Everyone who has jumped on this site and taken me to task for my (wait for it)… OPINION… has actually done something quite amazing and actually made me question my opinion. To be honest, the argument of quickly reading and then re-reading the book is valid and it is obviously an approach that true lovers of the Potterverse have undertaken in a bid to avoid spoilers. Simply put, it was your own Defense Against the Dark Arts. And I think that makes a lot of sense.

What initially got my mind reeling – and kick started this post – was the radio show I heard where people were calling in their completion times in a bid to be the person who finished it first. It just seemed to become more of a competition and less an enjoyment.

In fact, the false spoiler I alluded to having heard on that program is the same red herring you planted here. Several callers claimed Harry had kicked it, which of course is false.

We all know that in the final chapter, Harry is hit by a Faux Avra Cadaverous spell which only parayzes the target.

Hermione, stumbling upon Harry (whom she turns to after catching an old episode of Happy Days and realizing she just cannot spend the rest of her life boffing the love child of Ralph Malph and Carrot Top), anyway she sees Harry’s lifeless body and in heart-struck desperation, downs a whole bottle of Bernie Botts Cyanide Flavored Jelly Beans. As her body collapses, Harry’s spell wears off. Coming to, he sees Hermione, settled in for a cold, dirt nap.

“Harumph”, he says. “I’m not going to be another literary stereotype.”

And so he sets off to find Cho and plunder another Chamber of Secrets. Alas, a tale for another day.

In the seventh, and final novel of the series, Harry Potter dies.

Now that you have been presented with the series conclusion, in this precipitous manner, you can ably continue reading void of an unquenchable desire for discovery. Bear in mind that I may in fact have bequethed this knowledge upon you in a deliberate attempt to deceive you, but that my young Harryphile is for me to know and you to find out…

Happy Reading

“Anyway, I have no doubt that people will re-read it and stop to smell the roses.”

I loved your post because you did speak the truth. Brendan and I stood in line on Friday, July 21st and bought 2 copies of the 7th book. This, by the way, was the reason we got married on the 27th and not the weekend before.
We started reading as soon as we got home Friday night and into Saturday. We stopped only for small breaks and then our Bachelor and Bachelorette parties. We eventually finished the books on Sunday morning through many tears and we were completely sad that it was over (although everything was tied up nicely). The spoiler factor was a HUGE one for us because a few days prior as Bridgewater State College Bookstore received their copies of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, my mom, being sort of cooky, complied with a dare to read the last chapter before the sale date of the book! It haunted me knowing that she knew the fate of my all-time favorite literary character and I was still many hours away.
Since the first amazing rush through, Brendan and I have each reread it twice and cried just as much as we did during the first read and I think we may have been enjoying our favorite meal, cold pizza:)

Enjoy the series and we’ll talk about it on Thanksgiving or Christmas…

I think what really spurred this blog was that radio show. The funny thing was the hosts were also asking people to ‘spoil’ the book and 9 out of 10 spoilers were later validated by me to either be false or misinterpretations (including one major character death that never actually happened). Anyway, I got to thinking, what’s the point of getting to the end so quickly if you aren’t even following the story. I have a DVR meaning I can watch Syriana on 16x FF but although I’ve seen the flick, I haven’t really watched the movie.

That said, I did crack open Sorcerer’s Stone last night and read a fair share in the one hour I devoted to it so I do see how swiftly these pages can flow.

Now, if only I can get through the next seven volumes, you and I can chat about it as well. Don’t spoil it for me. : )

See, unless you can get a world consensus not to rush through the book, there are going to be people who do it and then threaten to spoil it for others (inadvertently or otherwise). I partially finished the book just so Karen could talk to me about it.

But more to the point…I consider myself a writer. Someday I would like to write novels people read and enjoy. I have the utmost respect for the profession and those who practice it. But there are some books that are written in a way that not only allows for, but pretty much forces you to read slowly (Middlemarch, Moby Dick, Ulysses, Lord of the Rings), and there are other books that you just have to get through fast to find out what happens.

A lot of the most popular fiction is of the latter persuasion (The Da Vinci Code being the best recent example). And I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it. I agree that calling in with completion times and making a competition out of it is silly, but at least we’re talking about people reading books.

Honestly, it often comes down to how much I like the book. Of my many obsessions, Harry Potter is not really one of them, so I didn’t mind skimming the book a bit; were I a diehard fan, chances are I would have savored it. But I’ve read the HP books at least partly in order to be able to talk about that, to participate in the cultural exchange (which is the same reason I read The Da Vinci Code). I do think they’re well-written books; I wrote an essay a few years back defending them from unwarranted attacks by the likes of pompous windbag (and Yalie) Harold Bloom. By I think many people (perhaps including Rowling herself) would agree they are what you could call “page-turners.”

“Whatever he says is the truth.”

The way that comes across, you should be holding up a newspaper showing us all the day’s date. I just hope your government comes to your aid. : )

Anyway, I have no doubt that people will re-read it and stop to smell the roses. This post wasn’t meant to offend anyone – I’m just offering my personal preference.

Y’all know how much I love me some video games. Whenever the AAA titles drop (Mario, Metroid, Zelda, Metal Gear) I actually set limits for myself of how long I’ll play in one session to avoid blasting through it too fast. I figure I wait years for the games to arrive so I want to extend the experience as long as possible as it’s going to be many years before the next thrilling installment appears.

And contrary to what some people think, reheated leftovers are never better than the main meal.

Not even cold pizza!!!