Philosopher's Stone Chapter Eleven

[urbanman1984.livejournal.com]

PS Chapter Eleven – Quidditch

 

*Magnificent title.  In this chapter JKR tries and fails to emulate school sports as they are depicted in the British Boarding School genre.

 

*I wonder if Hagrid ate the animals whose skins he wears?

 

*Gryffindor is all set to move up to second place in the House Championship.  Just don’t ask how, JKR’s maths wouldn’t stand it.

 

*Harry is officially the secret weapon, but that should read “the only player of any significance.”

 

*Well where were those useless mattress carriers?  I ask you.  We never saw them during the game did we?

 

*Hermione is Harry’s friend as long as she does his homework for him...!  Poor girl.  Does she actually believe that Harry counts as a friend or has she realised that he is the centre of the Potterverse and is latching onto him for that reason?

 

*The A5 Quidditch Through the Ages is about Harry’s reading level, I know, I read it too.  Deathly Hallows contradicts everything it says about flying with magic.

 

*Seekers get the worst injuries, because they are the only players that the beaters need to bother about. 

 

*No no, Hermione was a stickler for other people obeying the rules, she was always relaxed about breaking them herself!

 

*Hermione lent Harry a library book because he was too lazy to take it out himself?

 

*That’s the spirit Ron!  I always liked his witty aspersions, delivered in the true Gryffindor character.

 

*Yeah why should Hermione let the boys copy her work?  She should just keep doing it for them to save them the trouble.

 

*Harry sees a horrible sight – Snape and Filch are alone and Snape has his robes pulled up.  I wouldn’t want to see Filch in that position either. 

 

*Yeah clear off Potter, this isn’t a peep show.  Snape must think he is as voyeuristic as James was about seeing Snape without his pants.

 

*So for a teacher to deduct points, the pupil has to hear them say it?

 

*Harry’s mind can only hold the one question; “what is the dog guarding.”  Without that question, his mind would be completely empty.

 

*Is Seamus trying to rub it in, or is this a compliment delivered in the Gryffindor fashion?

 

*Harry can remember who Dean is because of the association of his supporting West Ham.  Random historical fact – Rasputin’s memory was so bad that he could only remember his friends by making nicknames for them.  Should Harry have tried this more often?  Dean is “the West Ham Fan.”

 

*The banner says “Potter for President”?!  President of what?

 

*Wood’s speech is taken from a muggle context – but he is not muggleborn, since he didn’t know about Basketball.  I suppose he must have heard it from a muggleborn and thought it sounded cool. 

 

*Flint may have troll blood in him, that would explain his shortcomings – his ancestry is impure.  Are we sure JKR does not have a nationalist or neo-nazi type of mindset?

 

*”What an excellent Chaser Angelina is – and rather attractive to...” That Lee Jordan, he fails to keep the commentary impersonal as badly as Zach Smith failed at doing so.  Oh well.  IOIAGDI!

 

*Why bother commenting on the Chasers?  Their work is completely superfluous.  It’s the Seekers who matter, with their catching of the shiny object. 

 

*In this chapter the narrator jumps around a lot.  Normally it follows Harry, but now it suddenly distances itself from Harry and settles on Ron and Hermione amidst the spectators.  Oh no, Hagrid is here...

 

*Wood had a talent for stating the obvious.  All Harry needed to know was “catch the small object that moves suddenly.”  Even a cat could comprehend Harry’s role in the game.  Which sadly, is the only role that matters.

 

*The Twins had a taste for the tacky even here.  Harry sees them flashing their wristwatches ostentatiously.

 

*Does Higgs have as expensive a broom as Harry has?

 

*Flint blocks Harry from winning the game!  Really Flint, that would only be Okay If A Gryffindor Had Done It.

 

*Dean would rather be watching a football match.  Boring as they are, at least the rules are logical!

 

*Hagrid suddenly considers Quidditch too brutal now that Harry’s playing it...?  But surely he always knew that the beaters hit solid iron balls at all the other players?  Perhaps he believes the rules should only be changed so that no one should attempt to knock Harry out of the air.

 

*But then no one, not even Lee Jordan, makes aspersions about the bludger nearly hitting Harry on the head.

 

*Interfering with a broomstick is powerful Dark Magic.  No, the definition of Dark Magic will not become any clearer as the series progresses.

 

*Hermione changed her view on Snape very quickly.  I suppose she must have taken Ron’s word earlier in the chapter, that he wouldn’t put anything past Snape.  In the film we get to see Quirrell acting very nearly as suspiciously as Snape was (he was gazing at Harry and being unnaturally still). 

 

*The referee is useless.  Oh well, Flint is a cheat.  Scoring in a surreptitious manner should only be Okay If A Gryffindor Does It.  I have no doubt that everyone agrees.

 

*Hermione knocks Quirrell over by accident...! Lame.  In the film it is Snape who knocks Quirrell by giving a start when he realises he is on fire.  That looks better, although it leaves the question of why he didn’t just punch or knock Quirrell to stop him casting his hex.

 

*Really Neville isn’t acting like a Gryffindor here.  He should relish the sight of danger!  No wonder Malfoy taunted him about not being in the right house.

 

*Well since Harry was not unconscious, he won the game.  This is actually better than JKR’s original idea of Hedwig catching the Snitch for him...!  Oh for the days when the editors still did their job ;)

 

*The narrator rejoins Harry and does not leave him again during this book.

 

*Did Hagrid win Fluffy in a game of cards?

 

*Egodore giving Hagrid important information was just a way of ensuring that it would be leaked to the trio.  He would not even have needed to tell Hagrid to leak it to them, Hagrid’s incompetence is his only reliable quality.

 

 

Comments

[majorjune.livejournal.com]

But that was the case anyway, right? Part 1 didn't come out until late Nov. 2010.

It was originally scheduled for release in November 2009, and Part 2 was supposed to be released July 2010, but they ended up delaying the release due to a combination of needing more time for editing (they claimed), plus a conflict with whatever other blockbuster movie was being released in late 2009.

And remember, they were refilming the Epilogue early in 2011...so they went down to the wire with the thing.

They started writing the script immediately after the book got released in July 2007, and were filming in 2008 for the projected original 2009 release date. If Rowling had delayed release of the book even one year, they wouldn't have been able to start filming the movie until 2009.


She can't be doing too badly, or she wouldn't be starring in the new season of Downton Abbey.

Her role as the dowager in that series can hardly be called "starring" -- strong supporting character, yes. Where she mostly just sits. Nothing too strenuous. Doesn't change the fact that she's been dealing with breast cancer these past couple of years.


That's pretty harsh. Do you really think she's that morally debased?

Yes. At the very least she's one of the worst hypocrites around.

And I'm including politicians in that group! LOL


So you agree she's a narcissist?

I'm not qualified to make an exact and precise diagnosis, but she definitely is someone who's displayed in interviews that she is full of herself, and desperately wants to control her audience.

I myself dabble in writing. I have no idea if I'm a good writer, or even just an adequate one.

But one thing I actually strive for is to NOT lead my readers by the nose. I love leaving situations and/or characters open-ended, and letting each reader come to their own conclusions. Many times I'm surprised at what a reader surmises, as it often is not what I'd intended. But by leaving it open for interpretation, I sort of allow a type of "interactive" experience for my readers.

And I have a blast doing so. I'd be very bored with my writing if it became dogmatic, and if I tried to force my readers to only see things the way I state they should be.

Maybe that's Rowling's problem. Maybe she thinks that that is what being an author should be about, FORCING readers into one narrow authorial vision. And no wonder she seems to have gotten bored with the whole thing by the end.

[oneandthetruth.livejournal.com]

That's pretty harsh. Do you really think she's that morally debased?

Yes. At the very least she's one of the worst hypocrites around.

And I'm including politicians in that group! LOL

I don't think she's either morally debased or hypocritical, at least not consciously. I think she's just incredibly lacking in insight into her own personality and motivations, and that makes her look immoral and hypocritical. IOW, she's like my own bete noire, Laurie R. King.

King insists she's a feminist, and seems to honestly believe she writes feminist empowerment novels, particularly those featuring her bread and butter character, Mary Russell. But not only is Russell an Ultimate Mary Sue and capable of doing the physically impossible, she's also an alcoholic heiress who's never worked a day in her life, who rushed into marriage with the first man who asked her--and who is both her surrogate father and old enough to be her grandfather--less than a month after she turned 21, and after having dated only 2 men her own age, neither of them seriously.

King is another author who tells rather than shows, too. For example, we're told over and over that Russell is one of the most brilliant theologians of her generation, yet we never hear about her publishing any books or articles, her ideas are never discussed in detail, and in the one book in which theology comes up as part of the story, this Oxford graduate is outthought by a women who quit school at 15, and whose knowledge is instinctual rather than analytical. Like Rowling, King's attitude is, we've been told Russell is a super-competent genius, so she is dammit, and nobody better question that if they know what's good for them! >:-(

Apropos of your remarks about not leading your readers by the nose, I think wanting to do that is characteristic of immature, narcissistic people with a lot of unresolved psychological issues. People who are more secure and mature can allow others to have their own opinions and ideas.