Harry Potter Memories
I saw HP7-2 this afternoon and the experience was - as I imagine it is for so many - both exciting and nostalgic at the same time. This was really Harry and Friends last big hurrah. No more books (for the time being, at least), and no more movies to look forward to as well.
I wasn't the biggest Harry Potter fan out there, but I sure am going to miss the magical world of Hogwarts.
My initial experience with Harry Potter was through a book report that some of my classmates gave in our elementary school "Reading" class. I remember them talking about giant chess pieces, broomsticks, etc, but wasn't really interested. I was already reading fantasy like Patricia Wrede's Enchanted Forest Chronicles, a much more "traditional" fantasy (and still my favorite series to this day). Harry Potter didn't re-enter my thoughts until my 8th grade year when Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire came out. I really didn't understand what all the fuss was about. In fact, I actively "disliked" the series in the beginning, largely due to its popularity. I know - that makes little to no sense. If series reach that level of popularity, there's likely at least some merit to them. But I've always tended to shy away from the really popular stuff at first.
It wasn't until the summer of 2001 that a friend of mine finally loaned me her copies of the first three books to take on our family vacation to Seattle. We were driving 14+ hours, so there was plenty of time to get sucked into Harry's world on that car ride. I was hooked, and that November it was with delight that she and I attended the first movie showing with our friends (who hadn't read the books), and looked with glee at the faithful translation of the book to the screen. Hagrid's flying motorcycle! Professor McGonagall turning into a cat! Quidditch!
A decade later, the Harry Potter books remain one of the great triumphs of modern fantasy. They have inspired countless imitators, fanfic, and imagination, and are truly a series that no fantasy fan should go without reading. They spark the imagination, and then create a huge, well thought-out world for that imagination to play in. In many ways, people are as much a fan of the setting as the characters that populate it.
I don't know that any other generation will be able to experience the books in the same way, though. We grew up with these characters, and the tone of the series aged and grew more complex alongside the readers. It was truly amazing, and broke molds all over the place for what was acceptable for Children's/YA fantasy. Not to mention how many people who say they never read, but have read and enjoyed HP.
Seeing this final film has filled me with a desire to go back and start the books from page one of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. To re-experience everything from the beginning, knowing what I do now.
So thank you to JK Rowling for ten years of memories and adventure with Harry, Hermione, and Ron. They're like old friends now, and I can't say I'd want it any other way.
I wasn't the biggest Harry Potter fan out there, but I sure am going to miss the magical world of Hogwarts.
My initial experience with Harry Potter was through a book report that some of my classmates gave in our elementary school "Reading" class. I remember them talking about giant chess pieces, broomsticks, etc, but wasn't really interested. I was already reading fantasy like Patricia Wrede's Enchanted Forest Chronicles, a much more "traditional" fantasy (and still my favorite series to this day). Harry Potter didn't re-enter my thoughts until my 8th grade year when Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire came out. I really didn't understand what all the fuss was about. In fact, I actively "disliked" the series in the beginning, largely due to its popularity. I know - that makes little to no sense. If series reach that level of popularity, there's likely at least some merit to them. But I've always tended to shy away from the really popular stuff at first.
It wasn't until the summer of 2001 that a friend of mine finally loaned me her copies of the first three books to take on our family vacation to Seattle. We were driving 14+ hours, so there was plenty of time to get sucked into Harry's world on that car ride. I was hooked, and that November it was with delight that she and I attended the first movie showing with our friends (who hadn't read the books), and looked with glee at the faithful translation of the book to the screen. Hagrid's flying motorcycle! Professor McGonagall turning into a cat! Quidditch!
A decade later, the Harry Potter books remain one of the great triumphs of modern fantasy. They have inspired countless imitators, fanfic, and imagination, and are truly a series that no fantasy fan should go without reading. They spark the imagination, and then create a huge, well thought-out world for that imagination to play in. In many ways, people are as much a fan of the setting as the characters that populate it.
I don't know that any other generation will be able to experience the books in the same way, though. We grew up with these characters, and the tone of the series aged and grew more complex alongside the readers. It was truly amazing, and broke molds all over the place for what was acceptable for Children's/YA fantasy. Not to mention how many people who say they never read, but have read and enjoyed HP.
Seeing this final film has filled me with a desire to go back and start the books from page one of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. To re-experience everything from the beginning, knowing what I do now.
So thank you to JK Rowling for ten years of memories and adventure with Harry, Hermione, and Ron. They're like old friends now, and I can't say I'd want it any other way.