We've had Harry Potter book 7, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, since Tuesday. Yes, that's four days before the worldwide release in English-speaking countries (which would be... 12:01 am today in the USA). I. Could. Not. Believe. It. A friend preordered it from a small bookseller/distributor that is now being sued for delivering 1,200 copies on Tuesday.
We got our copy Tuesday early evening, and with my busy week I managed to get the book read by... Wednesday evening. Who can wait?????
The book is SUPERB.
I'm not ready to reread it, though I reread the epilogue the next day. . I read it with attention to detail, and I'm just not ready to read it again -- yet. My current plan is to start a reread of books 4-6 while waiting for Son1 and everyone in the world to finish HP7. Then the worldwide conversation can begin!!!
The hardest part about being an early receiver of the book is that I cannot (will not) talk with anyone about it. I am pretty thankful that the friend who ordered it for us also got hers early; we talked several times as we read it, and again yesterday when we'd both finished. Sometimes ya just gotta process things aloud! In addition, over the last couple of days I looked online for "HP unanswered questions" and loose ends lists and predictions to read.
Soon, soon I'll be able to talk about HP7 with other people!
In the meantime, we head out to pick up Son1 from church camp this morning, and I promised him we would bring HP7 with us if we possibly could -- so I will. I bet I won't be the only parent bringing a copy to pickup! I warned Son2 that Son1 would want to read all the way home and all the rest of the weekend. Son1 took HP6 with him to camp; I wonder how far he got?
In related news, for the first time in the history of the Harry Potter movies the entire family saw a Harry Potter movie in the theater AND in the first week of its release. Son1 and I went to the HP5 movie before he left for his week at church camp. Son2 and dear husband went earlier this week. We all really enjoyed the movie, though dear husband reported that Son2 was a little bored at the evening showing, and arrived home very tired, but happy to have seen it. As for me, after the HP5 movie I realized it's time to reread books 5 and 6, and maybe even 4. So after reading HP7 I started HP4.
Another related news item. The day after seeing the 5th movie, dear husband decided maybe he could read the series now. Hurrah! He took HP1 on his business trip. My new plan is to buy the series for the family in hardcover, "like new", from used booksellers online. Son1's paperback copies are literally falling apart!
We've never attended release night Harry Potter parties, but yesterday when I picked up a new paperback copy of HP1 for dear husband at Barnes & Noble and saw all of the cool backdrops and so on set up for that evening, I was wistful. I thought briefly of taking Son2, but I've heard of long lines... and it would be incredibly past his bedtime... and, biggest of all, Son1 would be crushed that we did it and he couldn't (being away at camp and all). So, we stayed home and went to bedtime at our normal times and got a good night's sleep.
Like dear husband, Son2 has seen all of the movies (most at home on DVD), most of them multiple times. A year ago he read about half of the first book. Yesterday I finally let him know that we had the HP7 book, and he begged me to tell him: does Harry die? (I told him, and made him promise not to say a word to anyone until his brother has finished the book AND only talk about it with people who want to.) A bit later, more questions: does Lord Voldemort die, what happens in the end, ...
At that point I decided, and told Son2, that he would have to wait until Son1 finishes the book -- probably this weekend. I'll tell him then. That's just too much info to entrust to a 7.5 year old!
Status: One family member has finished HP7 and is reading HP4; another is reading HP1 for the first time; yet another has been reading HP6 and will drop everything to start HP7 at about 11:30 am today. Perhaps I should take a soundtrack CD for the drive home from camp?!?
Enjoy, everyone.
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1 comment:
Thanks for not spoiling! I'm on vacation and my wonderful Dad went around in a strange place last night so his 35 year-old "baby girl" could have her book. The last page number I noticed was 230 and have taken a break to calm my jangled nerves just a bit.
Book 5 was the one that managed to interest my DH in the series. As much as I wanted to put Harry in a timeout for all his outbursts, my husband finally saw the brilliance in Ms. Rowling as evidenced by her total comprehension of a 15 year-old boy. Whatever it took, it was nice to finally have him 'on board' with me, the 9 year-old, and the 7 year-old.
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