Thread II: A Catholic Homeschooling Father Reads Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets

Gloria Romanorum blog ^ | 8/20/07 | Florentius

[Tijeras_Slim]

Not to mention Harry having a big knife at school. You’d think zero-tolerance would have something to say about that.

[Tax-chick]

They just slapped a big price tag on it and knew that millions of people would buy it regardless.

Free enterprise is a marvelous thing. I'm a library user, myself.

[Antoninus]

Free enterprise is a marvelous thing. I'm a library user, myself.

Hey, I don't begrudge the publishers their due, believe me. They've got an item people want and cost is apparently no object for this consumer base. Indeed, the HP books look like a bargain compared to what academic monographs sell for.

As for libraries, I think everyone should have easy access to one--in their living rooms, if possible.

[Tax-chick]

cost is apparently no object for this consumer base

I spent $80 to get the history of the Catholic Church in Alaska for my birthday. Maybe I'll get it by my next birthday, as they've shipped it Book Rate from Alaska ...

We wouldn't have any of the HP books, except that my husband ordered "Deathly Hallows" for me for the aforementioned birthday. I'd have been content to wait my turn at the library. It's just one of those things ... I'm a borrower, and he's a buyer.

[Antoninus]

We wouldn't have any of the HP books, except that my husband ordered "Deathly Hallows" for me for the aforementioned birthday. I'd have been content to wait my turn at the library. It's just one of those things ... I'm a borrower, and he's a buyer.

For the record, I'm borrowing all the HP books from a relative. :-)

That's not to say I don't buy. I just have to resist...

[Tax-chick]

If we both bought everything we want (and everything the teeming offspring want) we’d have to give the house to the books and live in the yard. This would get us in trouble with the county.

[Bigg Red]

Don’t feel bad. I make all sorts of typos when I am posting in a hurry.

[Antoninus]

Don’t feel bad. I make all sorts of typos when I am posting in a hurry.

Yeah, my problem is I can't seem to eliminate my typos even when I'm not posting in a hurry. :-)

[Tanniker Smith]

Also in this category was the scene with Ron vomiting up slugs.

Overdone? Perhaps. But as far as "scatalogical" humor goes, it's exceptionally mild. Given the age of the students involved, it's a mild thing to wish upon one's enemy. And here's where you can either infer "Do unto others ... " or "live by the wand, die by the wand". And it's a magical inversion of Johnny making Susie eat a bug. (I never ate bugs nor forced anyone to do so ... actually, I don't personally know anyone in either category, but we always hear about it.)

In either case, it's an important foreshadowing for the showdown with Lockhart at the end. The only gap in logic is how Ron managed to progress as well as he did that year with a dysfunctional wand.

[Tanniker Smith]

We actually have two copies. I bought it while I was away at scout camp, knowing that my wife would buy it at home.

My excuse, other than I wanted to read it, was that I knew that I'd have to wait until she was done (and she possibly would've passed it onto our son or daughter first) and, at the time, I was pretty sure she hadn't finished rereading book 6 (actually she hadn't started yet.)

[Tax-chick]

You can donate a copy to the library when you’re all finished.

[sockmonkey]

Every time she brings up a new creature, I think to myself, Monster Manual, 3HD, 1-8 hp damage per attack.

Are you reading Rowling's companion books, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Quidditch through the Ages?

[Antoninus]

Are you reading Rowling's companion books, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Quidditch through the Ages?

I didn't know that such existed. Do they? These threads are so thick with sarcasm that it's impossible to know whether I'm responding to a serious point or becoming the butt of an inside joke.

[sockmonkey]

I didn't know that such existed. Do they?

Yes, they exist. They are: From the Library of Hogwarts: Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, Quidditch Through The Ages by J.K. Rowling and J. K. Rowling (Hardcover - Nov 1, 2001)

I found the first one particularly helpful as I read the books-Gotta keep those grindy lows and kappas straight in my head...Also, there are some red herrings...demiguise, being one that comes to mind.