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July 21, 2007
that Potter boy
Mike bought me the new Harry Potter book while we were at Best Buy today, and I just finished it about half an hour ago. Originally I wasn't going to buy it - I was going to wait until the library had it and check it out from there instead - but we passed by a display of the pretty hardbacks with their colorful covers and their shiny new book smells, and when Mike told me he was going to buy one for me, I couldn't say no. I started it shortly after we got home, and I just finished it a few minutes ago. I'm going to get into what I think about the Deathly Hallows later, but for now I'll give a little (a lot) backstory about me and Harry Potter.
When the first book came out, I could not have cared less about it or him. I thought it was kind of funny that so many people were getting so into it, but that was about all the thought I put into it at the time. Then, as more of the books came out and more people got into it, I started getting annoyed - I couldn't go ANYWHERE without hearing about Harry Potter, and the fans weren't laid-back about it all. They were fucking RABID, talking Harry Potter up like it was the best series ever written, bar none, and that grated on me. Even my brother got caught up. He was the cause of my first personal exposure to the series, in the form of the movies. The first Harry Potter movie was scheduled to come out right around his birthday, and because he was a HUGE fan (and I was notoriously bad about wrapping presents), I decided to take him to see it for his birthday: he'd get to see a movie he was extremely anxious to see and get a great birthday present, and I wouldn't have to wrap anything - perfection! I didn't hate the movie, but it didn't exactly suck me in, either. While I put aside some of my hate for Harry, I stayed a little aloof, unsure of whether or not I wanted to give the series any more of a try than that. The following year the second Harry Potter movie was on the horizon. Since taking my brother to the first one had been such a success, I took him to the second one for his birthday that year, with the same results. By that point I no longer hated Potter, but I still wasn't ready to don a Hogwarts shirt or wizard hat. We had plans to do the same thing the next year for the third movie, but when November rolled around, they foiled my brilliant birthday plan and pushed the release date back to the following summer. The cycle was broken (and I had to find another idea for a birthday present). After I met Mike, the kids reintroduced Harry Potter into my life. A and Z were both hardcore fans, and N was interested in the series as well, although not quite as much as his older brothers. I held out for a couple more years, but when Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was released in 2005, I caved. I decided to read the first book and see how I liked it. That coincided with my start at my new job, so while I was waiting to get set up with a computer and an account and all that good stuff, I brought Harry Potter along to keep me company. It only took me a couple of days to finish the first book, and that was the beginning of the end for me. For the rest of that week and part of the next, the only things I brought to work with me were the Harry Potter books, and I read them every chance I could. I finally understood why so many people liked the series. I still didn't (and don't) think it's the Best Series Evar (I'm still partial to the Chronicles of Narnia, the Dark is Rising, the Wheel of Time, and the Sword of Truth), but I do think it's much better than I initially gave it credit for. With that said, I'm a little sad to the series come to an end, although I do think it's best to end things like this while they are still good, instead of dragging them out until they're limping along, barely breathing anymore.
Posted by oracle at July 21, 2007 11:20 PM in entertainment / reading / the fourth year / watching