Looking Back

It was around this time of year that I got my first ever Harry Potter book. It took me a few years to become a fan- I don't remember the process- but I do remember reading Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in the basement of my aunt and uncle's house, soon after receiving it as a Christmas present from another aunt.

I was a little girl. Probably too young to actually understand the darkness of the series, so I waited two years before reading Chamber of Secrets. That gave me such nightmares that I didn't read the others for yet another two years. And before I quite realised it, I was a fan.

I quote characters of the Potterverse. I cry over deaths, again and again. I use instances from the series in essays and in real life. I bonded over HP with so many people, and in doing so, I made some very good friends.

I suppose that journey started, eight years ago, with that Christmas present. I had no idea that it was a phenomenon that one day would sweep me up as well. I had no idea this was the beginning of a journey that would make me laugh and cry and vent and rejoice.
Because for me, and for so many others, as I now know, the story lives on. Hogwarts will always be there to welcome us home.

That was eight years ago. The year was 2007, the same year that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows released.

I open at the close.

Problems of a Bookworm-2

Okay, since posting Problems of a Bookworm, I've thought of a couple of others that I HAD to share.

4: The Nonexistent Summary

You know those times when you go into a bookstore and you see this book with an intriguing title and a cool cover, and you turn it over to read the blurb and...
NOTHING. The only thing at the back is:

"Breathtaking" -The Times

"Stunning" -The Guardian

Hey, publishing company? You wanna sell the book? Yeah? Cool, then. Let me know WHAT IT'S ABOUT!
So maybe it's a fantastic book about something I like, with a fascinating storyline, but how am I going to know that if all the information you provide is that some random reviewer said it was "stunning"? What if that person's idea of stunning involves teenagers living in a futuristic dystopian world who against all odds end up leading a revolution to overthrow the evil dictator who oppresses the society with irrational rules? (Because, you know, that's so original) What if that person just randomly selected a word out of the dictionary because they couldn't be bothered to read it properly? What if it really is stunning but I since I can't tell what the premise is, I don't buy it?
These issues have GOT to be addressed!

5: "It's just a book"

This is one of the greatest, most painful things you go through as a bookworm.

Sometimes, you'll be sitting somewhere, reading a book, and, well, reacting to it (laughing, crying) and someone comes up to you and asks, "Why are you laughing/crying?"
So you say, "Well, because of this book." (You might explain what's going on, too)
And they give you this pathetic look and say, "It's just a book."

Excuse me?

"It's just a book"?

You feel ready to sock them like Hermione Granger did to Draco Malfoy.

Ah, that was a satisfying moment

How can they NOT be able to understand? Do they have a heart? Any feelings?

Well, IT'S A BOOK. That's the point!

That person sees an inanimate object, with just words and pictures.
But you, you see characters, living and breathing, settings you can vividly imagine, a plot that makes you feel as if you are in it too. You feel for the heroes as if they were your friends, you hate the despicable people as if they were those bullies you face in school, you laugh at the funny parts, you cry at the sad parts.
Yes, it's "just a book". It's "just" an inanimate object that makes people laugh and cry. But if you see that as pathetic, you're missing the point. Because the fact that it can evoke emotions is not pathetic. Far from it. It's sort of magical.