A Little Touch of Harry in the Night

I know it’s been “All Harry All The Time” this week at January Magazine. And, perhaps like you, I’m getting weary of the hype. It certainly didn’t help matters that I spent nearly 10 hours today in U.S. airports trying to fly home from a business trip, and heard endless CNN reports about Pottermania on both sides of the Atlantic. I’ve never cracked open a Harry Potter book, so I can’t speak personally about the series ending. My wife and stepchildren, however, are big fans, and Leslie will pick up her copy from a favorite independent bookstore while she visits her parents this weekend.

Still, I found myself in a local chain bookstore on Friday evening, enjoying the air of anticipation as well over a hundred children waited for the midnight release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

You can’t spend time this weekend in a bookstore and not be captivated by it all. Think of it: This weekend, in the middle of summer, children in North America, the United Kingdom and who knows where else, will put aside their iPods, PlayStations and DVDs. They will take a break from text messaging, instant messaging and chat rooms. They will curl up with a book. A book they’ve anxiously awaited for months. They will talk to their friends about it, and they will debate the relative merits of the book, compared to its predecessors in the series, or perhaps in contrast to other books they’ve read.

Isn’t this what it’s really all about? Connecting with a fictional world and putting aside everything else?

Maybe Harry and his friends don’t appeal to you -- fine. I’m in the same boat. Still, I plan on emulating my young friends this weekend. I’m going to get lost in a book.