Shan Wu

I always knew the Harry Potter books were getting longer and longer with each one that she writes, but it never sunk in as much as when I saw this picture of the boxset while browsing through Amazon:

For serious, check out the difference in thickness between the first book (reasonable) and the 4th, 5th, 6th, and now 7th (ridiculous). Maybe she figures that the 10-year-olds who first started reading the first book in 1999 were 14/15 by the time the 4th book came out, and are now 18, and so would have no problem handling 500-page books. My question is just how necessary was it to have a 500-page book?

Her first book wasn’t 500 pages, no doubt, because her publisher/editor/common sense told her that she can’t sell a book 500 pages long for 10-year-olds. So edit she did, but somehow as the books got more popular, the editing became superfluous because she knew the books would fly off the bookstore shelves no matter what. Granted, the last one (Half-blooded Prince) was quite good and moved along at a good pace, so I didn’t so mind the length. But I remember reading the 4th one (Goblet of Fire) and getting so frustrated with page after page of descriptions of the Gryffindor common room. Was that really necessary? Just get on with the story!

So I’m curious as to just how successful she will be in “getting on with the story” in this 7th, and last installment (Deathly Hollows). I’m sure I’ll feel differently when I get to the last page and realize that I really do want to know more, but for now, I’m glad that this whole Harry Potter thing will soon be over.