Club Jade

Maybe now that the book is out there can be a little less bemoaning? Or not. In any case, I got a wrap to do so I’ll just point y’all towards Andrew Wheeler’s HP round-up.

J.K. Rowling is ‘staggered’ by pre-release reviews, but they won’t stop fans from buying.

So far tonight…

• AP interviews Rowling

• Authorities could find leakee by tracing camera
• Crossover! John Ostrander speculates on Hallows.
• The story so far…
• It’s hard saying goodbye to Harry. Buck up kids! Write fanfic!
• What lurks beyond HP for the the literary world?
• You might be a Potter addict if…
• Now I’ve seen everything: Harry Potter grief counseling. (via Boing Boing)

The news that somebody uploaded photos of (probably) every page of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” several days before its official release date did not stay as buried as Scholastic and Bloomsbury might have liked: It was on the front page of the New York Times site, for one thing, and the AP picked it up as well. Spoilerphobes had better head to the back of the cave. Where is Sir Dan with his blindfolds when you need him?

Why is Harry so big? Been asking this for years, but I’m not sure Gannett here has all the answers… Online fandom, certainly, has a lot to do with reader base and the growth of the internet, but is Jo Rowling really the best author of the age?

The series is also adding to the chaos of the Middle East. Harry.

• Dissecting the Deathly Hallows leak.

• UK issues Potter stamps. And here we waited thirty years.
• Advice for parents: Helping kids deal with character deaths.
• For the clueless: a character cheat sheet and the loose ends.
• Adults like HP, too. Shocking!
• It must be everyone loves Natalie Portman month.
• And of course no phenomenon is complete without recipes.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, or at least a version of it, is indeed online… And the torrent is linked on Boing Boing. (No spoilers, just link.) Wonder how long that’ll last? I’m just not obsessed enough to squint my way through 400+ JPGs, but to each their own.

One of our own recently had a wonderful essay published in the Time Argus about having grown up along side Harry Potter. (There are no spoilers in this article.)

Kudos, Caroline!

Jim Dale, who reads the Harry audiobooks, knows how it all ends, and he can’t even tell his grandkids. Meanwhile, elsewhere in the NYT, a look at the directors of the HP films. Or simply keep up with their Harry Potter index. (Thanks, Liz!)

Meanwhile, no one has any business being surprised that Order of the Phoenix is tops at the box office, making about twice as the nearest competition, Transformers.

Also…

• The leak is out there. Spoilers at every turn!

• No Potter for ASDA supermarket chain. ASDA is the second largest retailer in the UK – and a subsidiary of Wal-Mart. Ha-ha.
• Deathly Hallows is as green as an almost 800 page book could possibly be.
• Booksellers gird their loins.
• Books still under warehouse guard.
• HP release sure to effect workplace productivity. Hey, we’ve all been there.

Now might be a good time to leave the internet, spoilerphobes! There’s a scanned copy of most of the book circulating… Yes, it could be fake, but why take the chance?

Wal-Mart recently announced its Harry Potter spoiler policy with a rather amusingly-written poem:

Wal-Mart’s Pledge to Harry Potter Fans

There’s plenty of excitement brewing,
As the final chapter draws near;
But hearing the story’s end from others,
Is what magicals and muggles all fear;
So at Wal-Mart worldwide we’ve decided,
To make a pledge to our customers that’s clear,
We’ll keep silent on what we discover July 21,
So you buy without fear of reveal here.

JK Rowling they aren’t, but it’s a great sentiment. Some stores are even handing out earplugs for the even more nervous.

Club Jade will also make all attempts to keep the spoilage off of our pages (if any of us can even stand to look for fear of getting spoiled ourselves) with plenty of warnings and links.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix made $12 million from Wednesday’s midnight openings, busting Return of the King’s previous record of $8 million. Who knows how much cash the weekend will bring… Also from Variety: Will book/movie synergy work for Potter? I don’t doubt it.

Order of the Phoenix

• Rotten Tomatoes: With most reviews in, OotP now getting 74%

• Interview with Phoenix scriptwriter Michael Goldenberg
• Moviefone ranks HP villians

Deathly Hallows

• Wal-Mart pledges not to spoil DH buyers by handing out earplugs.

• Harry’s effect of children’s reading habits overestimated.
• Washington Post profiles editor Arthur Levine.
• Only 20% of adult fans think Harry will die.