In terms of “stuff what I read”, March was most definitely Harry Potter month. One month, all seven books. These were originally going to be one “MASSIVE POST”, but I felt they’d be better as separate entries over the course of a few days.
Anyway, this was the second time I have read the series, and I got through the first three quite quickly – I had forgotten how slim they were compared to the later books. Here’s what I thought upon re-reading the epic saga of The Boy Who Lived, written by J.K. Rowling.
Well, this is where it all started. This is most definitely a children’s book, with it’s simple (yet mysterious and often misleading) story. I’m glad it actually had a story though, and it wasn’t just 200 pages worth of exposition, basically introducing the wizarding world and all the various characters – I don’t think the series would’ve been that popular if that were the case. It helps massively that Harry is seeing this world for the first time with us – he can ask all the stupid questions that we, as readers, want to know the answers to.
I’m still amazed that after the whole series has been finished and done with, everything in this first book fits. Either the entire wizarding universe came to Rowling in it’s entirety like a bolt from the blue one day, or she paid extra special attention to what she had written and didn’t contradict herself or her universe once. A bit of both, I think. I couldn’t care less if she knew in advance exactly what was going to happen over the course of the series, or how much of it she made up when she got to it – what fascinates me is that someone is brave enough to publish something which gives us the bare minimum of information crucial to the future. Mysteries are like hooks though, they keep people interested – I’d just blurt the answers to mysteries all over the place (this is why I feel my future does not lie in writing fiction!).
