The Boy Who Taught Me a Life Long Lesson

[Rayjo]

Discussion for the Burrow article The Boy Who Taught Me a Life Long Lesson by Rach.

[Emynet]

Yay! I'm so glad you let your stubborness aside and fell into the magical world of Harry Potter. It's intoxicating isn't it? I was 21 when I first started reading the series, my cousin was a few years younger than you at the time when she asked for a whole bunch of Harry Potter stuff for her birthday. While I was looking for Harry Potter gifts I became intrigued with all the cool stuff there was out there. I thought, what the heck, Sorcerers Stone wasn't too long, it would be a quick read, and then I would know what the hooplah was about. I was hooked from then on out. I quickly read the remaining books and couldn't wait for the others to be released. I've spent the last few years recruiting new "Potterheads" (including my mother!). It's a great "brotherhood" to be involved in and it unites booklovers across the globe. How wonderful!

[Shipmonk]

It's amazing how many of us Potter-goers came from the sceptical background, isn't it?

I was just the same - my nan forced me to see the first movie, and now here I am: now completely insane, as I haven't read many different books since!

I just read Harry over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over ...

... well you get the picture!

Good on you Rachael!

[durre_b]

i was 11 when i started reading the hp books and forced my uncle into buyin them fr me!!! the first three because i had had the fourth for 2 years and never bothered to read it. didnt understand it either, without the first three. well, iv never been so lucky as to get ANYONE form my family involved. not one single single teensy weensy person though my 4 year old sister loves daniel radcliff *sigh* thats about as attached to the "potter movement" my family is.
all my elder sister can comment on is "how can u read such thick books unless you r not getting graded for them."
i can just say, everyone in my family has the sensitivity of a teaspoon...

[emmawatson777]

I love this Chicken Soup section! It's got some great stories!

Funny how the skeptics end up being the greatest addicts!

So many people have this stubbornness to be different, not to follow the norm, which is good. But I think it's slightly stupid to carry it over to joining the Harry Potter craze. You're not just following the rest of the world, you're creating a new world for yourself. I think I can indisputedly say that every single reader who reads Harry Potter interprets it slightly differently.

I wrote an editorial, actually, voicing my theory on why Harry Potter is so well loved. It wasn't accepted by Mugglenet, but if you'd like to read it, feel free to owl me and I'll be happy to send it to you.

[mwahaha]

2 thumbs up!!!well we all know harry potter is no ordinary book! i first read it in,like 2nd grade.My cousin brought ot 2 me,because he knew I liked reading,and since I read the HP series i couldn't help but everytime I would read something else I would think "harry Potter is so much better than this".My best friend wouldn't even read Cinderella(she was against reading,dunno why)until she read Harry Potter.my dad hates it though,and my mother thinks it's a joke;some friends tease me for liking Hp so it's not so easy,but i wouldn't even think of giving up just for that great editorial

[wandaXmaximof]

I too was a little unsure of H.P when I first heard about it, someone asked me to see the first movie with them, and even though I liked fantasy, I was like 'No way, I'm not watching some kiddie film about wizards.' Well I saw the movie and realised I was very wrong, it was amazing and I quickly read all the books. I've even managed to get some people into the books, like my boyfriend. I think part of the problem is that the films and books are marketed at younger readers, even though they offer so much to older people and that instantly puts older people off.

[SusanBones]

I was one of those skeptics, refusing to get on the Harry Potter bandwagon, unconvinced that these books were anything worthwhile. I finally broke down months after The Goblet of Fire came out. Ifell in love immediately and read the first three books quickly. I waited a month for my Christmas present, The Goblet of Fire, because I needed time to absorb this wonderful world. Boy am I glad I got off my high horse and joined the fandom.

[TheAurorTonks]

This story reminds me of my Harry Potter story, except.... all of my friends were skeptics. We were in High School when the first one came out and started getting really big. We were literature snobs and vowed never to pollute our minds with cheezy books. Then one of my friends got him PS as a Birthday present from his Grandmother because she new he loved to read. He started to read it out loud to us as a joke, and by the end of the first chapter we were all hooked. Since then we have gotten together for every Harry Potter book release, eventhough we have all graduate from college and live in different parts of the country.

[MissKnowItAll]

I totally empathize. Although I did like fantasy books before I read Harry Potter, I was also deeply immersed in classic literature. I refused to read something that was as 'ridiculous' as Harry Potter, even though all of my friends thought it was the best thing ever...everybody was reading it, it must be like the Goosebumps craze in fourth grade...and continued to snub HP until my younger brother (he was around nine, I was about eleven or twelve) began reading the first book. Well, the green monster of jealousy took over because he had never before read anything that I hadn't read first, so I took it when he was asleep and read the whole thing in two hours under my covers with a flashlight. I loved it, and was more than a little embarrassed at my previously stubborn behavior. Wonderful editorial!

[hedwigthegreat]

I too came from a complete skeptic territory to true fan and yes surprisingly quickly!

I hate and still do hate the idea of doing something because 'well everyone else is doing it' probably cos my parents didn't have that much cash when i was younger and in school, so i couldn't afford to have things which were the latest craze and i was bullied because of it - its easier not to get involved with any crazes then to admit that you can't afford them.

Luckily we are better off these days and don't get me wrong, i didn't go without at all, we just couldn't afford the latest this or that, we always ate well and i never went without uniform for school or anything (i'm from UK - we all wear uniforms over here, i think i'd have suffered even more in a US school atmosphere with wearing your own clothes - its all very well and good if you've got the cash to wear the best clothes but if you're like me (and harry!) and can't, then a uniform is much better!) Thats why i objected them making harry all fashionable in the movies - it would've been good for kids these days to see someone they respected, not in the latest stuff but in unfashionableness.

Ahem. Slightly off topic. Apologies.

Fact is that it was film 3 Askaban which got me into HP - i really liked it but felt like i was missing out. The other films just struck me as good but the endings of both were really rubbish and cheese-tastic - esp 2 'oh we love you hagrid' Oh my i needed fillings after all that sugar! But 3 - three was interesting and intriging and got my curiosity going!

Then i bought book 5 as i found it for £3 - bargain! started reading it but one chapter in i realised i'd missed one -seems so stupid to say now but i didn't realise i'd missed a book! So i bought 4, read 4 then read 5 and then 1-3. Odd way round and i do think my appreciation of 1 and 2 is spoiled by the films which i do like but don't really appreciate.

Anyway - thats my skeptic to HP obessive story! I've even gone further now and gotten into Fanfiction and read mugglenet and TLC and everyday and have even had an editorial i wrote published on mugglenet!

I still don't take them too seriously - i mean i don't spend every waking hour thinking of HP, i do have a life and a job and read other books (loads) and go out etc. I think its important to realise these are just books and while its a fantastic story and i love them more than probably any other series i've read.

And never in a million years would i have thought i'd have said that!

Love to you all and long live harry potter (seriously JKR we want him to LIVE for a LONG time - not killed please!!)

Lisa
x

[GinnyPotter71]

Well, I wasn't a skeptic but here's my story of getting into HP anyway:
I was only about 7 or 8 when the 1st book came out, and EVERYONE was reading, so I read it because I wanted to prove I could read and all. I read the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th but I wasn't obsessed yet...Then when the 5th came out, it was just, I don't know, I mean I was a good bit older and understood everything more. All the hype of HP from Book 5 made me suddenly obsessed. I read all of them over many times. Then last year I went on JKROWLING.com and found out about Mugglenet, becoming officially obsessed. It's weird that I became obsessed with HP after Book 5, since Book 4's my favorite. I think it's a true masterpeice and really fits in with Jo's style of writing. Since I'm a teen, I'm still kind of in the whole awkward phase, and don't want to show off my obsession with HP...BUT I recruited my tennis teacher to read the 1st book, and I'm getting my physical therapist to read the 1st.

LONG LIVE HP!!! It's a world to escape to and get lost in, but only for so long. As Dumbledore (RIP) says so brilliantly, 'don't dwell on your dreams and forget to live' or something like that, sorry I don't have SS/PS in front of me. HP really is amazing.

[VivianU]

Originally Posted by Shipmonk

It's amazing how many of us Potter-goers came from the sceptical background, isn't it?

It's true. I remember being surprised that a children's book was generating so much fuss. Someone handed me a copy and I read one paragraph and thought, "Yep, it reads like a kid's book. What's the big deal?" Which is weird, because I always liked to watch kid's cartoons and movies. I even read "The Adventures of Captain Underpants." So why was I initially sceptical about Harry Potter? Maybe because of its extreme popularity (snobbery, in other words). It wasn't until my parents started reading the books that I gave HP a try.

It's a similar story with my boyfriend. I was already a HP fan when I met him. He wouldn't touch the books because he didn't like fantasy stories. But I finally persuaded him to give Harry a try a couple of months ago, and he's been working his way through the series ever since! He's on book 6 now. I'm happy we can share this obsession.

[TennisWitch51]

That is such a great story! And reaminds me of how I felt about Harry potter before I became hooked. This one kid in my 3rd class always did bookreports on them every much and I didn't understand what was so great about them untill I started to read them a year later! ^^

[huntington]

So we're suppose to congratulate you for over coming your narrowmindedness?. . . Give me a break. I hope you don't ever have any children.


And I find in just a outright fabrication to say you read the book 6 times over a weekend. . . . .once, twice, maybe even a third time. . . but no more.

Sorry but that's how I see it.

[Lpenhale]

exactly!.. great story.. but I wasn't stubborn, but life changing the stories were... I now read a bazillion times more than I did before the harry potter books... I never imagined reading a book more than once... let a lone a series.. more than more than once..

[strawrose]

Yay! I'm glad you overcame it.

hrm... I knew of a teacher who only wanted to read "best" literature too:

Creative writing professor #1: No fantasy! EVER! Don't you dare show them to me in class! No orcs or boy wizards!

Professor #2 a.k.a. a Harry Potter fan: <.< *COUGH* Moving on...

[Mae]

wow im SO SO SO happy for you! i know a lot of people relate to that story so it;s good you posted it. i STILL have some friends who refuse to touch it...i just know that if i keep on bugging them, theyll love it just like you do!

it's amazing how great the books are, arent they? sometimes i sit and wonder WHY these books are so amazing. they're books like no other. i really dont get it; i mean, there are so many other great books out there but there's just something SPECIAL about hp for some strange reason...

well i really hope more ppl get converted out there. i cant really relate your story (i was an early fan, i read the books way before all the hype started), but im sincerely happy for you!

[hermiones_twi]

wow, very cool story.

i am a very obsessed harry potter fan and so are a few of my close friends. we (as you also said in your story) talk about harry potter at lunch ALL the time. its a great way to pass the time, and there are so many discussions that can be made. but a few of my friends dont seem to want to read harry potter same as you. some think its stupid and little kiddish, others think that its just a craze that will pass, and others think that the books are way too long to read, and that they would never like it. my harry potter friends and i nag them all the time and tell them how great harry potter books are. some laugh and make fun of us, others just shake their heads like we're a lost cause and need medical help, lol. but they really dont know what they are missing and im glad that you have finally found the magic of harry potter.

i, myself, have ALWAYS been a huge fan of fantasy, so naturally, when the first harry potter book came out i HAD to have it. i didnt even care if anyone else would like it because it was the type of thing i knew i would like to read. i did like it (obviously) and have been reading the books religiously ever since. i have reread and reread and reread them over and over. it annoys my mom, but i have made all my brothers and sisters (and my dad) addicted to harry potter as well. (although they are not as obsessed as me, ) i thank God for harry potter!

merry christmas!

[HPMuggle23]

hey, i was kind of like u.
I would go see the movie to appease my friends but i never really got into it. i was more interested in reading true crime and murder mysteries and all that.
I am in college, and my RA did a program where we all went to go see harry potter, goblet of fire together. well i loved it but she was like u just gotta read the books. and another neighbor of mine was like i'll let u borrow them. so i read all 6 books right after the movie came out til a couple weeks ago. i was amazed at the brilliance of all the minor clues. I am so excited for number 7 to come out though i know it wont be for another two years sadly...lol.
its great how people can become sooo attached to harry potter. i cried when dumbledore died. i had NO clue that he would. i believe he is dead, but that is for another time. lol.