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You are here: Home / Books / Expelliarmus

Expelliarmus

by David Anderson|  August 9, 20169:17 pm| 168 Comments

This post is in: Books, Hail to the Hairpiece, Open Threads, All we want is life beyond the thunderdome, Bring On The Meteor

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RPV

An interesting study suggests that reading Harry Potter increases the probability and intensity of anti-Trump political sentiment:

Mutz polled a nationally representative sample of 1,142 Americans in 2014, and again in 2016, asking about their Harry Potter consumption, their attitudes on issues such as waterboarding, the death penalty, the treatment of Muslims and gays, and (in 2016 only) their feelings about Donald Trump on a 0-100 scale.

Party affiliation did not affect the likelihood that a person had read the Harry Potter books, the study found; Democrats, Republicans, and Independents have all read Rowling’s books in roughly equal numbers.

The study found that each Harry Potter book read lowered respondents’ evaluations of Donald Trump by roughly 2-3 points on a 100 point scale.

“This may seem small,” Mutz acknowledges, “but for someone who has read all seven books, the total impact could lower their estimation of Trump by 18 points out of 100. The size of this effect is on par with the impact of party identification on attitudes toward gays and Muslims.”

Time to read the third chapter of The Sorcerer’s Stone to my kids as inoculation against future fascism or at least one hell of a great world to play in at all ages.

Open thread

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Reader Interactions

168Comments

  1. 1.

    redshirt

    August 9, 2016 at 9:19 pm

    For adults, a regular re-read of 1984 and The Handmaiden’s Tale is highly recommended.

  2. 2.

    Baud

    August 9, 2016 at 9:21 pm

    Well, the series is pretty biased against dementors.

  3. 3.

    WereBear

    August 9, 2016 at 9:22 pm

    That’s pretty cool about Harry Potter. Still haven’t read them myself, but one day.

  4. 4.

    cckids

    August 9, 2016 at 9:24 pm

    Hey, I’ve had this bumper sticker AND the T-shirt since 2003. I’ve been rationing my wear of the T-shirt because it’s getting pretty worn, and it needs to make it through this election season.

  5. 5.

    Mike E

    August 9, 2016 at 9:25 pm

    My daughter broke a leg right around when The Prisoner of Azkaban came out, just before she turned 7…I read to her that book over 4 straight days, it’s by far my favorite out of the bunch pretty much for that reason alone.

  6. 6.

    Mary G

    August 9, 2016 at 9:25 pm

    I should look for some kids to read Harry to. I splurged and bought the script for the Cursed Child and loved it, though now I want more.

  7. 7.

    Baud

    August 9, 2016 at 9:29 pm

    Yay Katie!

  8. 8.

    Bill Butler

    August 9, 2016 at 9:29 pm

    A pity that the survey didn’t include those who have read J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. I’d bet a far more significant statistical correlation.

  9. 9.

    Baud

    August 9, 2016 at 9:32 pm

    Yay Phelps!

  10. 10.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    August 9, 2016 at 9:33 pm

    J.K. Rowling has mapped out all of society’s dysfunctions in her books. The darker she makes the stories, the more powerful the lessons in them are, teaching the overriding importance of adhering to your better nature of loyalty, studiousness, intelligence and love, in the face of cynicism, betrayal, greed and lust for power.

  11. 11.

    Joel

    August 9, 2016 at 9:33 pm

    @redshirt: add Elmer Gantry to your list.

  12. 12.

    Manyakitty

    August 9, 2016 at 9:33 pm

    @WereBear: Do it. They’re entertaining and smart.

  13. 13.

    debbie

    August 9, 2016 at 9:35 pm

    @Baud:

    Bonus that Le Clos didn’t even medal! And a trifecta if Ryan loses!

  14. 14.

    Iowa Old Lady

    August 9, 2016 at 9:36 pm

    @WereBear: I listened to most of them in my car as audiobooks from the library. They’re interesting enough to make a long trip fly by, but not so complex that you have to choose between driving and listening.

  15. 15.

    burnspbesq

    August 9, 2016 at 9:36 pm

    Anyone have a link to WI-1 results? Hoping against hope that ZEGS gets put through the wringer.

  16. 16.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    August 9, 2016 at 9:36 pm

    The study found that each Harry Potter book read lowered respondents’ evaluations of Donald Trump by roughly 2-3 points on a 100 point scale.

    “This may seem small,” Mutz acknowledges, “but for someone who has read all seven books, the total impact could lower their estimation of Trump.

    Probably holds true that way also.

    In other news, satire is still dead.

  17. 17.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 9, 2016 at 9:37 pm

    @burnspbesq: Here you go.

  18. 18.

    Hal

    August 9, 2016 at 9:39 pm

    @Mike E: This is the second time in two weeks I’ve read this assessment of Prisoner of Azkaban. I might have to reread because I’ve always thought of that book as my least favorite.

    But I also loved Order of the Phoenix, and know plenty of people have issues with that book. Order is also, for me, far more relevant to a potential Trump presidency than any other Harry Potter books.

  19. 19.

    Baud

    August 9, 2016 at 9:40 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Not as close as I had hoped.

  20. 20.

    amk

    August 9, 2016 at 9:40 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: bummer.

  21. 21.

    rikyrah

    August 9, 2016 at 9:41 pm

    Phelps has 20 Gold Medals.

    Damn

  22. 22.

    Cheryl from Maryland

    August 9, 2016 at 9:41 pm

    Commenting about this to my spouse, he said maybe strike Harry Potter so it reads: Reading a Book makes it less likely to vote Republican.

  23. 23.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    August 9, 2016 at 9:42 pm

    Robert Costa Verified account
    ‏@costareports

    BREAKING: AP has called race for Ryan. With nearly half of the district’s precincts reporting, he’s at 77%, Nehlen 22%

    Ryan wins with his Trump boat anchor.

  24. 24.

    Miss Bianca

    August 9, 2016 at 9:42 pm

    @Hal: “Prisoner of Azkaban” is probably my favorite of the series, actually…but it’s been a while since I reread all of them. I may embark on the whole series as an audiobook adventure.

  25. 25.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 9, 2016 at 9:42 pm

    @Baud: @amk: He’s an incumbent Speaker of the House.

  26. 26.

    Baud

    August 9, 2016 at 9:43 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: But he’s a douchebag.

  27. 27.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    August 9, 2016 at 9:43 pm

    @Cheryl from Maryland: Done.

  28. 28.

    Mnemosyne

    August 9, 2016 at 9:43 pm

    @WereBear:

    You’ll like them — it’s interesting how they become more morally complex as the main characters grow from pre-teens into young adults. I think Rowling re-thought a few things as the series went on but wasn’t able to go back to the earlier books, so there’s a little bit of retconning with mixed success.

    My favorite was probably “The Half-Blood Prince,” which is all about discovering that the adults around you have their own histories and stories that affect yours. And, of course, there’s That Scene that I’m absolutely convinced she wrote with Alan Rickman in mind. He’s the only actor who could have spoken that single word and made it work.

  29. 29.

    amk

    August 9, 2016 at 9:44 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: was hoping he would be cantored.

  30. 30.

    hilts

    August 9, 2016 at 9:45 pm

    List of things a President Trump could do to fuck up the country compiled by Mark Kleiman

    “With a stroke of the pen”

    1. Withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement on global warming.

    2. Abrogate the nuclear deal with Iran, setting the stage for either war with Iran or Iranian development of a nuclear weapon. (Or both.)

    3. Deny hostile, or even objective, journalists and media outlets access to information by refusing them admittance to press conferences, instructing appointed and public-affairs officials to refuse all interviews, and subjecting even routine data requests to FOIA delays. That will have three effects: disabling the effective capacity of the independent media to exercise oversight; giving professional and business advantages to complaisant reporters and their outlets; and creating incentives for reporters and outlets alike to stay in the Administration’s good graces.

    4. Institute criminal investigation and prosecution of political opponents. The Attorney General, the FBI Director, and the 94 United States Attorneys all serve at the pleasure of the President. (The 10-year term of the FBI Director is a maximum, not a minimum, and Bill Clinton fired Director William Sessions in 1993.) Now imagine FBI Director Chris Christie, reporting to Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Those positions, and the U.S. Attorney slots, are all Senate-confirmable, but even if the Senate were to resist the President could appoint all of them on an acting basis.

    5. Use tax enforcement and the award or denial of tax-exempt status to punish enemies and rewards friends. The Director of the IRS is also a Presidential appointee. Civil-service protections would make it harder to replace IRS career staff with political loyalists, but the GWB Administration made substantial progress in filling the Justice Department with Republican apparatchiki, and the same could be done at the IRS.

    6. Attack “liberal-leaning” universities and not-for-profit research enterprises by either interfering with the grant process directly or by using financial or compliance audits to disqualify them.

    7. End enforcement of the Voting Rights Act. This is entirely at the discretion of USDoJ, and no doubt Assistant Attorney General Kris Kobach will have other priorities.

    8. Cease Department of Justice investigations into police misconduct.

    9. Mount a massive deportation process. Direct the Department of Homeland Security to target and remove persons who registered under DACA and DAPA.

    10. Investigate the “loyalty” of Muslims in the civil service and the military.

    11. Substantially reduce enforcement of anti-discrimination law, including revoking executive orders that require nondiscrimination by federal contractors.

    12. Block all entry of refugees.

    13. Wreck the Affordable Care Act in practical terms by reversing the administrative decisions that make it feasible, and destroy it legally by conceding its unconstitutionality the next time it is challenged in court.

    14. Loosen regulation and virtually eliminate enforcement of all environmental laws, workplace health and safety laws, and consumer protections. Early targets would be the Obama Administration’s aggressive attack on air pollution from coal-fired power plants and the newly-instituted fiduciary-standards rule for pension advisers.

    15. Reinstitute torture by replacing the Army Field Manual with Bush-era interrogation “standards.” I do not believe that most, or even many, senior officers would abide by such orders. But the President is, indeed, Commander-in-Chief, and only custom keeps him from firing those who disobey unlawful orders. (When President Lincoln was told that Confederate forces had captured forty mules and two major-generals, he replied, “Too bad about the mules. Major-generals I can make.” Ranks of O-4 [major or lieutenant commander] and above require Senate confirmation, but junior officers are created by Presidential fiat, and brevet promotions are unlimited.)

    16. Encourage Russian aggression in Europe by renouncing our NATO obligations. Start by recognizing Russian sovereignty over the Crimea.

    17. Withdraw the U.S. from other treaties and international organizations: WTO, NAFTA, the U.N., the Paris Treaty on international climate change.

    18. Encourage Japan and South Korea to develop nuclear weapons by raising questions about the validity of our security commitments.

    19. Unofficially encourage or sponsor the growth of armed far-right “militia” groups, and discourage enforcement of federal laws against them (e.g., vigilante border enforcement groups, takeovers of federal lands by “sovereign citizen” organizations).

    By legislative action or with the advice and consent of the Senate, or the help of state governments

    1. Appoint at least one and perhaps three Supreme Court justices on the Alito model, locking in a right-wing majority for a generation.

    2. Reduce tax rates for the rich.

    3. Block grant food stamps and/or Medicaid.

    4. Appoint anti-worker and anti-union members to the National Labor Relations Board.

    5. End federal support for the full range of women’s health services, including ending the federal partnership with Planned Parenthood.

    6. Increase domestic production of coal and oil while ending public investment in renewable energy.

    7. Repeal of Dodd-Frank, Sarbanes-Oxley, consumer financial protection laws.

    8. Disenfranchise Democrats with a combination of voter-suppression tactics (shorter voting hours, fewer voting machines leading to longer waits, hard-to-meet “voter ID” rules) and gerrymandering. In the extreme, use electronic vote counting to simply miscount the votes.

    h/t Samefacts

  31. 31.

    Baud

    August 9, 2016 at 9:45 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: So does he still cling to Trump?

  32. 32.

    redshirt

    August 9, 2016 at 9:45 pm

    @Bill Butler: Heh. Just today I started re-re-re-re-re-reading The Silmarillion. I love it so much. It’s been a while since I re-re-read LOTR. I’m afraid to start since I’m in a monthly book club that’s demanding and that would be a lot of extra reading.

  33. 33.

    Three-nineteen

    August 9, 2016 at 9:47 pm

    I think Chapter 9 of Goblet of Fire is more relevant, especially since the Olympics are going on.

  34. 34.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 9, 2016 at 9:47 pm

    @Baud: What makes you think I understand the right-wing brain?

  35. 35.

    redshirt

    August 9, 2016 at 9:48 pm

    So I’ve never read any of the Harry Potter books for the usual reasons.

    Should I? Is it worth that commitment in pages? It’s a lot of pages.

  36. 36.

    dmsilev

    August 9, 2016 at 9:48 pm

    @Mnemosyne: You can really see Rowling’s evolution as a writer by looking at the last book, and comparing the main text with the epilogue (which she wrote years earlier, near or at the beginning of the series).

  37. 37.

    Baud

    August 9, 2016 at 9:49 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: U iz smart.

  38. 38.

    Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.)

    August 9, 2016 at 9:49 pm

    Well, I’ve been reading Harry Potter to our 9 year old. We’re up to the Goblet of Fire. Good to know it might help her be a better person.

  39. 39.

    Gwangung

    August 9, 2016 at 9:50 pm

    I have a lot of friends who are Harry Potter fans.

    These friends are theatres artists.

    You can IMAGINE how they felt about the Cursed Child….

  40. 40.

    dmsilev

    August 9, 2016 at 9:51 pm

    @redshirt: The first two or three books are pretty short and are fast reads. Give them a shot, and if they draw you in, go on to the rest of the series.

  41. 41.

    germy

    August 9, 2016 at 9:51 pm

    @the Conster, la Citoyenne:

    AP has called race for Ryan. With nearly half of the district’s precincts reporting, he’s at 77%, Nehlen 22%

    Okay, pardon my ignorance here, but does Ryan now face a Democratic challenger after winning his Republican primary? I haven’t been following this business closely and my head is stuffed (bad cold and/or flu)

  42. 42.

    Schlemazel

    August 9, 2016 at 9:52 pm

    @burnspbesq:
    IIRC his district is very red. While I would enjoy seeing him get his ass kicked I worry that if he loses the primary we will end up with yet another full-blown crazy in the house. while there are advantages it is a risky proposition.

    EDIT: @Omnes Omnibus: , OK, it does not matter any more he wins in a walk.

  43. 43.

    PigDog

    August 9, 2016 at 9:52 pm

    I’d like to see the (obviously inverse) correlation between people who were bullied as a child and support for Shitgibbon.

    He reminds me of so many of my childhood tormentors and watching him go down will be a symbolic justice of sorts.

  44. 44.

    WereBear

    August 9, 2016 at 9:53 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Nobody understands the right wing brain. It’s a riddle wrapped in old gum wrappers and dug out of a landfill.

  45. 45.

    redshirt

    August 9, 2016 at 9:53 pm

    @dmsilev: Thanks.
    What age would you recommend is appropriate for a child to start hearing the stories? 5? 8?

  46. 46.

    Iowa Old Lady

    August 9, 2016 at 9:54 pm

    @Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.): I’m jealous you have a kid that age to read to. It’s such a pleasure.

  47. 47.

    Mary G

    August 9, 2016 at 9:54 pm

    @redshirt: They go fast and there are a lot of liberal themes, so you might. There is a newspaper reporter who is hilarious. They aren’t Tolkien IMO.

  48. 48.

    redshirt

    August 9, 2016 at 9:54 pm

    @WereBear: It’s understandable and predictable. Being predictable, it should be controllable. And yet….

  49. 49.

    Mike E

    August 9, 2016 at 9:55 pm

    @redshirt: My reason for getting into the books is mentioned above, and then I had to complete the series because, reasons*

    *I had to see how it all turned out! btw that 7 year old turned 21 today :-)

  50. 50.

    Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.)

    August 9, 2016 at 9:55 pm

    @Iowa Old Lady: Well, believe me, it isn’t all fun times, especially with the nine year old. I love her, but, my God, she’s a hard child to deal with most of the time.

  51. 51.

    Iowa Old Lady

    August 9, 2016 at 9:56 pm

    @redshirt: 8 is probably all right, depending on the child.

  52. 52.

    Amir Khalid

    August 9, 2016 at 9:56 pm

    @redshirt:
    Yes, you should. It is well worth the commitment in time.

  53. 53.

    WereBear

    August 9, 2016 at 9:56 pm

    Not only that, Harry Potter fans are more likely to be cat lovers.

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2016/08/09/facebook-study-shows-cat-people-are-single-and-dog-people-have-m/

  54. 54.

    germy

    August 9, 2016 at 9:57 pm

    @WereBear:

    Nobody understands the right wing brain. It’s a riddle wrapped in old gum wrappers and dug out of a landfill.

    Their brains are popcorn soaked in urine (quoting Alexander Woollcott)

    .

    EDIT: Welcome back!

  55. 55.

    gf120581

    August 9, 2016 at 9:58 pm

    @Schlemazel: Actually, no, Ryan’s district is marginally Republican. If he were gone and replaced by a lunatic, it could very easily be won by a Democrat.

  56. 56.

    Emma

    August 9, 2016 at 9:59 pm

    OK, totally OT but… I went to YouTube to try and see something of the Rio opening ceremony — the first three videos all proclaimed the biggest, BIGGEST, Illuminati ceremony ever. WTF?

  57. 57.

    Baud

    August 9, 2016 at 9:59 pm

    @efgoldman: He lost in the general. Still hope.

  58. 58.

    geg6

    August 9, 2016 at 9:59 pm

    @redshirt:

    Yes and yes.

  59. 59.

    dmsilev

    August 9, 2016 at 9:59 pm

    @redshirt: For the first few, maybe age 7 or 8. The later books, especially the last 2, are quite a bit darker, so you might want to give them a look over first before reading to a young kid. Reading the books as they came out, I almost got the sense that Rowling was writing for a particular cohort of kids, with the stories becoming both more complex and darker as that cohort aged and grew up.

  60. 60.

    Gelfling 545

    August 9, 2016 at 10:00 pm

    @redshirt: Absolutely. You’ll wish there were more pages when you’re finished.

  61. 61.

    Iowa Old Lady

    August 9, 2016 at 10:01 pm

    Holy crap. Dan Rather lit into Trump on FB. Here are the first couple of paragraphs of Rather’s statement:

    No trying-to-be objective and fair journalist, no citizen who cares about the country and its future can ignore what Donald Trump said today. When he suggested that “The Second Amendment People” can stop Hillary Clinton he crossed a line with dangerous potential. By any objective analysis, this is a new low and unprecedented in the history of American presidential politics. This is no longer about policy, civility, decency or even temperament. This is a direct threat of violence against a political rival. It is not just against the norms of American politics, it raises a serious question of whether it is against the law. If any other citizen had said this about a Presidential candidate, would the Secret Service be investigating?

    Candidate Trump will undoubtably issue an explanation; some of his surrogates are already engaged in trying to gloss it over, but once the words are out there they cannot be taken back. That is what inciting violence means.

    Who knew the old guy still had it in him? He goes on the say he’s waiting to see how the press handles what he sees as a genuine crisis.

  62. 62.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 9, 2016 at 10:02 pm

    @efgoldman: Foley didn’t lose a primary.

  63. 63.

    Iowa Old Lady

    August 9, 2016 at 10:02 pm

    @dmsilev: I think that’s right. A librarian friend of mine said they shelved the first four or five books in the children’s section and the last few in the young adult section. After events at the end of Goblet of Fire, the books get considerably darker.

  64. 64.

    smintheus

    August 9, 2016 at 10:02 pm

    @hilts: “By running his mouth”
    1. Who will rid me of this meddlesome …….X…….?

  65. 65.

    cckids

    August 9, 2016 at 10:04 pm

    @Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.):

    Well, I’ve been reading Harry Potter to our 9 year old. We’re up to the Goblet of Fire. Good to know it might help her be a better person.

    I read most of the Harry Potter books to and with my kids; they were close to the perfect ages for starting with Sorcerer’s Stone (5 & 6), as the books came out we started reading aloud in turns, by the time The Deathly Hallows came out my kids were in high school; I still got each of them a book on release day & we read it more or less together. The Harry Potter books are one of our dearest memories together.

    We even went to all the midnight movie first nights.

  66. 66.

    Comrade Scrutinizer

    August 9, 2016 at 10:05 pm

    @redshirt: For many years LOTR was a twice yearly read for me. I went so far as to grab the entire History of Middle Earth, which is a bit of a grind, but is fascinating reading; it really shows the evolution of Tolkien’s creation. I never could quite love Jackson’s interpretation; in many ways he treated characters as two dimensional at best.

    I enjoyed the Harry Potter series, but found it to be rather formulaic, and the characters kind of shallow. There was a lot of teen angst on display, but the moral issues addressed were for the most part pretty black and white. The series is fun to read (and to reread), but there really isn’t much to chew on for most of the series. HBP and DH offer some nuance, but that gets buried under relationship angst and clunky storytelling, especially in DH.

  67. 67.

    Emma

    August 9, 2016 at 10:06 pm

    @Iowa Old Lady: Not surprised at all. I think the books became so insanely popular among kids of a certain age because the characters grew up as they grew up. As their world became complex, so did the world in the books.

  68. 68.

    Just One More Canuck

    August 9, 2016 at 10:07 pm

    @redshirt: we started reading them to our daughter when she was around 6, but not the later stories until a bit later – she had watched all of the movies by the time she was 8 (she’s 11 now).

  69. 69.

    one_particular_harbour, fka Botsplainer

    August 9, 2016 at 10:08 pm

    Do I make my 4th Grey Goose martini? I’m hammered. How could those Mad Men types function after lunches like this?

  70. 70.

    redshirt

    August 9, 2016 at 10:09 pm

    @Comrade Scrutinizer: This is my fear. That while it is a page turning story, it lacks the true depth of Tolkien.

  71. 71.

    Miss Bianca

    August 9, 2016 at 10:10 pm

    @one_particular_harbour, fka Botsplainer: Three martinis is pretty much my limit. YMMV.

  72. 72.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 9, 2016 at 10:13 pm

    @Comrade Scrutinizer: FWIW I think it is a somewhat unfair comparison. Tolkien was writing for highly educated adults. Rowling was writing for children and adolescents. There is a difference in the complexity and detail that the two could put in.

    I agree with you about Jackson’s movie adaptations. The treatments of Gimli, Pippen, and Faramir are particularly bad.

  73. 73.

    J R in WV

    August 9, 2016 at 10:14 pm

    @hilts:

    Man oh man, that’s a depressing but accurate assessment of Trump’s potential. Europe or Costa Rica? I’m thinking Spain, or perhaps Portugal.

    Portugal is the Colorado of Europe, after all. And not inclined to truckle to Trump, either.

  74. 74.

    redshirt

    August 9, 2016 at 10:14 pm

    @Miss Bianca: My first professional job at a big time company I had a three martini lunch on purpose and I was hammered. Not a good look. How did those Mad dudes do it?

  75. 75.

    one_particular_harbour, fka Botsplainer

    August 9, 2016 at 10:14 pm

    @Miss Bianca:

    They’re wicked. In the past, I’ve been a bourbon or dark rum guy, but I’ve been branching my wings into martinis and go sons. I keep good vodka and high grade gin, decent vermouth. Got a Lewis bag and wood mallet for ice crushing, metal picks for olives and cocktail onions (for gibbons, which are only decent with gin).

    Old timey cocktails rock.

  76. 76.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 9, 2016 at 10:15 pm

    @one_particular_harbour, fka Botsplainer:

    How could those Mad Men types function after lunches like this?

    Smaller glasses.

  77. 77.

    one_particular_harbour, fka Botsplainer

    August 9, 2016 at 10:15 pm

    @redshirt:

    I think they were raging alcoholics. I’m going for it – number 4 on the way!

    Plus, I’m watching Hot Fuzz…

  78. 78.

    germy

    August 9, 2016 at 10:16 pm

    @one_particular_harbour, fka Botsplainer:

    Do I make my 4th Grey Goose martini? I’m hammered. How could those Mad Men types function after lunches like this?

    Because the unfortunate thing about alcohol is that the more you regularly consume, the more you can tolerate. A heavy, serious drinker can drink a bottle of vodka for breakfast and function normally throughout the workday. Of course, take away the bottle and he will go into severe withdrawal.

    Edible marijuana is a thousand times safer…

  79. 79.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 9, 2016 at 10:17 pm

    @one_particular_harbour, fka Botsplainer: Plain gibbons or shitgibbons?

  80. 80.

    hilts

    August 9, 2016 at 10:17 pm

    David Gergen, Jeffrey Toobin, and Don Lemon are schooling dumbass former Secret Service agent Dan Bongino for defending Trump’s 2nd Amendment comments.

  81. 81.

    debbie

    August 9, 2016 at 10:18 pm

    @redshirt:

    I stuck to beers back in the days of three-martini publishing world lunches. Much safer.

  82. 82.

    Mnemosyne

    August 9, 2016 at 10:18 pm

    @Comrade Scrutinizer:

    BLASPHEMER! GET HIM, HE IS A BLASPHEMER!!!

    Nah, just kidding.

  83. 83.

    Miss Bianca

    August 9, 2016 at 10:18 pm

    @redshirt: Short answer: yes.

    My God, you’ve managed to make it thru’ “The Silmarillion”? The whole HP saga will be a piece of cake for you!

  84. 84.

    germy

    August 9, 2016 at 10:20 pm

    @debbie: I’m so old I remember having an ashtray on my desk at work. Those days are long gone.

  85. 85.

    Joel

    August 9, 2016 at 10:21 pm

    @germy: During my year abroad — fifteen years ago, unbelievably enough — we would go out drinking every night from tuesday through sunday, with only a handful of exceptions. I recoil at the thought now.

  86. 86.

    dmsilev

    August 9, 2016 at 10:21 pm

    @hilts: David Gergen and Don Lemon? Truly, we live in strange times.

  87. 87.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 9, 2016 at 10:21 pm

    @Miss Bianca:

    My God, you’ve managed to make it thru’ “The Silmarillion”?

    Who hasn’t? I think I was around 12.

  88. 88.

    Emma

    August 9, 2016 at 10:21 pm

    I can never understand the Tolkien worship. I’ve read LotR and The Hobbit several times and admire them as amazing examples of world building, probably the best ever. But basically it’s the most Nordic fantasy outside of the Eddas. My absolutely favorite part is the encounter with Tom Bombadil and the River’s Daughter, and that is because it’s a lovely paean to the deities of nature.

    ETA and in passing: has anyone seen the Inspector Lewis episode about the fantasy writer? A the end, when Hathaway tells Lewis that one of Tolkien’s colleagues had blurted out “Not another flipping elf!” Pause. “He didn’t say flipping.” Beautiful.

  89. 89.

    Schlemazel

    August 9, 2016 at 10:21 pm

    @gf120581:
    OK, I was going from memory & thought it was R+7 but in that case, shame he didn’t eat it

  90. 90.

    Eric U.

    August 9, 2016 at 10:22 pm

    I read the first Harry Potter book to my son when he was 5 and he re-read it to himself again the same year. Don’t remember how old he was when I read him the Hobbit and LOTR, but about that same time. Doesn’t seem to have adversely affected him, he’s going into his second year of college.

    After we were done with LOTR, he tried to get me to read Silmarillion to him, but we both agreed that I’m not a good enough reader and gave up before the end of the first chapter. Mind-numbing.

  91. 91.

    Mnemosyne

    August 9, 2016 at 10:24 pm

    @germy:

    I was in the ladies’ room in one of the older buildings at work (built in the 60s or 70s) and realized that the weird hole in the shelf next to the toilet used to hold an ashtray.

  92. 92.

    Miss Bianca

    August 9, 2016 at 10:25 pm

    @one_particular_harbour, fka Botsplainer: Sorry, vodka martinis all very well, but craft gin and vermouth for this girl. Fortunately, up in the mountains here we have an amazing gin distiller and also a winemaker who both make vermouth. : )

  93. 93.

    nutella

    August 9, 2016 at 10:26 pm

    I enjoyed the earlier Harry Potter books but got stuck and stopped at the same point (in both English and Spanish) when I couldn’t stand everyone saying to Hermione “Jeez, they’re only house elves. Give it a rest.”

  94. 94.

    debbie

    August 9, 2016 at 10:26 pm

    @germy:

    Right! And because my office had a door, I could still smoke after they started smoking restrictions.

  95. 95.

    ET

    August 9, 2016 at 10:26 pm

    Haven’t read the books or seen the movies but did see the London play. But I am already anti Trump.

  96. 96.

    Bobby Thomson

    August 9, 2016 at 10:27 pm

    As I said the last time someone posted this, the direction of causation is questionable. I suggest that those disinclined to authoritarianism are more likely to read and enjoy Harry Potter.

  97. 97.

    germy

    August 9, 2016 at 10:27 pm

    @Mnemosyne: I’m 58. I have a clear memory of being about seven or eight years old and being walked to the doctor by my mom for my yearly checkup, and there were ashtrays in the doctor’s waiting room.

  98. 98.

    Miss Bianca

    August 9, 2016 at 10:28 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Could not. Stalled. Loved LOTR, but couldn’t even pretend to be interested in “The Silmarillion”.

    Philistine, I is one. Despise me if you dare.

    @Emma: I’m with you. I’m one of the few I know who loved Tom Bombadil – mostly because the Ring had no power over him, which I thought was stone.cold.groovy.

  99. 99.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 9, 2016 at 10:30 pm

    @Miss Bianca: What about the appendices to RotK?

  100. 100.

    one_particular_harbour, fka Botsplainer

    August 9, 2016 at 10:31 pm

    @Miss Bianca:

    Switched to Bombay sapphire, Mixing olives and cocktail onions.

    Delightfully savory…

  101. 101.

    nutella

    August 9, 2016 at 10:32 pm

    @gf120581:

    Ryan’s district is marginally Republican.

    I read an article a few years ago where they interviewed his constituents, including Democrats, and they voted for him because he’s such a nice boy from a nice family.

    Way more important than that he’s coming for their Social Security and Medicare.

  102. 102.

    one_particular_harbour, fka Botsplainer

    August 9, 2016 at 10:32 pm

    @germy:

    Never smoked at my desk, stopped smoking sometime around 2008.

    Kind of miss it.

  103. 103.

    Comrade Scrutinizer

    August 9, 2016 at 10:32 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: My comments on Harry Potter shouldn’t be taken as hating on the series; I don’t. I enjoy rereading it for entertainment. I just don’t find it to be substantive, if that makes sense. I like fluff, I just don’t expect much from it.

    Yes, Jackson assassinated Faramir’s character, almost as badly as he did Theoden. Merry, Pippin and Gimli were unrecognizable.

  104. 104.

    germy

    August 9, 2016 at 10:32 pm

    Anyone here ever try “Whisker Blake” (an Australian port wine)?

  105. 105.

    one_particular_harbour, fka Botsplainer

    August 9, 2016 at 10:33 pm

    @shomi:

    Fuck you. Strong letter to follow…

  106. 106.

    Miss Bianca

    August 9, 2016 at 10:33 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: That’s COMPLETELY different. Don’t ask me why. Don’t know.

  107. 107.

    germy

    August 9, 2016 at 10:34 pm

    @one_particular_harbour, fka Botsplainer: I always half-suspect one day some doctor or another will tell me I have lung cancer. And I’m not sure how I’d handle that. I have to leave the room when those explicit anti-smoking COPD commercials come on TV.

  108. 108.

    one_particular_harbour, fka Botsplainer

    August 9, 2016 at 10:34 pm

    @germy:

    Love me some port and vin santi, but never heard of that.

  109. 109.

    one_particular_harbour, fka Botsplainer

    August 9, 2016 at 10:34 pm

    @germy:

    You still smoke?

  110. 110.

    germy

    August 9, 2016 at 10:35 pm

    @one_particular_harbour, fka Botsplainer: I tried it on the recommendation of a friend, and it’s certainly a subtle, multi-flavored port. Not a bad price.

  111. 111.

    redshirt

    August 9, 2016 at 10:35 pm

    @Miss Bianca: It’s like the Tolkien Bible. Lot’s of Begatings. Many, many, many names. You reach for appendices, and there they lay! Family trees. Pronunciation guidelines. Maps. A nerd’s dream.

  112. 112.

    Mnemosyne

    August 9, 2016 at 10:35 pm

    @nutella:

    FWIW, that totally pays off and Hermione is proved fucking right.

  113. 113.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 9, 2016 at 10:35 pm

    @Comrade Scrutinizer: I didn’t think yu were hating on the series. I just thought you were sort of comparing apples to mangoes.

    ETA: Also, for the children’s and YA writers in the commentariat, I am not slagging on your field by any means.

  114. 114.

    germy

    August 9, 2016 at 10:36 pm

    @one_particular_harbour, fka Botsplainer: Hell no. I quit, but I still worry.

  115. 115.

    Miss Bianca

    August 9, 2016 at 10:36 pm

    @shomi: Your name again?

    And we give a shit about *your* bullshit opinions because…?

  116. 116.

    one_particular_harbour, fka Botsplainer

    August 9, 2016 at 10:37 pm

    @germy:

    I like my ports and dessert wines to remind me of a box of raisins when I have them with cheese. To me, a great salty, tangy cheese is glorious with that kind of port.

  117. 117.

    redshirt

    August 9, 2016 at 10:38 pm

    @Miss Bianca: Trolling. He’s pretty good at it – consistent theme.
    He’s Branding.

  118. 118.

    Mnemosyne

    August 9, 2016 at 10:38 pm

    @efgoldman:

    Same with my Subaru. The outlet is still there so you can plug your devices into it, but you have to purchase the actual lighter separately.

  119. 119.

    Comrade Scrutinizer

    August 9, 2016 at 10:38 pm

    @Emma: Saw the episode (loved Inspector Lewis!). It was based on a real comment from Hugo Dyson when he was listening to yet another reading of early drafts of LOTR.

  120. 120.

    Anoniminous

    August 9, 2016 at 10:38 pm

    @Emma:

    Well, yeah. Tolkien basically invented the High Fantasy genre as a deliberate effort to give England a mythology comparable to the Norse Eddas inspired by Germanic and Germanic literature of the Migration, Viking, and post-Viking periods. Shippey’s (himself a philologist) two books “The Road to Middle Earth” and “J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century” go in depth exploring this.

  121. 121.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 9, 2016 at 10:38 pm

    @germy: Aussie Port? No such thing.

  122. 122.

    Miss Bianca

    August 9, 2016 at 10:40 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Snob.

    ETA: Next you’ll be telling us you have no regard for Australian Table Wines!

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbOZccv9ym8

  123. 123.

    one_particular_harbour, fka Botsplainer

    August 9, 2016 at 10:41 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    I can’t remember the last car I bought that still had the lighter attachment that fit in the socket.

  124. 124.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 9, 2016 at 10:42 pm

    @Anoniminous: IIRC Tolkien also deliberately avoided using words that did not have roots in Anglo-Saxon.

  125. 125.

    germy

    August 9, 2016 at 10:43 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Aussie Port? No such thing

    I swear to Ceiling Cat. I wandered into my local wine shop and told the nice gentleman I was looking for a port with a screw top, because we were on our way to a picnic and had no corkscrews. He recommended the Whisker Blake and I was pleasantly surprised.

  126. 126.

    Emma

    August 9, 2016 at 10:44 pm

    @Anoniminous: I learned that later when I did a little research out of curiosity (being a librarian wasn’t so much a career choice as wanting to learn how to find out things!). But it puts the books at once-remove for me. I have no character that I can identify with. I love them intellectually but not emotionally. Except for Sam, who I consider the true hero of the tale.

  127. 127.

    burnspbesq

    August 9, 2016 at 10:45 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Thanks.

  128. 128.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 9, 2016 at 10:46 pm

    @Miss Bianca: Port is definationally not Aussie. They may make a very good fortified wine, but it’s not port. California may produce excellent cab-merlot mixes, but not one is a Bordeaux.

  129. 129.

    Comrade Scrutinizer

    August 9, 2016 at 10:48 pm

    @Anoniminous: I don’t think you can credit Tolkien with inventing the high fantasy genre. I’d argue that goes to Lord Dunsany and The King of Elfland’s Daughter, which predated The Hobbit and LOTR by some years.

    edited because of fucking autocorrect

  130. 130.

    germy

    August 9, 2016 at 10:48 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Next you’ll be telling me the Detroit-manufactured champagne I just bought really isn’t champagne.

  131. 131.

    rikyrah

    August 9, 2016 at 10:50 pm

    #21 for Phelps!!

  132. 132.

    Comrade Scrutinizer

    August 9, 2016 at 10:50 pm

    @Emma: Well, that’s because Samwise pretty obviously was the hero of the piece, at least as far as the destruction of the Ring. There were others, though.

  133. 133.

    Miss Bianca

    August 9, 2016 at 10:50 pm

    @germy: yes, he will. And that that Alsatian “champagne”, tho’ French, is NOT champagne, because duh, Alsace =/= Champagne! The man is a purist, evidently. : )

  134. 134.

    Bobby D

    August 9, 2016 at 10:52 pm

    I’ve read 3 or 4 of the Potter books and I’m a GenXer with no kids. They are fun books, not just childrens’ books. I know lots of adults who’ve read and thoroughly enjoyed them who don’t have kids (that’s how I got turned onto them, recommendation of a coworker).

    There is a lot of diversity/inclusiveness/anti-bigotry in the books. The “mudblood” stuff being a good example.

  135. 135.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 9, 2016 at 10:52 pm

    @germy: That is quite likely. I also am not knocking the wines. I had wonderful wines from unlikely places and absolute cat piss from brand name locations.

    @Miss Bianca:

    The man is a purist, evidently.

    Just noticing?

  136. 136.

    redshirt

    August 9, 2016 at 10:54 pm

    @Comrade Scrutinizer: But also of course we all have to do it together. Only unity in the face of evil will allow us all to prevail.

  137. 137.

    Miss Bianca

    August 9, 2016 at 10:58 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Dude, do you really labor under the misapprehension that just because it’s the first time I’ve *remarked* a trait of yours, that that means it must be the first time I’ve *noticed* it?

  138. 138.

    Emma

    August 9, 2016 at 10:58 pm

    @Comrade Scrutinizer: Nope. For me, Samwise is the hero because, of all the Ring-Bearers, he is the only one who gives it up freely. Nothing the Ring can offer is more valuable to him than his friends and his Shire. He is, if you will, the best of humanity.

  139. 139.

    Anoniminous

    August 9, 2016 at 11:04 pm

    @Emma:

    I can’t stand most Tolkien criticism. The typical LitCrit superciliousness gives me hairballs. But they do have a point when they say it’s a Boy’s Own story. Elizabeth Moon’s Pak’s World books and Bujold’s Four Gods books point a better path forward and not just because its 2016 not 1936.

    @Comrade Scrutinizer:

    Or Morris’ “Well at World’s End” Or Homer’s “Odyssey” for that matter. :-)

    I grant it is a fair cop … how about: Tolkien defined the High Fantasy genre for most of the 20th and early 21st centuries”

  140. 140.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 9, 2016 at 11:05 pm

    @Miss Bianca: A fair cop.

    @Emma: There are other heroes because there are multiple stories being told at one time. For example: Merry and Pippin are a coming of age story. Their part in the destruction of the ring saga is what prepares them to be the hobbit sized heroes of the Scouring of the Shire. Etc.

  141. 141.

    Amir Khalid

    August 9, 2016 at 11:07 pm

    Just curious: How many American Harry Potter readers here have read the original, un-Americanised Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stpne?

  142. 142.

    Miss Bianca

    August 9, 2016 at 11:11 pm

    @Amir Khalid: Just curious, in return: other than the title, how different is it?

  143. 143.

    Anoniminous

    August 9, 2016 at 11:12 pm

    @Anoniminous:

    “fair cop”

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    “fair cop”

    Well that’s fairly odd.

  144. 144.

    burnspbesq

    August 9, 2016 at 11:14 pm

    @shomi:

    If we make you a Drano milkshake, will you drink it?

  145. 145.

    redshirt

    August 9, 2016 at 11:15 pm

    @efgoldman: This was a good burn by the way. Sorry I didn’t say so earlier.

  146. 146.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 9, 2016 at 11:15 pm

    @Anoniminous: Watch enough Monty Python and British mysteries and it becomes a part of one’s vocab.

    @burnspbesq: Depends on the polling.

  147. 147.

    Comrade Scrutinizer

    August 9, 2016 at 11:18 pm

    @Amir Khalid: Me. And listened to the audiobooks narrated by Stephen Fry, which are a bit more to my taste than the ones narrated by Jim Dale.

  148. 148.

    Emma

    August 9, 2016 at 11:19 pm

    @Amir Khalid: Me. I think. Bought a copy at Heathrow airport. Loaned it to some bastard who never gave it back. Replaced it with an American version later. Though now I wonder if the Heathrow copy wasn’t “for export” so to speak.

  149. 149.

    Comrade Scrutinizer

    August 9, 2016 at 11:19 pm

    @Anoniminous: Eowyn was a boy? :)

  150. 150.

    Mike E

    August 9, 2016 at 11:20 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: I think small pox polls higher

  151. 151.

    Emma

    August 9, 2016 at 11:21 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: I’m not arguing there are other heroes. I’m just saying that for me, the hero that stands out is Sam. The sensible, simple (man) with the rock-solid moral center.

  152. 152.

    Comrade Scrutinizer

    August 9, 2016 at 11:21 pm

    @Emma: Hate book stealing bastards. I bought mine (the books, not the bastards) from Amazon UK.

  153. 153.

    Emma

    August 9, 2016 at 11:24 pm

    @Comrade Scrutinizer: I bought mine at my (now deceased) Borders. Well, I placed orders for them and waited a couple of days to pick them up. Did go to pick up DH on THE day. I never laughed so hard in my whole life. Kids grabbed the books before the parent could sign the credit card slip and plonked themselves wherever they could find a space and started to read.

  154. 154.

    Amir Khalid

    August 9, 2016 at 11:24 pm

    @Miss Bianca:
    The vocabulary’s a lot more British, and so of course is the spelling. (With the later books, JKR had enough clout to forestall some of the more enthusiastic such editing.) As a reader, I’ve found that when editors Americanise a British writer’s prose, it can wind up reading awkwardly, as though it had lost some of its essential character on the way across the Atlantic. And the same goes for an American writer’s Britishised prose.

  155. 155.

    Emma

    August 9, 2016 at 11:26 pm

    @Comrade Scrutinizer: Don’t worry, I cursed him.

    For him that stealeth, or borroweth and returneth not, this book from its owner, let it change into a serpent in his hand and rend him. Let him be struck with palsy, and all his members blasted. Let him languish in pain crying aloud for mercy, and let there be no surcease to his agony till he sing in dissolution. Let bookworms gnaw his entrails in token of the Worm that dieth not, and when at last he goeth to his final punishment, let the flames of Hell consume him forever.”

  156. 156.

    Miss Bianca

    August 9, 2016 at 11:26 pm

    @Comrade Scrutinizer: I would love to get hold of Stephen Fry’s narration!

    @Amir Khalid: I completely agree with you, and hate that editors/publishers feel the need to do this.

  157. 157.

    Anoniminous

    August 9, 2016 at 11:35 pm

    @Comrade Scrutinizer:

    Éowyn is almost ‘stage furniture.’ She doesn’t have agency in the story, her heroic deed springs up out of the blue, and then she gets a standard “meets Prince & lives happily ever after.” Which is too bad as her story is for me the most interesting of all.

  158. 158.

    Emma

    August 9, 2016 at 11:39 pm

    @Comrade Scrutinizer: I actually like the movie Eowyn better. In Fact, I like most of the females better in the movies.Tolkien, alas, had difficulties with female characterization.

  159. 159.

    Bobby D

    August 9, 2016 at 11:51 pm

    @one_particular_harbour, fka Botsplainer: They had practice. Lots and lots of practice!

  160. 160.

    jonas

    August 10, 2016 at 12:08 am

    Having school-age kids who are HUGE Harry Potter fans has basically made explaining the Trump phenomenon a no-brainer. They simply *get* how there are revanchist assholes who want to purge the world of muggles and mudbloods and that those people must be stopped.

  161. 161.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 10, 2016 at 12:19 am

    @jonas: You just say, “They are Death Eaters?” That simple?

  162. 162.

    Suzanne

    August 10, 2016 at 12:26 am

    @Mnemosyne: “Half-Blood Prince” is my favorite, as well. I love how it explores the shiftiness and permanence of memory, and really gets to how those family wounds never really heal. I was disappointed that the movie cut out the scene in which we finally meet Tom Riddle’s mother, and shortened the scene in the cave, which was just so creepy and sad.

  163. 163.

    Amir Khalid

    August 10, 2016 at 12:42 am

    @Suzanne:
    I too always considered it a tragedy that Merope Gaunt — probably the saddest, most isolated character in the Potter canon — never made it to the movie. She and Krystal Weedon in The Casual Vacancy, JKR’s first post-Potter novel, have a lot in common, it seems to me: girls left out on the edge, trying to find their way into the world any way they could, and failing bravely but tragically.

  164. 164.

    Miss Bianca

    August 10, 2016 at 1:12 am

    @Amir Khalid: I loved “The Casual Vacancy”!

  165. 165.

    Calming Influence

    August 10, 2016 at 1:58 am

    @hilts:

    “Imagine FBI director Chris Christie…”

    Now imagine FBI director Chris Christie in a tutu…

  166. 166.

    Prescott Cactus

    August 10, 2016 at 2:05 am

    Republicans vote for Schlitterbahn.

  167. 167.

    sherparick

    August 10, 2016 at 7:45 am

    @redshirt: Another useful inoculation non-fiction read is Eric Hoffer’s “The True Believer.”

    Also, running second on the ticket is “Dr. Moriarty.”

  168. 168.

    Grumpy Code Monkey

    August 10, 2016 at 12:52 pm

    @Hal: OotP had more than its share of problems, but it also introduced the most genuinely, realistically frightening character in the Potterverse – Dolores Umbridge. She is “the banality of evil” writ large. Voldemort just wants to take over the world – Umbridge wants order. That makes her far, far more dangerous.

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