I've got Harry fever...and it feels good
Editor's note: It seems there is a bit of an obsession going on in the Madison Record newsroom. Acting completely independent of each other, our publisher, Leada, and myself could not help writing our weekly commentary on the upcoming Harry Potter madness. We hope you enjoy each of our takes on the subject, and that you are as excited as we are about the upcoming movie and book.
When a great friend of mine announced a few months ago that she would be holding her wedding on the lucky date of July 7 (7/7/07), I panicked. Was that the weekend the new Harry Potter movie comes out? Would I have to miss my friend's wedding? That might be in bad taste, since I'm a bridesmaid...
Yes, July is here, a month that millions of Harry Potter fans have been waiting for with bated breath-the month that signals the release of both the new movie, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," July 14, and the seventh and final book of the series, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," July 21.
The first book in this fun and dangerously addictive children's series was first published in 1997. Admittedly, I did not understand the hype until I couldn't stand not knowing what everyone else was talking about (in the newspaper business we have to know everything. We just do.) and picked up "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" in 2004 to read for myself. What followed, for me at least, was a frenzied reading of the following five books, so eager was I to know what happened to Harry, his friends and his enemies. I have since read the series three more times and watched the movies more times than I can count.
Maybe it is my love of fantasy and science fiction (I also can't get enough of "The Lord of the Rings," "Narnia," or "Star Wars"), or maybe it's my inner child wanting to escape for a while.
What I really think is that the books are superbly written, and while J.K. Rowling meant for Harry to appeal to children, her boy hero easily won the hearts of millions of adults as well. I am an avid reader, and I'll read whatever I can get my hands on, from Sean Hannity to Stephen King. No characters have tugged at my heart like these have, and Rowling's powers of description rival even those of my beloved Stephen.
I must know what happens to Harry, Ron and Hermione, and whether it is happy or sad, triumphant or tragic, I will revel in it and enjoy every page and every moment on the big screen.
I have even gotten my husband hooked, and being the manly man he is, his heartstrings are a little tougher to tug than mine. He is now maybe even more obsessed than I, wanting to examine every tiny detail of the narrative to find holes, or to determine what will happen next (this is our eternal fight over movies and books-don't tell me what's going to happen. Just let me find out for myself, for Pete's sake).
Thus is why I am so excited July is here. Having the movie and the book come out within two weeks of each other is, I admit, a bit overwhelming-like having to eat a filet mignon and a whole lobster in the same sitting-but you have to eat them, because you love them both so much.
Here's to two helpings of great entertainment starting next week-and here's hoping Harry lives to see the last chapter of "Deathly Hallows."
