tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post7473483117917782971..comments2024-03-28T21:32:26.550+00:00Comments on Bruce Charlton's Notions: Harry Potter and the need for a single volume Half Blood Prince/ Deathly Hallows (with back story and notes)Bruce Charltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09615189090601688535noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-61921975865692078232013-08-10T17:14:11.470+01:002013-08-10T17:14:11.470+01:00@FHL - Well, Lewis also thought that TWHF was his ...@FHL - Well, Lewis also thought that TWHF was his best book - superceding the previous one he thought was best, Perelandra - probably because he laboured over it more than usual. <br /><br />Joy was his (ahem) wife...<br /><br />Incidentally, so far as I can tell most Lewis scholars favourite book (not the book they think is the best, but the one they like the best) is That Hideous Strength. Qua novel it is overstuffed, but it has an awful lot in it! Bruce Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09615189090601688535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-16051672019156831552013-08-10T16:28:45.480+01:002013-08-10T16:28:45.480+01:00Blasphemy!
Till We Have Faces is breathtaking! Am...Blasphemy!<br /><br /><i>Till We Have Faces</i> is breathtaking! Amazing! I re-read it at least once a year! Take it back! Take it back I tell you!<br /><br />If you do not take it back, I will have to... and I mean to cause you no harm by this --but you leave me no choice-- so I must... yes, I must... I will have to tell you... that it is better than <i>Lord of the Rings!</i><br /><br />Yes. It is true. I am sorry. I feel terrible that I had to be the one to break the news to you, but I did what I had to.<br /><br />...oh, and who is Joy?FHLnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-91573201936337910412013-08-09T20:15:52.554+01:002013-08-09T20:15:52.554+01:00@WmJas "I've read every HP novel except T...@WmJas "I've read every HP novel except The Deathly Hallows."<br /><br />I'm astonished. You must be the only example in the world. This means that you are officially A Strange Person.<br /><br />But then we already knew that...Bruce Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09615189090601688535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-5082430167873628962013-08-09T19:03:56.185+01:002013-08-09T19:03:56.185+01:00I've read every HP novel except The Deathly Ha...I've read every HP novel except <i>The Deathly Hallows</i>. A friend lent me the series, but the final novel had not yet been published at that time. One of these days I'll get around to reading the last one.Wm Jashttp://wmjas.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-21248349140556614002013-08-09T17:44:18.964+01:002013-08-09T17:44:18.964+01:00Thanks for that Prof. Apologies for poor punctuati...Thanks for that Prof. Apologies for poor punctuation. "Hideous" has been my favourite for over 30 years. Just listened to the Mcgrath bio and enjoyed it. <br />I was a very late reader and I cannot remember any novel I read before LOTR but managed to get A level English largely due to my Inkling obsessed english teacher. david stanleynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-55984245865683744242013-08-09T14:51:47.962+01:002013-08-09T14:51:47.962+01:00"Till we have faces by Cs . Lewis. Do you rat..."Till we have faces by Cs . Lewis. Do you rate it highly Bruce? "<br /><br />No, I don't - I think it is over-written and over-edited. It was actually a collaboration between Lewis and Joy - and it reads as if not written by Lewis. Bruce Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09615189090601688535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-2520891953727876692013-08-09T13:40:31.288+01:002013-08-09T13:40:31.288+01:00I read the first two years ago and enjoyed them. I...I read the first two years ago and enjoyed them. I didn't realise the reading age increased sequentially. <br />Will try to read last two. Different subject. I have still not read Till we have faces by Cs . Lewis. Do you rate it highly Bruce? david stanleynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-84864496120981655972013-08-08T20:25:54.525+01:002013-08-08T20:25:54.525+01:00@JP - Maybe you could try the plan I describe, and...@JP - Maybe you could try the plan I describe, and feed-back on whether it works...Bruce Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09615189090601688535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-68289475735280004252013-08-08T18:36:38.840+01:002013-08-08T18:36:38.840+01:00A good sign that my dislike of the series is perso...A good sign that my dislike of the series is personal (i.e. more a personal dislike than any generally valid objection), is that I would probably have appreciated the story a lot more if I were introduced to it in this way! (i.e. without having my impressions coloured by the somewhat sloppy worldbuilding and moral compass of the earlier books)<br /><br />(Assuming the backstory was adequately documented, of course. I assume the amount of footnotes necessary for this feat would make the book feel somewhat more like <i>Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell</i>.)<br /><br />Interestingly, <i>Half-Blood Prince</i> opens with <i>The Second Minister</i>, which (in terms of being told from a Muggle viewpoint) somewhat echoes the manner in which the first book of the series opens.Arakawahttp://arakawa.github.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-70777239175030389532013-08-08T18:23:16.714+01:002013-08-08T18:23:16.714+01:00I tried to read the first one when it first came o...I tried to read the first one when it first came out, but it was so clunky - three cliches to the page - that I never finished it or bothered with any of the sequels.JPnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-75550231102786577812013-08-08T15:41:08.177+01:002013-08-08T15:41:08.177+01:00My daughter pointed out that they taught a generat...<i>My daughter pointed out that they taught a generation of children how to pronounce Hermione. </i><br /><br />Funny you should say that - my wife told me just the other how to pronounce this. I had never heard it before.<br /><br />I regret to say that I still can't bring myself to get into a series that has been so commercially successful; the whole idea of enjoying Harry Potter leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I wish I could overcome this, but truth be told I'm afraid I've become a premature curmudgeon.Samson J.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-15791856498027664632013-08-08T11:34:11.960+01:002013-08-08T11:34:11.960+01:00My daughter pointed out that they taught a generat...My daughter pointed out that they taught a generation of children how to pronounce Hermione.deariemenoreply@blogger.com