Around the world ... people are reading
I decided that I wanted to partake in history. The last book in the Harry Potter series was released 33 minutes ago. The wait is over ... the end has come. But in the meanwhile, the world of magic and marvels continues for at least one more night.
"Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow, turn this stupid, fat rat yellow! ... " "Wow - are you Rita Skeeter?" "Stop being such a MUGGLE!" "Hagrid - MOVE"
And later ... "OMG ... I HAVE IT IN MY HAND"
Yes. I was at Politics and Prose for the Harry Potter release. The place was JAM packed, there was barely space to move. I saw Hagrid, a million Hermiones and of course Harry. One woman was the spitting image of Rita Skeeter.
As the clock drew closer to midnight, the intensity and enthusiasm increased exponentially. And when the boxes were opened, and the books handed out ... there was mass chaos. To their credit, though, politics and prose did a phenomenal job of controlling the chaos. The place went from being packed to the tee, to being deserted in 25 minutes.
I went, I saw --- I was a part of history. This is the last one. The last big Harry Potter release. And the woman that I happened to strike up a conversation with as I was walking home, put it quite appropriately. She told me that she was a childrens' librarian - and nothing made her happier than to know that many thousands would be up reading tonight, and in the morning, and for at least the next few days. She, however, planned to savor the moment ... and stretch out the experience of reading a new Harry Potter book as long as she could.
The New York Times review, summed it up very nicely:
"The world of Harry Potter is a place where the mundane and the marvelous, the ordinary and the surreal coexist. It's a place where cars can fly and owls can deliver the mail, a place where paintings talk and a mirror reflects people's innermost desires. It's also a place utterly recognizable to readers, a place where death and the catastrophes of daily life are inevitable, and people's lives are defined by love and loss and hope — the same way they are in our own mortal world."
Every once in a while, we all need to retreat into the world of Harry Potter. A world where, although it "isn't split into good people and Death Eaters" its pretty damn clear where the lines are drawn. Its a world of marvel, mystery, wholesome goodness, sometimes real evil, courage and above all, a place where loyalty reigns supreme.
"Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow, turn this stupid, fat rat yellow! ... " "Wow - are you Rita Skeeter?" "Stop being such a MUGGLE!" "Hagrid - MOVE"
And later ... "OMG ... I HAVE IT IN MY HAND"
Yes. I was at Politics and Prose for the Harry Potter release. The place was JAM packed, there was barely space to move. I saw Hagrid, a million Hermiones and of course Harry. One woman was the spitting image of Rita Skeeter.
As the clock drew closer to midnight, the intensity and enthusiasm increased exponentially. And when the boxes were opened, and the books handed out ... there was mass chaos. To their credit, though, politics and prose did a phenomenal job of controlling the chaos. The place went from being packed to the tee, to being deserted in 25 minutes.
I went, I saw --- I was a part of history. This is the last one. The last big Harry Potter release. And the woman that I happened to strike up a conversation with as I was walking home, put it quite appropriately. She told me that she was a childrens' librarian - and nothing made her happier than to know that many thousands would be up reading tonight, and in the morning, and for at least the next few days. She, however, planned to savor the moment ... and stretch out the experience of reading a new Harry Potter book as long as she could.
The New York Times review, summed it up very nicely:
"The world of Harry Potter is a place where the mundane and the marvelous, the ordinary and the surreal coexist. It's a place where cars can fly and owls can deliver the mail, a place where paintings talk and a mirror reflects people's innermost desires. It's also a place utterly recognizable to readers, a place where death and the catastrophes of daily life are inevitable, and people's lives are defined by love and loss and hope — the same way they are in our own mortal world."
Every once in a while, we all need to retreat into the world of Harry Potter. A world where, although it "isn't split into good people and Death Eaters" its pretty damn clear where the lines are drawn. Its a world of marvel, mystery, wholesome goodness, sometimes real evil, courage and above all, a place where loyalty reigns supreme.
posted by zai5h at Saturday, July 21, 2007
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