I’ve just finished reading the last Harry Potter book in it’s entirety. 750+ pages finished in a day and a half. All this effort just so no one on the Internet can hold sway over me by claiming they know spoilers.
I’ve read all of the previous books, but only the last three have come out since I’ve been in Korea. It’s so expensive to read hard cover books normally, so I usually wait. But this series is something I actual am willing to read when it comes out so it isn’t ruined.
The last time a Harry Potter book had come out, I had the ending spoiled for me by Internet pranksters. There is some sort of backlash about these books in particular that is so childish and dumb. People love to ruin the plot of something hotly anticipated. Why do these books produce so much mean spirited dickery in people?
I found a place that sold the book near my school with a nice 40% discount. Once I saw the discount, I knew I was going to be going there on release day, Saturday, just so I could be sure of getting a copy before they sold out.
I went up to the counter with the book in my hand. No, I hadn’t gone out of my way to dress up like a wizard or anything when I went to pick it up either. A teenage girl with her father turned around. She was carrying the same book. “Are you excited?”
She spoke perfect English. I was surprised she had addressed me, “Uh, I guess. I’m here on the first day. I didn’t want them to be sold out. It’s a nice discount. Yeah, and you?”
“Yeah, I can’t wait to read it. Enjoy your book!”
“You too.”
I put the book in my bag, then went to see a movie.
I saw another boy trying to read the massive tome on the way back home on the subway. I almost pulled the book out of my bag and tried to strike up a conversation with him, but I didn’t because that would be creepy and weird.
Only Yoshi was waiting for me at home. My wife was busy doing stuff around town, so I got to reading. I basically did nothing else, save for cooking my meal, cleaning up after Yoshi, and posting on the website yesterday. I woke up early and resumed reading. My wife was impressed at how quickly I was reading and left me to my corner reading.
I’m happy I finished the book. My students won’t know the outcome of the story for weeks, as the translated serialized version of the book hasn’t been released in Korean, and only the most hardcore upper level students will get their parents to buy it for them.
I’m certainly not going to spill the details of the story, as I went to such great lengths to prevent myself from having to put up with such annoyances. I don’t even think they’ll believe me if I told them I read the whole thing in a weekend anyway.
I liked the book, thought it was fun, and would recommend it as a conclusion to the series. If you don’t like it, fine. Just don’t spoil it for the rest of us.
