Harry, Interrupted

For a while, I've been complaining that life has been too crazy for me to finish the latest Harry Potter book. No, I will not give away any spoilers, but I think it's safe to say that Harry is sick and tired of waiting for his Quidditch match to begin. My sister's getting married, I'd say. My boyfriend's moving in, I'd say. Well, Samantha's been married for over a month now, and Project Cohabitation is nearing two weeks, but poor Harry is still poised on his Firebolt. And it's not even that I'm too busy to read, because in the last seven days, I have devoured V.C. Andrews's beloved series Flowers in the Attic, a series I was first exposed to in sixth grade because my friend Kimmy's older sister had read it and we wanted to be like Kimmy's older sister. Just like that, I was introduced to the principles of child abandonment, death, rape, and incest. And apparently, I can't get enough, as I re-read the entire series about once every two or three years.

It usually begins the same way, with me casually pulling the second book, Petals on the Wind, off my shelf and searching for a few of my favorite passages. Then, suddenly, I'm reading it cover-to-cover and pushing forward through the rest of them, and by Seeds of Yesterday, I am sobbing for Cathy, because seriously, can the girl ever get a break? Since I still have many of my books stored in my parents' basement, I went shopping to purchase the ones I didn't have with me here in Indy. One of those was the original book, so even though I technically finished the series last night, today I am reading Flowers in the Attic. Next? the prequel. Next? Hopefully, Harry, but I still haven't finished The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and with The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe hitting theaters this December, my goal is to finish the Narnia chronicles before then.

The bottom line? I could finish Harry if I wanted to. But right now, I don't want to. I'm not in the mood, and since book seven is scheduled for release God Knows When, I don't feel the need to rush myself. I am perfectly content searching for Flowers in the Attic information on the Web--critiques, message boards, fan fiction, anything. Reliving these books is not something one should be allowed to experience alone. Last Friday night, as Luke and I drove to Rensselaer, I carefully explained why these books have more substance than Harlequin paperbacks and how V.C. Andrews provides new insights into the human psyche by revealing what individuals are truly capable of doing and feeling when trapped into horrific circumstances beyond their control and why at least the first book should be required reading in college psychology classes throughout the country and how the movie just didn't do it justice. Definitely a fun drive for him.

Somehow I am going to be punished for my own act of child abandonment, even if the boy is sixteen, fictional, and perfectly able to play a game with his friends without my watchful eye. I would not be surprised if Harry himself visited me in my dreams to reveal the end of book six. I can see him chuckling to himself, "That's what the *&^%$ gets for postponing one of MY Quidditch matches."

Comments

[Becky]

I LOVE the "Flowers in the Attic" series!!! And I first read it in sixth grade, TOO!!!

My mom always let me read her books... mostly Stephen King and James Patterson and that type of stuff... but she had a box of books in the basement filled with old yearbooks and college textbooks... one day I was leafing through a few of them and buried at the bottom of the box - lo and behold - was V.C. Andrews' wonderfully incestuous series. I figured if they were buried in a box, she probably wouldn't want me reading them... so every day after school I would sit in the basement and get lost in the attic with Chris and Cathy and Cory and Carrie until my mom got home from work... when I heard her key in the door, I'd mark my page and pack the book back in the box until the next day. I was incredibly sneaky when I was younger.

I also re-read them every so often... and it starts out the same way: you're looking for something specific. When you can't find it (or even when you can), you end up reading the whole thing over again, no matter what else you're "in the middle" of at the moment.

I have yet to begin the new HP, as well, and I've been "in the middle" of a Toni Morrison book for over a month. I agree with you about the HP stuff - why waste it and read it now if you're not really into it? I'd rather wait until I have my next attack of Potter infatuation so I can really enjoy it.

Glad to hear that Operation: Cohabitation went over swimmingly - hope to talk to you soon!

[Liz]

My favorite (or most horrifying) part was when the grandmother would sprinkle arsenic on the doughnuts...

[Frema]

Actually, Liz, it was Corrine (the mother) who sprinkled the arsenic on the doughnuts. At the end of Petals on the Wind, when the adult Cathy confronts Bart Winslow and her mother during the Christmas party, Corrine says she wanted to make them each just a little sick, so that she would have a reason to take them to the hospital and thus get them out of the house.

I am such a dork.

[Luke]

Maybe if you don't read it soon, someone might accidentally let slip who dies. They just might...

[Bearette24]

Frema, how many times have you read these books????

;)

[Bearette24]

I remember all the main characters had "cerulean blue" eyes. What IS cerulean, anyway?