Posted on 07/17/2005 5:16:14 PM PDT by grellis
THIS THREAD IS INTENDED FOR READERS THAT HAVE COMPLETED THE BOOK! If you have not yet read the book, consider yourself warned: There will be spoilers on this thread.
For my fellow FReepers who have no intention of reading the book but would like to discuss the more controversial issues related to the work, I am asking you as politely as I can: DO NOT HIJACK THIS THREAD. We are all members of this forum and as such, it is not up to me to disallow anyone from participating in the discussion. That is why I am asking you--please do not hijack this thread. If you would like to discuss the more controversial aspects of the book, maybe you could start your own thread and ping us over there. If we are interested, we'll come.
I'm glad I was finally able to visit this thread... finished Book 6 this AM.
Come to think of it, in the earlier books I thought it mentioned that he works there, but in OoTP everyone was upset because he was seen there. Hmmm.
Snort!
Good one.
A knowledge of French and Latin is very helpful when reading Rowling. A lot of the spells use words with roots in these languages. For example, "lumos" is from the Latiin for "light" (in French the word is "lumiere" -- "luminous" is from the same root), and "nox" is from the Latin for "night" ("nocturnal" is from the same root). The "leviosa" in "wingardium leviosa" is from the same root as "levitate." "Lever" in French means "to rise." Just like the English word "lever" (spelled the same, but pronounced differently). I don't remember what it is in Latin though (I'm fluent in French, but only took 1 year of Latin, and that was more than 25 years ago).
The names Rowling gives her characters are interesting also. "Argus Filch" is particularly cool. "Argus" is a mythic Greek giant with a hundred eyes. "Filch" means "to steal." How appropriate! JKR's character "sees all, knows all," and he also confiscates contraband.
"Draco" means "dragon." "Malfoy" means "badly done" or "bad deed" (from the French "mal fait"), so "Draco Malfoy" is a GREAT name for a character who associates with the Dark Lord.
And, speaking of the Dark Lord himself, "Voldemort" probably has something to do with death, because "mort" means "dead." "Vol" comes from the French "voler," which can mean either "to fly" or "to steal." Both are appropriate, I'd say.
Is it a coincidence that Ginny (short for Virginia) has red hair? So did Queen Elizabeth, the "virgin queen." Elizabeth was a powerful woman who never married because her sense of duty to her country was all-important to her.
There are so many levels in which JKR's work can be enjoyed. Only people who've read Jane Austen's "Mansfield Park" will get the joke that Filch's cat is named "Mrs. Norris." Devotees of Georgette Heyer have already met characters named Snape (Heyer's Snape is also a teacher with a bad disposition), Trelawney and Flitwick.
I stand by my contention that these books are NOT just for kids.
I took Latin thirty-something years ago. It sticks with you, though, doesn't it? I can see the Latin roots in the vocabulary she chooses, even after all this time.
OK, that's it! I am starting over at Socerer's Stone...there are just too many things going on in the background that just jump out later.
Speculating on all these bits should keep me busy until GoF is released. :)
Maybe that's the plan! Release a book or movie, then keep us scurrying around researching until the next book or movie. Brilliant!
A lot of the Latin roots she uses were, thankfully, ones I managed to pick up on, lol.
But some of them (such as your explanation of the Malfoy's name) went right over my head. Really cool little trick to use, imo. I think things like the ones you mentioned really make for a great read. (I really enjoyed Mansfield Park, btw, but I never made the conncetion between the two Mrs. Norris's...duh!)
Not great literature, as some have said, but I don't feel the need to read "important" stuff all the time. Hey, I'm also a big Stephen King fan...I'm no literary snob, anyway! :) I think I would have been on the dock with everyone else, waiting for the latest Dickens installment, or devouring those "penny dreadfuls" by the handful. :)
LOL! I bet you are right. :)
Thank goodness November isn't too far off...and now I have to start wondering when Book Seven will come out!
Regardless, it's still a great name for a follower of Voldemort.
I noticed IMMEDIATELY that the cat's name was Mrs. Norris. They have some personality traits in common, do they not?
Yes, they certainly do! *shudder*
LOL! Now I'm going to have to go and re-read it!
Hopefully, my UK copy of the book will have arrived by now and I'll be able to re-read with a clear conscience. I'd bought a US copy of the book for my nephew's 7th birthday, and I read his the instant it arrived. But, as I've said, I cannot risk reading his copy again.
I think it would be great if Rowling included a primer, of sorts, with book 7, explaining the derivation of the various spells and names. Kind of like the appendices of LOTR.
What do you think of the theories we've come up with so far? Gotta split, the kids just started WWIII
Whew!
And for those kids... petrificus totalus!
LOL! You and me both. :) I think a primer of the spells would be awesome. I'm sure it would be interesting, at a minimum.
What makes you think RAB has to still be alive? The note itself indicated the author's expectation of impending death, and we don't know how long it had been there.
Mugglenet has a lot of that already
http://www.mugglenet.com/infosection/spells/spells.shtml
Of course it's all unofficial and therefore might or might not reflect what Rowling was thinking and how she got the words, but it's interesting all the same.
Part 2 of the mugglenet.com interview with JKR is up and she gives some really great answers to things. She kind of confirms that Harry will not be coming back to Hogwarts next year as a student. She said the match with Luna commentating was the last Quidditch match she will write.
Anyway, this is what she says about Regulus:
MA: R.A.B.
JKR: Ohhh, good.
[All laugh.]
JKR: No, I'm glad! Yes?
MA: Can we figure out who he is, from what we know so far?
[Note: JKR has adopted slightly evil look here]
JKR: Do you have a theory?
MA: We've come up with Regulus Black.
JKR: Have you now?
MA: Uh-oh.
[Laughter.]
JKR: Well, I think that would be, um, a fine guess.
MA: And perhaps, being Sirius’s brother, he had another mirror –
JKR: [drums fingers on soda can]
MA: Does he have the other mirror, or Sirius’s mirror —
JKR: I have no comment at all on that mirror. That mirror is not on the table. [Laughter from all; Jo's is maniacal.]
MA: Let the record note that she has drummed her fingers on her Coke can in a very Mr. Burns-like way.
[Laughter.]
JKR: Oh, I love Mr. Burns.
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