To begin

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Friday 9 September 2011

a Potter present

Dear Reader,

A little while ago, I received a very delayed birthday present through the post. (Aside: my birthday is in the middle of July, and it arrived some-time during August.) It wasn't some small card with money in it from my Aunt in Pakistan or anything like that. No. It was HUGE. I wish I had taken a picture of the actual box to show you. It came up to my waste. Within the cardboard box was another slightly smaller box. In the style of a Russian Nesting doll I kept opening, and smaller boxes kept emerging. Until finally, after seven layers of cardboard, packing and bubble-wrap (yey bubble-wrap!!!!), I came out with this:

Yes! it's a Harry Potter Box Set delivered by Owl Post.
Its a shame the photo doesn't do full justice to the beautiful details on the box.  
...in which was this...


Cool right!

The present was from my friend Codename: Pixie. You see, we've had this very long standing argument. She absolutely adores all the Harry Potter Books. Where as me ... well, when I was about 10 or 11, I attempted to read the first two books, didn't like them much at the time and gave up 1/2 way. Then of course, the movies began coming out and everyone went Potter-crazy. And, being the sort of person who hates following popular trends, I thought to myself that there was no way I was going to read the Potter books now.   

However, being my one of my oldest friends, and sharing my obsession with books, Pixie also knew that I cannot resist the seductive lure of a shiny, brand-new just-off-press/just-off-a-shop-shelf book. And so, by giving me this beautiful Harry Potter Box Set for my birthday, she had guaranteed that I would finally come around to reading those books.

I tried. Believe me. I tried to resist the smell of those crease-less books, the glittering gold on those perfectly flat covers, the fresh black ink on those thousands of unread pages. It was incredibly hard but I succeed, some-what. Long-story short, it's suffice to say that within a week of the end of Ramadan, I had finished the entire series.    

And now, I must admit that I have fallen in love with The Prisoner of Azkaban, The Half-Blood Prince and The Deathly Hallows. J.K. Rowling really is an amazing writer, which was something I didn't really appreciate when I was 10 years old. But, anything I might say now about her writing style or the characters or plots has probably been said and written a hundred, maybe a thousand, times overs already. So I won't won't bore you with repetition. ;-)     

Having newly immersed myself into the world of wizards and muggles, I would love to hear from you, dear reader, if you have read the Harry Potter books or even if you've only watched the movies, which one(s) your favourite(s) are, and what you like the most. Leave your intriguing and fascinating opinions in the comment section below. :-)

But now I must go and thoroughly enjoy my salad-filled SUBWAY sandwich.
Nida

3 comments:

  1. Lol Nida. I knew you'd come around, eventually! ;)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ohmigod!! OMG!!! OMG!!! Oh. Em. Gee!!!! You have... you have..... *hyperventilates*
    you got.... you got......*stares at the photos*
    *hyperventilates some more*

    HARRY POTTER!! HARRY POTTER!! You got the WHOLE fricking SET!! I am officially jealous of you now!! Yes I am!! *stares at the books again and drools*

    And let me get this straight, you JUST read THE most marvelous books ever to be written?? THE most fantastic piece of literature to ever exist upon this earth??

    (Yes, as you have probably guessed with all the gasping and drooling going on here, I might be a teeny weeny Harry Potter fan!)

    I myself discovered the existence of Harry Potter after the first four books were out. I was sixteen and my six-year-old cousin kept going on and on about a scary wizard called "You-Know-Who"!! Lol!

    So me being the crazy person who actually enjoys reading her baby books (whaat?? I LIKE the picture books!!), had to find out who this "You-Know-Who" was!!

    It turned out this "You-Know-Who" was in a book in her school library and since I had outgrown the primary school, it took sometime for me to bribe a six-year-old into getting them out for me (yes, all's fair in love and books :P)

    It was true love at first word!! A love which only grew worse when my best friend turned obsessive after SHE got her hands on them. Sigh... we were not a pretty sight during the 3 a.m. release of Deathly Hallows, I tell you! :P

    I completely totally HATE the movies!! They completely butchered my beloved!! I don't know why I even watched them!! I'm a staunch book fan!! Hollywood even ruined my favorite The Goblet of Fire and...and... did you see the way Voldemort poofed in Deathly Hallows?? As if Voldemort is a poofer!!!

    I adore Ron!! He's my favorite character! His OWL exams cracks me up every single time. In fact, pretty much everything of him cracks me up! Lol!

    Ahem..., so it appears I have gone into a bit of a rant. Has this comment become a post in itself? My apologies, Harry Potter is a subject I tend to get a...uh.... a tad excited about *sheepish grin*

    ReplyDelete
  3. Awww, that's such a cute story of how you got into H.P. I practically spent my entire teenage years in the ever-media-presence of H.P. and sort of despised it because of that ... well opinions can change obviously.

    I actually saw the movies first and really enjoyed them at the time but looking back now, after reading the books, I realise how much they warped the story and missed out important chunks. So I completely agree, the movies are a horrid facsimile of the actual books.

    But I have to admit, Rupert Grint does a good job of portraying Ron's character, especially the comic aspects, I can't really picture him as anyone else. I also agree that Voldemort is not a "poofer" as you put it, and though his death in the is far more awesome in the book, it's kind of "wordy" which wouldn't really be good for a movie that require lots of action.

    Anyway, I'm not a conventional person and so my favourite characters (because I can't pick one) are not so conventional either: Remus Lupin (I cried when I read the part about his and Tonks death) and Luna Lovegood. Other characters at the top of my list in Ginny, Dumbledore, McGonagall, Neville and Hermione.

    Anyway, no need to apologise, I love to read what other people have to say.

    ReplyDelete