Friday, December 28, 2012

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part I and II

When I opened this Christmas present from my husband, I was extremely happy and a little bit sad. I commented to him that it's the last time he will buy a Harry Potter movie for me. It's really the last time I'll buy much that's Harry Potter - I'm sure that Warner Brothers and the book publishers won't like the sound of that, but honestly, how many copies of the books, the audio books, or the movies does one person need?

I already have all the books in hardback and paperback versions, well read to be sure but in fairly decent condition. (There were a couple of books I replaced after I read them over and over and loaned them to my daughters who read them over and over and they finally fell apart.)

I have all the Stephen Fry audio books of Harry Potter and listen to them all the time. And now I have all the Utimate Editions of all eight movies. I love having all the deleted scenes and extra content, but I don't need the versions that come in a special box or anything else they will come up with in the future. Enough is enough.

To be honest, I was kind of expecting this particular gift. The one that took me by surprise is the book, edited by Travis Prinzi, Harry Potter for Nerds: Essays for Fans, Academics, and Lit Geeks. Cool.

My husband, Terry, who knows a lot about Harry even though he hasn't read any of the books and has only seen four or five of the movies, asked why I listen to the audio books all the time. I listen when I'm going to sleep. I started thinking about it and I think it goes back to my childhood. I've never fallen asleep easily, unlike Terry. I liked being read to as a child, I loved reading to our daughters when they were children but found that sometimes I was the one who got sleepy. There is something soothing and relaxing to me about someone reading to me. Listening to a book when I know the story so well lets me fall asleep quickly. It's different than listening to music. If the music is instrumental, I find myself keeping time to the music. If someone is singing, I want to sing along and pay so much attention to the words that I'm more wide awake than when I crawled under the covers.

A special gift indeed - one that I will cherish for years to come. And now it's time to find my place in Chamber of Secrets on my mp3 player where I fell asleep last night - just as soon as I finish my tea and have one more piece of Christmas fudge.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!