I read the first book Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone in 1997. I was 12 years old. I grew up reading these books, they marked several points in my childhood and adolecence. They were a constant for me for over 10 years, they were my childhood, they are the books I turn to when I seek comfort. When I ever get agitated or frustrated waiting for a book to be released, I remind myself that I waited 10 years to reach the end of Harry's story, that I can be patient, and a year is not that far away in the long run.
I can remember 12 year old me, sat in my bedroom with a copy of the first book which i'd borrowed after a trip to the library with my mum. I can remember the plastic that covered the book and how it stuck to my fingers. I can remember being so overwhelmed with the story this woman had created. I can remember being convinced for a long time that Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was a real place, and that Rowling must have been there, that she must be a witch to know all this stuff. I can remember waiting for an owl to come with my instructions on when term would be starting, because surely I was a witch too.
Now, being a fully grown adult, I am still mesmorised with how she created this world that lives parralell to the one we live in ourselves. I still hate to call myself a Muggle, and still harbour a hope sometimes that Hogwarts is a real place, and these characters I met over the years, were real once, if not now. Thats what makes these books so special. They made me believe in something more, even though I know it doesn't exist. But my 12 year old self will be forever thankful for these literary gems, because when I look at them on my shelves, I can remember what point in my life I was at just by the title. I can remember exactly what I was doing, who I was friends with or not friends with, just by looking at a book.
Do any of you have books that you grew up with, books that you will read again and again and never grow tired of? Do you have so much trivia about books you love in your head that your friends look at you like your insane?
I will leave you with this, the first line in the first Harry Potter book, the Philosophers Stone, the line that has been ingrained into my head since I was 12. The line that changed how I view books and why they are so important to me. "Mr and Mrs Dursley, of number four Privet Drive, we proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much." © J.K.Rowling, Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone, Bloomsbury 2007.
Harry Potter I love you!!!
Indeed. Great post- HP is one of those book I will never get tired off. My copies are falling to pieces- the mark of a truly great book.
ReplyDeleteGreat Post! I was only 7 or 8 when I read the first Harry Potter book so they've been the biggest influence on my reading for over half of my life. I really don't think I'll ever tire of re-reading the series although the disappointment of the summer before I turned 11 when no letter from Hogwarts arrived was pretty hard to get over :P
ReplyDeleteI'm near certain that no book since Harry Potter has sparked such extreme enthusiasm to read-it-as-fast-as-possible and it's likely that nothing ever will again.
I'm so glad that I was part of the generation of children who got to grow up with Harry, Ron & Hermione.
Good lord this comment is *waay* too long, I apologise for rambling on but your post has reminded me of how much the books mean to me. I will *have* to re-read them again this year.
Well you know what my equivalent to Harry Potter is, so I won't bother writing an essay ;)
ReplyDeleteI do love HP, but they're not my favourite. I've only read them all once, but I would like to re-read one day.
Here's a random question: what's you favourite scene from the book series?
Great post! I love the series with a passion! J K Rowling wrote with such passion and imagery. I really believe this series did wonders for a lot of readers! :)
ReplyDeleteFantastic post, Carla! I remember to first time I read the Philopher's Stone and everything around it like you do. And I have to admit that I've read them half-a-dozen times too and I still hope that Hogwarts exists somewhere, somehow.
ReplyDeleteI love this post. I can absolutely relate to that irrational belief in an imaginary world, especially when like HP the world is so cleverly woven into the real one. I'm intent on visiting the Harry Potter theme park at Universal when it opens, just so it can all be a little bit real (just for a day), and I've even played the HP videogames (and eaten my own weight in chocolate frogs a few years ago). I love it all.
ReplyDeleteMy favourite scene is when he finds out he's a wizard, or the prophecy scene, or the you catch my drift....I LOVE every single scene. I even loved Snape right from the start, he was evil in a he's so bad I've just got to love him kind of way. I like the badies, I do I do.
ReplyDeleteI was older when I first Harry Potter, so it doesn't hold that magic for me in the same way.
ReplyDeleteI didn't read Harry Potter until I was at university - the first one came out in my first year. I was studying publishing (in Edinburgh, no less and we all claimed JK as a Scottish writer done good) so there was a lot of hoo ha about it around uni. I have extremely fond memories of where I was in life when reading each of the books. From reading Goblet of Fire when surrounded by Italian students, to receiving Order of The Phoenix as a surprise gift on publication day (I was living in China and someone sent it via Amazon) and finally to re-reading Deathly Hallows aloud to my bump when heavily pregnant and suffering insomnia. Harry and friends have seen me through lots of different life stages and I look forward to watching my daughter experience them when she's old enough. Thanks to your fabulous post, I am now physically restraining myself from grabbing all seven to read again and mentally sectioning of time later in the year to do just that!
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