I have finally introduced Beth to Harry Potter (she is also an avid reader but more on reading later). Although the parents are really mad at me since she is simply hooked to it, she is having the fun of her life! No talking to anyone, no doing anything else just reading one fat book after the next. The 6th and 7th books were supposed to reach her tuesday but she finished the 5th on saturday and she had the toughest time waiting till tuesday for next installment. We were in Houston sun-mon and she knew that I was busy so should not be bothered. Finally monday afternoon she could not wait any more and called to ask me for the kindle version (she is very conscious of wastage of money and did not want to impose since she knew the hard copy was already in the post). I told her I would be home in 2 hours and then send it to her and guess what - she called again after exactly 2 hours!
It has been an amazing experience for me too - I have also been reading the books again so that I can answer her questions. On one hand, I am appreciating the more subtle things, how HP has to deal with so much loss in life, how everyone has different demons, marveling at how JKR has pulled the story together etc. On the other hand, she has a 8 year old perspective in addition to being a hooked first time reader and that makes me look at the story in yet another way.
I am not sure if I have mentioned it on the blog but she is a very disciplined student who follows the rules to the letter and is very comfortable in a disciplined class environment if the course matter is challenging enough. So, it is always interesting to see her take on things compared to her brother's, who is a typical naughty kid out to have fun at school. And so she brings her own unique personality to the reading too.
Incident 1: She was asking me some question about Snape. She immediately corrected herself and referred to him as "Professor" Snape, mindful of Prof Dumbledore's admonitions to Harry to refer to Snape as 'Professor'.
Incident 2: I was telling my nephew about how Snape loved Lily, Harry's mom, but they had a falling out. She interrupted me when I referred to Lily as 'Mudblood' and asked me to use the term 'Muggle Born'.
I hope she carries this sense of integrity through her life and it survives her inevitable loss of innocence.
It has been an amazing experience for me too - I have also been reading the books again so that I can answer her questions. On one hand, I am appreciating the more subtle things, how HP has to deal with so much loss in life, how everyone has different demons, marveling at how JKR has pulled the story together etc. On the other hand, she has a 8 year old perspective in addition to being a hooked first time reader and that makes me look at the story in yet another way.
I am not sure if I have mentioned it on the blog but she is a very disciplined student who follows the rules to the letter and is very comfortable in a disciplined class environment if the course matter is challenging enough. So, it is always interesting to see her take on things compared to her brother's, who is a typical naughty kid out to have fun at school. And so she brings her own unique personality to the reading too.
Incident 1: She was asking me some question about Snape. She immediately corrected herself and referred to him as "Professor" Snape, mindful of Prof Dumbledore's admonitions to Harry to refer to Snape as 'Professor'.
Incident 2: I was telling my nephew about how Snape loved Lily, Harry's mom, but they had a falling out. She interrupted me when I referred to Lily as 'Mudblood' and asked me to use the term 'Muggle Born'.
I hope she carries this sense of integrity through her life and it survives her inevitable loss of innocence.
1 comment:
sweet :)I miss my HP days :(
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