BOOK REVIEWS:
1. An Epic Showdown As Harry Potter is Initiated Into Adulthood by Michiko Kakutani https://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/19/books/19potter.html Book: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows In this review, Kakutani calls the Harry Potter series monumental and spellbinding epic. Kakutani says this book has traditional literature with Hollywood sagas. Although Kakutani says many good things about this book, he also says that it "has some lumpy passages of exposition and a couple of clunky detours." 2. Children's Book's by Michael Winerp https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/99/02/14/reviews/990214.14childrt.html?mcubz=3 Book: Harry Potter and The Sorcerers Stone Winerp gives a few critiques to this book. "In the last four chapters, the storyteller begins to sputter, and there are twists I found irritating and contrived," (Winerp). Winerp also says that some of the characters act out of character, especially Hagrid. But, these are very small issues to an overall amazing book, according to Winerp. Overall, Winerp describes this book as "funny, moving, and impressive." INTERVIEW: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDOs5JzLnLk A. What are some interesting details about this interview? I think this interview is interesting because Rowling talks about her emotional connection to the book. She talked about how she knew from the very start of writing the Harry Potter series, that there was only going to be 7 books and that there was a very specific line that it was going to end with. B. Are there any quotes from the author that stood out? When Oprah asks her what it was like when she finished the series, she said "initially I was elated, but then there came a point I cried, as I've only cried once ever before in my life and that was when my mother died." When Rowling said this, it was really powerful because it shows how much the Harry Potter series meant to her and how much it changed her life. C. Was this an audio interview, or was it a transcript that you could read and go back to? This was an audio interview. D. Who conducted the interview? Oprah Winfrey conducted the interview on her talk show, The Oprah Winfrey Show. E. How old is it? This interview took place on October 1st, 2010. Rowling's last Harry Potter book was published July 21st, 2007. F. Does the interview shed light on why the author wrote the books? If so, how/ what? Rowling talks about in her interview what the Harry Potter books did for her. Rowling said "if it was an escape for all these children, you can imagine what it had been for me." Rowling had a tough life growing up and writing helped her a lot. Rowling also said that it was not just an escape from the world, but from discipline, and it gave structure to her life.
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