Reading Harry Potter For The First Time

Yes, you read it right. I am a 27-year-old adult and I am guilty of not reading Harry Potter yet. I have read it in bits and parts like the summary of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire from an e-book and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in Hindi. But I have never read the complete series.

So, two question arises why I have shunned myself from this magical world for which the whole world is going crazy and what inspired me to pick it up this time.

Answering one at a time, first why haven’t I picked up this series yet. I have 2 reasons to give. First I have watched all the eight Harry Potter movies(which I absolutely loved). I know I know this reason might have offended many people who will advocate that books can’t be compared with movies. And no objections to that, I strongly agree to this point and even I am part of that community(if there is any such community). Books have lots of subplots and events which can’t be covered in 120-150 minutes of movies. (Anyways it is a different topic for which I can talk at length) So now, what’s the reason I haven’t started it earlier? And the reason is my financial crunch. During my childhood days when the books were released, I had only limited pocket money and the book set always seemed to me as an item of luxury. But now since I have the resources I finally got my hands on my first Harry Potter boxed set.

But what really inspired me to pick this book this time. One answer: my bookish friends. There are lots of my bookish friends who keep saying that you should read Harry Potter. But I was ambivalent as I have already seen the movie 2-3 times and familiar with the complete storyline. I really doubted that my experience will be as enjoyable as others. But yeah I was intrigued. So, I did my own research via Quora, Goodreads, Youtube and there I find huge HP fandom communities. People suggested that I should give it a try. In fact, there were many people who wished they can go back and read Harry Potter for the first time again. So, I was convinced and thought to give it a try. Better late than never.

But did my experience match my expectations? Or did the fact that I know the story line has ruined my HP reading experience? Or am I too old to start a series meant for children? That I will be able to conclude only after I complete the series. I will take you along with my journey and will share my experiences with each book. Let’s start this magic expedition together.