i wouldn’t do that to fellow potter fans. but i just finished deathly hallows, and oh my god was it good. i love the way she wrapped things up. there were things that i half expected, things that i didn’t expect at all (in fact something that i’d posted about the impossibility of in the past happened — though it was in a way that i don’t think anyone would have expected).
it was a great story, a great finish to the series. if rowling never writes again, i hope she considers herself very successful.
on the subject of harry potter as a whole. there are many people who ask “how can you read that drivel?” or “why would adults get so much enjoyment out of a children’s series?” or (probably the worst one) “it’s just so hyped that i hate it. i’ll never read any of the books.” well here’s why i read them…
many years ago, a friend of mine gave me a copy of harry potter and the sorcerer’s stone for christmas. we (a group of friends) had gotten together on dec. 23 to celebrate and exchange gifts. a few people had told me that i’d like the series, but i wasn’t sure. they were basing this assessment, not on my reading tastes but on my personality, which i thought odd. harry potter is firmly set in the fantasy genre, and while i have enjoyed the genre i’m not a regular disciple of it. yes, i love lord of the rings and the dragonlance series (though i’m woefully behind the times on it), but i wouldn’t say i delve into the genre regularly. after arriving back at my parents house around 2am, i found myself unable to sleep and somehow devoid of reading material, i’d forgotten to bring a book with me and having already read everything on my parents bookshelf, i turned to the book i’d received that night. why not? i thought. if it was boring it would at least put me to sleep, right? so i started reading. pages turned, minutes turned to hours, and i was completely enraptured. i read until i had finished the book. by that time, the sun was coming up, so i went to bed to get a few hours sleep. the next day (dec. 24 — christmas eve), i found myself actually venturing the crowds at the mall on a quest to purchase the next book in the series. by christmas day, i was two books deep in the world of harry potter and absolutely in love with the series.
yes, they’re light and easy to read — at least early on. they’re also well-written and successfully draw in the willing reader to a world that perhaps some of us imagined when we were kids. yeah, i’ve been made fun of for being a harry potter fan. i don’t care. i love the series. what’s more, many kid around the world love the series. the series has successfully introduced the sheer joy and magic of reading to millions of kids who might not have ever discovered it otherwise. it can be argued that any book could do that, but i don’t think so. when i was a kid, i liked to read sometimes. it wasn’t until i found a book that drew me in so completely that i felt i was a part of the story, that i began to truly LOVE it. that book was also part of a series. little house on the prairie. i remember the exact moment, if not the exact book. there was a snowstorm a bad snowstorm (in the book). blizzard, in fact. i was reading in school. something broke my concentration and i looked up. glancing out the window next to me, i remember seeing snow, so much snow that it was all i could see. and then it disappeared, leaving the bright sunny day that was the reality. THAT is the magic of harry potter my friends. it can draw you in and make you believe (if only for a little while).