Jul 02, 2007 - 05:39:14 CDT
The question being asked by millions of people all over the world is simple: Will he live or die?Harry's Potter's mortality is the ultimate question of what has become this century's book series. The decision that author J.K. Rowling ultimately made will affect not only the book's characters, but millions of readers worldwide.
Those are some pretty big expectations to live up to, but as Rowling has proven time and again with the first six books of the "Harry Potter" series, she is more than up to the challenge.
According to a USA Today article released in May, retailers such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Borders are reporting that more orders have been placed for this book than for any other in history.
Remember all the hype around "The Da Vinci Code?" The seventh Harry Potter book is making that look like a local book release, and it's not even in stores yet.
In fact, the final book in the series, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," reached the top spot on both the Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble bestseller lists only a few hours after a release date of July 21 was announced on Feb. 1.
This is a very big event. It also is a very big book, as "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" has been confirmed to have 748 pages.
"I don't really care how long the book ends up being. The longer it is, the longer the series lasts," said Liz Tomek, a senior at Century High School.
She's not alone. The Internet is being set ablaze by fans of the series. On the networking Web site Facebook.com, the book's release date is the No. 1-attended event in the Web site's history, with more than 82,000 confirmed people planning on buying the book on July 21. Blogs, message boards and spoiler Web sites are popping up all over the Net, debating crucial things in the series.
Did Dumbledore really die in the sixth book? Will Voldemort finally get to Harry, or will he crumble? Is Snape good or evil? Finally, the biggest question of them all, will Harry live or die?
Some say that Rowling will kill off her star character so no knockoff books can come after "The Deathly Hallows." Others say that this may not be her last book (Rowling has always maintained that there will only be seven books in the series, and recently reaffirmed that in an interview). Still, no matter the politics outside of Hogwarts, fans are holding out hope that Harry lives to see another day, if not another book.
Another big event in the lives of "Potter" fans is the release of the fifth movie, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix." Unlike many authors, Rowling has consistently given praise to the movie adaptations of her books, and after being given a 20-minute preview of the upcoming film last December, she said it "looks fantastic." "The Order of the Phoenix" also was very popular as a book, making the upcoming release of the movie all the more exciting for fans of the series. The movie release in the U.S. is on July 11 and in England on July 12.
As an avid reader and a huge fan of the series, I am very excited for the last book to come out. I remember getting to Barnes & Noble around 12:30 a.m. a couple of summers ago for the sixth book's release, and it was incredible. The place was packed, people were dressed in full wizard regalia, and the building was tense with excitement.
The fact that this is the last book of the series is bittersweet for any "Harry Potter" fan. I read the first book when I was still in grade school, and as a recently-graduated high schooler and college-bound freshman, I am still as involved in the books now as I was back then. Rowling has an incredible writing style that all but physically puts you into the story. This is one reader who will be waiting in line at midnight for the book.
While the series is not universally liked among high schoolers, it is truly a modern-day classic. I can say confidently that years from now, kids will be reading this series alongside "Moby-Dick" and "1984."
Poet T.S. Eliot once said, "April is the cruelest month." For "Harry Potter" readers, July will certainly be the sweetest.
(Bryan LaBore is a 2007 graduate of St. Mary's Central High School who will attend Northern Arizona University this fall.)
Frog wrote on Jul 2, 2007 10:51 PM:
surroundedbyidiots wrote on Jul 2, 2007 7:01 PM:
Dave wrote on Jul 2, 2007 11:14 AM:
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