Last week, my son and I re-watched all seven of the Harry Potter movies. What sent us on this nostalgia kick, I couldn't tell you. But it made me want to re-read the books.
Though we began our movie marathon with the first film, I decided to begin my re-reading with the final book in the series. The first time I read it, it was fresh off the presses, and I sped through it curious to see whether my predictions would prove accurate. This time, I thought it might be fun to savor it.
I was late to the Harry Potter party. When the first book came out, I was in my first year of graduate school and up to my hairline in reading material, much of it dense theoretical texts. Literature for young readers wasn't on my radar. Though in retrospect, it would have provided a nice respite!
A few years into the series, I was looking for a novel to read in my second language (Greek), since reading is one of the ways I keep up my language skills. My strategy is to read books whose vocabulary will challenge my knowledge (but not to the extent that I'm looking up every other word), whose plots will keep me hooked, and that I can concurrently read in English so I can understand diction and syntax in context rather than constantly relying on my dictionary.
I simply love this series, really. I'd sort of forgotten that, which is, to some extent, an inevitable consequence of the passage of time. Reading "The Deathly Hallows" again, though, it came rushing back—the affection I have for these characters and their loyalty to one another, the lessons they teach about community, humility, forgiveness, loss, love. I love that choice—choosing your character, your path, even your destiny—lies at the heart of the character's journey. Even when the options are (far) less than ideal, we always have choices, even if it's simply to choose decency, kindness, goodness, which are not bestowed by the universe but chosen.
My second reading was intended to be a slow savoring, but I ended up plowing through the novel in two days, as I did the first time. The plot held me in its grip just as firmly. Perhaps I shouldn't be surprised...
What did you read this weekend?