be important in book 7, most likely with Nagini.
3. In the penultimate scene of movie 5, Luna (searching for her
lost shoes), talks with Harry about Sirius's death, and explains
that important things which we have lost often come back to us,
although in unexpected ways. She immediately finds her shoes, tied
to a rafter. In a movie that had to make tough decisions about
condensing a 900 page book (with Rowling supervising the screenplay
and every detail of the movie--including where objects are placed),
I think that the inclusion of this seemingly trivial scene points
us very strongly to Sirius meeting Harry again, somehow.
References
1. http://hogwartsprofessor.com/
2.
http://davekopel.com/Misc/Mags/Severus-Snape-The-Unlikely-Hero-of-Harry-Potter-book-7.htm
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