Unusually for a bookworm, until very recently I had never read the Harry Potter books.
Yes, you read that correctly. I had never taken the time to enjoy one of the most popular series of novels ever written.
And I have my reasons. I even wrote a blog post about them.
When the first books in the series came out, I was too old for them. When the release of each new book became an event, I sneered and had no interest in reading a children’s book. I didn’t feel that they were aimed at me. In my teens and early twenties, my reading was much more ambitious than it is now and I often avoided anything too populist, because I didn’t want to go along with the crowd.
As I got older, I heard so many positive things about Harry Potter, about how the stories had influenced people’s lives and inspired them to become the person they wanted to be. But still I wasn’t really interested.
It has only been the last couple of years when I’ve started to consider reading the books. The feeling grew slowly, after I began Rowling’s Cormoran Strike detective novels and enjoyed her writing immensely.
Eventually, I had to admit to myself that I did want to read the Harry Potter books; I was just waiting for the right time.
And that time came over the last month, as I had some time off work and decided it would be ideal to get caught up in a new series.
I finished the last book on Saturday, and I’m so glad that I decided to get to know Harry Potter and his wizarding world.
There isn’t much point in writing a review of the novels, as I’m probably one of the few people who was still to read them. But they did have an effect on me, and reading them felt important. There’s no denying that Harry Potter has become a phenomenon, and is meaningful to so many people around the world.
It’s a story that celebrates the outsider, or the person who has always been different. I understand why so many people wish they could visit Hogwarts, and experience some of the magical things that the students there enjoy.
Harry Potter was fun and clever and dark and always full of adventure. The love that went into creating these characters is obvious, and it’s no wonder so many readers have responded to them with the same depth of feeling.
I’m glad I got over my own aversion to this series; sometimes things are just worth the hype.
That said, if I’d tried to read these books 10 or 15 years ago, I don’t think I would have enjoyed them as much. Being able to immerse myself in the whole series was brilliant, rather than reading the stories one by one and waiting for the next book to be published.
But most of all, it felt like this was the right time, when I could appreciate the books in a way I wouldn’t have done when I was younger.
Chris Everest says
I first read Harry Potter as an adult (and took my late daughter to every new issue of a book with her in fancy dress, late at night, to Waterstones [Great Fun]) and I recognised immediately the myriad connections (like you said) of the outsider. But it ticked boxes for School stories, Detective stories, Fantasy and Epic readers, for orphan stories, for boys who thought reading was uncool, for single mothers who felt inspired to write, for both wizards and muggles. It changed so much. I still prefer Terry Pratchett though.
Amy Lord says
You’re right, the books do have so many sides to them, I guess that’s part of the reason why they’re so popular. I can’t comment on Terry Pratchett though, as I’ve never read any of his work.
Rachel says
I ADORE Harry Potter. I was 7 when the first book came out, and 9 when I read the first book, so I grew up with these characters, being about 16 or 17 when the last book came out. I want to reread them so badly, but since I started blogging I don’t have a lot of time to reread. I keep threatening to do it every Christmas, so maybe this is the year? I do watch all the movies every Christmas, and while they are brilliant, there’s so much of the books that didn’t make it in to them, and I want to read the originals.
I always tell everyone that they should read Harry Potter if they haven’t yet, adults included, but I do always worry that an adult reading it for the first time may not connect to it the way the original generation did because we were kids, so there’s a nostalgia element there too. It’s silly, because the books were so popular with adults even when they first came out that adult covers were released so people wouldn’t feel embarrassed reading a children’s book in public. It’s great to hear though that for a first time adult reader, these books still resonate! R xx
Amy Lord says
Definitely, I did get caught up in the whole world! I think it helped that I could read them all back to back, rather than waiting for the next book to be released. And I will reread them at some point in the future!