I Might Lose Librarian Street Cred for This
Total amount of pages of Harry Potter read:
uh, 20?
I think?
BEFORE YOU HAVE AT ME, please let me try to explain.
Every time I pick up a book, something happens.
The first time, I started reading and got through those 20 pages or whatever, and my dad, who was going on a business trip, asked if he could borrow it. Because my parents had just given me the set of the first three books for Christmas, I felt I had an obligation to lend it to him. (I know; you probably can HAVE AT ME for that, too.)
He hogged the book and did not give it back to me until he was finished! He did redeem himself by bringing me the fourth book from England (and I hear it's very cool to have a British copy). However, by then, I was in the middle of a ton of other things and couldn't pick it up.
Second attempt: I think this was in 2008. My cousins (the ones who accompanied me to California last Fall) invited me to spend a few days with them at the shore. I always bring things to read--especially because I'm not a good sleeper away from home--so I grabbed what I thought was the first book and put it in my suitcase. When I pulled it out and started looking for where I left off. . . nothing looked familiar. I looked at the cover. It was the second book!
After that? Well. . . other books have taken priority. Things for school. Things I needed to review and consider adding to collections. Book club.
Reading Harry Potter just has not happened for me. Yet.
My English professor and former advisor when I was an undergrad said while we were studying Proust that she knew someone who dreamed of booking a hotel room for a weekend, unplugging the phone, putting up the "Do Not Disturb' sign, and reading all of Proust's books.
Maybe I should do something similar.
And I know some of you are thinking that if I really wanted to read them, I would.
But I am telling you, I am afraid of what will happen next time I try to crack the first book.
It's as if the universe does not want me to read the series.
uh, 20?
I think?
BEFORE YOU HAVE AT ME, please let me try to explain.
Every time I pick up a book, something happens.
The first time, I started reading and got through those 20 pages or whatever, and my dad, who was going on a business trip, asked if he could borrow it. Because my parents had just given me the set of the first three books for Christmas, I felt I had an obligation to lend it to him. (I know; you probably can HAVE AT ME for that, too.)
He hogged the book and did not give it back to me until he was finished! He did redeem himself by bringing me the fourth book from England (and I hear it's very cool to have a British copy). However, by then, I was in the middle of a ton of other things and couldn't pick it up.
Second attempt: I think this was in 2008. My cousins (the ones who accompanied me to California last Fall) invited me to spend a few days with them at the shore. I always bring things to read--especially because I'm not a good sleeper away from home--so I grabbed what I thought was the first book and put it in my suitcase. When I pulled it out and started looking for where I left off. . . nothing looked familiar. I looked at the cover. It was the second book!
After that? Well. . . other books have taken priority. Things for school. Things I needed to review and consider adding to collections. Book club.
Reading Harry Potter just has not happened for me. Yet.
My English professor and former advisor when I was an undergrad said while we were studying Proust that she knew someone who dreamed of booking a hotel room for a weekend, unplugging the phone, putting up the "Do Not Disturb' sign, and reading all of Proust's books.
Maybe I should do something similar.
And I know some of you are thinking that if I really wanted to read them, I would.
But I am telling you, I am afraid of what will happen next time I try to crack the first book.
It's as if the universe does not want me to read the series.
Comments
I resisted reading them at first myself, until someone whose taste I respected advised me to try. By 50 pages into book one, I was hooked. (The "Harry, you're a wizard" series fell flat in the movie for me: it was so much better in the book!)
I got my mother reading them ... now we've hooked my cousin, aunt, and grandmother, too (if you ever wondered why they come in large print, it's for her).
(I do not appreciate the WVW "vomity" at this hour!)
The Cat is notorious for 7 a.m. "vomity" moments. . .
Rob--that's it; I try to stay at least somewhat knowledgeable about popular things, especially in literature. . . and I feel as if I've failed on this one. Or at least gotten way behind.
When you say the movies have been "better," what exactly do you mean? More interesting? Better special effects than described in the book? Improved dialogue? I'm curious.
locking yourself in to read Proust sounds like torture. i cant even get past 20 words.
go easy and get the audio.
All I can say is, if I had a nickel for every adverb in the HP series, I would be very, very rich right now.
Sara--sorry, street cred for librarians only. ;) You get, uh, HP fandom cred? Adverbs, eh? I guess I will find out, sooner or later. . .
Rob--oh, that is interesting. I think I've said before that as the Twilight series went on the dialogue multiplied. Exponentially. Made me crazy. I've seen only the first movie, which I think did a successful translation to the screen in that it made it manageable, especially for those not familiar with the book. (I'm afraid to see the second one because that book was my favorite.)
HP, on the other hand--those movies seem long to me (two parts for the last book?), I'm guessing because they could not deviate much. Hard-core fans would riot or something.
(Coincidentally, right now on TV "Ordinary People" is on, which I've discussed in the Oscars Project. It is different from the novel in places, but the changes were reasonable and extremely well done.)
I guess it's a good thing it wasn't airing this afternoon when management was showing the apartment upstairs to prospective renters.
"Put the bloody Philosopher's Stone in your pocket, Dumbledore, and keep it there."
There, book one is finished in a chapter.
"Mad-Eye Moody, your eye can see all kinds of neat stuff. Look through these here walls and tell me what you see."
Book two finished in a chapter.
And so on. But I'll stop there as I'm trying to stay away from spoilers.
Also, I really didn't care for the movies, especially the first ones. They leave so much out that seems vital and could be covered in two sentences. IE: the origins of the Map and what the nicknames mean.
There I go, being old and grumpy again.
(Y'know, if you can do those summaries in 140 characters or less, you can handle Twitter. LOL!)
*twitches*
I'm cranky.