Curse You, Potter!
I said I was pretending Harry Potter didn't exist, so as not to spend a week up all night frothing at the mouth and obsessing about the book, like last time a new one came out. But, thanks to Sweetie, that plan is going out the window.
Yes, I came home last night to find my significant other reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.
For the first time.
"Wait-- are you reading Harry Potter?"
"Oh-- yes."
"You manage to successfully avoid Harry Potter for the past ten years, and you're starting it now?"
Oy. I like to think I could have managed to forget about Harry Potter till at least next week. But not while it's being flaunted right next to me. That's just not fair! He finished it earlier this afternoon. Now he's gone out for groceries, having looked up the hours of our local bookstore before he left. I strongly suspect he will come home toting the second Potter book (the only one I don't already own).
Stephen King has a great column about the end of the Harry Potter books. It's not just the end of the series, it's the end of a shared cultural experience. When since Star Wars have we waited in line at openings? I wonder if I will be sad.
I refuse to ponder the significance of the final Harry Potter right now, because I'm still gamely forging ahead with Not Thinking About Harry Potter.
Although the game might... be up.
8 comments:
I haven't read them either :hides under the bed:... Well, I started reading the first one to my class 8 years ago, and we got to the train station, but I never finished. I do own all but the last one, I said if I had time this summer I might actually start them since everyone says they are their favorite books... we'll see.
Lol... Here's a funky coincidence that I didn't think about until reading this post.
I worked the RE-release of Star Wars when I was in high school. I'm working the release of the last Harry Potter. Apparently, I am a passing cultural moment whore...
Huh. I have seen all the movies, but I've not read the books, and was just thinking about doing that in the next two weeks to get ready for the release of the last one. Is that crazy? My husband has read them all.
I was also considering just starting with Order of the Phoenix and reading it before Wednesday, since I've seen the other movies. Will that work or do I need to read the books?
How ironic that SK chimed in about the 10 second silence at the end of Sopranos. When I wrote on my blog about how awful that was, I likened it to the pathetic fizzle that was the ending of the Dark Tower series. Before The Dark Tower, it never would have occurred to me that someone as brilliant and culture-paradigm transcendent as King or Rowling could possibly botch the ending of a series that might define a generation. Sadly, The Dark Tower, which was infinitely superior to most series published in the late 20th century, ended so badly that now it's just an embarrasing footnote. I've got my fingers crossed for Jo Rowling. Somehow, I have a feeling she'll come through. I'm still waiting for Dance with Dragons to come out, too.
Sadie-- That's a toughie. I think they're trying to make the movies continuous, because as the books get bigger there's more and more to cut out. Then again, because of the cutting, if you jumped into Book 5, there might be subplots you wouldn't have seen because they cut them out of Book 4. My bf's seen the movies but hasn't read the books until now.
Mark-- Dark Tower has been on my list awhile. I'm trying to work my way through Steven Erikson's stuff first. I don't think JK will botch the end, but I also think I'm wary of how both she and George R.R. Martin seem to be having "George Lucas syndrome", as in their books get longer and longer as they get more popular and their editors get less inclined to crack down.
Ah, the last book is gonna be great! Like you, I'm not thinking about it though...
Doh!
~Chris Hyland
Oh check out my blog if you want :) Book reviews and competitions.
For the first time I'm obsessing about the new book. Up until now, I happily waited for the paperback version to come out a good few months after the hardback version, but I don't think I can do it this year. This is partly because it's the last one, and partly because hubby suddenly discovered HP (are we living parallel lives?) so we've watched all four films on DVD during the last month. So now we're both obsessing about the new film too!!
... going to see the movie tonight!
Post a Comment