A query
I am what you would probably call a casual fan of the Harry Potter books. I've read them, I've enjoyed them, and I'm curious to see how the story ends. However, I am not obsessed, I am not addicted, and I certainly have no intention of going and buying the book the first night it comes out with the various fanboys and crazies all dressed up and pretending to be wizards (no offense to my dear friends who err on the side of being crazies dressing up and pretending to be wizards).
So the question I present is this: since I have no intention of going out and buying the book when it first comes out, and indeed since I really have an aversion to buying any book in hardcover ever, how long would I be able to go before finding out the ending?
We live in the age of global media, and this is one of the most hotly anticipated and widely covered cultural events of that global media age. The ending will be one of the most tightly guarded secrets of recent memory, at least until the book actually comes out. At that point, it's rather fair game, and the ending will be plastered upon every news site, discussion board and blog from here to Bangalore, not to mention the fact that there are only a handful of people in the country who have never read these books and I know all three of them. Every single one of my other friends and acquaintances read these books and will no doubt be reading them as soon as they possibly can. And then they'll want to discuss them...on their blogs, with other people, etc. And that makes perfect sense, though it doesn't bode well for my preference to find out for myself.
Really, how long could I possibly protect myself from the spoilers? A day? A week? A month? Again I submit that I do not share the same obsession with these books that so many do, but nevertheless they are enjoyable and I would rather find out the ending myself from reading the last book rather than from CNN.com or an overheard discussion.
So I how do I avoid knowing the ending? And for how long? This is quite the interesting conundrum.
So the question I present is this: since I have no intention of going out and buying the book when it first comes out, and indeed since I really have an aversion to buying any book in hardcover ever, how long would I be able to go before finding out the ending?
We live in the age of global media, and this is one of the most hotly anticipated and widely covered cultural events of that global media age. The ending will be one of the most tightly guarded secrets of recent memory, at least until the book actually comes out. At that point, it's rather fair game, and the ending will be plastered upon every news site, discussion board and blog from here to Bangalore, not to mention the fact that there are only a handful of people in the country who have never read these books and I know all three of them. Every single one of my other friends and acquaintances read these books and will no doubt be reading them as soon as they possibly can. And then they'll want to discuss them...on their blogs, with other people, etc. And that makes perfect sense, though it doesn't bode well for my preference to find out for myself.
Really, how long could I possibly protect myself from the spoilers? A day? A week? A month? Again I submit that I do not share the same obsession with these books that so many do, but nevertheless they are enjoyable and I would rather find out the ending myself from reading the last book rather than from CNN.com or an overheard discussion.
So I how do I avoid knowing the ending? And for how long? This is quite the interesting conundrum.