immortality
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
The first of July is here; it’s time to kick off the Novel Ideas Harry Potter Extravaganza. We open, of course, with the first book, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling. In this episode we discuss child abuse, friendship, and standard juvenile/YA themes. We also cover untagonists, wizard racism, and possible benefits of having sly people on your side. Fan geeking is relatively low this week, though we do delve into reasons why Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff probably should be more competitive for the house cup and Ben’s irritation with the rule of quidditch.
The music bump is “Goin’ Back to Hogwarts” from A Very Potter Musical. The music and lyrics are by Darren Criss and A.J. Holmes.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
Recommendations:
Read it! If you’ve managed to somehow avoid it this long, check it out. It will read a little kid-ish, but it’s fun and easy to read.
The Night Circus
Novel Ideas returns to spark your imagination, but it only works if you wait until after sunset. This week’s entry is The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, a newer book about… a circus. That happens at night. Honestly, I have no idea how to describe this book quickly without being totally glib about it. In our discussion, we talk about some of the interesting features of the book, such as whether the setting can be the main character, what makes a compelling love story, and monochromatic characters. We also decided that we want to have a midnight dinner. Sounds fun. And despite our best attempts, we were unable to wring any feminist issues out of this book. Tune in for the second half of the podcast where we sit in stunned silence for twenty-two minutes.
The music bump is Britney Spears’s “Circus” as covered by Dirty Loops, the funkiest Swedish fusion trio working today.
Tuck Everlasting
Welcome to our special election edition of Novel Ideas. Today’s episode features Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt, a book that has absolutely nothing to do with elections. This is a slightly shorter than average episode, as the book itself is rather short itself. But for such a short book, there is a surprising depth to it. In the podcast we talk about the character traits of twelve year olds, the effects of August, and the ethics of kidnapping. We also talk about immortality. Like, a lot. So who wants to live forever? No one and everyone.
The music bump is “Who Wants to Live Forever” by the immortal (not literally) Queen.
Novel Ideas 