Harry Potter VII by J.K. Rowling

We didn't read HPVII as a group, but many of us DID read it. I thought you might be interested in these articles about race and gender, as well as "what happens after the story ends," so I included the hyperlinks.

Harry Potter and the Imbalance of Race by Keith Woods

Harry Potter and Native Americans by Debbie Reese

Harry's the Star but Girlfriends Also Shine by Juliette Terzieff

Men in Cloaks and High-heeled Boots, Men Wielding Pink Umbrellas: Witchy Masculinities in the Harry Potter Novels by Annette Wannamaker

Harry Potter and Feminism an original editorial by Trixstar

Author Ties up Loose Ends by Lindsay Toler

A Wish in Time by Laurel Bradley

How is this book similar/different from The Time Traveler's Wife? What do you think about the expression "no good dead goes unpunished" (or "all too often those that do good are rewarded with pain"). What do you think makes a person him/herself? Their body? Their mind? Their experiences?

We had a nice brunch on the porch on a beautiful day with our discussion ranging from this book, to other time travel books, to what kind of books do/don’t “do it for us,” and about love and friendship. Whew!

First we discussed some things which were “problems” for us. Although we all suspend our disbelief about time-travel when we read these books, some of us need to be more active and truly work on focusing on the story, characters, and relationships in addition to suspending disbelief. Another thing is that all of us noticed that Maggie had a Scottish accent when she traveled back, and that Magda had a modern accent in the future, not retaining any brogue at all. Some of us could let it go at that, for others, it was an itch of inconsistency. For all of us who understand biology and physiology, the ability to get pregnant does not seem to have to do with the spirit or the mind, but this was something that was a premise in the story. Maybe there is some truth to it, afterall, we’ve all heard those stories of women who are trying to conceive and finally do when they “give up” or go on vacation, or something like that.

We noticed some similarities between this book and The Time Traveler’s Wife. The characters were completely in love each other so that their souls were connected through the ages. It caused us to pause and reflect on the eternity of the soul. How much of who we are is “fixed” and how much changes? We shared stories on what we’ve learned about ourselves as we’ve aged and grown more meta-cognitively aware. Some things about us are “just like when we were a teenager” (like getting a rush as we listen to music in the car) and then there are other things we are actively trying to change, though we may fall into old patterns easily (like choosing to mingle in social groups rather than hanging along the wall). We discussed the “act as if” premise that might help our bodies begin to “think” differently, even though our heart and mind isn’t following along. The two “Magda’s” both were able to be in their new times because the bodies they were in remembered how to do things. Our bodies do have a memory and sometimes that is where we need to start when trying to retrain our mind’s patterns. It is interesting to see how different authors deal with this part of time travel. How do you know what to do in a new time zone?

Along this line of “what is our essence,” we thought of how the characters’ occupations of priest, flutist, and sculptor remained across time, as well as the relationships of husband, wife, brother/cousin. What is it about our “selfs” that is consistent across our histories?

We had a long tangent discussion about friendship sharing several deep and personal stories. Some of us have always had “one best friend” and others have had “many dear friendships.” With some people we can be all parts of us, and with others, we only share a few aspects of ourselves. Does the “essence” of who we are stay the same? With some folks we can “pick up where we left off” and with others we need to reconnect and establish who we are NOW. Along the journey of our lives, some friendships don’t last because something (an “essence”?) changes too much. Or perhaps there is something within us (pain or hurt that we no longer want to deal with?) that keeps us from reaching out again and again to someone who can’t meet us partway. It seems that when we “cast the net wide” we have a better chance of networking, developing a deep and dear friendship, or having some friend who is always around, even if they are not the same person each time.

We talked about this game called “Barnga” where groups of people play a card game. Losers move to another table. No one is allowed to talk. At the end, it is revealed that every table has a different set of rules. Folks who never move from their table, never know the rules are different. Folks who move, experience a range of emotions from frustration to confusion to trying to communicate. It is a little like being in another country (the game is subtitled “Culture Clash”), AND also like time traveling. Even though you know what is going on, you can’t explain, change, or interact any better.

One question we briefly contemplated was “How much do we time travel in our own lives?” We travel into our pasts through photos and journals and memories. We talk about and visualize our future. Another question was “If you woke up in the 17th century, what would you do, especially now that we’ve read some books about what could happen during a time travel experience?” Well, to begin with, we’d have to explain our not knowing what was going on and fake an illness or amnesia without being thought of as a WITCH!

It was interesting to see that within our group, there is frequently one of two of us who didn’t really like the book (or genre) or have trouble really understanding it. We agreed that this brings a richness and perspective to our discussions. I have trouble with circular story lines that bring in ideas that are never followed up again. Though this book group, I have learned to appreciate the characters and dialogue as individual vignettes and “enjoy the moment” even though I’m not really following the story.

Anther book we discussed:
Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler – which is also about time travel. It might be that the character is really from the past, lives in the future for a bit, and then returns to the past because she seems to have memories of the past before her arrival (maybe she was reincarnated?). Recommendation – see the movie Becoming Jane Austen.