From the category archives:

Hogwarts School of Literature

Briefly Re-”thinking” Harry’s Walk in the Woods

by Dave the Longwinded 06.20.2009

THH’s readers are a smart set — well informed and willing to stretch their imaginations.  I’ve always imagined that we come from a tremendously wide variety of ages, backgrounds, philosophies and worldviews.  I’ve also figured, in the last few days, that many of us have at least been distantly aware of the turmoil in Iran.  [...]

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BBC Narnia Code with Michael Ward Online

by Travis Prinzi 04.17.2009

BBC’s special, The Narnia Code, which is about Michael Ward’s excellent work, Planet Narnia, is available online for another 6 days!  I plan to watch it sometime this weekend.  Don’t miss the opportunity!
Johnny did an interview with Michael Ward for The Hog’s Head just prior to the release of the Prince Caspian movie.
Find Michael Ward [...]

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Heroes and Villains

by Dave the Longwinded 04.01.2009

I wouldn’t normally cite anything from Entertainment Weekly as an especially interesting analysis of things literary, but the most recent issue (3 April 2009) has a piece by Jeff Jensen exploring modern America’s fascination with villains and significantly flawed heroes (“Heroes and Villains”).  This passage struck me:
The current state of heroism can be summed up [...]

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Harry Potter Translations

by Travis Prinzi 03.27.2009

At Convention Alley 2008 in Ottawa, Josee LeBlanc gave a fascinating talk on decisions translators of the Harry Potter books have to make.  More dilemmas present themselves than you might think.
Here is one particular case study on that subject that you might find interesting.
I recall another example that Ms. LeBlanc gave.  Do you translate or [...]

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Dr. Manhattan: “The Superman exists…”

by Dave the Longwinded 03.09.2009

“…and he’s American” (IV.13).  His backstory comes straight out of a Marvel comic, a company famous for its heroes who are made so by exposure to some form of atomic energy.  He begins life as Jon Osterman, a kid predisposed toward ingenuity.  He becomes a physicist, working in high-tech tests for the federal government concerning [...]

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Rorschach: Watchmen’s Abyss

by Dave the Longwinded 03.04.2009

Rorschach (aka Walter Kovacs) is easily one of the more (in)famous characters from Alan Moore’s world.  And Dave Gibbons’s visual take on him has become iconic to many comic fans.  Figure 1 demonstrates the film’s desire to be as faithful to his character design as the medium allows.  The look clearly seems to draw from [...]

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Watchmen: Getting Started

by Dave the Longwinded 02.24.2009

Preliminaries (Updated)
Update:  Here’s another link that appeared online:  IGN’s “Top Ten Most Memorable Moments from Watchmen“.
First, here are a couple of links to online “annotated” versions of Watchmen (the book):

Watching the Detectives:  The site bills itself as “an internet companion” to the book; it’s akin to a Wiki, although the layout is different from anything [...]

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Who will watch Watchmen?

by Dave the Longwinded 02.21.2009

I had intentions of posting material on Watchmen in the coming weeks, with the movie’s coming release.  But, Red Rocker brought the subject up in the comments section of a post, so I thought I’d give everyone some material to mull over, now.
Watchmen is a radical departure from much of the material we’ve examined here [...]

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