1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,700 This is MJ. I'm an author. I'm an artist. I'm an analyzer. You can find all my work at MJMunoz.com 2 00:00:05,580 --> 00:00:09,960 Welcome to skimming leaves. This is going to be episode 42 of 3 00:00:10,560 --> 00:00:14,920 story over everything if I've done my job properly, which hopefully I did and 4 00:00:16,080 --> 00:00:19,700 It's going to be on Harry Potter and the prisoner of Azkaban 5 00:00:19,700 --> 00:00:25,500 Which is book three in the Harry Potter series and I listened back to my notes that I recorded on this 6 00:00:25,500 --> 00:00:27,500 I don't know a month or two ago 7 00:00:27,500 --> 00:00:30,140 And I just dropped right into it. So 8 00:00:31,000 --> 00:00:34,560 Because of that partly and because it's the habit I formed for doing these 9 00:00:35,120 --> 00:00:39,000 I'm gonna go ahead and do a quick introduction to the book 10 00:00:40,040 --> 00:00:48,160 Kind of fun fact type thing and then I will let myself transition into the actual like almost gut reaction 11 00:00:50,200 --> 00:00:52,640 Presentation of my thoughts on the book as a whole 12 00:00:54,600 --> 00:00:56,600 That follows so 13 00:00:56,600 --> 00:00:58,600 Anyway, so here we go 14 00:00:58,600 --> 00:01:03,300 Let's see Harry Potter and the prisoner of Azkaban was first published in the United States 15 00:01:04,080 --> 00:01:08,440 September 8 1999 by Scholastic. Hmm interesting. The book has 16 00:01:10,040 --> 00:01:16,840 107,000 words according to one source and 117,000 plus words according to another source, which is very strange to me 17 00:01:17,480 --> 00:01:22,660 Supposedly the average reading time is four hours and 47 minutes. I'm assuming that's a person reading to 18 00:01:23,200 --> 00:01:24,480 themselves and 19 00:01:24,480 --> 00:01:26,480 the audiobook version is 20 00:01:27,520 --> 00:01:32,880 Almost 12 hours long which stands over and that's I think that's based on the the Jim Dale audiobook 21 00:01:32,880 --> 00:01:36,040 I don't have the number in front of me. But yeah, so 22 00:01:36,560 --> 00:01:39,800 Those are just kind of very basic 23 00:01:40,200 --> 00:01:46,500 It's a very basic set of information about the book and while I did read this book and I will 24 00:01:47,720 --> 00:01:49,640 Obviously I read the book or those of me talking about it 25 00:01:49,640 --> 00:01:56,360 Well, I read the book and I hope you have read it too. If you haven't I would like to interest you in reading 26 00:01:56,360 --> 00:02:01,040 The book a little bit by sharing a couple things with you about it. First of all 27 00:02:01,040 --> 00:02:08,320 I don't have nostalgia for Harry Potter the Harry Potter series of books or movies actually because I didn't watch all the movies and I 28 00:02:08,600 --> 00:02:13,520 Only read the first two books as a kid. So there's really no nostalgia there for me 29 00:02:13,520 --> 00:02:17,480 however, as a grown man as a consumer of stories as somebody who 30 00:02:17,480 --> 00:02:21,320 As an aspiring writer wanted to get literary and therefore I 31 00:02:21,960 --> 00:02:24,280 consumed quickly the Hobbit 32 00:02:25,160 --> 00:02:27,160 the Lord of the Rings trilogy 33 00:02:27,880 --> 00:02:33,480 The Simarillion the Chronicles of Narnia, which are actually very very very well written books 34 00:02:34,760 --> 00:02:37,560 And some other stuff like a concerted effort of hey 35 00:02:37,560 --> 00:02:44,120 I want to read these things and understand from them and learn, you know, basically graft new graph 36 00:02:44,120 --> 00:02:49,000 I want to read these things and absorb craft stuff from them for writing my own books 37 00:02:49,000 --> 00:02:54,280 I want to write in the quality level of these books. I would argue that Rowling has done that that she 38 00:02:55,000 --> 00:03:00,040 These books are all competently made. I've read the entire series and it's very good 39 00:03:00,760 --> 00:03:06,360 I don't have like a personal like a super strong emotional attachment to it like oh, these are my characters 40 00:03:06,360 --> 00:03:11,320 I'm ride or die for these guys or whatever, but I do like them and I do like the story she tells it's a little odd 41 00:03:11,320 --> 00:03:14,840 Like there's some odd choices in some places, but for the most part it's you know 42 00:03:15,400 --> 00:03:21,960 it takes in here the book series took me on a ride that I did not expect and didn't really predict and I think 43 00:03:22,920 --> 00:03:25,320 Maybe this book is where things start becoming a little more 44 00:03:26,040 --> 00:03:32,600 or less predictable rather and more interesting and far more nuanced than I would have ever expected and 45 00:03:33,800 --> 00:03:37,160 I don't know. It just like really expands the world, which is something I do talk about in the 46 00:03:37,160 --> 00:03:41,080 In the following audio segment, so I won't belabor it now. I'll just share some things with you about it 47 00:03:41,080 --> 00:03:43,080 So yeah as a person who? 48 00:03:43,960 --> 00:03:48,360 Thought you know people who love Harry Potter were a little silly and then finally read the series for myself 49 00:03:48,360 --> 00:03:54,280 I understand you know what everybody is crazy about and understand how good of a series it is 50 00:03:54,280 --> 00:03:56,600 and I really am impressed by it and 51 00:03:57,480 --> 00:03:59,480 Like I said, I think you know definitely 52 00:04:00,440 --> 00:04:03,000 This book is really good. It's as could been 53 00:04:03,000 --> 00:04:07,560 Like it quickly become became one of my favorites, which I hope I don't say later, but I'm saying it now anyway 54 00:04:07,560 --> 00:04:09,960 Just a couple more things about it real quick 55 00:04:09,960 --> 00:04:13,240 I'm going to try to be a spoiler free as possible. That was all broad and generic stuff 56 00:04:13,720 --> 00:04:19,960 But there's some specifics. I'm going to skirt around in this information. I pulled up real quick looking up online so 57 00:04:21,320 --> 00:04:25,240 According to this little thing that I found. Let's see 58 00:04:25,240 --> 00:04:29,240 Okay, apparently this book sold 65 million copies 59 00:04:29,960 --> 00:04:33,240 Worldwide which is very cool. Very cool for running 60 00:04:34,360 --> 00:04:36,360 No wonder anyway, so 61 00:04:37,720 --> 00:04:40,280 Do I want to talk about that? No, I don't 62 00:04:42,360 --> 00:04:43,640 There's a crazy 63 00:04:43,640 --> 00:04:48,120 Powerful aspect of magic that is introduced in this book that you can't get in a book 64 00:04:48,120 --> 00:04:50,120 But it's a little bit of a mystery 65 00:04:50,120 --> 00:04:55,960 There's a crazy powerful aspect of magic that is introduced in this book that did not 66 00:04:56,360 --> 00:05:02,200 I did not see coming at all and apparently Rowling regrets it. So see if you can figure out what that one is 67 00:05:03,960 --> 00:05:06,280 Oh, this is really cool though and I can talk about it 68 00:05:06,280 --> 00:05:10,440 There's a the patronage charm is introduced in this book, which I'll just read it 69 00:05:10,440 --> 00:05:13,480 It's a powerful defensive spell that conjures a silver animal guardian 70 00:05:13,720 --> 00:05:17,080 The shape of the patronage reflects the personality and qualities of the caster 71 00:05:17,080 --> 00:05:20,840 Which is really cool and apparently a patronus can change over time 72 00:05:21,480 --> 00:05:23,480 It's almost like she made magical Pokemon 73 00:05:24,120 --> 00:05:25,800 Except they're just animals 74 00:05:25,800 --> 00:05:27,800 Yeah, but that's still a really cool idea 75 00:05:28,120 --> 00:05:33,320 The book reveals the identity of the mysterious prisoner of Azkaban who's in the title, which you should expect perhaps 76 00:05:33,800 --> 00:05:39,560 And the whole drama of the prisoner of Azkaban and what he did and didn't do 77 00:05:40,440 --> 00:05:44,520 Is super interesting and I think you'll find it super compelling 78 00:05:44,520 --> 00:05:46,520 It's a super powerful spell 79 00:05:46,520 --> 00:05:48,520 I think it's a very powerful spell 80 00:05:48,520 --> 00:05:50,520 It's a very powerful spell 81 00:05:50,520 --> 00:05:52,520 It's a very powerful spell 82 00:05:52,520 --> 00:05:54,520 The book also features several new characters such as 83 00:05:54,520 --> 00:05:58,520 Professor Remus Lupin, the defense against the dark arts teacher 84 00:05:58,520 --> 00:06:03,080 Professor Sybil Trelawney, the divination teacher and a seer or prophet type lady 85 00:06:03,080 --> 00:06:08,440 And the Dementors, the soul-sucking guards of Azkaban who induce fear and despair in anyone who comes near them 86 00:06:08,440 --> 00:06:14,280 And I don't remember if Rowling introduced the Dementors by name in book two or not 87 00:06:14,280 --> 00:06:17,320 But I think she did in book three, which is something really fun I think that she does 88 00:06:17,960 --> 00:06:24,040 The book supposedly contains many references and allusions to other works of literature and mythology 89 00:06:24,440 --> 00:06:30,520 Such as the grim fairy tales, the Arthurian legends, the Norse myths and the works of Shakespeare, Dickens and Wild 90 00:06:30,520 --> 00:06:33,160 For example the name... I can't name that person 91 00:06:35,160 --> 00:06:40,040 But somebody in David Copperfield shares the name with somebody here 92 00:06:40,040 --> 00:06:46,600 Yeah, there's a couple characters who have names linked to Roman mythology which is a huge spoiler 93 00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:54,120 And then Sybil Trelawney, the divination teacher, her name is derived from Sybil, a prophetess in Greek mythology 94 00:06:54,120 --> 00:06:56,120 Or Greek and Roman mythology actually 95 00:06:56,120 --> 00:06:58,120 Which is really cool 96 00:06:58,120 --> 00:07:03,000 So anyway, those are just some fun facts about the book before I go ahead and talk about it 97 00:07:03,000 --> 00:07:07,000 And like I said, these were spoiler free as best as they could be 98 00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:10,200 And then I'm going to get into the full spoiler talk 99 00:07:10,200 --> 00:07:13,240 So again, I highly recommend the book, I think it's cool 100 00:07:13,240 --> 00:07:15,240 You should definitely read the whole series 101 00:07:15,240 --> 00:07:21,000 If you have Cloud Library or Hoopla, if you have access to those you can get the audiobooks for free 102 00:07:21,000 --> 00:07:27,240 Or you can get them, actually I think all of the Harry Potter series is on Kindle Unlimited right now 103 00:07:27,240 --> 00:07:28,520 For you to read with your eyes 104 00:07:28,520 --> 00:07:34,040 I'm an audiobook person though so getting them on Cloud Library and such for free was really awesome 105 00:07:34,040 --> 00:07:37,160 Or you can just buy the books outright because they're good stuff 106 00:07:37,160 --> 00:07:42,520 Audible collection, if you're an audible person, depending on the length of the books, you can get one a month 107 00:07:42,520 --> 00:07:47,400 And very happily, very comfortably listen to the entire series 108 00:07:47,400 --> 00:07:52,360 Which is, I don't know, seven times, I'm going to guess 109 00:07:52,360 --> 00:07:56,760 It's like 70 or 80 hours of entertainment 110 00:07:56,760 --> 00:08:01,800 Which, depending on how long it takes you to consume your audio, that could take a week 111 00:08:01,800 --> 00:08:03,000 No, not a week 112 00:08:03,000 --> 00:08:05,320 That could take a couple of weeks or a couple of months to enjoy 113 00:08:05,320 --> 00:08:07,960 So anyway, I highly recommend it 114 00:08:07,960 --> 00:08:10,760 And now I recommend that you listen to the rest of this episode 115 00:08:12,120 --> 00:08:17,000 So I'm picking up on a pattern that Rowling is doing 116 00:08:17,000 --> 00:08:23,480 And honestly, sneak peek, I already started Goblet of Fire, which is book four of the Harry Potter series 117 00:08:23,480 --> 00:08:28,520 So in Prisoner of Azkaban, I see that she does a recap 118 00:08:28,520 --> 00:08:32,440 Just like in the beginning of Chamber of Secrets, she did a bit of a recap 119 00:08:32,440 --> 00:08:37,320 Introducing people who are new to the series to the story so far, essentially 120 00:08:37,320 --> 00:08:39,800 And I think it's done in a fairly naturalistic way 121 00:08:39,800 --> 00:08:45,080 I don't remember how it was done in the Prisoner of Azkaban 122 00:08:45,720 --> 00:08:52,680 But except for like, perhaps Sirius Black appearing on the Muggle News 123 00:08:52,680 --> 00:09:00,120 And that, you know, from the narrator, warranted comments about how he was actually a wizard 124 00:09:00,120 --> 00:09:02,200 And he'd been accused of this, and it was this many years ago 125 00:09:02,200 --> 00:09:06,680 And involved Harry's parents and Harry and Harry's the wizard, Voldemort, you know 126 00:09:06,680 --> 00:09:11,320 Basically, it does a really neat recap 127 00:09:11,320 --> 00:09:17,480 I think the Goblet of Fire recap is even better and smoother 128 00:09:18,680 --> 00:09:22,040 Which is interesting, but I'll talk about that more when I discuss Goblet of Fire 129 00:09:22,040 --> 00:09:24,520 So I found... 130 00:09:24,520 --> 00:09:31,640 I found it interesting that, I guess, kind of spoilers for the Prisoner of Azkaban 131 00:09:31,640 --> 00:09:35,560 It's kind of a weird, offbeat book 132 00:09:35,560 --> 00:09:37,400 So this is my third Harry Potter book 133 00:09:37,400 --> 00:09:40,120 And I like it the best so far 134 00:09:40,120 --> 00:09:49,000 The last, I don't know, couple chapters or so did something very interesting that I didn't expect 135 00:09:49,640 --> 00:09:53,880 It made sense and I think it's a good book 136 00:09:53,880 --> 00:09:57,560 And it almost made it seem like it was a... 137 00:09:57,560 --> 00:10:03,400 It's not a heist movie, or book, but it almost made it feel kind of like a heist book 138 00:10:03,400 --> 00:10:09,480 Where there was a heist-stake sneaking and stealth and we have to plan things just so 139 00:10:09,480 --> 00:10:13,560 Kind of aspect to it that was pretty interesting 140 00:10:13,560 --> 00:10:20,680 And, I mean, in the grand scheme of things, the way that played out specifically wasn't as exciting as it could have been 141 00:10:20,680 --> 00:10:24,600 Hold on, hold on, it wasn't as exciting as it could have been 142 00:10:24,600 --> 00:10:29,880 The stakes were high, but again, I'm trying to avoid spoilers in these casual book chats 143 00:10:29,880 --> 00:10:34,360 But it could have been higher, it could have been a lot worse 144 00:10:34,360 --> 00:10:37,160 And it just almost seemed more like, oh, this is kind of lovely 145 00:10:37,160 --> 00:10:42,360 It's kind of lovely getting to see this plan come together and see these threads pulled together 146 00:10:42,360 --> 00:10:50,040 And see these really open loops closed that had been shown to us throughout the book 147 00:10:50,040 --> 00:10:54,440 Throughout the story, so that was pretty interesting 148 00:10:54,440 --> 00:10:59,400 I like how extreme Harry gets tonight, I guess a minor spoiler 149 00:10:59,400 --> 00:11:05,720 I would say Voldemort doesn't really show up in this book specifically 150 00:11:05,720 --> 00:11:09,800 Which I was under the impression that he was in every single book 151 00:11:09,800 --> 00:11:14,840 I kind of feel like he's going to be in every book after this as a major player 152 00:11:14,840 --> 00:11:19,480 And I think it gets worse 153 00:11:19,480 --> 00:11:24,120 Which, anyway, that comment, I will not explain that comment right now 154 00:11:24,120 --> 00:11:28,040 But anyway, I thought it was really interesting that he wasn't really in it 155 00:11:28,040 --> 00:11:30,760 And I kept kind of waiting for him to show up 156 00:11:30,760 --> 00:11:36,200 And in an interesting way, it almost seemed like the threat 157 00:11:36,200 --> 00:11:40,760 Like, so there's these things called Dementors, which are these Azkaban prison guards 158 00:11:40,760 --> 00:11:44,840 And the reason the book is called The Prisoner of Azkaban, one of many 159 00:11:44,840 --> 00:11:50,840 Is that a prisoner has escaped from Azkaban, that's Sirius Black 160 00:11:50,840 --> 00:11:53,880 Well, that's Sirius Black and he's a serious problem 161 00:11:53,880 --> 00:12:04,040 And it's interesting how evil and wicked the Dementors are 162 00:12:04,040 --> 00:12:06,920 And what it is that they're supposed to do 163 00:12:06,920 --> 00:12:09,640 It's, I like, morally repugnant 164 00:12:09,640 --> 00:12:15,320 And it's shocking that that would be something in the world of Harry Potter 165 00:12:15,320 --> 00:12:18,360 Like, there's the defense against the Dark Arts 166 00:12:18,360 --> 00:12:22,440 They expose the Hogwarts students to some of the Dark Arts stuff 167 00:12:23,160 --> 00:12:31,000 That's because it's an ugly reality that the Wizarding World isn't just, you know, refilling 168 00:12:31,800 --> 00:12:37,000 It's not just every flavored beans and plates of sandwiches that magically refill themselves 169 00:12:37,000 --> 00:12:39,880 It's this dark side, there's werewolves, there's vampires 170 00:12:39,880 --> 00:12:42,680 There's, I mean, for crying out loud 171 00:12:44,920 --> 00:12:50,040 We saw somebody feasting on the corpse drinking the blood of a unicorn in one of these books 172 00:12:50,040 --> 00:12:54,760 So, I mean, there are dark and evil things and there is real legitimate danger 173 00:12:55,640 --> 00:13:00,680 And that's kind of all offset by the fact that you have this very positive, very happy, very 174 00:13:02,120 --> 00:13:05,800 Wonderful and fantastical world that Harry gets to live in 175 00:13:05,800 --> 00:13:10,360 It's kind of even more interesting because the... excuse me 176 00:13:11,400 --> 00:13:15,800 The Muggle World, the world where Harry starts off each book living with the Dursleys 177 00:13:15,800 --> 00:13:22,920 Is in some ways worse than the Wizarding World that has all these dangers 178 00:13:22,920 --> 00:13:28,920 And it's alarming, it's shocking to me that that could be the case 179 00:13:28,920 --> 00:13:32,200 And I think that goes to... I think that's a credit to Rowling 180 00:13:32,200 --> 00:13:35,960 And how awful she's able to make the Dursleys 181 00:13:35,960 --> 00:13:38,440 And the thing is, they're not... 182 00:13:40,520 --> 00:13:42,120 They're not as evil as they could be 183 00:13:42,120 --> 00:13:45,880 It's not the Manson family, but it is... 184 00:13:48,600 --> 00:13:55,560 Or and, perhaps not but, it is a remarkably realistic depiction of what an abuse of home life 185 00:13:55,560 --> 00:13:58,760 Would look like for a kid in Harry's position 186 00:13:58,760 --> 00:14:07,400 And not only is that sort of family dynamic all too real, it's all too common I would say 187 00:14:07,400 --> 00:14:10,680 I'm not going to pull statistics to talk about how many abusive homes there are 188 00:14:10,680 --> 00:14:15,000 And I'm not going to say there's an epidemic of child abuse in this country or any other 189 00:14:15,000 --> 00:14:20,360 But it's a fact of life that children are abused and ill-treated by their own families 190 00:14:20,360 --> 00:14:23,800 And when I say that I mean their own nuclear families, their mother, their father, their siblings 191 00:14:23,800 --> 00:14:30,120 But also by secondary or tertiary relatives as well who you would call... 192 00:14:30,120 --> 00:14:32,600 Or who you might call extended family 193 00:14:32,600 --> 00:14:37,720 And I've heard of different countries, Haiti, India, for example 194 00:14:40,440 --> 00:14:46,200 That they will... Like if a parent dies and a child or children are orphaned 195 00:14:46,200 --> 00:14:49,640 They are taken in... I've actually heard this from somebody in the Philippines as well I believe 196 00:14:49,640 --> 00:14:54,680 That they will be taken in to live with one of their relatives 197 00:14:54,680 --> 00:14:58,360 But they will basically become like a servant to the relatives 198 00:14:58,360 --> 00:15:03,800 And the severity of that and how awful that is for the person 199 00:15:04,440 --> 00:15:06,920 Believe it or not, because we live in a world of nuance and... 200 00:15:08,600 --> 00:15:12,760 I don't know, uniqueness or singularity... Not singularity, that's the wrong word I'm looking for 201 00:15:12,760 --> 00:15:15,720 We live in a world of nuance, it depends, it varies family to family 202 00:15:15,720 --> 00:15:23,320 It varies culture to culture, some cultures are tolerable or tolerate things that are more severe than others 203 00:15:23,320 --> 00:15:28,440 And certain families within those distinct cultures have their own micro-cultures 204 00:15:28,440 --> 00:15:31,640 Which tolerate more or less abusive and terrible behavior 205 00:15:31,640 --> 00:15:34,760 But I was shocked at the end of the book 206 00:15:34,760 --> 00:15:36,440 And it's funny because it kind of gets book-end-end 207 00:15:36,440 --> 00:15:39,080 But when it's book-end-ed at the end of the book 208 00:15:39,080 --> 00:15:42,600 It's a much happier thing and you feel, or I felt more positive about it 209 00:15:42,600 --> 00:15:47,400 Anyway, I felt in a lot of ways like Harry's life with the Dursleys in the Muggle world is worse 210 00:15:47,400 --> 00:15:50,520 Than what he experiences at Hogwarts 211 00:15:50,520 --> 00:15:54,520 And I can't quite tell how long the term is he gets out 212 00:15:54,520 --> 00:15:58,920 Well, I don't know when he goes back, but it's sometime in the summer 213 00:15:58,920 --> 00:16:04,360 He goes back to the Dursleys and then September 1st is when term starts at Hogwarts 214 00:16:04,360 --> 00:16:11,080 So, I live in the US, I feel like that's only like a two-month break maybe they get mad 215 00:16:11,080 --> 00:16:13,080 Maybe three at the most 216 00:16:13,080 --> 00:16:19,080 So it's good for him that it's a boarding school and he gets to get away from the Dursleys for so much of the year 217 00:16:19,080 --> 00:16:25,080 But regardless, and honestly that kind of makes it feel weird that you end the book at the end of the term essentially 218 00:16:25,080 --> 00:16:31,080 And then the next book starts off in the middle of the summer or a couple weeks before he goes back to Hogwarts 219 00:16:31,080 --> 00:16:33,080 It almost feels like it's not enough of a break 220 00:16:33,080 --> 00:16:39,080 But then again, the highlights that are covered that make up the plot of the books 221 00:16:39,080 --> 00:16:43,080 That's structured in such a way that you're not, you're skipping over most of the year 222 00:16:43,080 --> 00:16:49,080 So it's really like he has these terrible breaks that he has to go back to the Dursleys 223 00:16:49,080 --> 00:16:55,080 Anyway, as much as I am struggling to place Harry Potter strictly in a genre 224 00:16:55,080 --> 00:17:01,080 It's more or less fantasy and I don't want to ruin all the cool fantasy stuff by dwelling on how horrible the Dursleys are 225 00:17:01,080 --> 00:17:05,080 And the very real facts of child abuse all over the world 226 00:17:05,080 --> 00:17:11,080 So I will swerve away from those and I will again try to be mostly spoiler free because this is a casual book chat 227 00:17:11,080 --> 00:17:16,080 And maybe I'll just go into like a thing and I've already spoiled the fact that Voldemort's basically not in this book at all 228 00:17:16,080 --> 00:17:19,080 So what will I talk about? 229 00:17:19,080 --> 00:17:30,080 I'll talk about the fact that it's funny that Hermione and Ron and Harry are all skeptical of their divination teacher 230 00:17:30,080 --> 00:17:37,080 And divination I guess would be divining the future, trying to use tea leaves and crystal balls and things like that to find the future 231 00:17:37,080 --> 00:17:43,080 And they have this teacher who predicts that Harry is going to die and she's very serious about it, it's very dire 232 00:17:43,080 --> 00:17:49,080 And it kind of freaks him out in the beginning but then as time goes on they just believe in this woman less and less and less 233 00:17:49,080 --> 00:18:01,080 And it's really funny to see how that develops and it turns into a complete gag 234 00:18:01,080 --> 00:18:06,080 I mean it's not an ill formed gag, it's a very well constructed gag 235 00:18:06,080 --> 00:18:12,080 And basically the one time she has an actual accurate vision of the future 236 00:18:12,080 --> 00:18:19,080 You're not entirely sure that she's in control of herself, which is kind of funny 237 00:18:19,080 --> 00:18:23,080 And maybe that's the appearance of Voldemort, who knows 238 00:18:23,080 --> 00:18:29,080 So I thought that was pretty interesting 239 00:18:29,080 --> 00:18:37,080 I was thinking about this book and I was thinking I actually like Snape, he's actually an interesting character, he's kind of cool 240 00:18:37,080 --> 00:18:44,080 I kind of like the things that he's doing, he seemed very friendly with one of the professors, Professor Lupin 241 00:18:44,080 --> 00:18:51,080 Who's the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, which is the best Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher we've seen in these three books 242 00:18:51,080 --> 00:18:57,080 Because Quirrell and Lockhart were not good 243 00:18:57,080 --> 00:19:04,080 And I mean that on multiple levels, and then now this guy Lupin is good, he's really excellent and he was a lot of fun 244 00:19:04,080 --> 00:19:11,080 Sometimes Rowling's naming conventions bother me because it feels like that's too obvious 245 00:19:11,080 --> 00:19:16,080 And it was funny, I was telling my daughter about some of the thoughts I have because she's reading through these at the same time pretty much 246 00:19:16,080 --> 00:19:21,080 And I think she was snickering when she didn't see because I was predicting some things 247 00:19:21,080 --> 00:19:26,080 Because I've seen this movie years ago, probably when it first came out or so 248 00:19:26,080 --> 00:19:32,080 And then I said based on my knowledge of books and whatever, these are my guesses for what's going on 249 00:19:32,080 --> 00:19:39,080 And I was like semi right on some things, but just my memory was foggy and then my prediction was off 250 00:19:39,080 --> 00:19:43,080 But it was still fun to speculate, and I was able to speculate based on the names 251 00:19:43,080 --> 00:19:52,080 Which, like I was thinking then again about what is Snape's name, and he's part of House Slytherin 252 00:19:52,080 --> 00:19:59,080 And his name is Snape, and Snape rhymes with snake, it just has one letter, a K to a P 253 00:19:59,080 --> 00:20:09,080 And Cerberus, he's a severe snake man, and he's a severe teacher who is from House Slytherin, favors House Slytherin 254 00:20:09,080 --> 00:20:16,080 And all that stuff, so that might be the extent of his name, but I was honestly really, I basically turned against him 255 00:20:16,080 --> 00:20:23,080 At like the 60% point, somewhere about three quarters or less through the book 256 00:20:23,080 --> 00:20:30,080 I basically turned around and I thought I do not like this man, and I was never disappointed with his severity 257 00:20:30,080 --> 00:20:37,080 Although maybe that was mostly from him being played in the movies by, I can't remember the name of the gentleman who played him 258 00:20:37,080 --> 00:20:45,080 But he died a couple years ago, and I really enjoyed him in that role, almost as much as I enjoyed him as Hans Gruber in Die Hard 259 00:20:45,080 --> 00:20:51,080 But we're not going to talk about Die Hard, so anyway, I just thought it was really interesting 260 00:20:51,080 --> 00:20:58,080 How I was feeling so positive, and I even told her when I was a quarter or third, maybe half way through the book 261 00:20:58,080 --> 00:21:07,080 I really like Snape, it's funny, but he seems like an okay, he's helping Lupin, he's trying to be responsible 262 00:21:07,080 --> 00:21:12,080 He's trying to do the right thing, even he gets the chance to play the hero in this book 263 00:21:12,080 --> 00:21:23,080 And from his perspective, he really is being heroic, but the prime motivator that causes him to dislike Harry 264 00:21:23,080 --> 00:21:29,080 And mistrust people in certain ways, and just this incident that happened to him while he was a student at Hogwarts 265 00:21:29,080 --> 00:21:36,080 It really changed my perspective on him and made me think, this guy's kind of a... 266 00:21:36,080 --> 00:21:49,080 The kindest, most respectful thing I can say is that I'm very disappointed that what happened affected him in such a way 267 00:21:49,080 --> 00:21:57,080 And I'm surprised that it seems like he has such a fussy or finicky personality 268 00:21:57,080 --> 00:22:05,080 And that's the real motivator of why he is the way he is, or at least that's what Rowling has revealed at this point in the book series 269 00:22:05,080 --> 00:22:10,080 And the story overall, and it's surprising and disappointing, I really don't like it 270 00:22:10,080 --> 00:22:13,080 He seemed cool to me before that big revelation 271 00:22:14,080 --> 00:22:22,080 Things not always being what they seem, I think might be, if it's not a theme, or if it's not the theme 272 00:22:22,080 --> 00:22:28,080 It's a theme or a thematic element in this particular book, so I don't... 273 00:22:28,080 --> 00:22:35,080 I kind of know some stuff about the rest of the Harry Potter story, and I think that might be related 274 00:22:35,080 --> 00:22:41,080 Or like some setup is being done for that, perhaps? I'm not 100% sure 275 00:22:41,080 --> 00:22:47,080 But it's interesting that, I don't know, that could be what it's about, it might not be what it's about 276 00:22:47,080 --> 00:22:51,080 Which is a very silly statement to make, it's not profound at all 277 00:22:51,080 --> 00:22:57,080 But this is a casual book, yeah, so I don't really feel the pressure to perform and give you amazing insights 278 00:22:57,080 --> 00:23:03,080 A quick addendum before I let myself officially finish the episode 279 00:23:03,080 --> 00:23:10,080 One of the things that I found remarkable about this book, and it really hit me somewhere in the beginning 280 00:23:10,080 --> 00:23:16,080 Probably right before Harry went off to Hogwarts, which is something I mentioned in the beginning of this casual book chat 281 00:23:16,080 --> 00:23:23,080 Because I talked about how it's kind of book-ended by, you feel one way about Harry and his situation with the Dursleys 282 00:23:23,080 --> 00:23:27,080 And then by the end of it you feel kind of the same way, but there's some optimism 283 00:23:27,080 --> 00:23:34,080 And it comes down to, I think, this interesting element which is shared with Spider-Man, of all things 284 00:23:34,080 --> 00:23:41,080 The Spider-Man comics, well, yeah, the Spider-Man comics, I'm not going to say the movies except for maybe the Rami McGuire movies 285 00:23:41,080 --> 00:23:47,080 But there is a sense that despite... 286 00:23:47,080 --> 00:23:57,080 In spite of everything that Harry has in the Wizarding World, in spite of all his power and the prestige and the fame of being the boy who lived 287 00:23:57,080 --> 00:24:08,080 He's still just a boy to the Dursleys, and none of his magic, none of the magic in his life 288 00:24:08,080 --> 00:24:13,080 That he experiences at Hogwarts or with the Weasleys or anywhere else 289 00:24:13,080 --> 00:24:18,080 Really matters when it comes to his life with the Dursleys or at the Dursleys 290 00:24:18,080 --> 00:24:23,080 He's just Harry 291 00:24:23,080 --> 00:24:27,080 That's all he is in the Muggle world, for now at least 292 00:24:27,080 --> 00:24:39,080 And none of the great power and the accomplishments help him to overcome or rise above what he faces 293 00:24:39,080 --> 00:24:45,080 I don't know if I would call Harry a role model or if he's just somebody that a young reader can identify with 294 00:24:45,080 --> 00:24:48,080 Really any reader can identify with, as I mentioned previously 295 00:24:48,080 --> 00:24:54,080 But I really think it's special and wonderful that he faces these challenges 296 00:24:54,080 --> 00:24:59,080 And when it comes down to it, when it comes down to dealing with the Dursleys 297 00:24:59,080 --> 00:25:03,080 He and you and I have the same recourse 298 00:25:03,080 --> 00:25:10,080 We can kind of exhibit long-suffering, we can bear with the situation 299 00:25:10,080 --> 00:25:13,080 Keep a stiff upper lip if you want to be British about it 300 00:25:13,080 --> 00:25:21,080 Or we can break down and have a tantrum or freak out or give in to our baser instincts 301 00:25:21,080 --> 00:25:26,080 And really sink to the level of these people who are challenging us in these particular ways 302 00:25:26,080 --> 00:25:31,080 And I think it presents a really interesting moral choice and question 303 00:25:31,080 --> 00:25:34,080 But also it just makes him so much more relatable 304 00:25:34,080 --> 00:25:44,080 And I think it adds a lot of sympathy to his character arc, to his struggles, and to his story 305 00:25:44,080 --> 00:25:48,080 And I think that's really special, I think there's a magic in that, so to speak 306 00:25:48,080 --> 00:25:55,080 Which is that despite all the fantastical elements, the mundane down-to-earth things still matter 307 00:25:55,080 --> 00:25:57,080 And they still hurt 308 00:25:57,080 --> 00:26:06,080 It's almost like an affirmation that, you know what, yeah, you're special, people care about you 309 00:26:06,080 --> 00:26:12,080 You have, you know, whatever you have in your life that's good or sets you apart is great 310 00:26:12,080 --> 00:26:18,080 But at the end of the day, you're still a person and you can still be hurt by others 311 00:26:18,080 --> 00:26:23,080 And there's a comfort in that, I think there's a comfort in that 312 00:26:23,080 --> 00:26:30,080 It's very human and it's very humane and very, I don't know 313 00:26:30,080 --> 00:26:37,080 I just think there's a comfort in saying, you know, this too shall pass but this too shall endure 314 00:26:37,080 --> 00:26:40,080 And if you're going to live life you're going to suffer 315 00:26:40,080 --> 00:26:44,080 But you don't have to be miserable about it, to some extent 316 00:26:44,080 --> 00:26:50,080 I think that's part of what's being said here, and I like it, I just find it really endearing 317 00:26:50,080 --> 00:26:58,080 I hope you enjoyed that, go to MJMunoz.com to leave any questions, comments, or other feedback you might have 318 00:26:58,080 --> 00:27:02,080 There you can find all of my analysis, art, and fiction 319 00:27:02,080 --> 00:27:07,080 I cover books, tokusatsu, comic books, anime, and more 320 00:27:07,080 --> 00:27:11,080 Look around, you're sure to find something else that you'll enjoy as well 321 00:27:11,080 --> 00:27:21,080 This has been a Story Over Everything production