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The troubling timing of Book 7

by David Haber

The official release date of the final Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, was announced yesterday. This date is troubling to me for several reasons. We were hoping that Book 7 could be released on July 7, which would have been 7/7/07. But the disappointment that we have apparently missed getting Book 7 on 7/7/07 is not the main reason I am troubled by the announcement of the book's release date.

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Reader Comments: (Page 8)

You say that 07/07/07 would have been a great date to launch the book. And that the decision to release earlier could hint that the movie makers know something we don't...Well for the first thing i know that's impossible...The book is a huge hush hush matter and i don't think that it would be revealed to the movie makers of all ppl after their gross inaccurate depiction of the book...

So here's my theory and i believed long back that the date would be 21st July not 07/07/07 owing to this theory...

JK mentions the date clearly in her book, Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix, at the ministry where harry an his mates go to battle the eaters...

There quite in the beginning of the combat, just after harry has revealed to the eaters that Voldemort is a half blood, there is a chaos which ensues in which two prophecies get broken, that with a voice of an old man and other that of woman join them and there is a clear indication of the release date:

"...at the solstice come a new..."... "...and none come after...."

Isn't JKR clearly telling us fans the release date of the book would be a solstice?

Solstices as we know are two the summer (21st July) and the winter (22nd December). (Solstice-Days when the sun is focused on either the Tropic Of cancer or tropic of capricorn which means longest days or nights.)

I had initially clung on the desperate hope that it would be 22.12.06 but that didn't happen. But it all fits in, right?

Posted by Naveen from Kolkata,India on February 19, 2007 08:02 AM

Naveen, it all certainly does fit. Excellent reasoning.
I had been trying to figure out what those fragments of prophecy could allude to, and I think you've got it.

Posted by Patty from Quincy,Massachusetts on February 19, 2007 3:39 PM

Naveen, there is a big problem with your theory. The summer soltice is actually in June NOT July. Typically Jun 21st -22nd depending on the year. Check the web by typing in "Summer Soltice" and you find many sites to confirm this fact.

Posted by Heather from NJ on February 19, 2007 6:38 PM

I don't think the book release date has anything to do with the outcome of the book so much as how fast people read.
I imagine, like me, everyone on this site not sleep till they've finished reading book 7 so releasing it a week before the movie won't stop us going to the movie but the majority of readers and movie-goers take longer than a week to read the book and once they've started reading they probably won't go to the movie till they've finished the book, potentially affecting that all important opening weekend box office take.
And as much as some people might pretend otherwise - they make the movie to make money. And if we're at home reading the book, instead of sitting at the movies watching it, they won't be making money.
On the other hand, since we know the book is coming out a week after the movie, we'll probably make more of an effort to see the movie in the first week which create even more of an opening week box office take!
That's my theory on the whole thing anyway - I think 07/07/07 would have been brilliant.

Posted by Cassandra from New Zealand on February 20, 2007 5:30 PM

Everyone saying that Harry , dont tell me your reason is just because hes a major character because almost everyone in her books are, and thats what i like. also, the release date was rumoured to be 7/07/07 because 7 is a magical number (there are many examples, one i remember is that the gryffindor common room is on the 7th floor). if he DOES then i think voldermort survive...the prophecy has convined me that either one and the other still be alive...dont think that them both is reasonable...

Posted by Dvin from Glendale, CA on February 20, 2007 7:01 PM

Dvin, I agree with you that EITHER Voldy or Harry , and the other live. I am fairly confident that Harry survive. After all, 7 books worth of good/evil can't possibly end with evil winning, can they? I certaintly hope not!

Posted by Juliana from Hogwarts on February 21, 2007 11:53 AM

I agree, Juliana. Voldemort cannot prevail over Harry after all this time. Jo just wont do that to us. (Right, Jo, Right?)

Posted by Adrianna from Acton, MA on February 22, 2007 07:03 AM

i agree with you adrianna and juliana... i mean if harrry s there's no use of all the books jo has written... i mean it's just back to voldy ruling right... there's no point of HARRY POTTER

Posted by sumeetha from dubai on February 22, 2007 07:54 AM

Cassandra: I totally agree with you on the fact the date of release is there for commercial reasons. Maybe, Jo would have prefered a more symbolic date like 7/7/7, but sometimes, you have to cope with editors, producers, and so on. Anyway, a few years from now, HP be a classic and nobody care about the day it was released (does anybody remember when exactly Lord of the Rings was released?)

Posted by herve on February 22, 2007 08:12 AM

I really don't think it matters when the book or the movie are going to be released. It won't stop fans from seeing other movies if Harry were to (lets hope he doesn't). Plus even though a release date of 7/7/07 would have been symbolic would we have remembered it 10 years down the road. Naveen's theory was interesting, but funny seeing as Summer Solstice is on June 21st or 22nd...usually the 21st down here in Texas.:-)

Posted by Stacy on February 23, 2007 1:37 PM

After reading HBP, I thought that Harry would be the bravest ending that JKR could possibly write. A logical conclusion to the end of the saga, yes, but would she really do that? the hero after investing so much into his story? After all, the major market for the books and movies and merchandise is children/teens. Would parents bring their children to a movie where the main character s? Would you want to introduce your child to the HP stories, knowing that he s? I'm ing to bet most parents would not. It's too upsetting.

If Harry s, then I am not sure the market would be as strong for more movies. Imagine how sad it would be to watch the earlier movies knowing that Harry is doomed. I would just keep thinking, he doesn't even realize what is coming... I believe I would be interested in seeing the last 2 movies, if the industry even bothered to make them, but I think the aunce would be diminished.

I agree with the Star Wars analogy to a point. If you only know the Darth Vader character from 4-5-6, you consider him a villain. However, if you watch 1-2-3, you see the tragic story of his life and how he turned to the Dark Side. Now when you see any of the movies, it totally changes the way you view the character. The story is about Darth Vader not Luke. I don't think you can compare how fans think about Luke to how they think about Harry. I would be interested to hear if anyone thinks the story is about Voldemort and not Harry? Which brings me back to the beginning of my comment, if the story is about Voldemort, you would be able to off Harry, but if it is Harry's story, there seems to be too much invested in him to just him. I vote no on Harry ...

Posted by Jennie from Beachwood NJ on February 26, 2007 1:36 PM

It seems strange to me that the comments never refer to JK Rowling's whole i behind the books, the triumph of good over evil. So ultimately Harry may , but I have faith that she leave us with a satisfying ending.

Posted by Kaiya from Tucson on February 26, 2007 1:48 PM

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