Harry Potter

So the last day of hype is almost over, and tomorrow we'll see how the book stacks up against the hype. There's been a lot written about Harry Potter over the last week or two. Here are some of the more interesting tidbits I picked up.

The NY Times had an op-ed back on July 8th where they asked four authors to write about how the series would end. The fourth one was particularly interesting, reminiscent of Stephen King's Song of Sussanah (book 6 of The Dark Tower saga) in which "...the author weaves his own character into this unpredictable saga...".

The Mercury News recently reprinted an article from back in May by John Orr where he makes some guesses about how the final book will unfold. He had a really interesting hypothesis about the events at the end of book 6 involving Dumbledore and Snape.

Of course, not everyone is a fan: a Washington Post op-ed by a book critic takes the rather unpopular view that Harry Potter has caused the death of reading! His main point is:

Perhaps submerging the world in an orgy of marketing hysteria doesn't encourage the kind of contemplation, independence and solitude that real engagement with books demands -- and rewards.

Nonetheless, hordes of kids and adults will be at bookstores across the country at 12:05 am tonight to get their hands on the final edition of the Harry Potter saga. As for me, I'm going to get a good night's sleep and show up at Costco tomorrow at 10am to pick up my copy!