Jo K Rawlings & The Hallowed Magick
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," the 7th and final volume of Rowling's all-conquering fantasy series, sold a mountainous 8.3 million copies in its first 24 hours on sale in the US, according to Scholastic. No other book, not any of the six previous Potters, has been so quickly consumed. "Deathly Hallows" averaged more than 300,000 copies in sales per hour - more than 5,000 a minute. [Me -- I am waiting for a loaner copy from a friend, any friend! MT]
http://www.mercurynews.com/entertainmentheadlines/ci_6441202
"Harry has already lost his parents, his godfather Sirius and his teacher Professor Dumbledore, and in this volume the losses mount with unnerving speed: at least a half-dozen characters we have come to know die in these pages, and many others are wounded or tortured. Voldemort and his followers have infiltrated Hogwarts and the Ministry of Magic, creating havoc and terror in the Wizard and Muggle worlds alike, and the members of various populations — including elves, goblins and centaurs — are choosing sides. No wonder then that Harry often seems overwhelmed with disillusionment and doubt in the final installment of this seven-volume bildungsroman. He continues to struggle to control his temper, and as he and Ron and Hermione search for the missing Horcruxes, he literally enters a dark wood, in which he must do battle not only with the Death Eaters, but also with the temptations of hubris and despair. Harry’s weird psychic connection with Voldemort (symbolized by the lightning-bolt forehead scar he bears ) seems to have grown stronger too, giving him clues to Voldemort’s actions and whereabouts, even as it lures him ever closer to the dark side. One of the plot’s significant turning points concerns Harry’s decision on whether to continue looking for the Horcruxes — the mission assigned to him by the late Dumbledore — or to pursue the Hallows, three magical objects said to make their possessor the master of Death."
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/19/books/19potter.html
"Phew. Woah. I'm still blown sideways. After ten years, she did not let us down. The darkest, fastest-paced, most desperate and dynamic magical adventure of the 7-part series carries the reader along faster than a speeding broomstick chased by Dementors. Throughout, doubts must be battled, fears faced, loyalties tested, and grief postponed whilst well-loved characters fall, chapter by chapter, yet there is no time to mourn."
http://rachelnorthlondon.blogspot.com/2007/07/haryy-potter-7-deathly-hallows-review.html
"Harry, Ron and Hermione are on the search for horcruxes, vessels that Voldemort created to hold pieces of his soul, which make it impossible to kill him as long as they exist. The search has them moving over various parts of the United Kingdom as they try to fit all the pieces together. Many secrets are finally revealed, all leading up to the ultimate confrontation between Harry and the wizard who tried to kill him so long ago."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19869408
Don't read the following blog of spoilers, unless you want to know the main events without reading it. (i.e., who lives and who dies.) and please don't 'spoil it' for others by adding such comments here ...
http://www.thebizofknowledge.com/2007/07/10_spoilers_harry_potter_and_t.html
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Comments (19)
As a mother of 2 children I find that PROMOTING WITCH CRAFT is appalling for our community. Where are the family values in the Ojai?
Comment #1 Posted by: Claire Kennedy | July 25, 2007 09:46 AM
"Where are the FAMILY values in the Ojai?"
Exactly!
Where is the kindred with das 'kinder'? Loving chorus for the children?
Where is the respect, the life, the 'discipline', the magick? The global,
worshipful, nature-immersed, multicultural spirit?
In contrast to the ignorant, alcoholic, abusive, coercive, fraudulent, consuming, divisive, rapacious, murderous programming of the isolated western ethos?
Comment #2 Posted by: Millennium | July 25, 2007 10:03 AM
Claire, can you please define "family values" for us? i'm not sure you have exclusive rights to them, but i'd like to know what you think they are.
you also posted: Can you please remove the post on "Harry Potter" . We in Ojai are not in support of witch craft or any other mythical tales that are anti-Christian or implode that theology.
"we in Ojai" hold many beliefs, we practice many things, we hold dear a diverse collections of religious and spiritual philosophies. "we in Ojai" supported Harry Potter through a two-week-solid run at our one-screen theater. i've noticed that you like to throw around accusations of being anti- this or that. Claire, what are you anti? What are you for?
Comment #3 Posted by: evan | July 26, 2007 09:59 AM
I want to point out a beautifully written piece called The Lessons of Harry Potter. It's too long to post here, however, you can read it at http://www.lisapeake.org/
Comment #4 Posted by: Raymond | July 26, 2007 10:33 AM
This series of books is partly to blame for these school shootings, animal tortures ex: Tortoise mutilation in Ventura and the rapid drug use and problems throughout the U.S.
Comment #5 Posted by: Claire Kennedy | July 26, 2007 11:38 AM
Yes, I am sure that is well-documented, and I look forward to you sourcing that for us, Claire.
Comment #6 Posted by: Tyler | July 26, 2007 11:45 AM
my wife is reading the last book right NOW, and she hasn't used drugs or tortured any animals for at least a half hour.
have you read the series, Claire?
Comment #7 Posted by: evan | July 26, 2007 11:46 AM
I will not allow my children to read such anti-Christian , pro-narcotics and witch craft. Children at a young age are like sponges , they absorb information that is dished out too them. So again , my children will not be subject to this smut. In addition Ive instructed my daughters teacher to not let my daughter be around these books, are information about this series of evil tales.
Comment #8 Posted by: Claire Kenney | July 26, 2007 11:54 AM
but what i asked was this:
have YOU read the series, Claire?
Comment #9 Posted by: evan | July 26, 2007 11:59 AM
You go, Claire - as long as your kids have Ann Coulter's TREASON, then they will be raised right!
We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity. We weren't punctilious about locating and punishing only Hitler and his top officers. We carpet-bombed German cities; we killed civilians. That's war. And this is war. - Ann Coulter
Quite a role model you have there.
Comment #10 Posted by: Tyler | July 26, 2007 12:04 PM
Answer: No
Comment #11 Posted by: Claire Kennedy | July 26, 2007 12:05 PM
On a lighter (or maybe not, depending on your views) note...
http://walmartwatch.com/potter/
Comment #12 Posted by: heather | July 26, 2007 05:41 PM
I usually try not to take the bait from so-called Christians but...
My Christian relatives splintered my family, a rift that has been going on for over 10 years now, when I dated a girl in college. My grandmother told my mother she was a failure as a parent and declined to speak to us or look at us again.
Where are the family values in today's Christianity?
Comment #13 Posted by: heather | July 26, 2007 05:45 PM
the WaldeMarts video was truly humorous, Heather.
you can see what 'Christi-Anal-Tee' is afraid of -- that the children and the world will learn ethics, true morals, outside of the black matrix programming of the world Christian Military Machine whose job is to rape and plunder the planet and people.
and that, of course, is why the Harry Potter series is so welcomed and successful -- letting the world know that the Perversity and Horrow of Fascist Christianity is going the way of the other Dodos. we won't BURN them at the stake, as they did to nature's guardians for centuries, but we will disenfranchise them and their agencies and corporate elements whose purpose is to promulgate evil in our beloved world.
the true day of Judgement has arrived.
Comment #14 Posted by: Millennium | July 26, 2007 06:17 PM
Perversity and Horror ...
the legacy of the 'ClaireChristians' ...
Comment #15 Posted by: Millennium | July 26, 2007 06:22 PM
I hate to break it to you but Harry Potter celebrated Christmas in some of the previous books.
Comment #16 Posted by: Dumbledore | July 26, 2007 09:44 PM
aye, DumblyDore!
the series was very commercial, shallow, consumer oriented ...
'childish' in the lesser sense of the word.
an attempt at a planetwide break from the 'old religion' to the new (age?) gnostic plastic culture.
it is WE bringing on the golden renaissance of natural, cultural, ethical and spiritual values ...
replaneting Mother Earth, finding our (divine) selves along the way!
Comment #17 Posted by: Millennium | July 27, 2007 11:04 AM
Christian parallels are criptic but quite obvious throughout the series of books, but I don't want to spoil it for you, especially the last book!
Comment #18 Posted by: Dumbledore | July 27, 2007 06:29 PM
don't tell me you have Book Seven? oh my!
a boon, a boon ... I'm howling at the Moon!
Comment #19 Posted by: Millennium | July 27, 2007 08:01 PM