Unlike with Syaoran, I’m not sure how old Harry would be now if he’s (still) alive. According to this wiki page, he was supposedly born on July 31, 1980. It doesn’t cite a source for this info however. But I think I remember reading that date years ago. Must be in J. K. Rowling’s site, not sure. But if 1980 is correct, he’d be 29 today. That is, if he’s alive.
Why do I insist on adding that uncertainty of him being alive today? Well I wouldn’t want to spoil the ending to non-readers of course! HP fans, remember the time before Deathly Hallows was released? The whole fandom was abound with debates on whether he’ll live or die in the end. *sigh* Those were the days. Frankly, the fate of Harry which JKR chose didn’t satisfy me. Even now, I still think Harry should have ****. I hate the epilogue, that’s why.
I started reading Harry Potter in late 2001 all the way back in 1999! I was 3rd year in high school then. My classmate Neph one day brought the book with her to school. She was so engrossed in reading it and that made me really curious. You’ve got to admit though, the cover of Sorcerer’s Stone isn’t exactly that appealing especially to teens who like to think of themselves as no longer kids. It was just so “uncool” to be carrying a book with a cover like that!
But Harry Potter proves to be one perfect example of the old saying that you should never judge a book by its cover. I went into a mad frenzy about Harry Potter ever since then. I read all the first four books in less than a year 2 years and that’s a huge achievement for someone like me who reads books slow. I bought any kind of Harry Potter merchandise such as toys and coloring books with invisible markers! At school, I even posted book chapters on my classroom’s bulletin board! That has to be one of my most embarrassing but proud moments of my life.
Each Harry Potter book release was a major event to me. I go nuts as the release date neared because of the mounting anticipation. With all the books out, I sometimes get nostalgic remembering those days. Harry Potter will remain a huge part of my “growing up” life. I owe it to these series for reviving my lost love for books and for making my high school and college life more fun and memorable.
Oh and one more thing. Even if I’m a fan of Harry Potter, I never bought a cake for his birthdays. It definitely wasn’t something I decided I wouldn’t ever do. But I guess with all the money I’ve spent for Harry over the years, that’s more than enough way of showing how important these books are to me.
Happy birthday Harry! Wish I could give you even a “slightly squashed” chocolate cake. Oh, and happy birthday J. K. Rowling too! Thanks for writing this great story on that life-changing train ride.
Image credits: pondering pikaia and listal
UPDATE: I’ve starting reading Harry back in 1999! I’m an earlier fan than I previously thought! It makes sense actually because the first movie was shown in 2001. I could not have read the 4 books in that span of time. So only the first 3 books were released when I started reading Harry. That’s why the first hardcover copy I bought was Prisoner of Azkaban.
(Uhm, a silly request perhaps… but (nagiipon ng lakas na loob)… pwede mo bang i-book review kahit isang aklat sa animnapu’t anim na mga aklat ng pinakasikat ng libro sa buong mundo? Of course, by your own reading. Choose any of the 66 books, wala kang mahahanap na kasing haba na tulad ng nobela ni JK Rowling….)
Sorry po sa agaw-eksena..
God bless.
Ano pong 66 na aklat?
Agaw-eksena? English yan ng off-topic di ba? Cool! I learned something new.
Re: the year: In book 2 Nearly Headless Nick celebrated his 500th Deathday. He died on October 31st, 1492, so the party in book 2 took place on October 31st, 1992, when Harry was 12 years old and in second year, therefore 1992-12= 1980.
Also, in J.K.R’s website, Harry has a wizard card that reveals this date.
Re: The Bartimaeus Trilogy, I was so surprised too. I wanted to try it out, and I bought the first book not expecting to like it, and then I was hooked! Haha before the year was over, I had upgraded all three books into hardcovers! I love Bartimaeus too! The third book, Ptolemy’s Gate, really floored me.
It’s hard to compare any book or series to Harry Potter but I found it extremely satisfying, and would recommend it to any HP fan looking for another series to sink his/her teeth into. And in some ways it is better than HP — a more mature point of view, a tight story, and man, what an ending (and yes, I cried too!)!!!
Aww! You just had me recall the last pages of Ptolemy’s Gate again. *sniff*
Thanks for clarifying to me hist birthdate. I knew I’ve seen that in JKR’s site. Now I remember it was the chocolate frog wizard cards.
Hmmm… You’re actually the 5th person who has highly recommended to me the Bartimaeus trilogy. I see these books everywhere and I haven’t even bothered to read the blurbs. All right, I’ll read the first one and see how it goes.
Hi Patrick! Another blogger who’s a Harry Potter fan! Anyway, I saw your comment about the Booker novels. The Booker Prize is not really connected to the blogging world. You should definitely check out the Booker-prize winning novels. You won’t be disappointed with them. Also, the shortlisted books are worth checking out too.
So now that Rowling has officially announced that there won’t be any more HP books, where do you get your YA fantasy fix?
I saw sumthinblue’s recommendation in your latest post and I’d have to agree with her. Bartimaeus is a definite must-read. I have to confess, I sometimes think it’s better than Harry Potter. Why? I was totally caught off guard by the ending and I really, really liked it. Bartimaeus has to be the funniest character I’ve read ever! Don’t miss this trilogy. ^_^
Right now I’m reading Percy Jackson 2. I also read book 1 of Pendragon and that’s like a 10-book series I think. I’d really rather read Pendragon 2 because it’s got bits of sci-fi which I’m a fan of but I’ve chosen to read Percy because the movie’s coming out next year. I do wonder though why no movie studio has picked up Bartimaeus yet. Unlike most book purists, I’m not afraid of my favorite books getting adapted into the big screen.
And thanks for Booker. I’ve been really finding other books which I can read between YA stuff. You’ve got to expand your reading habits as they say.