Harry Potter!!

July has been a busy month. It really feels like the 4th was just last week. My mother is coming to visit this weekend and as she leaves, my cousin is coming for a couple of days. It's family time. I don't know if its the sun or something else, but I'm looking forward to the parental visit. I'm planning a low key weekend. My brother, Stuart, who is mentally retarded, will stay over Saturday night, and we'll have a cookout with the whole family - me, mom, my brothers and Caroline. I'm becoming so domestic.



The biggest excitement of the month has been Harry Potter. Yes, I said Harry Potter. The fifth film started July 11 and the last book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, was released Saturday, July 21. I'm a huge fan. I pre-ordered my book in February, and cleared my calendar this weekend for the marathon reading of the book. I was not disappointed at all. Which is all I'll say seeing as there are others still reading the 759 page book.



I was eagerly anticipating this final book. Everyone was. You couldn't get away from it on the news and in papers. I heard little tidbits here and there about how longtime fans might be disappointed in the book. All I have to say is congratulations to J.K. Rowling and her publishers for feeding all kinds of misinformation to the press. I was expecting something completely different and that's when I realized the press had been manipulated or was in on the manipulation of the rest of us. Good job.



I'll wait another month or so to get into the details of Harry's story. If you haven't read it by then, sorry. Every new book in the series has been pre-ordered and then read in one (long) sitting. It's a tradition. But years have passed between books. Now that the series has come to an end, I'm going to leisurely read all the books again, straight through. I think it will be very enjoyable, especially since the movies continue to be a bit more disappointing every time.



Making a movie of an 800 or so page book has got to be challenging. So I'm not going to criticize the filmmakers for their efforts. Maybe if they made a 3-hour film, they could fit in the plot development and all the action sequences. But most of their audience are kids with little tolerance for a 3-hour sit down. I think the actors have really embodied the characters well and now it's hard to imagine the characters without seeing the movie faces. I don't mind though. Especially since the actors have been consistent throughout, with the exception of Dumbledore. The original actor playing Dumbledore, Richard Harris, died after the second film, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.



Anyway, blogging is also a great time to drink iced latte. Give it a try.