I know, I know...more Harry Potter??? yes, more Harry Potter.
My son asked if he could have a date with his babysitter (he doesn't understand the whole concept-- he just wanted to spend time playing with Carly), so my husband and I obliged by going on a date to (finally) see the fifth Harry Potter movie.
I must say my enjoyment of the movies would vastly improve if they were able to bring the first Dumbledore actor back from the dead. As this is impossible, would it be too much to ask that the current actor not wear pajamas and a bizarre beard tassle with a flat nightcap??? Kevin and I spent a portion of the movie bellyaching about how wrong Dumbledore's portrayal was. Another portion of the movie was spent watching the girls in the row next to us. They had not read the books and were gasping and shrieking at any appearance of Voldemort (who is just not very scary to me compared to my mental image when I read the book).
While writing this, it has occured to me that most of my HP thoughts are directly impacted by the first HP movie. I love the Dumbledore in that movie. The Voldemort that comes out of Quirrell's head is also how I picture Voldemort most of the time. Creepy. Flat-faced. Red-eyed. Somehow when an actual man is playing him all I can think is, "Wow. Being bald and pale really makes Ralph Fiennes' ears stick out. I can't believe this is the man who looks so good in The Avengers. Is it just me or does Harry look unbelievably short when next to Ron and Hermione?" See, these are not thoughts that occur to me when I read the book. Ah, but you don't want to read a post on how the movie never lives up to my mental image of the book, do you?
Long story short on the movie: cool fight scene at the end, Luna was fantastic!, Fred and George's moment could've been bigger, I miss Quiddich and Ron's big moment, Umbridge stole every scene she was in (some could've been shortened or eliminated to make room for some non-villainous character). All in all it was okay.
Oh, I just remembered something important to me about book 5. My favorite moment in the whole darn book (and it's a pretty long book) is when Dumbledore does his disappearing act from his office and Phineas Nigellus says something like, "Say what you will about Dumbledore, the man's got style" in his highly sarcastic Snapish voice (as I hear it anyway). This wonderful moment was ruined by having Kingsley Shacklebolt say it instead...a Kingsley who was horribly mis-cast. I've always pictured Kingsley to look like Samuel L. Jackson as Windoo from Star Wars. He's supposed to be cool, not remind me of my World Lit prof (Dr. Kashama).
Monday, August 27, 2007
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Quote for the Day
I added a new quote to my quote wall in my office and thought I should share it with everyone.
from the episode "Humbug" from the show The X-Files (which I was once addicted to):
Mulder has just asked the manager of his hotel (in a circus town) who happens to be, um, height challenged?, whether or not he has ever worked in a circus.
MULDER: I'm sorry, I meant no offense.
NUTT: Well, then why should I take offense? Just because it's human nature to make instantaneous judgements of others based solely upon their physical appearances? Why, I've done the same thing to you, for example. I've taken in your All-American features, your dour demeanor, your unimaginative necktie design and concluded that you work for the government. An F. B. I. agent. But do you see the tragedy here? I have mistakenly reduced you to a stereotype. A caricature. Instead of regarding you as a specific, unique individual.
MULDER: But I am an F. B. I. agent.
from the episode "Humbug" from the show The X-Files (which I was once addicted to):
Mulder has just asked the manager of his hotel (in a circus town) who happens to be, um, height challenged?, whether or not he has ever worked in a circus.
MULDER: I'm sorry, I meant no offense.
NUTT: Well, then why should I take offense? Just because it's human nature to make instantaneous judgements of others based solely upon their physical appearances? Why, I've done the same thing to you, for example. I've taken in your All-American features, your dour demeanor, your unimaginative necktie design and concluded that you work for the government. An F. B. I. agent. But do you see the tragedy here? I have mistakenly reduced you to a stereotype. A caricature. Instead of regarding you as a specific, unique individual.
MULDER: But I am an F. B. I. agent.
First week of class
I cannot believe it is only Wednesday. It is only Wednesday, right? It feels like it should be the second week of class already. I have been so busy that it really feels like more than just 2 1/2 days have gone by.
Learning community: The first two classes of the Learning Community course have gone well. It's exciting to see students getting to know each other already. The only problem is apparently one student didn't realize the courses were linked and she has not come to the first two 8 a.m. classes, but we hope to get that resolved today. It's invigorating to be able to feed off the literature course and have students use it to link their writing thoughts to, but it is also draining because everything takes more planning. Everything that I used to do on my own I now also discuss with Denise. This is good because this kind of partnership means we get double the great ideas and the students benefit from the connection of the courses, but it also means that I am doing more work or more communication than I did before and I'm also thinking about one more class (even though I'm not teaching it, it's in the back of my mind there someplace).
On-line 102 course: It's hard to tell how any on-line course is going just by looking at the first week. To be quite honest, I'm not even sure if everyone has gotten into the class yet. I don't think I'll be able to know that until I put a grade in the gradebook. I haven't gotten used to WebCT6 yet. At any rate, the students who have done the self-registration and gotten as far as the discussion board seem excited and they all seem well-disciplined for the most part. That seems to be the one quality that really separates on-line students from more traditional students: the on-line ones seem to be so adept at balancing multiple commitments. Many of them work and have families and take multiple classes, and what's more, they seem to be good at it. The other thing I've noticed is so far there are no guys in the class that I am aware of. There are a couple of male names on my roster for the course, but so far only females have posted to the discussion board. We'll see what it looks like by the end of the week.
Traditional 102 class: Wow, by the end of the day yesterday, I really felt like I had run a marathon. I kind of had (well, for me anyway). I dropped off the printing for this class at 1:00 at the printshop, which is in the basement. Then I went up to the second floor English area to eat lunch because the print shop said it would take a while and there are no tables on the first floor at this end of the building. I chatted with Denise and Tess while eating and then had an idea (long story, won't go over it here). I ended up chasing that idea a little bit and then remembered I had to finish my lunch and get my printing still. This was at 1:45. I then went down to the basement for the printing, remembered I didn't have my roster, went up to the second floor to tell a student I was here and would be back to the classroom by 2:00 and hauled my butt all the way down to the 2000 area to my office to get the roster and books and a bottle of water. I hit the restroom on the way and managed to get back to the classroom before the other teacher had left. My students were all hovering in the halls waiting for the other teacher to stop talking. It was 5 til 2:00, so I just said, "We can all go in." It was a good thing too, as Chad (the other teacher) had a class at 2:00 that he had to get to and my arrival made it easier for him to wrap up conversation and get out of there. This long story is all to say that I was tired. But oddly hyper. Somehow knowing it is the last class of a long day infuses me with energy I didn't think I had. Also, I figure everyone else is tired too so I make a greater effort to be energetic so they don't drift off. But I think they all ended up thinking I was strange...which is okay. Two of them have had me in class before and already know I can be strange sometimes. : )
The 005 classes: For the first time ever, I decided to have students set the policies for the class. I've been thinking about doing this ever since taking the class on Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed, which is all about how Freire used intrinsic motivation to teach illiterate adults in Brazil how to read so they could get the ability to vote and impact their futures more. All the research on learner-centered teaching says that students who are given choices are more invested in the class and learn more authentically than the traditional spoon-feeding kind of way of teaching. What I know from experience and what the research doesn't spell out as clearly is sometimes it goes smoothly and sometimes it does not. Even Freire says that sometimes students are resistant to this because they would rather stay with what is comfortable. Anyway, the 8 a.m. class was into it at first and really seemed to appreciate the fact that they were being included in the decision making process. Then I think it started to drag on a little because there was too much to decide. The 11:00 class had a couple of good participaters and then a whole bunch of quiet people. There was a good discussion about what constitutes success in a class (is is mere attendance or doing the work, can you succeed without attending, etc). I think we were all saying very similar things but in different enough ways that it looked like we were disagreeing with each other, when in fact, we were just sharing different perspectives of the same thing. The 8 a.m. class ended up with actual rules that need to be adhered to while the 11 a.m. class ended up with one rule that is meant to cover all behavioral aspects of the course.
8:00: 4 absences, 4 tardies allowed with penalties after the 4 tardies have been used. Late work policy of half credit on anything late.
11:00: must maintain a 75% in the class. If the student slips below, there's a probationary period before I have the ability to drop them at my discretion. Daily grades will be taken, so attendance isn't mandatory, but it will be hard to maintain a good grade without being in class regularly.
I just figured out why I'm so tired. I have been doing more work than usual this beginning of the semester. I usually just go to class, read through the syllabus and call it a day on the first days. This getting to know you and determining rules stuff takes so much more time and effort. We'll see how it goes as the semester goes on. But for now, I could really use a nap. Of course, I can't take one because I do have a bunch of work to get to still : (
Learning community: The first two classes of the Learning Community course have gone well. It's exciting to see students getting to know each other already. The only problem is apparently one student didn't realize the courses were linked and she has not come to the first two 8 a.m. classes, but we hope to get that resolved today. It's invigorating to be able to feed off the literature course and have students use it to link their writing thoughts to, but it is also draining because everything takes more planning. Everything that I used to do on my own I now also discuss with Denise. This is good because this kind of partnership means we get double the great ideas and the students benefit from the connection of the courses, but it also means that I am doing more work or more communication than I did before and I'm also thinking about one more class (even though I'm not teaching it, it's in the back of my mind there someplace).
On-line 102 course: It's hard to tell how any on-line course is going just by looking at the first week. To be quite honest, I'm not even sure if everyone has gotten into the class yet. I don't think I'll be able to know that until I put a grade in the gradebook. I haven't gotten used to WebCT6 yet. At any rate, the students who have done the self-registration and gotten as far as the discussion board seem excited and they all seem well-disciplined for the most part. That seems to be the one quality that really separates on-line students from more traditional students: the on-line ones seem to be so adept at balancing multiple commitments. Many of them work and have families and take multiple classes, and what's more, they seem to be good at it. The other thing I've noticed is so far there are no guys in the class that I am aware of. There are a couple of male names on my roster for the course, but so far only females have posted to the discussion board. We'll see what it looks like by the end of the week.
Traditional 102 class: Wow, by the end of the day yesterday, I really felt like I had run a marathon. I kind of had (well, for me anyway). I dropped off the printing for this class at 1:00 at the printshop, which is in the basement. Then I went up to the second floor English area to eat lunch because the print shop said it would take a while and there are no tables on the first floor at this end of the building. I chatted with Denise and Tess while eating and then had an idea (long story, won't go over it here). I ended up chasing that idea a little bit and then remembered I had to finish my lunch and get my printing still. This was at 1:45. I then went down to the basement for the printing, remembered I didn't have my roster, went up to the second floor to tell a student I was here and would be back to the classroom by 2:00 and hauled my butt all the way down to the 2000 area to my office to get the roster and books and a bottle of water. I hit the restroom on the way and managed to get back to the classroom before the other teacher had left. My students were all hovering in the halls waiting for the other teacher to stop talking. It was 5 til 2:00, so I just said, "We can all go in." It was a good thing too, as Chad (the other teacher) had a class at 2:00 that he had to get to and my arrival made it easier for him to wrap up conversation and get out of there. This long story is all to say that I was tired. But oddly hyper. Somehow knowing it is the last class of a long day infuses me with energy I didn't think I had. Also, I figure everyone else is tired too so I make a greater effort to be energetic so they don't drift off. But I think they all ended up thinking I was strange...which is okay. Two of them have had me in class before and already know I can be strange sometimes. : )
The 005 classes: For the first time ever, I decided to have students set the policies for the class. I've been thinking about doing this ever since taking the class on Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed, which is all about how Freire used intrinsic motivation to teach illiterate adults in Brazil how to read so they could get the ability to vote and impact their futures more. All the research on learner-centered teaching says that students who are given choices are more invested in the class and learn more authentically than the traditional spoon-feeding kind of way of teaching. What I know from experience and what the research doesn't spell out as clearly is sometimes it goes smoothly and sometimes it does not. Even Freire says that sometimes students are resistant to this because they would rather stay with what is comfortable. Anyway, the 8 a.m. class was into it at first and really seemed to appreciate the fact that they were being included in the decision making process. Then I think it started to drag on a little because there was too much to decide. The 11:00 class had a couple of good participaters and then a whole bunch of quiet people. There was a good discussion about what constitutes success in a class (is is mere attendance or doing the work, can you succeed without attending, etc). I think we were all saying very similar things but in different enough ways that it looked like we were disagreeing with each other, when in fact, we were just sharing different perspectives of the same thing. The 8 a.m. class ended up with actual rules that need to be adhered to while the 11 a.m. class ended up with one rule that is meant to cover all behavioral aspects of the course.
8:00: 4 absences, 4 tardies allowed with penalties after the 4 tardies have been used. Late work policy of half credit on anything late.
11:00: must maintain a 75% in the class. If the student slips below, there's a probationary period before I have the ability to drop them at my discretion. Daily grades will be taken, so attendance isn't mandatory, but it will be hard to maintain a good grade without being in class regularly.
I just figured out why I'm so tired. I have been doing more work than usual this beginning of the semester. I usually just go to class, read through the syllabus and call it a day on the first days. This getting to know you and determining rules stuff takes so much more time and effort. We'll see how it goes as the semester goes on. But for now, I could really use a nap. Of course, I can't take one because I do have a bunch of work to get to still : (
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Harry Potter Book 7 Post
Kevin and I finally finished the Harry Potter series. I am going to post my thoughts on it below in a manner that will be hidden unless you highlight the text box. I want to allow anyone who has not read the books to be able to enjoy the books' unfoldings as much as I have.
To read what I have written, well, you could try flicking your wrist and saying, "Revelio," but as I have explained to my husband as he has tried "Scourgify" on our kitchen, you are probably not a witch or a wizard with a wand and, psst, Harry Potter isn't real...but anyhow, the text is just the same color as the background, so selecting it should be all you have to do to read it.
I was wrong about some things and absolutely right about the Lord of the Rings link. In fact, I didn't realize how right I would be. The whole horcrux against the skin making Ron, Hermione and Harry cranky was enough to have my husband and I saying, "my precious." It was also too ring-like when it seemed to possess Ron there for a moment.
Things that please me about the seventh book:
--the structure of it. It still maintains the time structure of the originals despite the fact that Harry is not at Hogwarts. Christmas break falls right in the middle of the book, and, as in the earlier books, something significant happens right in the middle and the end builds quickly with much happening all at once at the very end.
--Harry felt like an old friend. It was nice to see how much he had matured in this book, and yet because of the earlier books, this maturation was completely believable and even expected. He didn't have the wonder of earlier books nor the whininess of book 5 or the obstinance of book 6. He was "just plain Harry" again in mood, though definitely not just plain Harry in terms of readiness to complete his quest.
--I dig the whole Lord of the Rings vibe. The three of them were definitely on a quest pursued by vile things and unaware of what would pop up around any corner. They also knew they were heading to a necessary but evil showdown and were trying to remain under the radar as long as possible. Their loneliness and worry about friends and family members was very poignant too.
--I love the Gringotts part. It kept me guessing the whole time. I thought for sure that one of the Gryffindors would end up with the sword before leaving the vault though. The dragon was brilliant (or mad, as Kevin keeps reminding me)! I also thought the dragon would conveniently place them on the mountainside where they would meet up with Hagrid and Grawp.
-- I love that I could come up with all kinds of plausible possibilities for the plot and that some of them came true and others didn't. This is one of the signs of good writing to me: these characters are real enough to me that I can see what kinds of things they would do but also the plot workings are deep enough that they are not entirely predictable.
--the characters important to me all had their own parts to play in this book:
Neville- This is probably the most important. Neville, the boy who could have been The Boy Who Lived, had to have his own part in it. I love that he continued the DA and that it was he who slayed the snake with the sword. It was particularly touching to me that Gran was finally very proud of him with good reason. No bumbling crazylegs moments in this book for Neville. Just bravery and valiance.
Dobby and the house-elves- In order to do Hermione proud, the house-elves had to do their part. Kreacher certainly proved useful, though in keeping with character, he was doing it for Master Regulus. I thought the Death Eaters would get ahold of him and read the note in the locket, but it's good that that did not happen. Dobby, oh sweet Dobby. I have to admit that at first I was annoyed by Dobby in the way that Jar Jar Binks annoys. Perhaps it is meant to be this way as Harry himself is annoyed by him initially. After all, it is Dobby who gets Harry in a heap of trouble in book 2...but by the time Dobby is picking up hats left by Hermione, well, I guess he kind of grew on me. His death had me wishing someone would avenge him by finally getting rid of Bellatrix.
She who killed Bellatrix Lestrange- I had initially hoped that Neville would off Bellatrix in order to avenge his parents' torture by her, but Neville just would not have the wrath to do it properly. Then, Tonks seemed a likely choice to avenge Sirius' death and because Bellatrix had it in for her since Tonks' werewolf marriage. But, the best and most unexpected of all, Mrs. Weasley, had the pleasure. Nothing was more believable to me than Molly Weasely protecting her youngest and only daughter. The Weasleys had long known Molly's power and dangerous fury when provoked; it was great for the evil side to taste it too.
Hagrid- I had rather hoped that Hagrid would have had a larger role to play in this (no pun intended). I did, however, find it fitting that he carried Harry in the end. The protection of Aragog's progeny was rather unreal to me, but I see that it had the plot-point of getting Hagrid into the forest in order to watch Harry and Voldemort's showdown. I guess he was partially right about the spiders, though, considering they did not immediately kill and eat him, though they may have been arguing about who would get to do it...but I digress. Hagrid carrying Harry was perfect because it is reminiscent of other moments: Hagrid was the one to carry Harry from the wreckage of his house to safe delivery at his uncle's house and Hagrid also carried Dumbledore's dead body. He is and has always been the Hogwarts' caretaker and that was certainly embodied in one of his last acts in the series.
Dumbledore- Though he did not reappear in the manner I expected him to, in a way he did. The backlash against Dumbledore was completely believable as that happens so often with other powerful figures or celebrities after their deaths. The whole thing with Ariana, Aberforth and Grindelwald was interesting. I had thought that Ariana was a werewolf, but was of course incorrect. The mystery surrounding Ariana made it so I didn't give Aberforth a second thought, though I did suspect him of being the thief, which leads me to the next thing I love...
--Everything regarding the minor mysteries of the plot was incredibly well-connected. This last book really was a "tying together" of loose-ends while it also brought up interesting new subplots and realized the old ones in such believable and not completely predictable ways. As I read, I kept thinking, "I can't believe Rowling's pulling this off, and so well too!"
Things I was not so pleased with:
--The Ministry of Magic part: first of all, it makes Ron look like a real doof. Really, the whole part illuminates each character's shortcomings: Ron doesn't know as much or think quickly under pressure, Hermione (who does both of those things very well) is very nervous and must always have a plan and have things go according to plan, Harry is too hotheaded and impulsive for his own good sometimes. These qualities end up working out for each of them in the end of this section (Ron was transformed into someone who was a doof, so he was actually in character, Hermione's nervousness made it so she was swept away to be with Umbridge all day, and Harry's rash behavior spurred them into action and got them the locket in the end. I do admit that this part worked out in the end, but I just didn't like it very much...not that I have to like every moment of every book; some parts are not supposed to be enjoyed in the lah-di-dah life-is-good kind of way.
--Fred and George: I realized long ago that these somewhat favorite characters of mine were unfortunately expendable. That George got his ear blasted off early in should have been an indication to me that they would not both survive. This may sound really strange, but I can't help but think if Rowling killed off one, then she should have killed off both. The worst part of it all to me is not that Fred is dead but that George has to go on living without him. That, and he's stuck with Percy as poor consolation. In the words of Fred, or was it George?, "Stupid prat."
--Bathilda Bagshot: A snake (a snake possessed by Voldemort no less) is inhabiting Bagshot's dead body that is, by the way, decaying and has been for some time and Harry doesn't suspect anything???? I mean, I know she was called "batty" by people, but come on! there's a difference between just plain ole batty and then cold and non-responsive albeit oddly still walking and also stinking to high heavens! And Hermione lets him go upstairs with him alone!?!
--The epilogue: I understand the book needs to be wrapped up with some indication of what happens to Harry in the future, but it was all just a little too hokey for me. Okay, I could see Harry and Ginny ending up together and Ron and Hermione too, and yes, Harry and Ginny would probably name their kids after people who were significant in their lives, but...it was just too 1950's to me. Too ideal. Too picture perfect. As I said in my earlier post about the seventh book, I expected some kind of strife at the end. Harry is a good guy and loved and all that, but he is now not just The Boy Who Lived but now The Guy Who Saved the World from the Worst Evil in the World (somehow not as catchy). Surely, life is not easy and peachy keen for this new Harry. Surely people stare more than ever and ask for his autograph. Surely he would at least live amongst Muggles where he could possibly live a somewhat normal life.
Okay, this could not possibly sum up everything I feel about the whole darn book and all seven books for that matter, but it is a start.
To read what I have written, well, you could try flicking your wrist and saying, "Revelio," but as I have explained to my husband as he has tried "Scourgify" on our kitchen, you are probably not a witch or a wizard with a wand and, psst, Harry Potter isn't real...but anyhow, the text is just the same color as the background, so selecting it should be all you have to do to read it.
I was wrong about some things and absolutely right about the Lord of the Rings link. In fact, I didn't realize how right I would be. The whole horcrux against the skin making Ron, Hermione and Harry cranky was enough to have my husband and I saying, "my precious." It was also too ring-like when it seemed to possess Ron there for a moment.
Things that please me about the seventh book:
--the structure of it. It still maintains the time structure of the originals despite the fact that Harry is not at Hogwarts. Christmas break falls right in the middle of the book, and, as in the earlier books, something significant happens right in the middle and the end builds quickly with much happening all at once at the very end.
--Harry felt like an old friend. It was nice to see how much he had matured in this book, and yet because of the earlier books, this maturation was completely believable and even expected. He didn't have the wonder of earlier books nor the whininess of book 5 or the obstinance of book 6. He was "just plain Harry" again in mood, though definitely not just plain Harry in terms of readiness to complete his quest.
--I dig the whole Lord of the Rings vibe. The three of them were definitely on a quest pursued by vile things and unaware of what would pop up around any corner. They also knew they were heading to a necessary but evil showdown and were trying to remain under the radar as long as possible. Their loneliness and worry about friends and family members was very poignant too.
--I love the Gringotts part. It kept me guessing the whole time. I thought for sure that one of the Gryffindors would end up with the sword before leaving the vault though. The dragon was brilliant (or mad, as Kevin keeps reminding me)! I also thought the dragon would conveniently place them on the mountainside where they would meet up with Hagrid and Grawp.
-- I love that I could come up with all kinds of plausible possibilities for the plot and that some of them came true and others didn't. This is one of the signs of good writing to me: these characters are real enough to me that I can see what kinds of things they would do but also the plot workings are deep enough that they are not entirely predictable.
--the characters important to me all had their own parts to play in this book:
Neville- This is probably the most important. Neville, the boy who could have been The Boy Who Lived, had to have his own part in it. I love that he continued the DA and that it was he who slayed the snake with the sword. It was particularly touching to me that Gran was finally very proud of him with good reason. No bumbling crazylegs moments in this book for Neville. Just bravery and valiance.
Dobby and the house-elves- In order to do Hermione proud, the house-elves had to do their part. Kreacher certainly proved useful, though in keeping with character, he was doing it for Master Regulus. I thought the Death Eaters would get ahold of him and read the note in the locket, but it's good that that did not happen. Dobby, oh sweet Dobby. I have to admit that at first I was annoyed by Dobby in the way that Jar Jar Binks annoys. Perhaps it is meant to be this way as Harry himself is annoyed by him initially. After all, it is Dobby who gets Harry in a heap of trouble in book 2...but by the time Dobby is picking up hats left by Hermione, well, I guess he kind of grew on me. His death had me wishing someone would avenge him by finally getting rid of Bellatrix.
She who killed Bellatrix Lestrange- I had initially hoped that Neville would off Bellatrix in order to avenge his parents' torture by her, but Neville just would not have the wrath to do it properly. Then, Tonks seemed a likely choice to avenge Sirius' death and because Bellatrix had it in for her since Tonks' werewolf marriage. But, the best and most unexpected of all, Mrs. Weasley, had the pleasure. Nothing was more believable to me than Molly Weasely protecting her youngest and only daughter. The Weasleys had long known Molly's power and dangerous fury when provoked; it was great for the evil side to taste it too.
Hagrid- I had rather hoped that Hagrid would have had a larger role to play in this (no pun intended). I did, however, find it fitting that he carried Harry in the end. The protection of Aragog's progeny was rather unreal to me, but I see that it had the plot-point of getting Hagrid into the forest in order to watch Harry and Voldemort's showdown. I guess he was partially right about the spiders, though, considering they did not immediately kill and eat him, though they may have been arguing about who would get to do it...but I digress. Hagrid carrying Harry was perfect because it is reminiscent of other moments: Hagrid was the one to carry Harry from the wreckage of his house to safe delivery at his uncle's house and Hagrid also carried Dumbledore's dead body. He is and has always been the Hogwarts' caretaker and that was certainly embodied in one of his last acts in the series.
Dumbledore- Though he did not reappear in the manner I expected him to, in a way he did. The backlash against Dumbledore was completely believable as that happens so often with other powerful figures or celebrities after their deaths. The whole thing with Ariana, Aberforth and Grindelwald was interesting. I had thought that Ariana was a werewolf, but was of course incorrect. The mystery surrounding Ariana made it so I didn't give Aberforth a second thought, though I did suspect him of being the thief, which leads me to the next thing I love...
--Everything regarding the minor mysteries of the plot was incredibly well-connected. This last book really was a "tying together" of loose-ends while it also brought up interesting new subplots and realized the old ones in such believable and not completely predictable ways. As I read, I kept thinking, "I can't believe Rowling's pulling this off, and so well too!"
Things I was not so pleased with:
--The Ministry of Magic part: first of all, it makes Ron look like a real doof. Really, the whole part illuminates each character's shortcomings: Ron doesn't know as much or think quickly under pressure, Hermione (who does both of those things very well) is very nervous and must always have a plan and have things go according to plan, Harry is too hotheaded and impulsive for his own good sometimes. These qualities end up working out for each of them in the end of this section (Ron was transformed into someone who was a doof, so he was actually in character, Hermione's nervousness made it so she was swept away to be with Umbridge all day, and Harry's rash behavior spurred them into action and got them the locket in the end. I do admit that this part worked out in the end, but I just didn't like it very much...not that I have to like every moment of every book; some parts are not supposed to be enjoyed in the lah-di-dah life-is-good kind of way.
--Fred and George: I realized long ago that these somewhat favorite characters of mine were unfortunately expendable. That George got his ear blasted off early in should have been an indication to me that they would not both survive. This may sound really strange, but I can't help but think if Rowling killed off one, then she should have killed off both. The worst part of it all to me is not that Fred is dead but that George has to go on living without him. That, and he's stuck with Percy as poor consolation. In the words of Fred, or was it George?, "Stupid prat."
--Bathilda Bagshot: A snake (a snake possessed by Voldemort no less) is inhabiting Bagshot's dead body that is, by the way, decaying and has been for some time and Harry doesn't suspect anything???? I mean, I know she was called "batty" by people, but come on! there's a difference between just plain ole batty and then cold and non-responsive albeit oddly still walking and also stinking to high heavens! And Hermione lets him go upstairs with him alone!?!
--The epilogue: I understand the book needs to be wrapped up with some indication of what happens to Harry in the future, but it was all just a little too hokey for me. Okay, I could see Harry and Ginny ending up together and Ron and Hermione too, and yes, Harry and Ginny would probably name their kids after people who were significant in their lives, but...it was just too 1950's to me. Too ideal. Too picture perfect. As I said in my earlier post about the seventh book, I expected some kind of strife at the end. Harry is a good guy and loved and all that, but he is now not just The Boy Who Lived but now The Guy Who Saved the World from the Worst Evil in the World (somehow not as catchy). Surely, life is not easy and peachy keen for this new Harry. Surely people stare more than ever and ask for his autograph. Surely he would at least live amongst Muggles where he could possibly live a somewhat normal life.
Okay, this could not possibly sum up everything I feel about the whole darn book and all seven books for that matter, but it is a start.
Saturday, July 28, 2007
countdown to the Fall semester
Well, grades are due on Monday by noon. I have one remaining paper to grade and then two remaining finals to grade. And I am calling it quits for today. I have already graded several from each category and do not want the last student to have a grade affected by my blah mood. On the upside, I figure I will be finished well before the deadline.
I looked at the registration numbers last week. The Learning Community class has 11 students signed up, so it will definitely make. All of the other morning 101 classes are closed, so there's still the chance that more students will enroll because of limited options. My internet 102 class has been closed for some time, and now students are calling me for closed class cards. I gave two; that's my limit. I even have one closed 005 class. The other two classes of mine have a couple of students in them. Everything's looking pretty good for Fall.
Pretty soon, I'll have to dig into preparing my WebCT course, something I generally avoid until the last moment.
This is a thoroughly boring blog entry. I find myself obsessed with counting things down when I get to the end of a semester. I once calculated approximately how many pages I would have to read in order to grade all of my ENGl 101 portfolios. I will never make that mistake again. Too depressing!
I guess the moral of this blog entry is I have finally learned enough from past mistakes to portion my time out okay enough to be finished grading at least a day or two before the deadline. I will not be staying up until 2 a.m. and then dragging my tired butt up to campus Monday morning....well, I will be dragging myself up to campus on Monday morning to turn them in still, but if I'm dead tired it's because of reading Harry Potter.
This entry really should be the countdown to getting to read book 7!
I looked at the registration numbers last week. The Learning Community class has 11 students signed up, so it will definitely make. All of the other morning 101 classes are closed, so there's still the chance that more students will enroll because of limited options. My internet 102 class has been closed for some time, and now students are calling me for closed class cards. I gave two; that's my limit. I even have one closed 005 class. The other two classes of mine have a couple of students in them. Everything's looking pretty good for Fall.
Pretty soon, I'll have to dig into preparing my WebCT course, something I generally avoid until the last moment.
This is a thoroughly boring blog entry. I find myself obsessed with counting things down when I get to the end of a semester. I once calculated approximately how many pages I would have to read in order to grade all of my ENGl 101 portfolios. I will never make that mistake again. Too depressing!
I guess the moral of this blog entry is I have finally learned enough from past mistakes to portion my time out okay enough to be finished grading at least a day or two before the deadline. I will not be staying up until 2 a.m. and then dragging my tired butt up to campus Monday morning....well, I will be dragging myself up to campus on Monday morning to turn them in still, but if I'm dead tired it's because of reading Harry Potter.
This entry really should be the countdown to getting to read book 7!
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Harry Potter post-- do not read unless you have read all 6 books
Ok. Be forewarned: these are my thoughts (not all of them) about Harry Potter and what may happen in the seventh book. Do not read any further unless you have read all 6 books. Oh, and there will be Lord of the Rings spoilers too, so if you intend to read or watch that series and heven't yet, you should stop reading too.
I've heard all kinds of decent theories about book seven. The most curious one I've heard about the ending of book 6 is that Dumbledore wasn't really Dumbledore through the whole book. He may have been Peter Pettigrew or Moody. The theory behind this (and this theory came from my friend Kamra; I cannot take responsibility for it) is that Dumbledore hand was damaged in so weird of a way that he may have been someone else who had no hand trying to be him and the potion didn't allow him to be a full Dumbledore because of the hand. I don't know about this. I don't think either person would have behaved to Harry in the way that Dumbledore did all through book 6, but I do agree that something was up with Dumbledore. Something that bugs me is that in book 5, everytime Harry sees Dumbledore, he has this Voldemort-like hate rise up in him. This just spontaneously goes away in book 6 despite the fact that Harry appears to be no better at occlumency....though I did notice this also appears to go away in the end of book 5 too...I'm not to the end of my book 5 re-read, so I don't have any clever theories about this. It just strikes me as either sloppy writing or important fact.
Returning to the Peter Pettigrew theory, I do think he's going to be important to book 7. There seemed to be a "you'll be happy he didn't die" vibe in book 3 and hints that Pettigrew will do Harry a favor. I don't think merely suggesting there's no reason to kill Harry (as done in book 4) is enough of a favor to fulfill this vibe.
Here's my one big contribution to the whole Harry Potter theory building: Rowling seems to be a huge Tolkien fan, probably a big English mythology fan in general, but definitely a Tolkien follower. It just so happens that I see very few movies each year and for a while there, the only movies I was seeing were Lord of the Rings movies and Harry Potter movies, and I noticed too many similarities. It started out small, like cave trolls appearing in both of the movies and then there was Aragog and (oh crud I forgot the name of the big spider outside Mordor that Gollom tries to have kill Frodo). Anyway, two huge cave trolls and two huge spiders and then there came the dementors, which, let's face it, are just ringwraiths after happiness instead of the ring.
So this is why I think Pettigrew will be of greater importance. Pettigrew is Gollum. For that matter, Ron is Sam...which would make him the hero if we follow this any further...but anyhow, that distracted me from my main idea...which is that Dumbledore is clearly Gandalf. Gandalf experienced that moment where he appeared to have sacrificed himself for the hobbits et al on their quest, and of course, it appears more than once that Dumbledore seems to be sacrificing himself for Harry's benefit. He's returned once already (he wasn't dead in book 5, so no big deal there), but I firmly believe he will return in book 7. Once quote that has always stood out to be as significant (but I didn;t realize how significant) is in book 1 when Dumbledore says, "I would trust Hagrid with my life." Come to think of it, Hagrid may end up being Sam here. ANyway, it is just too much of a coincidence to me that Dumbledore says that very pointedly and it is Hagrid who retrives his body from the base of the castle. Now Gandalf came back from the apparent dead having been to the end of the world and back and was then Gandalf the White. He was beyond time and seemed to be so much wiser that he had forgotten himself. I don't doubt that when Dumbledore returns he will be more than himself somehow. Because the other important thing is that Harry confront Voldemort ON HIS OWN. And that is why a small part of me would also be okay with Dumbledore being dead, because how else would Harry do things on his own if Dumbledore is not there? He needs that catalyst to make him into a fully fledged hero of his own, as he has been growing into that through all 6 books.
We all know that love will be part of the answer. That's apparent from the end of every single book. The thing that gets me about the Lord of the Rings ending (the real book ending, not the movie one) is that Frodo was irreparably damaged by his time with the ring. He would never be able to be fully hobbit-like for the rest of his life and did not feel like he belonged there. There cannot be a fully happy ending for Harry because he'll either have to have done the Voldemort killing or he'll not survive. Some people have theorized that Harry is a horcrux himself, but I think that is absolute balogney. Horcruxes have to be created intentionally (otherwise many horcruxes would have been made when Voldemort's death-eaters were killing people) and Voldemort did not know that Harry would survive.
Snape is the character I cannot figure out. He's the big mystery to me. I think he's actually a mystery to himself too and that's why he's so grumpy. I think he's continually torn. For Dumbledore to trust him, there must be some "love thing" involved somehow. The easiest guess is that Snape loved Lily and that is why he protects Harry and dislikes Harry at the same time, because Harry reminds him of the two people he loves and hates most. Snape is smart or he couldn't be misunderstood as much as he is. Which makes me think that he must trust Dumbledore over Voldemort...because that's the smart thing to do. Which implies that the two of them devised a way to kill Dumbledore without killing Dumbledore and Snape is playing a very dangerous game. He's also very self-serving and not un-prone to childish tantrums (as in book 5)...so anyway, that is why I struggle the most when coming up with theories about Snape.
People keep wondering about whether Harry will live or die. To me, a bigger question is will Snape end up good or bad and what has he been playing at this whole time? He could be just egotistical enough that he could be doing what the Lord of the Rings book had Sarumon doing. In the books, Sauron was the big evil one and Sarumon was a good guy who went bad when he thought he too could have the most power. In the end he went down when the ancient tree-herders ruined his world. I don't know how that applies.
I also really hope (but doubt) that Fred and George have a cool role to play in the seventh book. I suspect they'll be like Merry and Pippen and just be used for comic relief again when the bad stuff is all over.
Anyway...I gotta wrap this up. But I wanted to get some of my thoughts out there before book 7 comes out and people read it. This way, on the off chance any of my theorizing relates, I can say "I told you!" and people will believe I had the thought before reading book 7 instead of having them respond "yeah, right."
Oh....and I just have to say this right here. If any student reveals any details of book 7 to me before I have a chance to read it, I will seriously throw a conniption fit and hope they drop my class. Someone revealed the ending of book 5 to me before I read it and it messed up my reading experience.
I've heard all kinds of decent theories about book seven. The most curious one I've heard about the ending of book 6 is that Dumbledore wasn't really Dumbledore through the whole book. He may have been Peter Pettigrew or Moody. The theory behind this (and this theory came from my friend Kamra; I cannot take responsibility for it) is that Dumbledore hand was damaged in so weird of a way that he may have been someone else who had no hand trying to be him and the potion didn't allow him to be a full Dumbledore because of the hand. I don't know about this. I don't think either person would have behaved to Harry in the way that Dumbledore did all through book 6, but I do agree that something was up with Dumbledore. Something that bugs me is that in book 5, everytime Harry sees Dumbledore, he has this Voldemort-like hate rise up in him. This just spontaneously goes away in book 6 despite the fact that Harry appears to be no better at occlumency....though I did notice this also appears to go away in the end of book 5 too...I'm not to the end of my book 5 re-read, so I don't have any clever theories about this. It just strikes me as either sloppy writing or important fact.
Returning to the Peter Pettigrew theory, I do think he's going to be important to book 7. There seemed to be a "you'll be happy he didn't die" vibe in book 3 and hints that Pettigrew will do Harry a favor. I don't think merely suggesting there's no reason to kill Harry (as done in book 4) is enough of a favor to fulfill this vibe.
Here's my one big contribution to the whole Harry Potter theory building: Rowling seems to be a huge Tolkien fan, probably a big English mythology fan in general, but definitely a Tolkien follower. It just so happens that I see very few movies each year and for a while there, the only movies I was seeing were Lord of the Rings movies and Harry Potter movies, and I noticed too many similarities. It started out small, like cave trolls appearing in both of the movies and then there was Aragog and (oh crud I forgot the name of the big spider outside Mordor that Gollom tries to have kill Frodo). Anyway, two huge cave trolls and two huge spiders and then there came the dementors, which, let's face it, are just ringwraiths after happiness instead of the ring.
So this is why I think Pettigrew will be of greater importance. Pettigrew is Gollum. For that matter, Ron is Sam...which would make him the hero if we follow this any further...but anyhow, that distracted me from my main idea...which is that Dumbledore is clearly Gandalf. Gandalf experienced that moment where he appeared to have sacrificed himself for the hobbits et al on their quest, and of course, it appears more than once that Dumbledore seems to be sacrificing himself for Harry's benefit. He's returned once already (he wasn't dead in book 5, so no big deal there), but I firmly believe he will return in book 7. Once quote that has always stood out to be as significant (but I didn;t realize how significant) is in book 1 when Dumbledore says, "I would trust Hagrid with my life." Come to think of it, Hagrid may end up being Sam here. ANyway, it is just too much of a coincidence to me that Dumbledore says that very pointedly and it is Hagrid who retrives his body from the base of the castle. Now Gandalf came back from the apparent dead having been to the end of the world and back and was then Gandalf the White. He was beyond time and seemed to be so much wiser that he had forgotten himself. I don't doubt that when Dumbledore returns he will be more than himself somehow. Because the other important thing is that Harry confront Voldemort ON HIS OWN. And that is why a small part of me would also be okay with Dumbledore being dead, because how else would Harry do things on his own if Dumbledore is not there? He needs that catalyst to make him into a fully fledged hero of his own, as he has been growing into that through all 6 books.
We all know that love will be part of the answer. That's apparent from the end of every single book. The thing that gets me about the Lord of the Rings ending (the real book ending, not the movie one) is that Frodo was irreparably damaged by his time with the ring. He would never be able to be fully hobbit-like for the rest of his life and did not feel like he belonged there. There cannot be a fully happy ending for Harry because he'll either have to have done the Voldemort killing or he'll not survive. Some people have theorized that Harry is a horcrux himself, but I think that is absolute balogney. Horcruxes have to be created intentionally (otherwise many horcruxes would have been made when Voldemort's death-eaters were killing people) and Voldemort did not know that Harry would survive.
Snape is the character I cannot figure out. He's the big mystery to me. I think he's actually a mystery to himself too and that's why he's so grumpy. I think he's continually torn. For Dumbledore to trust him, there must be some "love thing" involved somehow. The easiest guess is that Snape loved Lily and that is why he protects Harry and dislikes Harry at the same time, because Harry reminds him of the two people he loves and hates most. Snape is smart or he couldn't be misunderstood as much as he is. Which makes me think that he must trust Dumbledore over Voldemort...because that's the smart thing to do. Which implies that the two of them devised a way to kill Dumbledore without killing Dumbledore and Snape is playing a very dangerous game. He's also very self-serving and not un-prone to childish tantrums (as in book 5)...so anyway, that is why I struggle the most when coming up with theories about Snape.
People keep wondering about whether Harry will live or die. To me, a bigger question is will Snape end up good or bad and what has he been playing at this whole time? He could be just egotistical enough that he could be doing what the Lord of the Rings book had Sarumon doing. In the books, Sauron was the big evil one and Sarumon was a good guy who went bad when he thought he too could have the most power. In the end he went down when the ancient tree-herders ruined his world. I don't know how that applies.
I also really hope (but doubt) that Fred and George have a cool role to play in the seventh book. I suspect they'll be like Merry and Pippen and just be used for comic relief again when the bad stuff is all over.
Anyway...I gotta wrap this up. But I wanted to get some of my thoughts out there before book 7 comes out and people read it. This way, on the off chance any of my theorizing relates, I can say "I told you!" and people will believe I had the thought before reading book 7 instead of having them respond "yeah, right."
Oh....and I just have to say this right here. If any student reveals any details of book 7 to me before I have a chance to read it, I will seriously throw a conniption fit and hope they drop my class. Someone revealed the ending of book 5 to me before I read it and it messed up my reading experience.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
She's Not There
When suffering from a horrible flu bug, I had the house to myself and didn't feel up to doing anything besides reading for enjoyment. I picked up She's Not There, one of the option for the Book Club reading. It's about a transgendered person who was a man who became a woman. I really didn't expect to like this book, but I actually enjoyed it. I don't read much in the way of non-fiction, so I'm always happily surprised when I end up enjoying it. I was able to read through it, start to finish, in probably 4 hours.
(Confession here. My original plan was to take the portable DVD player up to bed and watch X-Files on DVD, but I couldn't get it to play anything other than the first episode without the remote control, which my son had misplaced when he was pretending it was a spaceship or some Power Rangers thing, so I decided if I couldn't have X-Files, I would not settle for lesser entertainment, but would instead be productive and read something from the Learning Community class. Oh, and I should note that because I agreed I would not read ahead, I did not finish re-reading the fifth Harry Potter book without my husband. This took considerable moral fortitude here)
Back to She's Not There. The author is also a fiction writer, so he/she (? I thought of him as him for the first half to 2/3rds of the book and then as she for the later portion, what to call him or her now???) uses literary techniques in the writing. I guess since she was a she when she wrote the book, I'll refer to the author as "she" from here on out.
Parts of the book were funny and others heart-breaking.
One thing that I really found interesting about it is when she's in transition and taking hormones to become more female, she noticies herself doing all kinds of things she never thought she would, including qualities she has never liked in women she's known. The part that stands out the most to me is when she goes to The Gap to try on jeans as a woman. She says that for a man, shopping for jeans is no big deal. You go in the store, the measurements are what they are and there are maybe two choices of what kind of jeans to try on (relaxed or whatever). For women, the sizes do not match up to any known measurement in the universe and there are at least 6 different cuts of jeans to try on, each emphasizing certain areas of the body more or less. She found herself obsessing about which size she wanted to be. And she later did things like order the salad even though it wasn't really a salad she wanted to eat.
It made me feel better to know that some parts of being female can perhaps be blamed on the hormones or society's impact and not on my lack of common sense. Because I know the number that represents the size on my clothing does not represent me, and yet I find myself thinking I'll wait to go shopping for clothes until I can fit in a more desirable size. I have found myself purchasing a pair of pants in part because they fit and the tag still said the size I wanted it to say. I have passed up perfectly fine pairs of pants simply because the tag said something I didn't want it to say. This is particularly true of immediately post-pregnancy shopping.
This reminds me: I hate David's Bridal. A friend of mine asked me to be in her wedding (btw, this does have something to do with the previous chain of thought) and the bridesmaid dresses she chose were at David's. My son was around 7 months old at the time. This means that the immediate post-pregnancy weight was gone enough that I was proud of that and yet not so much that I was entirely happy with my whole body. My chest was also still huge. The lady helping me measured me and then brought me a 16 and an 18. I was wearing a size 12 at the time. Not good for the self-confidence. Then....then!...when I said something about it, she made a remark about how I should feel proud about the child I brought into the world. Let me tell you, when someone is making you spend over $150 on a dress you don't like in a size you definitely don't like in a color that makes you look abyssmal, do not insult them by implying pride in her child and body perception have anything to do with one another. A woman can be perfectly proud of her kids and still regret having stretchmarks.
On to another point of the author's. She talks about how (heterosexual) men are infatuated with breasts, enamoured of them, wouldn't-get-anything-accomplished-if-they-had-them kind of thing. (And I agree with this part of her point, as I have had similar talks with my male friends in college) Then she said when her male friends asked her about them once she had them, she said they were no big deal-- that they were just there-- and women do not give them any thought. I think this is not entirely true. We do not think of them in the way that men do and do not care about them in the way that men do, but I think women do think about them. I had a small 101 class last semester that was breast-obsessed, and it was an overwhelmingly female class. The girls kept bringing the topic up (btw, the guys thought it was funny and didn't mind one bit-- that was a very open class). I think women feel they get stereotyped based on breast-size and therefore think about them more than they need to. In fact, the females talking about breasts and breast-size in that class were either rather small or really large chested. I think when on either end of the spectrum, women think about it even more.
Since I don't want to end this post while still writing about breasts, I will say that I think this book would be an excellent choice for any group for Book Club. It will be interesting to both genders, it's informative without being overly so (had to say I was a little worried about possibly getting too much information about the sex change, but needlessly so. When she's still a he, he talks about the night he lost his virginity, but not in a gross way. Luckily, she writes more about when the sex occured than the details of the sex acts themselves). What's truly fascinating is it gets you thinking about your identity and what part gender has to play in that. I think by the end, I was just really grateful that I feel content with my identity.
At one point, Boylan has a talk with one of her sons about how how she felt on the inside and how she looked on the outside didn't match up. I think that can be true of anyone at any time, but non-transgendered people just have more choice in the matter of how they will try to change their looks because it is just a matter of looks for them, a surface appearance kind of thing (the non-transgendered people, that is) and for transgendered people, it is an issue of the whole body itself.
(Confession here. My original plan was to take the portable DVD player up to bed and watch X-Files on DVD, but I couldn't get it to play anything other than the first episode without the remote control, which my son had misplaced when he was pretending it was a spaceship or some Power Rangers thing, so I decided if I couldn't have X-Files, I would not settle for lesser entertainment, but would instead be productive and read something from the Learning Community class. Oh, and I should note that because I agreed I would not read ahead, I did not finish re-reading the fifth Harry Potter book without my husband. This took considerable moral fortitude here)
Back to She's Not There. The author is also a fiction writer, so he/she (? I thought of him as him for the first half to 2/3rds of the book and then as she for the later portion, what to call him or her now???) uses literary techniques in the writing. I guess since she was a she when she wrote the book, I'll refer to the author as "she" from here on out.
Parts of the book were funny and others heart-breaking.
One thing that I really found interesting about it is when she's in transition and taking hormones to become more female, she noticies herself doing all kinds of things she never thought she would, including qualities she has never liked in women she's known. The part that stands out the most to me is when she goes to The Gap to try on jeans as a woman. She says that for a man, shopping for jeans is no big deal. You go in the store, the measurements are what they are and there are maybe two choices of what kind of jeans to try on (relaxed or whatever). For women, the sizes do not match up to any known measurement in the universe and there are at least 6 different cuts of jeans to try on, each emphasizing certain areas of the body more or less. She found herself obsessing about which size she wanted to be. And she later did things like order the salad even though it wasn't really a salad she wanted to eat.
It made me feel better to know that some parts of being female can perhaps be blamed on the hormones or society's impact and not on my lack of common sense. Because I know the number that represents the size on my clothing does not represent me, and yet I find myself thinking I'll wait to go shopping for clothes until I can fit in a more desirable size. I have found myself purchasing a pair of pants in part because they fit and the tag still said the size I wanted it to say. I have passed up perfectly fine pairs of pants simply because the tag said something I didn't want it to say. This is particularly true of immediately post-pregnancy shopping.
This reminds me: I hate David's Bridal. A friend of mine asked me to be in her wedding (btw, this does have something to do with the previous chain of thought) and the bridesmaid dresses she chose were at David's. My son was around 7 months old at the time. This means that the immediate post-pregnancy weight was gone enough that I was proud of that and yet not so much that I was entirely happy with my whole body. My chest was also still huge. The lady helping me measured me and then brought me a 16 and an 18. I was wearing a size 12 at the time. Not good for the self-confidence. Then....then!...when I said something about it, she made a remark about how I should feel proud about the child I brought into the world. Let me tell you, when someone is making you spend over $150 on a dress you don't like in a size you definitely don't like in a color that makes you look abyssmal, do not insult them by implying pride in her child and body perception have anything to do with one another. A woman can be perfectly proud of her kids and still regret having stretchmarks.
On to another point of the author's. She talks about how (heterosexual) men are infatuated with breasts, enamoured of them, wouldn't-get-anything-accomplished-if-they-had-them kind of thing. (And I agree with this part of her point, as I have had similar talks with my male friends in college) Then she said when her male friends asked her about them once she had them, she said they were no big deal-- that they were just there-- and women do not give them any thought. I think this is not entirely true. We do not think of them in the way that men do and do not care about them in the way that men do, but I think women do think about them. I had a small 101 class last semester that was breast-obsessed, and it was an overwhelmingly female class. The girls kept bringing the topic up (btw, the guys thought it was funny and didn't mind one bit-- that was a very open class). I think women feel they get stereotyped based on breast-size and therefore think about them more than they need to. In fact, the females talking about breasts and breast-size in that class were either rather small or really large chested. I think when on either end of the spectrum, women think about it even more.
Since I don't want to end this post while still writing about breasts, I will say that I think this book would be an excellent choice for any group for Book Club. It will be interesting to both genders, it's informative without being overly so (had to say I was a little worried about possibly getting too much information about the sex change, but needlessly so. When she's still a he, he talks about the night he lost his virginity, but not in a gross way. Luckily, she writes more about when the sex occured than the details of the sex acts themselves). What's truly fascinating is it gets you thinking about your identity and what part gender has to play in that. I think by the end, I was just really grateful that I feel content with my identity.
At one point, Boylan has a talk with one of her sons about how how she felt on the inside and how she looked on the outside didn't match up. I think that can be true of anyone at any time, but non-transgendered people just have more choice in the matter of how they will try to change their looks because it is just a matter of looks for them, a surface appearance kind of thing (the non-transgendered people, that is) and for transgendered people, it is an issue of the whole body itself.
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