Harry Potter and the Experience of a Lifetime

I will keep this post spoiler free!



So, I picked up the book on late Sunday afternoon and finished reading at around 7:00 pm on Monday evening. (Shh... I was reading at work! What? It was a slow day! Leave me alone!) Without going into any detail, I was duly impressed with the finale. More than anything, though, the weirdest part was the fact that it was the first time I had finished reading a Potter book without feeling the need to go and blab about it to someone, *anyone*. No more mysteries. No more wondering who is going to die next and who is actually good/evil and what do all the hints mean. It's done. And it was a helluva ride.

Sure, there are much more eloquently written books out there of much greater consequence. Sure, it's popcorn entertainment... but it was immensely satisfying. How often does a phenomenon like this come along where an entire nation... no, most of the modern world gets swept up along with you? While I can understand being upset at just how fevered the hype had grown around the latest book, what with all the stuff happening in the world, on a personal level, I had invested so much time and energy in following the series that I was so happy it had finally come to a close.

30 years ago, we had Star Wars. Harry Potter really was the next big thing to come along in the same way (actually, bigger). When is the next time something like this will happen? In another 30 years? 50 years? Who knows? I suppose that's part of the fun - geeking out with fellow fans, picking apart the characters and events afterwards, etc. While it's satisfying doing the same for other books, there are very few books that have "launch events" (god, I hate that term) like HP did for all the later books. Much like an online videogame, there is simply much more to do and talk about when you pick it up early and you know everyone is at the same place, experience-wise, as you are. You get to analyze it together, form your own theories, etc. before you get influenced by more well-established ideas. (I was correct on most of my theories in Half Blood Prince, but was maybe 50/50 for the last book...)

I'd personally like to meet JK Rowling and shake her hand on a job well done. She's no Shakespeare, but she certainly knows what she's doing. Hell, Lucas couldn't even write his third movie without screwing up details. Harry may be an insufferable twit most of the time, but the world she created was just so *perfect* for what it was created for. She knew what she wanted to say, she knew what her audience wanted, and walked that line quite carefully.

I think I'll go back and read all 7 books just for the hell of it.