US/UK - funny bits - Harry Goes Bad - Lucius

[Amy Z]

No: HPFGUIDX 16129

I pleaded:

> Could someone with a US edition confirm that this isn't in it?  I
> could swear I've never read that before.

Joywitch wrote:

>No, sorry, its there.  I checked.  Exactly those words, too.  Page
>276 of the PB US edition.  Clearly, Amy has not read the HP books
>often enough.  Better hop to it, Amy, or we will throw you out of the
>League Of Obsessed Nitpickers (L.O.O.N.)

You can't throw me out--I'm the vice president!

Well, I'm disappointed.  A little extra wussiness from the girl who 
was too useless even to run when the troll was after her, a la all 
those idiot women in B movies who just stand and scream while the 
hero gets the crap kicked out of him.  Sigh.  She improves after 
PS/SS, fortunately.

Ah, time to reread . . . I just =love= having an excuse.  (Spouse 
[looking deeply concerned, as if he is wondering whether to dial 911]: 
 Are you reading that =again=?  Me:  I have to!  There were two 
sentences that I entirely forgot existed!  That must never happen 
again!)

BTW, I move that we induct Haggridd into LOON at our next meeting, on 
the strength of this sentence:

>The intended meaning of "to career", "to lurch wildly
>or unexpectedly from place to place", is not by any means an 
alternate
>or secondary meaning of the verb "to careen".

Catherine wrote:

>I'm sorry, but I prefer the "timidly."  It was
>obviously there for a purpose, and the second sentence is
>meaningless.  The context of the UK edition is much better.  BTW, I'm
>glad also that JKR put her foot down about "mom" and "mum" - the
>children are English. 

She didn't put her foot down with SS, unfortunately.  But I can 
understand why.  She needed a good advocate who could have told her, 
"Jo, they're paying you six figures; they want this thing.  If you 
insist on 'mum' they'll let you have your way!"  She must've been way 
too intimidated to keep things exactly as she'd written them.

I don't so much mind the "timidly" and kind of wonder why they took it 
out.  But the second sentence in the UK edition seems unnecessary.  We 
KNOW Sirius hasn't been spoken to politely in 12 years; we get the 
irony (and sweetness, IMO) of her timidly calling him "Mr. Black" when 
no one has called him anything but "Hey, Scum" in years.  If I read 
the "no one had spoken to him politely" line in fanfic, I'd recommend 
the author drop it.  The "as if he'd never seen anything quite like 
her" that the US edition put in its place is very different, and 
unnecessary in its own way, but adds a nice flair IMO.  It could mean 
all sorts of things--it just kind of invites us into Sirius's head 
for a second.  I took it as Sirius thinking "wow, this girl has guts." 

Jenny wrote:

>What is the funniest scene or
>line/lines in any of the HP books, in your opinion?

I cull them all the time for my list of sigs; my all-time favorite (if 
I must choose) is below.  Sometimes there are longer scenes, e.g. as I 
said the other day, I would include the entire 1st Divination class if 
it weren't a tad long for a sig...

I did notice that CoS is greatly underrepresented in my sig list.  I 
thought about that, thought "I don't =think= I think CoS is less funny 
than the others," reread it, and decided that it's just as funny but 
doesn't have as many one-liners or short exchanges that really make me 
laugh out loud.  It has very funny situations that I can't boil down 
to something small enough for a sig.  Lockhart, the car, Myrtle, etc.

SML wrote:

>Harry, standing in front of the Mirror:  I am "The Major Pyre Star" 
<snip> errr, how about "Majesty, Rather Pro".... "Thy Rare Major Pest"

LOL at the Harry Goes Bad fantasy!  Now, please tell me you have an 
anagram program and didn't figure those all out in your head!

Did you know that H. Ross Perot is an anagram for Short Poser?

Suzanne wrote:

>I just cant picture him playing golf all day. He is just too 
obsessed. He has an
>in somewhere, and it isnt respectable for a man to have NO 
profession.  

I agree that he doesn't play golf (or the wizarding equivalent) all 
day . . . =unless= he's using that time to cut deals, twist arms, etc. 
 As far as we know, he's independently wealthy.  He collects things 
(e.g. torture devices) and lunches with other powerful people.  Since 
when is it not respectable to have no profession?  You're not 
insulting my beloved Lord Peter, are you?

I think your rich donors to Harvard are just what I picture.  This 
=can= involve a lot of work, if, like Lucius, you have many specific 
ambitions and are smart and willing to work hard to further your 
goals.  As I see him, he doesn't have a job, but he's very busy; he 
doesn't just fork over thousands of Galleons to St. Mungo's and take a 
couple of meaningless Board positions, like some philanthropists.  He 
really works the system.

I can't see him running the Prophet--too much like a real job--but it 
was a cool idea, Heidi!  =Owning= the Prophet--I can see that.

Amy Z

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 "And on Wednesday, I think I'll come off worst in a fight."
 "Aaah, I was going to have a fight.  Okay, I'll lose a bet."
 "Yeah, you'll be betting I'll win my fight. . . ."
                               -HP and the Goblet of Fire
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