The Roving Reporter

Don't ask, don't tell...

Posted by: Amy Reiter

Wednesday, July 25, 2007 3:13 PM

In the five days since "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" came out, talk about it is everywhere I go, with at least a dozen people asking me if Harry dies. And largely these people also tell me they're not planning to read the book.

Apart from the obvious "why not?" I'm a bit curious as to why they're curious enough to ask, but not curious enough to find out by checking out the book. I'm guessing it's because HP has become a pop culture moment, and people want to be in on it. Or because they've seen the movies and want to skip ahead and get to the last page without waiting for Daniel Radcliffe to be 27 and playing Harry as 17-year-old by the time the last movie comes out.

Now I'm all for passing on information -- I'm a reporter, after all. But this is one instance where keeping quiet can be a good thing. For one reason, someone in the vicinity is likely to be a HP reader, and if that person hears a spoiler he or she doesn't want to hear, then you've ruined that person's fun.

So my plan is to shut up. If you want the answers and don't want to read the book, head to Wikipedia or go to http://www.news-gazette.com/harrypotter and pass go at the spoiler alerts. I'm going to try to give everyone at least a month to read for themselves before I give anything away intentionally.

In other Potter news, Rowling told the Today show she's planning on writing an encyclopedia on the wizarding world. She's not setting any deadlines, but I'm guessing she'll miss writing about the world she's created.

Amy

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