harry potter

Two weeks ago, I and some friends went to see Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

I had never read any of the Harry Potter books and had no intentions of doing so. I did, however, enjoy the movie quite a bit.

I am ashamed to say�but not so proud that I can�t admit it�that I am a book snob. I am also the sort of person that avoids showing interest in things that are popular at the time. For example; I�ve never seen so much as a snippet of the movie Titanic, I was able to go to UNL without ever showing any sort of football-Cornhuskers fanaticism, and until recently, I had been successfully avoiding all things Harry Potter.

Japan has weakened me.

In the past two weeks, I have not only seen a Harry Potter movie, but have also read a Harry Potter book [Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, a 636 paged monster].

My excuse for seeing the movie is that I was desperate for a night out with friends and the friends that were available were planning to see that particular movie.

My excuse for reading the book is that I needed something to read during the 48 hours of travel time I was going to experience going from Japan to Philadelphia and from Philadelphia to Japan.

I do have several books in my apartment, but I�ve already read all of the ones that I�m probably ever going to. What remains unread consists primarily of Japanese textbooks, a couple dry intellectual-type books, and crap that wasn�t mine to begin with: books on culture shock and The Japanese [there�s nothing I hate more than a person�s attempt to pigeon-hole��understand� if you will�other cultures].

My only option [apart from re-reading The Hobbit or The Good Earth for the billionth time] was to scope out the 5-book English section at my high school.

What do those 5 books have in common? You guessed it, Harry Potter.

All in all, reading the book was not the worst experience I�ve ever had. Sure it got annoying trying to keep the cover and title hidden from view of the general public, but I was entertained and the book really helped make the 11 hour flights pass quickly.

Now that I�m back in Japan, I can�t decide what to read next. Should I continue on to the next Harry Potter? I�ve broken down once, why not twice? I�ve eaten one chocolate, why not two?