Harry Potter - A Look Back

So I picked up Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone back in the summer of '99. I had just graduated High School but I had found that kids books were fun and an easy read, and I kept hearing about this series of books. The hype was just beginning to start.

I actually just picked up the paperback version of one because I didn't expect to really get into it so much that I would want to buy the hardback of two, but I was instantly hooked. Sure, the series has a few weak points, like Sirius Black accessing the school through the Floo Network which makes me wonder why Voldemort doesn't just do it, but overall I was enthralled, read all three of the first books within a week of each other and was pleasantly entertained by the prospect of reading the next four over what I assumed would be a couple of years.

Its kind of odd to think that I didn't like the idea of them making these books into a movie, as I had a pretty set idea of what the characters and school looked like in my head and didn't want it to get ruined like Hollywood has a habit of doing.

Strange, as the series progressed, it gained in popularity to what can be percieved as quite explosive. This series of books is hugely popular to a point that has never been seen by anything that I know about. I mean, has there been anything in pop culture that has spawned something like this that you can think of? I guess in music there was Beatlemania, and movies have Star Wars, but really, I don't think I've seen a book series this popular before.

Well, I have read all seven books, buying Deathly Hallows right at Midnight and cracking that badboy open and reading all night. I took a break at around five am for sleep, and was back up by 830 to read some more. I was done by five that afternoon.

I cried. I laughed. I sniffled. I cried some more. I am engrossed, and I'm pretty sure that Severus Snape is quite possibly one of the best characters in the book because he's got so many layers to him, most of which we never see as the book takes place from Harry's viewpoint. We always see things from Harry's angle.

Whatever the case, without spoiling the book, which is excellent, I do have a biff with the Epilogue, and I've discovered I'm not alone. JK Rowling could have left it off and the book would have been fine. In fact, the Epilogue raises even more questions instead of bringing closure to the series, like it only tells of some characters, and introduces some that I personally don't care about. It was a bit of a disappointment.

Well, nix the epilogue chapter, and the series went out with a bang.

So, now what?