conjectural navel gazing; jesus in lint form

I am two chapters away from finishing Pandemic, then I am moving on to Harry Potter. I, however, am starting at number ONE. Give me a few weeks to read up to six and THEN I may have something to say!

I'm done! I'll comment! Wheee!

I liked this one a lot better than 5, even though, when you think about it, almost all the action is off-stage. At first I was disappointed that Ron and Hermione didn't really have anything significant to do in this one -- it was all saop-opera b-plot -- but then I realized even Harry and Dumbledore didn't have much to do until the end. It's all backstory, butit works.

The death -- I've read to much fantasy like this. I kept thinking "OK

The big questions for me -- what will the final story be with Snape, and what's the fate of Malfoy? Will either/both be redeemed? And will they REALLY not have school next year?

Other bits -- LOVED Ginny in this book, and am waiting for her to kick Harry's ass for saying "No, it cannot be!" because let's face it -- the girl showed she was able to take care of herself. Got frustrated with the Ron/Hermione plot -- oh for god's sake, get over it and just MAKE OUT already! Don't quite know what the deal was with the nasty house-elf. I don't remember Tooks from the last book, so that plot was lost on me. Must re-read.

And you? What did you think?

And "intentional Christianization"? Whazzat?

re: Intentional Christian whatsit...I am thinking of the press that the book has received through the comments from the Pope and from conservative evangelical Christians. Smoe want to say that this is a Christian allegory. I think not, but what do I know?

Dumbledore's death was well done. Harry's helplessness...and D's comment on mercy to Malfoy. That was great. But part of me thinks that maybe D ain't dead. All signs suggest he is, but I dunno. Stranger things have happened in these books.

I too liked the backstory. The book moved along well. Rowling has a gift for keep the books consistant. They are all as good as one another. I have my favorites, but they are all written well.

Ginny was a hoot! I agree. And Harry's dismissal was lame. It was unnecessary. Harry's character flaw is his "lone wolf" persona. All of these people surround him, but he isolates. At least he was not able to rid himself of Ron and Hermione this time. But I am getting tired/frustrated/bored with that aspect of his character.

Tripp,

Have you read John Granger's books on Harry Potter? Really good stuff.

He has some new essays up on his website about HP6:

http://www.hogwartsprofessor.com/home.php

I am purposefully scrolling down and not looking at the comments above. I have not finished. Becuase I cannot bear for it to be over like the last one was, far too soon.

I just keep rereading chapters to make it last longer. I've done enough reading in the first half to have the read the whole thing and then some. I should have put myself on a chapter a day diet, but I didn't think that far ahead. I'm so afraid I'm going to hear things before I've actually finished.

Oh the agony. Am I insane? For Harry Potter?

Sunni,

LOL! I felt the same way! I couldn't decide if it was better to just read the whole thing in one day or try and space it out....

I think I'm going to try and re-read the first 6 before book 7 comes out....

Ooh! Ooh! I'm done too! Yay, i'm SO glad you are too. I can't wait to chat about it... I loved this book and hated it all at the same time. Sigh. I guess that makes for good drama.

I'm with Sarah. I LOVED Ginny in this book. She is now my absolute favorite HP character. And I really want to know about Malfoy... I've been holding out for him to get turned to the good side, even against his family. I don't think that HP is an *intentional* Christian allegory - but wouldn't that be a great discussion point on salvation?

I'm also very curious about Snape... Luke and I spent a long time talking about that (we finished the book the same night, even working off one copy!). I already can't wait for Book 7.

I agree with Susie. (Who's surprised?) Loved it, hated it, LOVED Ginny, etc.

Re: Christianization: I don't think it's supposed to be a Christian allegory. I also think that across time, the great epic battles of good vs. evil are pretty related to the great story of Christ. Our stories inform our theology informs our stories and so on. It's hard to write a story like this and do it well and not have it look *something* like all the others.

Oh, and Tripp, I agree about Dumbledore's death. Partly that's because that's what I want to believe, but mostly it's because this series has consistently borne a strong resemblence to LOTR - enough so that Dumbledore ought to return in the next volume.

I thought that D would return in the next volume, but he *did* show up in his portrait in the headmaster's office, which added a sort of finality to the death for me. Maybe his role can be limited to the portrait?

Rowling has an interesting article in Time this week about HP6 that comments (very breifly) on the religosity of the books...but makes it clear that, to her, Dumbledore is *NOT* the Christ character....

Well, no, he couldn't very well be the Christ figure, if there is one. An epic battle between good and evil with Christian allegory involved pretty much requires that the chief Good Warrior be the Christ figure. Admittedly, the resurrection stuff is easiest to pin to Dumbledore - but a Christian allegory doesn't work if you can take the Christ figure out and keep going. So if there is one, which I'm dubious about, it would pretty well have to be Harry - the only one who can conquer the chief Evil Warrior.