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Repotting Harry Potter: A Professor's Book-By-Book Guide for the Serious Re-Reader
A professor of literature for over thirty years, Dr. James W. Thomas takes us on a tour through the Potter books in order to enjoy them in different ways upon subsequent readings. Re-readers will be pleasantly surprised at what they may have missed in the books and at what secrets Rowling has hidden for us to uncover as we revisit these stories. The professor's informal and often lighthearted discussions focus on puns, humor, foreshadowing, literary allusions, narrative techniques, and other aspects of the Potter books that are hard-to-see on the hurried first or fifth reading. Dr. Thomas's brilliant but light touch proves that a "serious" reading of literature can be fun.
"What do you read after HARRY POTTER? Finally, there's a satisfying answer - you read REPOTTING HARRY POTTER for a whole new depth of appreciation and enjoyment. This book allows anyone intimidated by literature classes to sneak a seat in a class with one of those professors every student loves. You'll come away with a new depth of knowledge of Rowling's epic but also with a list of related literature you will want to read; great insights for aspiring writers too." Connie Neal, author of THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO HARRY POTTER
"What do you read after HARRY POTTER? Finally, there's a satisfying answer - you read REPOTTING HARRY POTTER for a whole new depth of appreciation and enjoyment. This book allows anyone intimidated by literature classes to sneak a seat in a class with one of those professors every student loves. You'll come away with a new depth of knowledge of Rowling's epic but also with a list of related literature you will want to read; great insights for aspiring writers too." Connie Neal, author of THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO HARRY POTTER
352 pages, Paperback
First published January 8, 2009
43 people are currently reading
3306 people want to read
About the author
James W. Thomas
13 books5 followersDr. James W. Thomas, Professor of English, Pepperdine University.
Thomas' academic interests surround Faulkner, J.K. Rowling, Toni Morrison, and, Poetry and poetics.
Thomas' academic interests surround Faulkner, J.K. Rowling, Toni Morrison, and, Poetry and poetics.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
December 4, 2013
A really fun book which focuses primarily on Rowling's use of puns and foreshadowing. He walks us through all seven books in order two or three chapters at a time. Beyond these basics of punning and foreshadowing, there is much genuine insight into deeper topics as well. One of the nice things about the book is that he isn't hesitant to point out inconsistencies or flaws in the stories themselves, something other Potter critics haven't much touched upon.
The book is not without its flaws and irritations. He is far too taken with modernist literature for his and our good, constantly seeing connections to and recommending us to read bad literature, the sort of literature that "literature people" read, which is precisely the sort of literature that Potter is not. There is nary a mention of Narnia or any of the other works that Rowling said influenced Harry Potter. Instead, we get very weak and reaching connections to Hawthorne, Joyce, Melville, Faulkner (ugh) and, worst of all, to Kant. Twice. Bad, bad, bad. And he sneers down at one of the best works of literature ever written, Spencer's The Faerie Queene. And he's got a seeming obsession with seeing sexual innuendo where there is none, or where the connection is a stretch at best (though there are some sexual jokes in Potter occasionally, like trolls comparing club sizes, etc.). But he relies overmuch (which is to say, at all) on Freud and Freudian psychology for his readings of many of these "innuendos." But these play only tangential roles in the book, so if you can ignore them, there is much good here too.
The book is not without its flaws and irritations. He is far too taken with modernist literature for his and our good, constantly seeing connections to and recommending us to read bad literature, the sort of literature that "literature people" read, which is precisely the sort of literature that Potter is not. There is nary a mention of Narnia or any of the other works that Rowling said influenced Harry Potter. Instead, we get very weak and reaching connections to Hawthorne, Joyce, Melville, Faulkner (ugh) and, worst of all, to Kant. Twice. Bad, bad, bad. And he sneers down at one of the best works of literature ever written, Spencer's The Faerie Queene. And he's got a seeming obsession with seeing sexual innuendo where there is none, or where the connection is a stretch at best (though there are some sexual jokes in Potter occasionally, like trolls comparing club sizes, etc.). But he relies overmuch (which is to say, at all) on Freud and Freudian psychology for his readings of many of these "innuendos." But these play only tangential roles in the book, so if you can ignore them, there is much good here too.
June 23, 2012
This is a good book for people who are re-reading Potter, or any book, for the first time. It gives a first-time re-reader a lot of things to think about and look for. It's very elementary, however, for those of us who have been re-reading Potter for years, and who are experienced re-readers of literary fiction.
The conversational tone of the writing is nice to an extent but does become distracting in places; Thomas uses some weird colloquialisms ("what all" is a particularly annoying one) at times.
There are for sure places where I feel he completely misses the point (a discussion about Sirius Black and the lengthy Marauders reveal in book three springs immediately to mind), but that's sort of the fun of a book like this -- my own disagreement with the scholar. I also feel that he makes a lot of statements and then sort of backs off of them -- like there are a lot of unfinished thoughts. But perhaps that's intentional and he felt like offering his own interpretation to the work wasn't really what he was trying to accomplish with this book.
One thing that did annoy though was his failure to include actual quotes from other pieces of literature he was referencing, instead suggesting over and over that his reader go check out those works to see what he's talking about. I get what he's trying to do (he's a teacher, for heaven's sake) -- he wants us all to read further and learn something. But seriously, no amount of cajoling or half-truths about William Faulkner will ever get me to read William Faulkner again. And I'm far too lazy to seek out unfamiliar poetry. So just give us a few lines here and there. Without these, it weakens what Thomas is trying to do.
And finally, his use of "Dumby" as a nickname for Dumbledore made me feel super stabby.
The conversational tone of the writing is nice to an extent but does become distracting in places; Thomas uses some weird colloquialisms ("what all" is a particularly annoying one) at times.
There are for sure places where I feel he completely misses the point (a discussion about Sirius Black and the lengthy Marauders reveal in book three springs immediately to mind), but that's sort of the fun of a book like this -- my own disagreement with the scholar. I also feel that he makes a lot of statements and then sort of backs off of them -- like there are a lot of unfinished thoughts. But perhaps that's intentional and he felt like offering his own interpretation to the work wasn't really what he was trying to accomplish with this book.
One thing that did annoy though was his failure to include actual quotes from other pieces of literature he was referencing, instead suggesting over and over that his reader go check out those works to see what he's talking about. I get what he's trying to do (he's a teacher, for heaven's sake) -- he wants us all to read further and learn something. But seriously, no amount of cajoling or half-truths about William Faulkner will ever get me to read William Faulkner again. And I'm far too lazy to seek out unfamiliar poetry. So just give us a few lines here and there. Without these, it weakens what Thomas is trying to do.
And finally, his use of "Dumby" as a nickname for Dumbledore made me feel super stabby.
Read
August 18, 2016I so enjoyed this book. Thank you, Kayla Weathers, for the tip. This book is for great lovers of Harry Potter and/or English teachers and I am both. The author is a college professor who ignored Harry Potter for a long time before reading the series and coming to love it and teach classes on it. The subtitle of the book is A Professor's Book-by-Book Guide for the Serious Re-Reader. I've re-read the series many times, so I was ready for this and it was timely, as I was reading it at the same time the new book, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child came out.
July 11, 2017
I enjoyed this book, but the thing is: 99% of the things the author mentioned I already discovered on my own. I know I am a huge Potter aficionado who re-read the series quite a few times, who watches the movies regularly and falls asleep to the audiobooks every night. The huge, huge plus of this books is that the author refers to other sources many of times, which paints a bigger picture for the sceneries in the book or why emotions are portrayed in a certain way. For instance: The author writes about the scene when Hagrid finds out that Buckbeak will be executed. The way Hagrid acts in that scene is linked to an Emily Dickinson poem. Whilst reading the poem myself, I found it to make perfect sense to link the two together. Who knows, maybe JKR had read the poem and used it as an inspiration? The book is filled with these kind of links, so be prepared to do a lot of extra reading to find out what the author is reading about. I loved it though!
February 25, 2018
I'm really glad that I read this book concurrently with re-reading the series. It not only served as a quasi-English course on some books that I love, but it made me realize that I should re-read great books more often. The depth and quality of J.K. Rowling's story was greatly enhanced by this volume.
July 11, 2021
As a constant re-reader of the series, it was really nice to have this running commentary to each book. He breaks down his chapters to focus on 3-4 chapters of the books at a time, which worked for me. The HP experts will enjoy reading this for the new insights to names, themes and possible passage influences from other literature that JKR used. The casual re-reader (only once or twice? Lol) will enjoy this as a way to make more of the minutia of the series stick out, and it’s worth it! So many little things get missed the first few times through the books.
Highly recommend this for any fans of the series
Highly recommend this for any fans of the series
April 5, 2022
While this wasn't bad, I do think I'm a bit beyond it. It definitely had some good pointers but having read this series as much as I have, on top of being an English major...I'd already made the parallels or the connections. I just needed this to go deeper than it did.
August 10, 2011
Fantastic re-reading companion! I wish our professor would have assigned this book when I took a HP class in college. :) Overall I thought it was a great read, and can be read without having your book collection nearby if you have a decent memory of the stories. I wish there was a little bit more on social commentary and more current topics, but I suppose you can only fit so much into one book.
I'd like to mention that it's also helpful to have a light literary background when reading this (but not necessary to understand the points being made), because many classics are referenced. I think anyone who is interested in a light literary critique would enjoy this book. The author tries very hard to convince the reader that his writing is not a standard "critical review", but rather an interesting lecture in book formant. The author also does a great job of tying individual books together to further shape the series as a singular thought process.
I'd like to mention that it's also helpful to have a light literary background when reading this (but not necessary to understand the points being made), because many classics are referenced. I think anyone who is interested in a light literary critique would enjoy this book. The author tries very hard to convince the reader that his writing is not a standard "critical review", but rather an interesting lecture in book formant. The author also does a great job of tying individual books together to further shape the series as a singular thought process.
October 29, 2013
I learned a lot of things I didn't know about the series before, but overall I felt like this author was trying a little too hard to find symbolism and foreshadowing in every word. A bit too much "overthink" as he calls it. But when he wasn't overthinking it, it was interesting, and the literary analysis didn't make me like the series any less. I do like his thoughts about why we re-read books we love.
July 6, 2013
I reread the entire series each summer...typically a book per day. This year, I reread the series in conjunction with this title, taking my time, delving into the magic (sorry, but what other word fits???) of the stories once again. This was a great companion book for someone looking to invest a little time and reconnect to the story once again.
June 25, 2018
I've had this on my to read list for a few years so finally decided to get it. I am not glad I did. I thought it would be much more interesting and look into the background to spells and other Rowling made up words and the origins of them etc. Nothing jumped out at me as me having missed it when I've read the books or much being really "hidden". There's obviously hints at things to come which mean nothing to begin with but do upon re-reading but they're not really hidden, they just don't have context yet. So much talk about foreshadowing, but without it things wouldn't make sense later on in the books so it's necessary, however Thomas makes it seem like it's cleverly hidden, whereas I just see it as good writing.
I had so many issues with the book. I only made note of some of them.
On page 12 he says to think about Griphook's lying about the sword... "but to his stealing the sword for himself". Technically he didn't steal the sword. Harry said he could have it, Griphook just took it earlier than Harry was hoping, and that's what you get for making a deal with a goblin, he was forewarned.
On page 22 he talks about The Draught of the Living Death sounding like/being what Snape gives Dumbledore after the curse from the ring. On page 247, and again later, he talks about Snape's role of "stoppering death". But the potion "brings upon its drinker a very powerful sleep that can last indefinitely" as written in Advanced Potion Making, so Snape cannot have given it to Dumbledore as he is not in a deep sleep for HBP.
One major spelling mistake is on page 152, Hufflepuff is written as "Huffelpuff", twice!
On page 261 he says that we may assume that Harry returns to Hogwarts for his final year and resumes playing Quidditch. Rowling has stated that Hermione returned to Hogwarts to complete her seventh year, but Harry and Ron did not. He also mentions that it seems appropriate Harry "put away his childish things" and play no more. Or, it could also be that as he will be hunting for Horcruxes suddenly taking to the air to play some Quidditch is highly dangerous, not that he is putting away "childish" things.
On page 307 it says that Hermione's childhood was Christian while Harry's with the Dursleys was "normal". There is no reference to religion in the books. It is never stated that Hermione is Christian and I don't see there's enough to prove that she is, neither can it be proven that the Dursleys are not.
During the chapters about PoA it says that Pettigrew "ratted on his friends". That seems an odd choice of words to me. He revealed where Lily and James where but "ratted on" is as though he told tales on them, which makes it seem very juvenile and takes away the seriousness of what he actually did. (And don't get me started on all the seriously references!)
The bits about Lupin and "case" being referred to were really grating. Perhaps case was referred to with Lupin because he had a suitcase and that's it!
The countdowns being 1-2-3 or 3-2-1 was mentioned a lot but didn't seem to have a conclusion. And was irritating. I would assume that the countdowns in the book were referred to that way because that's the way most countdowns are done, from 3 to 1 or 1 to 3!
A lot of focus on right and left and it just seemed like he was reading way too much into it. He found it strange that it was Malfoy's right arm that was injured as that is the "good" side. Maybe it was simply because he is right handed so that is the arm that would cause the most disruption to be injured. The same as Harry's injured arm being his right; assuming he is right handed he would have reached out for the snitch with his dominant hand. It seems to be he read way too much into a lot of things in the books.
Stop referring to Dumbledore as "Dumby"! Just no!
The general writing style of this book I did not like. I would have expected more from somebody who teaches literature. There were many spelling and grammatical errors and his use of "what all" several times just reads awfully. He seemed to jump around a lot as well, it was not neat and orderly or consistent in the way the chapters were discussed. There were a lot of mentions of things with reference to more about them coming later and never seeming to.
I thought that there were too many references to other works, some of which Rowling may never have read and may not have taken inspiration from. I didn't read this book to be told to read others that I would like (how does he know?) that are not Harry Potter related. The other books looking in Harry Potter I can understand being referenced and perhaps I should have gone with one of those instead.
Overall I was very disappointed in this book. It just didn't give me what I thought it was going to and I'm now wary of others of the sort as I don't want to read the same again.
I had so many issues with the book. I only made note of some of them.
On page 12 he says to think about Griphook's lying about the sword... "but to his stealing the sword for himself". Technically he didn't steal the sword. Harry said he could have it, Griphook just took it earlier than Harry was hoping, and that's what you get for making a deal with a goblin, he was forewarned.
On page 22 he talks about The Draught of the Living Death sounding like/being what Snape gives Dumbledore after the curse from the ring. On page 247, and again later, he talks about Snape's role of "stoppering death". But the potion "brings upon its drinker a very powerful sleep that can last indefinitely" as written in Advanced Potion Making, so Snape cannot have given it to Dumbledore as he is not in a deep sleep for HBP.
One major spelling mistake is on page 152, Hufflepuff is written as "Huffelpuff", twice!
On page 261 he says that we may assume that Harry returns to Hogwarts for his final year and resumes playing Quidditch. Rowling has stated that Hermione returned to Hogwarts to complete her seventh year, but Harry and Ron did not. He also mentions that it seems appropriate Harry "put away his childish things" and play no more. Or, it could also be that as he will be hunting for Horcruxes suddenly taking to the air to play some Quidditch is highly dangerous, not that he is putting away "childish" things.
On page 307 it says that Hermione's childhood was Christian while Harry's with the Dursleys was "normal". There is no reference to religion in the books. It is never stated that Hermione is Christian and I don't see there's enough to prove that she is, neither can it be proven that the Dursleys are not.
During the chapters about PoA it says that Pettigrew "ratted on his friends". That seems an odd choice of words to me. He revealed where Lily and James where but "ratted on" is as though he told tales on them, which makes it seem very juvenile and takes away the seriousness of what he actually did. (And don't get me started on all the seriously references!)
The bits about Lupin and "case" being referred to were really grating. Perhaps case was referred to with Lupin because he had a suitcase and that's it!
The countdowns being 1-2-3 or 3-2-1 was mentioned a lot but didn't seem to have a conclusion. And was irritating. I would assume that the countdowns in the book were referred to that way because that's the way most countdowns are done, from 3 to 1 or 1 to 3!
A lot of focus on right and left and it just seemed like he was reading way too much into it. He found it strange that it was Malfoy's right arm that was injured as that is the "good" side. Maybe it was simply because he is right handed so that is the arm that would cause the most disruption to be injured. The same as Harry's injured arm being his right; assuming he is right handed he would have reached out for the snitch with his dominant hand. It seems to be he read way too much into a lot of things in the books.
Stop referring to Dumbledore as "Dumby"! Just no!
The general writing style of this book I did not like. I would have expected more from somebody who teaches literature. There were many spelling and grammatical errors and his use of "what all" several times just reads awfully. He seemed to jump around a lot as well, it was not neat and orderly or consistent in the way the chapters were discussed. There were a lot of mentions of things with reference to more about them coming later and never seeming to.
I thought that there were too many references to other works, some of which Rowling may never have read and may not have taken inspiration from. I didn't read this book to be told to read others that I would like (how does he know?) that are not Harry Potter related. The other books looking in Harry Potter I can understand being referenced and perhaps I should have gone with one of those instead.
Overall I was very disappointed in this book. It just didn't give me what I thought it was going to and I'm now wary of others of the sort as I don't want to read the same again.
August 1, 2021
This book would be a good read for a serious Harry Potter fan. It analyzes each of the books in the series, by small groups of chapters. Reading it made me realize I remember the movies much better than the books so a reread is in order. I enjoyed it.
April 7, 2018
Most books about Harry Potter have bored me, but not this one. Some of it is a bit silly to me, but it hits on many things that my brain loves.
February 28, 2015
I love all things HP. To that end, I periodically read books about reading the HP books. This book promised to be "A Professor's Book-By-Book Guide for the serious Re-Reader" but fell quite flat of that goal. First, let me the say it is obvious the author is sincerely fond of the HP books and uses the first chapter to make the arguement that the series can be considered a literary classic. However the chapters discussing each book had a very silly and pedantic tone (why is the author refering to Dumbledore as Dumby throughout the book?). The author constantly made really bad puns. Even if a few are amusing, the amount in this book lead me to wonder if the author got paid for each pun that made it into the book. There were some insightful comments, but surrounded by so many obvious statements and just inaccurate speculations (such as Rita Skeeter turning in a beetle was one of many references to 'The Beatles') it was hard to enjoy. I really had to push through to finish the book. To the critical reader, I would recommend other commentary/discussion of the HP series; this book does not do it justice.
July 15, 2014
This book was a lot of fun and the pacing of the book was just right. I never felt like it focused too long on a certain book or chapter ( although I do wish he would have spent more time on the last book). There were a few comparisons that he kept coming back to that were not very convincing and where it seemed like the author was just grasping for comparisons. I read this book a year after I had re-read the whole series so it was still fresh in my mind and his writing style was also very laid back. I think this book is the only one he's writing where he analyzes a series but if he ever wrote one for any other series I've read, I would definitely read it.
Although the description says that it can be enjoyed by those who are reading it for the first time, I highly recommend that new readers actually finish the entire series before getting into this book. There are so many spoilers in this book that had I read it before reading the seventh book, I would be extremely disappointed. Sometimes it's not outright spoilers but he does lead on to early enough about which characters may or may not survive.
Although the description says that it can be enjoyed by those who are reading it for the first time, I highly recommend that new readers actually finish the entire series before getting into this book. There are so many spoilers in this book that had I read it before reading the seventh book, I would be extremely disappointed. Sometimes it's not outright spoilers but he does lead on to early enough about which characters may or may not survive.
February 7, 2017
Took my time rereading all of the Potter books alongside Repotting Harry Potter. Repotting divides the Potter books into chunks of 2-6 chapters and feels like a friend, who reading the Potter books with you, wants to make sure you didn't miss anything he found particularly amusing, well written, or insightful. Puns, foreshadowing, symbols, character growth, and almost no criticisms. I particularly enjoyed the many places where Professor Thomas stops to admire specific passages where Ms. Rowling really shines as a writer.
This book in partnership with the Potter series would make a great foundation for an introductory literature course. Most literature courses expose students to works with which they are completely unfamiliar, and very often, did not enjoy reading. If someone has already read and enjoyed at least some of the Potter books previously and then comes to read the whole series with Repotting, I think they would come to understand and even appreciate what all those English teachers are raving about when they pick apart a story and examine all its parts.
This book in partnership with the Potter series would make a great foundation for an introductory literature course. Most literature courses expose students to works with which they are completely unfamiliar, and very often, did not enjoy reading. If someone has already read and enjoyed at least some of the Potter books previously and then comes to read the whole series with Repotting, I think they would come to understand and even appreciate what all those English teachers are raving about when they pick apart a story and examine all its parts.
December 10, 2012
Having never read a book about a book, I wasn't sure what to expect. While I think this professor's class would be interesting and insightful, I felt the writing was a bit pompous. There were countless references to other works, many of which I felt were included only to demonstrate his well-read background and to give authenticity to his ability to deconstruct literature. What I liked about it was that it was conversational - and since no one in my real life enjoys sitting around, discussing the details and plots and logic of the Harry Potter books, it was an enjoyable read. I would have given it 3 stars for that reason but the puns were simply too much for me. If he hadn't pointed them out so often, it might have been okay. As it was, he used quotation marks or apologized to make sure that the reader noticed each and every pun. It was too over the top for me.
March 19, 2013
I must say, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Having read all the Harry Potter books it's nice to know what subtleties I may have missed first time around, and what I should look out for during the inevitable rereads.
James W. Thomas' tone throughout is light and conversational. I never felt bogged down by descriptions or bored by his discussions, as can quite often be the case when people go about dissecting books.
Simply put, if you're planning on picking up your Potter books again, read this book first. It will enhance the experience.
James W. Thomas' tone throughout is light and conversational. I never felt bogged down by descriptions or bored by his discussions, as can quite often be the case when people go about dissecting books.
Simply put, if you're planning on picking up your Potter books again, read this book first. It will enhance the experience.
December 28, 2018
A truly excellent book! It's an easy read, but really makes rereading Harry Potter even more fun. The author points out many things I probably would not have seen on my own. I've heard he teaches a class on Harry Potter - I only wish I could take it!
Having only read this book by this author, I would, without question, snatch up his other books.
If you are a Harry Potter fan, don't miss this book!
Having only read this book by this author, I would, without question, snatch up his other books.
If you are a Harry Potter fan, don't miss this book!
Want to read
April 11, 2009Written by an English professor at Pepperdine, who pioneered a class dedicated to exploring the series. A quote from the author: "The books are very recent, but all classics were recent at one point. I think the elitist assumption is that something popular cannot also be good. So much detail is encoded in these books."
December 28, 2009
This was a fun read especially if you're like me and you've reread Harry Potter untill you're dizzy. :) But by the time the author was looking at the Deathly Hallows he was starting to bug me because he kept trying to compare Harry to Christ for stupid reasons. Overall though, it was really funny and interesting!
September 25, 2013
Many, many good points made in these pages; some I had heard elsewhere, some were new to me. My biggest problem was with some spelling errors (Huffelpuff instead of Hufflepuff? Riming instead of rhyming?) But, except for those small, editorial problems, it was a good book and I can't wait to get into my next reread of the series just so I can put what I learned in these pages to good use.
April 22, 2013
Okay. Well this is a nice little partner read for anyone who does not pick apart books. I do, so I just nodded and agreed with much of this book. I didn't have any great, mind-opening "WOW" moments. I even have a few little things I find wonderful or questionable that Thomas made no mention of. Glad I made myself finish it, but will likely not read it or reference it in the future.
June 28, 2013
Very good companion book to Harry Potter lovers, those who like to analyze literary works, and those who are willing to look up the many references to other works that the author gives. I thought I would be okay to read this on my reading background, but it turns out that I have made many marks to do some further reading(never a bad thing!).
August 21, 2013
Really enjoyed reading this book while re-reading the Harry Potter series. It was informative and instructive, while also being entertaining, and even touching. Professor Thomas has a style that appreciates the story and characters of the HP world, but also enjoys the humor and whimsy in the books.
August 2, 2014
Loved reading this so much. Great conversational writing style which made it fun to read but also made lots of interesting points and references. Mentioned lots of things I hadn't noticed before or didn't know about. Highly recommended for anyone who is interested in getting more out of the Harry Potter books upon re-reading.
April 1, 2012
Finished reading this without rereading the canon. Still made me cry.
I liked John Granger books more.
I liked John Granger books more.
April 23, 2015
This professor explains Rowling's writing method, from her foreshadowing and symbolism, to her play on words. He really picks out the details that I missed when reading it on my own.
October 4, 2012
A few things I had not considered before, but will re-think.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews