Mere days have passed since the release of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, slamming its bulk of pages on shelves across the well-to-do nations and islands of the world. Leading up to the break, rife speculation on the identity of the characters to be cast down into the hoary depths of death. At least in literary terms.
With the healthy fan base installed at the roots of the release, the confirmation from Rowling on the execution only served the rampant expectation for the sale. A ravishing lust for the tender breaking of the spine with that first day's harried consumption. Death or no death, it was always going to sell millions upon milions of copies.
Riding on the skinned back, a Sydney Islamic bookshop is getting on the death mix. Spouting ideology courting the death of non-Muslims, a myriad of hate literature calling for the deaths of non-Muslims. In a climate of increasing chilblains the inflammatory material highlights the news with one leader entitled, Join the Caravan. Currently under investigation.
Death in books is heating up. Last month, dropping stone cold after a heavy night through an extended session forcing compacted stools, Loner: Inside a Labor Tragedy. Before even the bargain and sale labels had their chance to smother, the contents were constantly summarised through the media filter. Bargain hunters only need read while suffering the indignity of stocking on another edition of Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code.
Written on Monday, 18 July 2005