For the past 7 days I have immersed myself in the world that I grew up in as a child. Now that I'm adult, the feelings and love I have for this series still have not changed.
When I first opened Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's/Philosopher's Stone on July 7th, warm memories of the past flooded back to me. It was like being reacquainted with old friends I hadn't seen or heard from in years; and less face it, I was.
JK Rowling has created something truly spectacular in this series, and I know that it is not something that will fade away with time. Even now, as I write out these very words, people of all ages are getting ready for the end of this franchise. I know some across the pond have already seen it and are singing the last movies praises, but for the rest of us tonight will be the final curtain.
I've heard people say that after tonight, it's the end of their childhood. I'd have to say I agree with them. I remember the first time I read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows; when it was over I just felt empty, hallow. I didn't want it to end, and so I just kept telling myself over and over "there's still the movies, there's still the movies," so that in some way I could convince myself that Harry Potter hadn't truly ended; there was still time.
Tonight will change everything.
8 movies that have spanned over the course of a decade, and it all ends in just a few hours.
Are you excited? Nervous? Dumbfounded? I'd say I'm all three.
Going back to the books themselves, I don't think I've ever actually read the entire series in it's entirety (shocking, I know). I've gone through and read my favorites every now and then, but I'm pretty sure this is the first time I've read all 7 in order, and it's certainly the first time I've ever read them in such a short amount of time and timed myself.
Now, I will admit that I could've finished the series two days ago, for it was two days ago that I actually finished reading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, but I wanted to take my time with last one and really enjoy it for what it was: a great novel.
That being said, my experience with reading all of the books and timing myself was, to say the least, very interesting and eye opening. I've never known how long it would take me to get through certain books before, and knowing that I had a time limit made things exciting (not that I'm saying the Harry Potter books are boring of course, they are FAR from boring). It made me want to keep pushing along as I turned each page, my family members looking at me like I was crazy in the process.
I loved doing this, but I must confess that there was a downside to reading all 7 HP books in 7 days: lack of enjoyment. I honestly would not recommend blazing through each book, one after the other, in just a few hours. It really does put a bit of a damper on the enjoyment of reading the series when you're trying to get through it as fast as possible. Although I did love being reunited with old friends and reading my favorite bits and passages and did (like I said before) enjoy this, I will say that the only time I would do this again would be to see if my reading speed had gotten any faster. Other than that, I think I'll just stick to taking breaks between chapters and reading at a leisurely pace so that it takes a couple days to get through the books rather than a few hours.
And I'm sure some of you are curious and wondering what my times were. Here they are:
Sorcerer's/Philosopher's Stone: 2:25:43
Chamber of Secrets: 2:51:38.9
Prisoner of Azkaban: 3:13:45.8
Goblet of Fire: 5:44:57.2
Order of the Phoenix: 6:19:57.3
Half-Blood Prince: 4:46:40.3
Deathly Hallows: 7:17:49.4
Some of these were a bit surprising to me, the main one being that I somehow managed to read Half-Blood Prince faster than Goblet of Fire. The only answer I have for that, is Goblet of Fire happens to be one of my favorites and Half-Blood Prince one of my least favorites, so I took more time with Goblet to enjoy it and blasted through Half-Blood to get through it.
So, what do you think? Tell us your favorite novels! Or maybe even time yourself while you read and let us know your times!
And of course, our next posts will be our reviews on the final movie, so keep an eye out for that!
-Buffyrules01
Well, Miss Buffy, as you can see I was able to put up your post for you. I have no idea why blogspot wouldn't let you post this. Thankfully I received your e-mail with your post! Hopefully blogspot will fix itself and we can repost this under your name.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for doing this for me, I don't know what it's deal was either. And don't worry about reposting it, I'm sure everyone knows that I was the one doing the 7 books in 7 days thing anyway, and my name is at the bottom, it just says you posted it.
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