How does J.K. Rowling feel now that she has finished the seventh and final Harry Potter book? The author herself confided last Tuesday on her Web site that Charles Dickens put it better than she could: "It would concern the reader little, perhaps, to know how sorrowfully the pen is laid down at the close of a two-years' imaginative task; or how an Author feels as if he were dismissing some portion of himself into the shadowy world ..." reads the passage from Dickens' preface to David Copperfield.
Rowling announced Feb. 1 that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows would come out July 21, bringing to an end one of the great phenomena of literary history. More than 325 million copies of the first six books have sold.
"I always knew that Harry's story would end with the seventh book, but saying goodbye has been just as hard as I always knew it would be," Rowling writes.
PHOTO: AP
"Even while I'm mourning, though, I feel an incredible sense of achievement .... I've never felt such a mixture of extreme emotions in my life, never dreamed I could feel simultaneously heartbroken and euphoric." She continues.
"If it comes as any consolation, I think that there will be plenty to continue arguing and speculating about, even after Deathly Hallows comes out," she writes.
"I'm almost scared to admit this, but one thing has stopped me collapsing in a puddle of misery on the floor. While each of the previous Potter books has strong claims on my affections, Deathly Hallows is my favorite, and that is the most wonderful way to finish the series." (AP)
J.K.羅琳女士已完成《哈利波特》第七集完結篇，不知她此刻心情如何？她上週二在個人網站上透露她讀到狄更斯《大衛．考伯菲》序言的一段文詞，意有所感地說，查理斯．狄更斯比她表達得更透徹深入︰「也許，這與讀者較無關，理解兩年的想像任務結束了，筆擱下有多感傷；或者，作者宛似把一部分的自己拋向陰暗世界，感受如何呢？」
羅琳女士二月一日宣布，《哈利波特7︰哈利波特與致命聖靈》（暫譯）預計於七月二十一日發行，文學史上最大的盛潮之一即將畫下句點。前六集共賣出了三億兩千五百多萬本。
羅琳女士說︰「我一直心裡有數，哈利波特的故事將於第七集告終，但就是如我想的一樣難以道別。」
她繼續表示︰「即使我感到哀痛，我還是擁有了不起的成就感‥‥我一生從未感到情緒如此複雜洶湧，從未想到自己會同時感到黯然憔悴又心滿意足。」
她說︰「假如有任何慰藉，我想就是即便是在第七集出版後，還有後續要討論、思索。」
「我幾乎害怕坦承這一點，但有一件事阻止我墜入哀傷的泥沼。雖然前幾集的哈利波特每一本都強烈地得到我的鍾愛，但《哈利波特7︰哈利波特與致命聖靈》卻是我的最愛。這是為這系列小說畫下句點的最美好方式。」 （美聯社/翻譯：賴美君）
Whether they are a Siamese, Persian, Maine Coon, or Domestic Shorthair, there are hundreds of millions of cats living with people around the world. But despite their popularity as pets, the history of cat domestication has remained difficult for scientists to decipher. A new genome study is providing some insight into the matter by determining the timing of a key milestone in feline domestication - the introduction of domestic cats into Europe from North Africa. Domestic cats pounced into Europe roughly 2,000 years ago in early imperial Roman times, the researchers found, probably thanks to maritime trade. Some of these furry trailblazers
A: While year-end blockbusters hit cinemas, South Korea’s two-day 2025 Asia Artist Awards, known as “AAA,” is scheduled for this weekend in Kaohsiung. B: Saturday’s AAA award show will be co-hosted by IVE’s Jang Won-young and 2PM’s Lee Jun-ho. A: Apart from Park Bo-gum and IU from the K-drama When Life Gives You Tangerines, the lineup includes Lee Jun-hyuk, Kim You-jung, Yoon-a and Japan’s Satoh Takeru. B: And the performers include IVE, Le Sserafim, Monsta X, Stray Kids and Singapore’s JJ Lin. A: Sunday’s ACON music show will be co-hosted by I-dle’s Taiwanese member Susan Yeh and Cravity’s Taiwanese-American
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