Monday, August 6, 2007

Deathly Hallowses?

Last Sunday (a week before yesterday) my advanced student gave me her copy of HP7 to read and I did so that day and finished it on last Wednesday. It was really great.
But a few days before the official first day of sales of the book, there were many spoilers and fake versions, it was said. I found one article that said so and downloaded the link it had. The PDF file there is certainly not the real version, but I'm about 400 pages into this piece of fan fiction--a full-fledged novel--and it's quite good. I have some criticisms about it which I'll give here soon--such as using some idiomatic British phrases such as "hacked off" and "over the moon" too frequently--but it's got some good and ingenious ideas and I recommend it as an interesting and enjoyable read, even though it is obviously not 'canon' and not licensed either.
I found it at an article that quoted its clumsy phrase "stared morosely at the familiar visage of number four, Privet Drive" and you can use that to search for it on Google.
Love to discuss it with you, and its points of comparison with the real Deathly Hallows book.

Please note that the PDF I am referring to is 569 pages long and has the phrase mentioned above on the first page. If you find a dedication "THE DEDICATION OF THIS BOOK IS SPLIT SEVEN WAYS" then it is probably the real version. Please do NOT download or read that version. Buy the book. It is a treasure worth keeping in its authentic and paid-for version!

Though Ms. Rowling (the name rhymes with bowling and not with howling, according to one article, though Emma Watson rhymes it with Howling in one interview and Jim Dale rhymes it with Bowling) is richer than Queen Elizabeth, she has worked hard to earn her royalties. The writer of the fan fiction (he or she makes "A/N" author's notes from time to time in the text) is a talented and probably untrained "by ear" amateur making no money from his or her novel and deserves some encouragement for the effort, though not for 'scamming' fans of the real 'canon'. Let this person either try some work that is labeled as fan fiction, I say, or try something original for publication. I'd like to know who it is and give that person some credit, but possibly we'll never know.

UPDATE: this seems to be the source of the fan fiction: http://www.phoenixsong.net/fanfiction/story/3517/
It is specifically posted there as fan fiction, not intended as a ripoff or fake version.

We went swimming yesterday after my class and Eowyn made real progress, enjoying dipping her face in the pool and even walking around in the shallow area (she's just tall enough to reach the bottom of the pool with her feet).
I'm going with Amy to Sun Yat-sen U tomorrow to hand in my diss and "leave school" officially, and pick up my diploma. We'll also go to the new Ikea store to get some DIY bookshelves for the fifth floor study area.

Best to you all.
"Litmus Paper"

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