Oh, for the love of literature!

[neadods]

This weekend, the next to last of the Harry Potter books goes on sale. I have mixed feelings about this. I do think that once the series is over that people will move on to the next hot thing. This means that the rare edition of HP #1 that I have will probably have a sudden drop in value. (Note to self: take that bugger to NYC and sell it by Jan 2007!)

On the other hand, the overhype will also drop off, and that is a good thing. I'm surprised we've almost gotten to the release date before we started seeing the "OMG, someone put it on the shelves early, HORRORS!" messages.

Much less stupid-ass attempts to keep a lid on it like this - the Canadian government ordering people not to read the copies they've already bought. "One sympathizes with the reader from a non-legal point of view, but property rights often trump civil liberties. There is no human right to read.” says one of the lawyers involved.

What was that line from Max Headroom? "Reading is a privilege, and if you had enough money to pay for an education you'd know that."

Comments

[lagilman]

My flat-mate's getting two copies this weekend. I figure by the time she finishes one copy (her folks get the other), I might actually have time to read it. But am not salivating to get at the book -- whenever's fine by me.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

It's the "no right to read" that gets me. The hell? It's a novel, not the nuclear football.

[lagilman]

It's all tied up in the laydown date, and reporting to the bestseller lists. Very important stuff, at a certain level.

(they starteed selling me early, fer'zample, so I'm going to be split between reports, thereby miss hitting any lists. Me, no huge big deal so long as I get the sales. Rowling? Major deal.)

[neadods.livejournal.com]

Can it be that big a deal for her? They changed the rules at the NY Times so she wouldn't dominate the lists, and it's a foregone megaseller.

[havocthecat]

Hadn't heard that. How'd they change the rules?

[neadods.livejournal.com]

There was a time when she had the top three spots - I think it was when Azkaban came out - so they stopped listing "children's books" in the main bestseller list and stuck her over in the children's book list.

Since it's read by adults - to the point that England gives the choice of an adult cover - I think that's straining at gnats.

[lagilman]

For her, maybe not. For the publisher? Yeah. It's still a big deal. NYT, and other bestseller lists as well (USA Today, WSJ, etc).

And they haven't changed the rules _that_ much. Sadly.