I started reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows on Tuesday night. I've only gotten about 150 pages in or so, because I've only been able to read in the hour or so just before I go to bed. Already, I've cried, been totally choked up, laughed out loud, and found myself on the verge of biting my nails or clenching my jaw out of a tense fear and anticipation. Oh, and every time I go to a website that happens to have something mentioning Harry Potter on it, and I see the word "spoiler," I get a pit in my stomach and my heart starts beating faster and I'm, for a few moments, overcome with nervousness. Like, real nervousness. Like, I'm so terrified that I'll find something out and it will ruin the very last book for me and things will never be the same. And the funny (not really) thing is that I'm nowhere near the only one. Everyone I've talked to is either feeling the exact same way or has already finished the book and is warning me to DEFINITELY not read any spoilers.
It's just a book, right?
Apparently not. I think it's a wonderfully strange thing when so many people are so utterly wrapped up in a fictional story that they sit at their desks at work, anxiously tapping their feet and biting their nails, counting the minutes until they will be home with this work, devouring each page to find out how the story ends...and this time there will be no waiting for a next book (as far as I know). It feels sort of like the end of an era. I mean, it's been 10 years since Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone came out. 10 years. I was 13 years old when I started reading Harry Potter. That's a commitment. And so worth it.
So, here I am, desperately trying to avoid spoilers, and doing my best to read the book while also moving/painting/cleaning/working/trying to stay sane. I wish I could just lock myself up for a whole day and read. Makes me feel like I'm back in elementary school again, back in the days when I read for pleasure, and read probably more than I talked. I'm even kind of hoping that Boy will play video games with his friends tonight so I can hide in the bedroom and get a few hours in...this is anti-social elementary school Kim talking, 100%! It's hard to put Harry Potter down (as I learned last night, when I realized it was 1am and I was only going to get 6 hours of sleep...I was SO not ready to stop), and I'll be reading every chance I get from now until it's done.
And then we can all talk about it. Oh, and we will.
dude. he's got to read them. make him get through to book 3. at that point he'll have no choice. we need to discuss in more detail later on. perhaps we can bart ourselves across the bay sometime?
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