As good things come to an end...

And so it is with the Harry Potter series. Just watched HP and the Deathly Hallow Part 2 during the week and was thinking about how I watched the first movie with the hubby on our honeymoon 10 years back, and the last one with a friend while the hubby was babysitting our two kids... how time flies.

I'm a big Harry Potter fan having read each book at least twice and watched each movie. I was introduced to the series by a friend in campus and read the first three books back to back, mostly all night sessions (aah I miss those days sometimes, when I could afford the luxury of reading all night and sleeping through half the day). The release of each of the other books was a major event and I would try to get my hands on a copy as soon as possible. The flight back from London to Mumbai during a holiday in 2003 felt considerably shorter as I was glued to Book 5 , Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. In July 2007, when the last book was released I was on bed rest in Bangalore, as I had some difficulties in the first trimester of my pregnancy with S. The hubby on a visit to Bangalore to see me was ordered to go and get the book from any shop in Bangalore, and I spent the next few days huddled in bed, reading till late in the night. The only problem I have with the series, as with most books I read is that I am very impatient and when the book gets too interesting I need to know the ending. So for book 7 I had to know who survived,so somewhere halfway through the book I jumped to the end, and having read the end and satisfied my curiousity I could get on with the book. In the series my favourite has been the third one, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. The twist in the end was extremely unexpected and gripping and I must have read the book at least 4-5 times!

As for the movie series, while it has not been faithful to the books and the books are much better in terms of character and plot development, I've enjoyed the movies too for the entertainment. And I also like to put a face to the characters, to the school etc. The hubby accompanied me to the first few movies, being in the early stage of our marriage where we felt we had to do everything together. Then came the realisation that its best we do some things separately, especially movies where I had to explain most of what was happening (and the movies can be quite confusing for non book readers),and I quickly found other HP enthusiasts to accompany me. My nephew it was for movie 6, a friends for movie 7(1) and for movie 7 (2) I was all set to go alone, till a friend here mentioned that her hubby also had no interest in the movie and was enthu to come along. I liked the last two movies the best. The pace was much faster and the story telling more compelling.

So with a heavy heart I bid adieu to the HP series.

But guess what, The girl with the dragon tattoo releases December 26th and I just finished reading Millenium 3! Will keep you posted :)