I hadn't noticed Harry Potter's figurative death and resurrection scenes in Books 1-6 until I read one of John Granger's articles, probably, Harry Potter & the Alchemical Tradition in English Literature:
Harry always dies a figurative death and is saved by love in the presence of a Christological symbol. The resurrection at story’s end each year is the culmination of that year’s cycle and transformation. The cycle then closes with congratulations and explanations from the master alchemist and a return to the Dursleys for another trip through the cycle.
Alchemy is sort of a pre-chemistry idea that one could turn lead into gold by something called a philosopher's stone. As fans know, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is the original name of Book 1 and still is in the UK edition.
American publisher Alfred A. Knopf didn't think American kids would read a book with the word "philosopher" in the title, so he changed it to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Of course, the word "sorcerer" is what started the Harry Potter backlash among certain Christians. The change of title led people down a completely different path than the one Rowling intended, but that's spilled milk under the bridge.
All of this is fascinating stuff, and if you want to know more, read Granger's articles on alchemy in Harry Potter.
After I read about Harry's figurative death and resurrection at the end of each book in one of Granger's articles, I saw them clearly and don't know how or why I missed them before. Travis Prinzi at Sword of Gryffindor blogs about such scenes in detail:
For years, believers in Christ have been captivated and inspired by the resurrection of Aslan in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Aslan explained that it was the result of the deeper magic from before time. Lewis, of course, was not trying to portray what we might call “pagan” or “occulting” magic. He was using magic as a literary tool, communicating the power and reality of resurrection in the midst of the natural world.
J.K. Rowling has also used resurrection imagery in every one of the Harry Potter books thus far. Here is a brief summary of what we have seen:
J.K. Rowling has become such a guarded woman through the years that when she speaks publicly about her books, it's a big deal. As I'm sure is the case with most celebrities harassed by the press, Rowling has a cynical view of journalists.
The character Rita Skeeter (blood-sucking mosquito?) is probably a composite of all the bad reporters, particularly tabloid journalists, she's had to deal with over the years, especially the ones lying in wait outside her home in Scotland to catch a glimpse of her and family.
Rowling was recently interviewed on BBC radio by Stephen Fry, who provides the voice for the United Kingdom version of the Harry Potter audio books. Download the MP3 here, or you can also read the transcript at the Leaky Cauldron.
(By the way, I haven't read the transcript. Notes are based on the interview.)
Continue reading Notes on J.K. Rowling's Interview with Stephen Fry
Some of you have been sitting on the edge of your seats, waiting for weeks to read my Very Important Review of "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire."
I don’t know what it is exactly about J.K. Rowling's books that have captured the imaginations of millions, including me. I can't remember when I've been so caught up in a series of books or movies. And discussing Harry Potter theories? What's that about?
One of the many reasons I "came out" as a fan was because I simply had to talk and write about these books with other people instead of speculating in my head or writing it down for no one to read but me. I'm not obsessed. Don't get me wrong. It's just fun to talk about what could happen in the final book and the meaning of things that happened in previous books.
Back to the Goblet of Fire. The movie was extremely dark and heavy, visually and metaphorically, to the point of distraction, as it was designed to be. It dragged in places and raced by in others. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is an action-packed book, and movie director Mike Newell's adaptation is certainly a valiant effort to do the book justice. If the movie had followed the book exactly as written, I'd still be in the theater right now.
The difficulty with a franchise as successful as Harry Potter is that a legion of fans have so much to say about what the movies get wrong. Screenwriters and directors must cut. Some cuts I didn't mind, but others I didn't like at all. In fact, some scenes crucial to the plot were inexplicably rejected.
I didn't mind them gutting the scenes before the Quidditch World Cup, but why eliminate the exciting tournament itself? As I watched the opening of the tournament, followed by the campsite scene, I wondered how in the world non-book readers or newcomers to the movies could've understood what was going on. Some fans argue that the movie was made for fanatics fans; others say it was made for non-fans.
Another difficulty in adapting these books to the screen is the lapse between the books and movies. We're on Book 6 in the series but only on Movie 4. Die-hard fans know what’s going to happen. Rowling's richly complex plots aren’t rendered well on the big screen, and there’s too much back story for non-readers to “get” it. Woe to the movie-goer who hasn’t read the books or seen the first three movies.
(In fact, I'd LOVE to hear from people who saw "Goblet of Fire" but haven't seen the other three movies or read any of the books.)
For instance, how will they know or care why Neville was most affected by the Cruciatus Curse demonstration in the classroom scene with Barty Crouch, Jr./Mad-Eye Moody?
How will they know or care why Hermione was so upset with Ron? There was no build-up to his admiration for Viktor Krum or jealousy toward both Viktor and Hermione. And there was no buildup to Hermione and Viktor, either. He'd been spending so much time in the library to get close to Hermione, who didn't seem to notice him at first, unlike in the movie. That's an important subtlety fans appreciate, but it's completely lost in the movie.
Here's a list of scenes from the movie that weren't in the book that I noticed and disliked the most. I tried to keep them in the same order as they appeared in the movie, but some are out of place:
Continue reading Goblet of Fire Review: Differences Between the Book and the Movie
