I have a confession to make. Like, a big one. Ready? Ok:
I haven’t read Harry Potter. Until now, that is. See why I was so reluctant to let it out? It’s huge and it’s embarassing, but oh well. The thing is, when I was a kid, the whole thing (and by thing I mean this larger than words hype) went past me somehow, and when I was a teenager I thought I wouldn’t like it and it was too late to jump onto the fan-train by then anyway, right? Well, how very wrong I was! For Christmas 2017, I wished for the first book in the series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, because I became more and more curious of what this hype was all about. Would I like it as much as everyone else and would my reading experience measure up to other books I liked a lot, or would I be disappointed because the bar was set very high? Reading a book with so many questions in mind is not an easy experience, so it took me a bit longer to really get into it, and during the first quarter of the book I actually caught myself thinking: “Hm, it’s good, but not as good as I thought.” I enjoyed it, but it wasn’t as captivating as I expected it to be. Now I’m currently reading book four, and looking back I think I know what it was that dulled my experience back with book one: it was the Dursley family. Oh how I hate them! And poor Harry living under one roof with three of their kind made my stomach twist painfully, but once he got into Hogwarts I started to really enjoy myself. Like, I LOVED it!!! And I continue to love it just as much. And I’m so very glad I picked the books up, even now as an adult reader. Actually, now I’m regretting all the years I’ve lived without Harry, Ron and Hermione’s adventures. How must it have been for a 10 year old reading the books and growing up alongside Harry and his friends? Even though I enjoy myself picking the books up now, I think reading them as a kid must have been a very special feeling.
What about you? Am I the only one who waited all those years to read Harry Potter as an adult, or are there more of us out there? If you haven’t read it yet but are curious and have always felt a bit left out in conversations and online, I suggest you pick it up as soon as you can! Or were you one of those lucky people who have read the series as a child? Please let me know in the comments below!
