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who are the Mitford sisters? sorry sevvy I thought you were just posting some random person and saying thats Narcissa.

the ministry always reminded me of communist russia

She’s my idol..after everything, the success,the fame, the adulation, she’s still one of the most humble,grounded people you’ll find. I love you Jo!!!

Actually, Chamberlain reminds me more of Scrimgeour – aware, but ultimately helpless and Fudge reminds me of his predecessor, Stanley Baldwin.

Marianne, I respect your beliefs about the ‘War on Terror’, but there are plenty of people in the world who do not view Al Quaeda in the same way you or President Bush does. Iraq had patently nothing to do with the September 11 attack (they were mostly from Saudi Arabia) and Saddam Hussein was a sworn enemy of Osama bin Laden. To lots of people around the world, this makes the US (and British) invasion and occupation of Iraq nothing more than an imperialist grab for oil (and in Afghanistan’s case, natural gas pipelines).

That way, Germany refusing to send more troops is not appeasing Al Quaeda (if they could find Saddam Hussein, they could find Bin Laden if they really wanted to). It’s just they don’t look at Al Quaeda with the same eyes as the Bush administration.

Anyway – back on topic – the idea of basing the three Black sisters – Andromeda, Narcissa and Bellatrix – on the Mitford sisters is fascinating. In the same analogy, Andromeda would be Jessica Mitford.

With all this talk of Fudge being based on Chamberlain. Does anyone else think certain bits of Dumbledore are based on Churchill? I know Churchill repeatedly spoke out against the appeasement of Hitler, which is rather like Dumbledore in OotP. When he is trying to tell the whole wizarding world that Voldy is back.

Neil, that would be one of the implications…tho it would be hard to imagine Churchill starting a secret society dedicated to fighting fascism and preserving the British parliamentary system (and Empire!)

Marianne, I’m sorry, but you are imposing an impossible meaning onto JKR’s writings and public statements. The novels were conceived (pun intended) and the writing begun before 9/11, before the invasion of Afghanistan, and before the second Iraq War. If you are seeking a political meaning beneath HP, why not think in terms of the IRA Provos, the extreme Scots nationalists of the 70s, the Lockerbee bombing, and the occasional home-grown terrorist actions by extreme groups in Britain during the 80s and 90s….for example, the National Front. Those events would have been current and part of JKR’s life as she began the HP series….conversely, the events you are trying to link her work to lie in the future when she began her project. I’ll agree they occured roughly half-way through the process of writing the novels, and could have influenced her—tho I cannot find a specific statement by her, nor any spcific scene in the novels, that would prove the point. Unless of course you want to make the argument that she had classes with Trelawney and could See?

Doesn’t this seem like one of those times when Harry would turn to the arguing Hermione and Ron and say “Shut up, the two of you!” LOL Everyone is entitled to their own political opinion, and yes, you are entitled to state it, even here. But it will PROBABLY NOT convince anyone else to change their political opinion. Jo wrote this story because it was one she had in her mind and soul. She probably did not sit down and outline it to correspond to the history of Nazi occupation, and I bet she didn’t think the book needed to be prefaced with “Any similarities between fictional characters and real people is purely coincidental” I think she did draw many comparisons on real people, but it is all up to the reader to interpret…and interpretation is but an OPINION, unless it comes straight from the authors MOUTH! I love to read the comment sections unless it gets so uptight and criticizing. There’s enough drama on TV.

I dont know who the Mitford sisters are PLEASE someone excuse my american iggnorance and explain so I know what the bloody hell your talkin about! Yes after reading HP I find myself talking like a brit. Then explain who Bellatrix would be if Narcissa is Diana and Andromeda is Jessica.

Haha, it’s a basic pillar of fiction-writing that characters or narrators’ expressed views do not equate to the author’s! It is a very useful tool to play characters off each other in order to create irony. In other words, Marianne and others, stop translating JKR’s words in an interview into literal terms – you’re leaving massive gaps in what you infer. I’d like to think you’re just winding us up to take us off topic, but sadly you are probably being genuine.

BellaSnape, might I suggest either Google or Wiki for information about the Mitford sisters? There’s a wealth of info about them online and not really on-topic in this discussion.

Roni, you have me chuckling…perhaps in part because I always envisioned the Muggle Prime Minister as looking just like Tony Blair! ;-)

Only a few more months (9 months and about two weeks) and we’ll have the HBP film to talk about….

Ha! I figured it out with your advice JOJOJO. Unity is Bellatrix, Deborah is Narcissa, and Jessica is Andromeda. Their descriptions sound like she took them into consideration when creating the black sisters.

Bellasnape here’s info on the Mitford sisters http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitford_sisters

Thanks Neil, I already went there, thus read my post above yours . But like I said thank you and thanks again JoJoJo. I dont know why I didnt try there to begin with slipped my mind I guess.

if anyone can scan and email me a copy, i’d be happy to translate!

if you google ‘mitford sisters’ you will come up with many interesting articles about them!

I read the interview in XL Semanal and I’m truly horrified. It had been translated from an italian interview and they didn’t even bother to correct the names of the characters. Albus Dumbledore is referred as “Albus Silente” (some translation to spanish of “Albus Silenzio”, the italian name of Dumbledore, and Lockhart is named “Allock”. What were they thinking?

I, personally, am also a fan of Eragon as much as Harry Potter. I love Jo, though. She is my role model. One of her character’s b’days is on mine. HaHaHa!

Lupinette, can you lead us to the original interview then, which is hopefully available online?

I’ve read the excerpts in Spanish, and here are some corrections to the English translation:

- ...Voldemort’s return was, indirectly,... - ... government of Neville Chamberlain in Great Britain in the dawning of Second World War… - ... in seven years I didn’t meet anyone who I would have liked to have close to me… - ...So, I’d never punish him on the page.