it's like... the end of an era...
dollsome's post prompted me to do some thinking of my own. No spoilers beneath the cut.
I got my wristband at nine AM this morning-- I'll be one of the first fifty people at the Gateway Barnes and Noble to get my copy of Deathly Hallows at midnight tonight. By tomorrow night, I'll have finished.
I am about to get super-sentimental over something that might not mean a lot to you. Be forewarned.
I remember the first I ever really heard about the books was in my sophomore year of high school, when my best friend Tiffany was reading them and raving about them. (I remember she had a white t-shirt with a tiny silver lightning bolt stitched on the front that she wore a lot.) Pretty soon, more people were talking about Harry Potter. And not long after that, EVERYONE was talking about Harry Potter.
I'm the girl who has never seen a Bond flick (save for the latest one, which I only saw a couple months ago). I kind of dig in my heels about anything wildly popular-- I did so especially back then. So all through high school, I REFUSED to read Harry Potter. I simply wouldn't do it, and I would get belligerent every time it came up. "I HATE HARRY POTTER."
My freaky fandom obsession began during the dead zone between books four and five. When I started work at Waldenbooks with Jory the winter after I graduated, everyone wanted to know about Harry Potter. (I still remember some woman demanding Jory when "that Rowling woman" was coming out with the next book, and he tartly responding, "I don't know, but she's hanging out in the back room. Let me just pop in and ask her! JO! WHAT'S THE HOLD-UP?!" We got tired of that question really quickly.)
Heidi, the manager, sat me down. "We hired you because you've read Oprah's Book Club books and everyone else here won't read them. We're book-snobs."
"I'll read anything that comes my way."
"Good. Because..."
"Because?" I prompted.
"You need to read Harry Potter. I'm not kidding."
I bought all four volumes in paperback, with my discount, and brought them home, thinking I'd start them over Thanksgiving break while I didn't have to work. I felt like I was doing homework for Heidi just so I could cater to the yuppie moms who asked eternal questions about when the next book was coming out. I did not want to read them. I did not want to do my homework.
I was knee-deep in Prisoner of Azkaban by six o'clock the next night.
I've been an incredibly avid fan for six years now-- there was a time when I was actually completely obsessed (just ask hp_speculation and geek_bravado-- they know better than anyone in the world). I could tell you anything you wanted to know. I still know ridiculous amounts of trivia (spells, birthdates, wands, things like that), though I'm not necessarily terrifically sound on my Harry Potter theology, as it were.
I know it's nerdy as can be, but these books have truly worked their way into my heart and will be there always. I'm so eager to share them with my own children someday; I am passionate about the impact they've had and the amazing, intricate story they tell. I get goosebumps and tears in my eyes when I see trailers for the movies, or when I hear stories from people about how it's effected and changed their lives.
My younger brother despises reading-- he could never understand my desire to do so at every turn. I finally sat him down with Sorcerer's Stone a few years ago and forced him to read it; he got up to book four before he copped out (the movies were pissing him off because they left too much out, and he wanted to stop reading so the fourth movie wouldn't make him mad because he worked at a movie theater and had to watch it a lot). It was absolutely one of the most joyous days of my life to watch him walk out of Prisoner of Azkaban, spitting mad. "THEY LEFT OUT LIKE EVERYTHING. THEY JUST-- THEY RUINED THE BOOK."
I saw Order of the Phoenix twice in a row last Saturday. And at the end, when the camera panned up and over the lake to show the castle, I sat in my chair with tears rolling down my cheeks.
It's beautiful. It's perfect. It's the best fantasy world I could hope to share with so many people-- full of bravery, loyalty, and people who know what it means to love each other. I am better because of it.
Thank you, Jo.
Tell me how you first came to know the Harry Potter books. I love hearing stories.
I got my wristband at nine AM this morning-- I'll be one of the first fifty people at the Gateway Barnes and Noble to get my copy of Deathly Hallows at midnight tonight. By tomorrow night, I'll have finished.
I am about to get super-sentimental over something that might not mean a lot to you. Be forewarned.
I remember the first I ever really heard about the books was in my sophomore year of high school, when my best friend Tiffany was reading them and raving about them. (I remember she had a white t-shirt with a tiny silver lightning bolt stitched on the front that she wore a lot.) Pretty soon, more people were talking about Harry Potter. And not long after that, EVERYONE was talking about Harry Potter.
I'm the girl who has never seen a Bond flick (save for the latest one, which I only saw a couple months ago). I kind of dig in my heels about anything wildly popular-- I did so especially back then. So all through high school, I REFUSED to read Harry Potter. I simply wouldn't do it, and I would get belligerent every time it came up. "I HATE HARRY POTTER."
My freaky fandom obsession began during the dead zone between books four and five. When I started work at Waldenbooks with Jory the winter after I graduated, everyone wanted to know about Harry Potter. (I still remember some woman demanding Jory when "that Rowling woman" was coming out with the next book, and he tartly responding, "I don't know, but she's hanging out in the back room. Let me just pop in and ask her! JO! WHAT'S THE HOLD-UP?!" We got tired of that question really quickly.)
Heidi, the manager, sat me down. "We hired you because you've read Oprah's Book Club books and everyone else here won't read them. We're book-snobs."
"I'll read anything that comes my way."
"Good. Because..."
"Because?" I prompted.
"You need to read Harry Potter. I'm not kidding."
I bought all four volumes in paperback, with my discount, and brought them home, thinking I'd start them over Thanksgiving break while I didn't have to work. I felt like I was doing homework for Heidi just so I could cater to the yuppie moms who asked eternal questions about when the next book was coming out. I did not want to read them. I did not want to do my homework.
I was knee-deep in Prisoner of Azkaban by six o'clock the next night.
I've been an incredibly avid fan for six years now-- there was a time when I was actually completely obsessed (just ask hp_speculation and geek_bravado-- they know better than anyone in the world). I could tell you anything you wanted to know. I still know ridiculous amounts of trivia (spells, birthdates, wands, things like that), though I'm not necessarily terrifically sound on my Harry Potter theology, as it were.
I know it's nerdy as can be, but these books have truly worked their way into my heart and will be there always. I'm so eager to share them with my own children someday; I am passionate about the impact they've had and the amazing, intricate story they tell. I get goosebumps and tears in my eyes when I see trailers for the movies, or when I hear stories from people about how it's effected and changed their lives.
My younger brother despises reading-- he could never understand my desire to do so at every turn. I finally sat him down with Sorcerer's Stone a few years ago and forced him to read it; he got up to book four before he copped out (the movies were pissing him off because they left too much out, and he wanted to stop reading so the fourth movie wouldn't make him mad because he worked at a movie theater and had to watch it a lot). It was absolutely one of the most joyous days of my life to watch him walk out of Prisoner of Azkaban, spitting mad. "THEY LEFT OUT LIKE EVERYTHING. THEY JUST-- THEY RUINED THE BOOK."
I saw Order of the Phoenix twice in a row last Saturday. And at the end, when the camera panned up and over the lake to show the castle, I sat in my chair with tears rolling down my cheeks.
It's beautiful. It's perfect. It's the best fantasy world I could hope to share with so many people-- full of bravery, loyalty, and people who know what it means to love each other. I am better because of it.
Thank you, Jo.
Tell me how you first came to know the Harry Potter books. I love hearing stories.