Hype can hinder reading
August 27, 2003 at 9:53 PM ET
James
iharrypotter.net (via Nashua Telegraph)
Lemen criticizes advertisers
for simply giving away too much information about much of the entertainment they promote, and believes that they should leave it to the intelligent consumer to figure the product out alone.
I was looking forward to reading it after the three-year wait since “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,” but I made myself put it on the shelf for a couple of weeks until I had the time to savor it. Things here were hectic as usual, and I knew once I started to read the book, I would not want to put it down.
So I resolutely put it on the shelf and waited until I had a block of time in which to read it.
That required some self-discipline on my part but not much. What was harder by far was trying to avoid hearing the entire plot of the book before I even opened it.
...With “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” I had to be super vigilant. It seemed as if every single newspaper, periodical, online magazine and television program had information about the book in it, and I had to avoid reading the headlines, because they would sometimes give away the plot.
I did manage to read the book before anyone told me about it. I read it during the big heat wave in July. After Lucy went to bed, I would take a cold shower, park myself in front of a fan and read until I fell asleep. It took me three or four nights to finish, and I enjoyed myself thoroughly.