Media saturation, or why I'll be in my cave

[pbray]

Grr. Today I saw my first spoilers on HP#7--from someone who claims to have gotten a hold of a review copy and posted their impressions on the internet. Luckily it was behind an lj cut tag but I was still ticked.

Why can't I just enjoy the damn book?

There've been rumors out on the internet for weeks, naturally, but they've been pretty easy to avoid. Now, as the clock ticks closer, it's going to be harder and harder.

Today's review was behind a cut tag. The next one probably won't be. And if HP#6 is any guide, by the time Sunday rolls around, the news outlets will already be discussing the major plot twists.

I've already planned my weekend out--picking up my reserved copy of HP #7 at midnight Friday, then blocking all day Saturday to read the book through from beginning to end, while in a media blackout. No radio, no TV, and above all, no logging on the internet.

If this was any other new book I'd been waiting for, I'd enjoy the opportunity to savor it. To read it over a few days, perhaps.

I remember when I first discovered Harry Potter. The first three books had been released in the US, and I'd heard a news story about them on NPR. So I bought the first, read it, then bought the next two.

Then I delivered copies of the series to jennifer_dunne, just so I'd know someone else who had read the books, so I could talk to her about them.

Book 4 wasn't too bad from a media frenzy standpoint. Book 5 was--I didn't read it all in one day and thus knew which character had died long before I got to that scene.

For book 6, I spent the release day driving home from a bike trip in Quebec, and arrived to find that my copy waiting for me. I spent the next day on the couch reading until I was done. Which was fortunate, because as soon as I powered up my laptop, there were spoilers in my email, friendslist, and the news websites.

I'm glad that JKR is so successful, and I think it's great that so many people will be reading this book. But I wish that our culture wasn't an all or nothing affair. Books are either quietly released, or turned into a major media event where everyone, everywhere, feels the need to discuss the plot endlessly. Regardless of the fact that some of us would like to experience the book for ourselves, first hand, without being tainted by other people's impressions.

Sigh.


So, anyway, that's what I'm doing this weekend. And after I've read the book, I'm keeping my damn mouth shut.

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Here's hoping for civility.