Growing up with Harry
Mar. 29th, 2007 09:06 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
author_by_night(Yet again, non-Harry Potter people- forgive me.)
Many of us were children or in our early teens when we first picked up the book with that odd guy in front of a train (or on a broomstick, or somewhere else, depending on where you reside.)
So I'm conducting a survey of sorts, and want feedback from those of you who were in your teens or younger when you first read the books. In a short paragraph or sentence, tell me these things
- Your country of residence.
- The fandom/LJ name you want to be quoted as (in case I decide to quote yours), or if you'd rather not be quoted, but still want to answer.
- How old you are now, and how old you were then.
- What it was like, growing up with the books.
If you know someone who grew up with the books (little brother/sister, younger friend, your own kid, etc.), you may also post about that.
Note: I will be quoting a number of these unless you request otherwise, but it is possible not all answers will be used. I will make an effort to link to this post when I complete the project, but if it is hard to fit the number I recieve in, I will not be able to. However, again, I will link to this.
Oh, and just FYI: I was fourteen when I first read the books. I'm now twenty two. Time flies!
ETA: Thanks to all of you who have replied so far! 41 comments! One of these days I will catch up on replying, but in the meantime, it's been cool hearing all of your stories, and look forward to more. :)
Many of us were children or in our early teens when we first picked up the book with that odd guy in front of a train (or on a broomstick, or somewhere else, depending on where you reside.)
So I'm conducting a survey of sorts, and want feedback from those of you who were in your teens or younger when you first read the books. In a short paragraph or sentence, tell me these things
- Your country of residence.
- The fandom/LJ name you want to be quoted as (in case I decide to quote yours), or if you'd rather not be quoted, but still want to answer.
- How old you are now, and how old you were then.
- What it was like, growing up with the books.
If you know someone who grew up with the books (little brother/sister, younger friend, your own kid, etc.), you may also post about that.
Note: I will be quoting a number of these unless you request otherwise, but it is possible not all answers will be used. I will make an effort to link to this post when I complete the project, but if it is hard to fit the number I recieve in, I will not be able to. However, again, I will link to this.
Oh, and just FYI: I was fourteen when I first read the books. I'm now twenty two. Time flies!
ETA: Thanks to all of you who have replied so far! 41 comments! One of these days I will catch up on replying, but in the meantime, it's been cool hearing all of your stories, and look forward to more. :)
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no subject
Date: 2007-03-31 06:04 am (UTC)Australia
The fandom/LJ name you want to be quoted as (in case I decide to quote yours), or if you'd rather not be quoted, but still want to answer.
Elaran
How old you are now, and how old you were then.
19 years old now, I was in Year 7 when I first read SS/PS, so 11-12 yo. whoa.
What it was like, growing up with the books.
Fun. I loved the first three books. When GoF came out, everyone else got in on it and it was more fun cos I could talk about it with more people. It's an integral part of my childhood along with reading Narnia and LotR for the first time and watching Star Wars.
It was one of the main things apart from Stargate that lead me into fandom. I read HP fanfic voraciously from about 13-14yo onwards. I loved reading about the characters, especially Hermione [I loved her character so damn much - I could relate with her so well] and they were close to my age as well and it was like growing up with the characters.
I loved predicting what would happen in the next books. I loved that the story was written as though it could happen, as if we were muggles. I got so emotionally invested in the books and very attached to the characters.
It's amusing now to consider how I used to be. When I started in fandom, I shipped Ron/Hermione, Harry/Ginny or Draco/Ginny. Now I ship Sirius/Remus, Harrry/Draco, Ron/Draco, Snape/Hermione etc. It lead me into slash as well.
I dressed up [and plan on doing so the for the next few ones as well] for the movies [crappy as they are]. I have a Slytherin scarf that one of my friends knitted for me. In fact, four of us have scarves from the four different houses [actually, we may not have a Hufflepuff].
I cried when Harry trashed Dumbledore's office after Sirius died. I cried reading about Cedric. I cried when Dumbledore was drinking from that well and was confused. He's Dumbledore, he's not allowed to be like that. He has to be wise and all-knowing. I love the character of Snape. [I think he's a good guy :D]. I died of squee reading the Ron/Hermione moments in the books. I went through phases where I was convinced Draco was good and obviously ebing abused at home, where Snape loved Lily and was jealous of James, where Sirius would OBVIOUSLY come back from the veil etc.
There's a post that
I'm unhappy about the writing in OotP and HBP. I think it could've been written better. They didn't strike a chord with me as much as the first 4 did [especially the first 3]. Probably because Harry still comes across as being in the angsty rebellious teenager phase that I've kinda grown out of [my mum might disagree :P]. But that said, I don't think it's possible for most people to comprehend my excitement about the 7th book. It'll be an end of an era for me. These books, as I said before, are a large part of my childhood much like Narnia, LotR, the original Star Wars and a few other authors have been.