Finished
I’m finished with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Less than 24 hours after I first started.
I had to sleep. I was within 30 pages of the end, and I had to sleep. But I contented myself with the thought that I’d have something to look forward to when I woke up.
No spoilers here. It was a long, suspenseful ride. Good final entry to the series. Ends tied in a way I’m still chewing on. A bit too smoothly, maybe cheating. But I don’t mind.
Now what? I can never read that book again for the first time, or any of the others. It’s like the feeling you get after opening your Christmas presents. All the anticipation, the excitement, is over. All that is left now is the enjoyment of the present for years to come and cleaning up the wrapping paper.
Sigh. Still, I’m glad I had the time to spend on just reading my book. I had to wash dishes, do laundry, eat, but I did all of them intermittently, around the book. I tried to play World of Warcraft but my connection was very bad. Maybe that was the magic of the book.
Now what? It’s the day after Harry Potter and I gotta go get something to eat.
I’ve probably shared this here (I have shared it with hundreds of students after all): I bawled like a baby the first time I finished The Swiss Family Robinson. I had enjoyed it SO much that I was sad that the experience was over, for good. I don’t know if that resembles your reaction. Probably not. I was very young at the time. But there you go.
I felt a sense of loss, perhaps, and disappointment. Not necessarily at the content, but in the fact that it was truly and finally over.
I think I did enough crying throughout the book, too. I didn’t need to cry at the end.
I do remember when I first started reading this book, I felt more sad than when I finished it. Because I knew I was beginning the end and because it began somewhat darkly.
I haven’t really started it yet. I read the first two chapters, then gave it to Lynn to read. She is going to read it this week while I am at work, then I will take it back up again. It looks good; I’m just not much of a reader anymore. I never read the Half-Blood Prince at all; I listened to the audio book version on my drive back to D.C. over the course of a couple weeks.
That said, I’m kind of glad I read slowly. I prefer savoring something like this, rather than ripping through it…though I understand the temptation to read the book from cover to cover immediately. I used to be unable to restrain myself from that kind of reading, when I found something good. Now, I’m just like, “Whatever.” Books don’t hold the same appeal to me that they once did.