I'm in a reading group for Order of the Phoenix at the Leaky Lounge. I really have enjoyed that process of re-reading all the books slowly and discussing them. The guided discussion has brought up things in all the books that I've not thought of, even though I have read each book so many times I really have lost count. For a while, I was re-reading them because I enjoyed them so much, then I read all of them again in preparation for whichever book was coming out. And that's where I am now.
Even though we haven't finished OotP--and won't till just before DH--I've decided to start re-reading Half-Blood Prince. It was kind of a shock when I realized that we've had that one now for almost two years. During the last two years, I've kept reading Harry Potter but I've also rediscovered English literature and have read quite a lot of Austen, Trollope, Hardy and some Dickens. I've managed to also read a lot of C.S. Lewis and three books by Charles Williams. His were the hardest to read, but the imagery was sometimes so strikingly similar to things that Rowling has used in Harry Potter.
I won't do it tonight, but I want to put down my thoughts on Half-Blood Prince as I do this last re-reading before July 21. I've taken to reading with a pencil in hand so I can make notes in the margins. The second chapter, "Spinner's End", looks like Harry's Advanced Potions book with all the notes from the Prince. Mine however, are just notes, and nothing sinister like Sectumsempra. The other thing that I have started doing is highlighting in green all the things that Severus Snape says or the times that he is mentioned--which I underline instead. Clearly, if I want a nice looking book, I will have to buy another one. Whether Snape turns out to be on the good side, which I think he is, or on the bad side, it seems clear that his character is important to the culmination of the Harry Potter series. The underlining that I'm doing is my effort to not miss something crucial. We'll see whether that works or whether it's going to just result in my having a book that would send Madam Pince into a tirade about defacing books.
It will probably be Monday before I post anything again. It's almost 2 am now, and I have church later this morning. We usually spend Sunday afternoons with our kids, and I'm just not on the computer as much. So------till Monday, then.
TTFN
Pat
