Two by two, hands of blue. Two by two, hands of blue.

River ,'Ariel'


The Buffista Book Club: the Harry Potter iteration  

This thread is a focused discussion group. Please see the first post below for the current topic and upcoming book discussions. While natter will inevitably happen, we encourage you to treat this like a virtual book club and try to keep your posts in that spirit.

By consensus, this thread is reopened specifically to discuss Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It will be closed again once that discussion has run its course.

***SPOILER ALERT***

  • **Spoilers for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows lie here. Read at your own risk***


Kat - Oct 23, 2007 4:23:20 pm PDT #3208 of 3301
"I keep to a strict diet of ill-advised enthusiasm and heartfelt regret." Leigh Bardugo

I think the question of whether you can parallel Anansi Boys with a story that treats sexuality in a similar way is interesting, but I'm not sure I can answer it fully. I can say pretty definitely, though, that J.K. Rowling's story is not that story.

But Boy Meets Boy, a YA book, might be close. Not my favorite book. But it does create a non heteronormative world.


Typo Boy - Oct 23, 2007 4:39:49 pm PDT #3209 of 3301
Calli: My people have a saying. A man who trusts can never be betrayed, only mistaken.Avon: Life expectancy among your people must be extremely short.

Also I think Swordspoint was a non-hetronormative world -- though I'm not sure queer identity existed in it as such. There was not much concern with genitals of sex partner, and much of the sex was between people with matching genitals types.


§ ita § - Oct 23, 2007 4:53:41 pm PDT #3210 of 3301
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.

Is Jamaica not a setting where one might assume that most people you meet will not be white?

Well...I wouldn't. I know people are surprised by white and "Chinese" and "Indian" Jamaicans, but they're completely and totally run of the mill. If someone told me Jamaican I would assume they've told me nothing about their race, just as if they'd told me Latino.

Add on top of that him almost using the name of a big white Jamaican family...even less so.


beth b - Oct 23, 2007 5:06:01 pm PDT #3211 of 3301
oh joy! Oh Rapture ! I have a brain!

Snape and lily - I saw as friends. I believe Snape wanted more, but they never got any where close to romantic.

D/G - their relationship was certainly passionate. I don't know if it was ever consummated. I never really put a label to their relationship. If someone had asked me if they were a couple- I would have been startled at my missing the obvious. ( I do this in real life too). ( I can be very clueless)

The original interview question is interesting. With everything revealed in book 7 , It is clear that that Dumbledore couldn't trust himself to love anyone again. ( but it was a kid that asked, right?)

I can see the point: and adding a line or so would have made things clearer, and wouldn't have hurt. But I am going to assume that JKR left it out because she didn't find a way to put it in. ( not saying it was impossible - but she didn't find away for that and 1000 other details)


Vortex - Oct 23, 2007 5:07:11 pm PDT #3212 of 3301
"Cry havoc and let slip the boobs of war!" -- Miracleman

With Anasasi boys, I started with the assumption that the characters were black because the legend has african origins. I think that there may be some comparison, because if you assume that the characters are straight, that's what you'll find. If you assume that they're gay, you'll find that as well.


-t - Oct 23, 2007 5:17:24 pm PDT #3213 of 3301
I am a woman of various inclinations and only some of the time are they to burn everything down in frustration

Well, I just brought up the fact here that the really evil characters had French names and basically everyone tried to persuade me otherwise.

Persuasion was not my intent, ftr.


Hil R. - Oct 23, 2007 5:31:07 pm PDT #3214 of 3301
Sometimes I think I might just move up to Vermont, open a bookstore or a vegan restaurant. Adam Schlesinger, z''l

Mine either. More playing with the idea.


Trudy Booth - Oct 23, 2007 5:45:05 pm PDT #3215 of 3301
Greece's financial crisis threatens to take down all of Western civilization - a civilization they themselves founded. A rather tragic irony - which is something they also invented. - Jon Stewart

I was trying to talk you out of it because I think you're evil.

Well, half-evil.


megan walker - Oct 23, 2007 5:58:03 pm PDT #3216 of 3301
"What kind of magical sunshine and lollipop world do you live in? Because you need to be medicated."-SFist

Well, I am evil, but that's neither here nor there.

I just remember thinking at the time that, had I been Jewish and noticed that the most evil characters all had Jewish names, the conversation probably would have gone in a different direction.

More playing with the idea.

Which is how it was taken. The evil French thing is not something that bugs me per se, because it's a long-standing cross-channel rivalry, but, with my background, it's not going to go unnoticed either.


Hil R. - Oct 23, 2007 6:01:55 pm PDT #3217 of 3301
Sometimes I think I might just move up to Vermont, open a bookstore or a vegan restaurant. Adam Schlesinger, z''l

I was mostly amused by the one Jewish-sounding name in the book, Anthony Goldstein. We know almost nothing about him -- he's a Ravenclaw, a year younger than Harry, and friends with Michael Corner. His name gets mentioned a bunch of times, but I don't think he ever actually said anything or did anything other than being noted as being in the room.