Far Back Fridays presents: Returning back to Hogwarts – A look back at Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived

by | Apr 4, 2014 | Books, Far Back Fridays | 0 comments

mWuzJI kind of stumbled upon Harry Potter a long time ago.  I had heard people talking about it and decided to buy the first book for my son’s 5th birthday in 2000.  I figured it would be a good way to bond, read a bit together every night and see if he was anything like me, in love with the magical world of witches and wizards. Well, he wasn’t. He really didn’t care about reading or being read to (other than Dr. Seuss books of course), so here I was with this book that he didn’t want to share with me. I decided to check it out for myself and I instantly fell in love. By the end of my first day reading it I was over halfway through the book, drove to the book store and bought the second and third ones so I wouldn’t have to wait to read them.  That is how my love affair with Harry Potter began.

Through the years I would re-read each book, but usually just when the movies were about to come out so that I could brush up on the events and have everything clear in my head when I saw it. That way I could yell at the screen, “IT DIDN’T HAPPEN LIKE THAT!” or I could happily say, “that was absolutely perfect!” Either way, I re-read them one by one and still loved them as much as the first time.

j-k-rowling-imageRecently I decided to have a Harry Potter marathon and read all of the books back to back. Years after I had originally read them, and re-read them.  I realized it had been a long time since I had delved into that magical world and I wondered if they would have the same effect on me this time around as they did the first time.  The answer is yes, they most certainly did.  Even though I knew everything that was going to happen in the books, all the wonderful things, magical things, sad and heartbreaking things that would happen, my brain became obsessed and in love all over again, like I was reading them for the first time. I even picked up on some things that I don’t think I did when I first read them (not that I remember, it was 14 years ago!) I’m sorry to say that in the weeks of my whirl wind affair with Harry Potter, I did tend to ignore my family, refuse to make dinner or do much of anything other than read.

 

I was completely immersed, you couldn’t stop me if you tried. I would stay up until 2 in the morning because I didn’t want to stop. Again, this was not my first time through the series so you would think I would at least be able to sleep, but no. If I wasn’t reading I missed the characters, who had become my friends for that short period of time. They even worked their way into my dreams. When I got to the end I was happy and a little heartbroken at the same time. I knew that the ending would give me closure, I knew that I would then be able to go about my normal life and spend time with my family, but I also knew that I would miss them greatly. That’s the thing about a good book, no matter how many times you read them, how great you know the story and the characters, you can always go back to it and re-live it, pick up little bits and pieces you didn’t know about before, fall in love all over again.
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Basically, what I’m trying to tell you is this:  If you haven’t read Harry Potter yet and love a good fantasy story then please, read them. Even if you think it’s all too hyped up now because of the movies and the amusement park, try to forget all of that and read the stories that stole everyone’s hearts in the beginning.  If you have read them, then do it again, they won’t let you down.
~CheriMonster

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