The End of an Era

July 18-22, 2007

The end of one of the greatest literary eras has come. Gutenberg invented the printing press; Thomas Paine stirred a revolution; Jane Austen caused the hearts of young girls to flutter with romance--but it was JK Rowling who taught children to love reading. She went from a woman on welfare, forced to write novels on paper napkins, to outstripping even the queen of England in wealth. She is now the second richest woman in the world, second only to Oprah Winfrey. And with good reason.

I stood in line at the Waterstone's bookstore on High Street Kensington for five hours and was the sixth person in line for the book. We huddled in the cold weather, sipping leftover Starbucks and playing BS with a crowd of British teenagers, until the doors opened at midnight. I cannot explain the thuds in my chest as my heart realized I was holding the final book. An obsession I may have, but it has been worth every second of it.

I finished the book in two nights because we spent the day at Portobello Road Market in Notting Hill and at Tennessee Williams' The Rose Tattoo, the main character played by Zoe Wannamaker (Madame Hooch in the first Harry Potter film, and her father, Sam Wannamaker, rebuilt the Globe Theatre in the early 1990s. The film was excellent, though the daughter couldn't decide if she should have an Italian or an American southern accent--she tried to mix them, and it was absolutely horrific.

The British Library is a must-see for anyone interested in literature or history, to continue in the vein of sightseeing adventures. I saw the only surviving, only intact copy of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, letters from Jane Austen to her sister Cassandra, tons of stuff from the Beatles, the Gutenberg Bible, the Emancipation Proclamation, and the MAGNA CARTA! It was amazing to stand in front of such timeless and influential works of literature.

Some day soon, Harry Potter will join their ranks. And I will be there when it does.