WARNING!!!! WE WILL BE DISCUSSING THE WHOLE BOOK INCLUDING THE ENDING TODAY FROM 2-3 p.m ET.
Due to people chomping at the bit to talk about allof "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," we will be talking about your thoughts on the ending from 2-3 p.m. ET (Chapters 1-36) today through the end of the week.
VIRTUAL BOOK CLUB
We will be hosting a virtual book club in the Gather Books Essential (books.gather.com) this week:
Monday, July 23rd through Friday, July 27th from 2 p.m.-3 p.m. ET (books.gather.com)
WIN A BORDERS GIFT CARD
Each day, we will post a Potter trivia question at the end of each Witching Hour article. If you answer correctly, your name will be put in a random drawing to win a $20 Borders Gift Card.
The winner of the Borders card from Tuesday, July 24th is Jennifer L. Congratulations!!!
WEDNESDAY, JULY 25, 2007 EDITION OF "THE WITCHING HOUR" 2-3 p.m. ET
If you answer the following question correctly in the comment thread below, you might be the lucky winner of a $20 Borders gift card in our daily random drawing. Good luck!
In the books, who is the first person who is sorted?
DISCUSSION ON THE WHOLE BOOK! CHAPTERS 1 THROUGH 36
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Comments: 87
Sorry I can't make it in for the whoe discussion today but my nephew is comming in and we will all be haveing lunch at my sisters. I wrote a review of HP 7 in my gather articles. Nothing too specific but not too vague either.
Some talking points I'd like to read about here when I get home: Snapes role in the larger scheme of things. What did everyone think of Dumbledores' brush with the "dark side", Does anyone else think JK gave the Bartender at the Leaky cauldron the name TOM just to show how common it was ( LV changed his name from Tom Riddle to LV because he thought it was too common a name for a genius like him) or was it just a coincidence. Anyway I will check back here later. Thanks for the chance to express my thoughts.
I for one was glad that we had a glimpse into Dumbledore's past and that it wasn't as pristine as everyone thought. I think it was a good lesson for Harry. Hero worship can be very hard to break. The fact that Dumbledore had faults made him seem more believable as a character.
I think it works. It seems so weird to think of kindly Dumbledore having EVER had amibitions of power. But he choose the ultimate "greater good" and became the good person we all know and love. In the final analysis, he really had more power than anyone, including Voldemort. The power to bring together all kinds of peoples and creatures. The power to shape and mold countless scores of students who passed through his school. The power to bring about the demise of the ultimate evil.
He may have had a misguided moment in his life, but the end is all that matters.
I wasn't too sure about the Lily love angle before reading the book, but the way that JKR played it out in the memories, then everything that followed after, makes me feel even more miserable for Snape than I already did. I felt so badly for him.
What a way to go...have your own hand choke you to death...ewww..
Hmm...wonder if Harry kept the sword, since it was willed to him.
Nope, but I've been to comic-con and dragon-con...years ago, before kids. And, no I wasn't dressed up.
Poor Snape...died alone.
That is going to be a great scene in the upcoming movie Janet! I can see it too.
I just had a thought, If Snape didn't make that big mistake with Lily than it would Harry Snape.
my favorite character is snape. probably bc of alan rickman. however, i did feel bad abt one of the twins going. and i still think that hedwig's death wasn't explored fully - i mean, he could have missed her later, you know??
I've often wondered how much she has told or not told the various screenplay writers and the directors about what absolutely must be left in so as not to screw up the rest of the stories.
And as this is a forum (though i'm a half hour late) to post general feelings about HP7, let me add that I loved it!
About Dumbledore and the "dark side".... Not only does it make him more believable as a character, more human, if you will (after all, he often bordered on omniscience in the early books), what we find out about Dumbledore's past helps shed more light on the nature of the "Dark Side" and the issue of deciding between right and wrong. Dumbledore is Voldemort's (and Grindenwald's) foil: he serves as a contrast to the wrong choices they made, not because he knows nothing about the "Dark Side", not because he never felt the temptation, but because he rejected it when he saw it was wrong: when people got hurt.
Gryffindor's sword: yep, it came out of the Sorting Hat to help a Gryffindor in need, just like in the Chamber of Secrets. While the last time we see it, it is with Neville, we now know that should any Gryffindor need it in the future and be in the vicinity of the Sorting Hat, it would appear there.
The Resurrection Stone: I think the message was clear: it doesn't actually bring people back, and it's best left alone. (Except when you need characters you've killed off to explain parts of your convoluted plot.... :-) Just kiddin'.
I was surprised she killed off Fred though. I didn't see that one coming at all. I kind of thought maybe Lupin, because he was so tortured, but was also shocked about Tonks' death.
That whole bit about who was the Elder wand's master was a bit cumbersome.
I LOVED the way she let Neville be the one to receive the sword and kill Nagini! Especially since he was "the other child". Brilliant!
I thought the death scene with Harry and his loved ones walking toward death was done beautifully as well.
Overall, I loved how she brought the whole thing to an end. It's been an amazing journey, and best of all, we can do again and again for generations to come.