Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

July 15, 2011August 21, 2011 / nicholasdaletaylor / Leave a comment

Truths come out, friends are petrified and lessons learned as our unsuspecting hero returns to Hogwarts in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

Harry Potter

Dobby, a house elf, attempts to foil Harry at every corner insisting it is for Harry’s own good. His good falls into question as his return is stained with negative happenings. First, he and Ron miss the train only to commandeer the Weasly’s flying car, smash it into the whomping willow and nearly face expulsion. Next, students become petrified as word spreads about the mysterious chamber and the monster which dwells therein. Rumor of the heir to Slytherin’s return leaves Harry falls highly suspect after he unknowingly reveals his parseltounge gift. Polyjuice potions allows for the team to further their investigation; Ron, Hermione and Harry infiltrate Malfoy’s circle, discover Hagrid’s involvement and after Hermione is taken out of the equation the two young men follow the spiders towards the gigantic Aragog.

Dumbledore is more than aware of Harry’s distress and has reminded him that help will come to those who ask for it. He asks the young man if there is anything he needs to share. Potter is found at the scene of nearly every attack due to his following voices which only he can hear. His friends warn that this is never a good sign. Reluctantly, he ventures on without telling the headmaster a word of troubles.

Click here to purchase Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets

Troubles once again surround the position for Defense Against the Dark Arts as celebrity and pseudo-hero Gilderoy Lockheart takes his place among the staff. While most useless, he is the first to enter the chamber itself where (after a backfiring memory charm) our young protagonist continues alone. Finding Ginny victim to a mysterious power he himself has witnessed, a highly important item’s dark energy is revealed to be a diary. Surreptiticiously placed in Ginny’s possession by Malfoy’s Father, Lucious, during the traditional trip to the bookstore which so happens to be Gilderoy’s signing, it proves a journey of vital importance.

Sadly, not many bookstores are left in our muggle world, making it less of a magical place. I know of no better ice-breaker spell than seeing a familiar cover on the bus. “Didn’t you love that series?” I ask. “Oh, yes, I’m rereading them all. Year two is the best one.” And so I am comfortable talking with a complete stranger. As magical as they are I’ve never looked at someone reading their kindle and been moved to say, “Hey isn’t that a good book; sorry, I can’t see what you’re reading, but I thought it would be nice to just chat.” They would look at me like I was crazy, which I am.

Platform 9 and 3/4, memories of Davis-Kidd bookstore

Crazy for books. Opening this book for the first time in, I don’t know maybe seven years, lead to my discovering some secret hiding places of my own. Within the pages I found a ticket marked “Davis-Kidd to Hogwarts for ONE WAY travel Platform 9 and 3/4.” I also found the program to an old show I did with Mary Hollis Inboden (of The New Colony) called The Last Five Years. After we finished this performance in Memphis we both went our separate ways with the wind to only wind up reunited by a tornado filled deluge under an awning of protection here in the windy city. Funny how our perception defines such an event as fate, coincidence or in my case synchronicity.

While dwelling will never prove the best route, revisiting our past can lead to powerful realizations and reverberations through our own magical journeys. For Harry, his unraveling the mystery of Tom Riddle leads into his questioning similarities between himself and the dark lord, Voldemort. Dumbledore offering the ever priceless wisdom reminds Harry that he is in exactly the right place as only true valor and loyalty could have summoned Fawkes the Phoenix to aid during the battle with the Basilisk. Only a true Gryffindor could have pulled that sword out of the hat.

Now at rest, Harry leaves for the summer to return to his horrible relations, the Dursleys. And we are left to wonder or, in this instance, reminiscence as to what these next years will bring following Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone special anniversary edition

July 13, 2011August 21, 2011 / nicholasdaletaylor / Leave a comment

Harry Potter

Having given my original paperback copy to my younger brother, I was moved to reflection by the cover for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone special anniversary edition. Books are a beautiful thing which are ironically being placed in forgotten fashion by the ever-growing e-book. Yet, when someone has a book in hand while in transit it often begins a pleasant exchange.

Over eleven years ago l picked up a young adult novel and little did I know it would lead me to turning pages of all seven books and all the voracious activity to come.

Harry Potter discovers he is a wizard. While his gifts remain at the core for his distance from normal folk or muggles as they are so-called they bring him closer to what becomes his true family. Rescued from the Dursley’s indifference by loveable Hagrid and taken to Hogwarts, Harry finds his home. Sorted into Gryffindor and thrust into magical delight of treasures, education and mystery, he is inevitable confronted with Lord Voldemort, the man who took the lives of Harry’s mother and father.

Filled with firsts it is here that Harry acquires his wand from Mr. Ollivander, finds disfavor from Slytherin’s Snape and is recruited by Professor McGonagall.

Hogwarts Bookmark buy here

Throughout his year our young hero is taken under the wing of Headmaster of Hogwarts Albus Dumbledore and aligns with clever mind of Hermione Granger and unquestionable companionship of Ron and the Weasleys. Awarded a spot as seeker of the Gryffindor quidditch team and handed the invaluable gift of his father, the invisibility cloak, leads to Potter’s increased fame, his discovery of the Mirror of Erised and ultimately the sorcerer’s stone which is used to create the immortality granting elixir of life. This potion is sought after by none other than the dark lord who entices his followers through his horribly acquired reputation of power. There is but one man he fears.

Albus Dumbledore is one of the most endearing, valiant, honorable characters of fantasy fiction and it is through his mentorship that Harry grows into that which must rise above his arch nemesis through the screams of horrendous echoes. It is these echoes that bring the young lad back to thoughts of loss and dismay but which are attached to the greatest defending sacrifice bestowing upon Harry’s very being a protective aura of love which saves his very life.

Reading this again has reminded me of my own echoes and reverberating lessons. While beginning the series I was warned by my in-laws, “those books are the devil!” A number of my extended family regarded these books as an encouragement for witchcraft and evil doings. Their ignorance could not be further from the truth. The morality brought forth by the life arc of this noble character Harry Potter is one that will continue to brighten the eyes and the minds of future generations.

Harry Potter and The Socerer's Stone special anniversary edition, buy here

Comparatively, relating the movies to the books always leaves a sense of lacking amongst the series fans. This is to be expected as film cannot contain all material presented across hundreds of pages within a limited hourly window. Refreshing differences between these mediums include subtle differences in action, delivering Norbert and the ending potions logic puzzle that Hermione brilliantly solves. Overall, the first film while highly geared towards a younger audience, translated rather well.

Whether you are a fan of the movies or the books I encourage you to take the adventure. Having one of these books in hand may just cause some magic to develop during the first glance and returned smile of a traveling stranger.

This tale while offering tales of triumph and morality to our young audiences does not cease to entertain adults with all the fantastic, revisited delight of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone special anniversary edition.

A Single Man

July 3, 2011August 21, 2011 / nicholasdaletaylor / 1 Comment

Identifying as a gay man can leave weighted blockades at the forefront of youth, our twilight years or whenever one chooses to open the door and in middle age here it is coupled by being A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood.

Protagonist George feigns interest in life as his many states of mind leave him as an object of solitude, uncertainty and bitter discontent.

To pass through these pages is to follow our friend George through one solitary day. Routines of roles speak to the many facades we all wear at times to make it through work, an unwanted dinner or awkward encounters with people from our past. This man looks in the mirror each morning and prepares the state of mind and face to sell to the world. The state they want to see.

A lover has passed, many lonely mornings are spent, and George regresses into his sad mind as multiple personas emerge. It is in these lost moments that George escapes his bitterness. His morning commute is spent as the “chauffeur.” Another character emerges in the classroom recognized only as a “talking head” to which his students are more than accustomed. One student sees beyond this head and towards the end of this day gives George a glimmer of what may have been and in turn George shares a subtle truth to this unsettled youth.

Fear and the ongoing use of labels are tacked on to our friend as “Mr. Stunk… tries to nail him down with a word. Queer, he doubtlessly growls” (pg. 27). While George appears numb to biting remarks a harmless comment can be viewed with scorn such as in this parenthetical quotation from page 34, “(‘old,’ in our country of the bland, has become nearly as dirty a word as ‘kike’ or ‘nigger’).” Named insults that puncture the deepest are those which ridicule unalterable, innate qualities.

The inevitable acceptance of mortality and decay coupled with the ongoing desire for companionship ground this story in a place of common roots. A standing hospital is likened to a doorway into the next stage through which we will all pass (pg. 94). George visits Charlotte over endless drinks; she entertains the fantasy of the two of them being together which ends with one of those, groping, repeated “drunken long shots” (pg. 145). Near the end-and much alcohol later-I believe we start to see the real George emerge. He becomes fearless, flirtatious and dominant with the young man paying him due attention. Ironically rescued from drowning in the nude by his hunky student (pg 164), Kenny will be the last face our friend sees but only after a shared awkward truth I know all too well.

A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood, click here to buy the book

For such a short novel (186 pages) it left me with a lot to say and like George I am in my head. All of my reservations about growing old, processing ridicule and abuse from my early years and the future of taking a partner only to later endure the loss of love are lettered here in black and white. After beginning this article, I let it rest as a draft for over a week before publication as I thought it was too personal. While these grey thoughts jumble my review the light of this little book rests in it being an excellent introduction to the great voice of Christopher Isherwood. This is the man who wrote the fictional work that later turned into the film Cabaret. His history ties intimately with poet W.H. Auden and a visit to Berlin. In an effort to somehow organize my opinion of this dense and somehow witty prose I peaked at older reviews and am looking for a loaner copy of the movie with Colin Firth and Julianne Moore.

In close and timely fashion, finishing this book as New York gay marriage passed made me think that if only all states followed (and we all embraced equality) real life characters such as George would have less cause to experience looming suicidal solitude and far more reason for acceptance and celebration. States of mind are at stake. A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood directs my thoughts to which state will be next?