Am I too old to read Harry Potter?

[Mummy2022FT]

In my twenties. Never read books nor seen the films... feel like I've missed out!

Never too old.

Read the books first before watching the films.

Never too old. I've asked for first editions for my birthday. I'm 30+

Nope

Nope. Please read before you watch the films though!

I'm 45, started reading them in my 20s (got them as they were published from Order of the Phoenix onwards) and still re read.

Ok I tell a lie I've seen about 30 mins of the first film when it came on Netflix but thanks to your comments I'm going to not watch anymore and buy the first book!

I’m 56 and am currently listening to them on audible at bedtime. Unfortunately Stephen Fry has a very relaxing voice and I fall asleep after about 15 minutes so it’s taking a while.

I read all the books to DS when he was small and we’ve watched all the films.

No - but do read the books before you watch the films - if you do - I think the films are very poor substitutes . Also if you start from the beginning I think the shorter earlier ones are better.

Same. I'm 41. I bought the first one as I was stuck on a delayed train and didn't have anything else to read. Saw it when I went to get a cup of tea from the on-board shop and thought 'why not'. Went out and bought the next three the next day, and like this PP, had the rest as they were published (loved the midnight openings of Waterstones). They're modern classics.

Myself and another work colleague actually started reading it aloud for someone else in our office who was 35 and never read it. It was a wonderful story to share and see them engaged with it. And absolutely the books more than the films, they really tried but it isn't the same. There should be more reading aloud and sharing stories with adults.

Never to old! I'm 77 and I watch the films over and over, I love them! I did read the books first though.

Sorry, "too!"

Of course you're not too old. I've reread all my daughter's Jacqueline Wilson. I'm not really a fan of Harry Potter.

I read them all in my mid 30s when my eldest was reading them. I used to nab it whichever one he was reading after he'd gone to sleep and give it back in the morning. My now 30 year old recently took the whole series home from her old bedroom and has re read them all.
Never too old!

Def not too old!!

I'm quite envious to be honest. To get to experience it all for the first time!!

You must read before films although recently listened to the book tape with stephen fry in the car and there is a lot of setting the scene I hadn't remembered in the first book

They were also written for children and again most obvious in the first book-gets more "grown up" as you read.

Lovely!!! What joys you've to come! I feel all sentimental 😂

I read them as an adult I know lots of adults love them and they did get darker and more complex as they went on but I never saw them as more than children's books tbh

I only started reading them in my thirties to my daughter and they are very enjoyable!

I’m 32 and reread them last year.
I started reading the aged 8 so grew up with them

the films are poop in comparison! So much missed out! Can’t wait for the series!

I’m a Grandma in my 60s and absolutely love both reading and listening to Harry Potter. I don’t feel I’ll ever be too old for the books.

I started reading them when I was about 20 (a while ago now though!) so you are definitely not too old. They are wonderful! And I definitely agree that read them before the films. My DS has started reading the first and I’m very excited about it!

No, you're never too old. C S Lewis was an Oxford professor, but he re-read the Squirrel Nutkin books (Beatrix Potter) every Autumn! Harold Bloom, perhaps the greatest literary critic of the 20th-century, loved Alice in Wonderland and Wind in the Willows. I often watch youtube vlogs by an ex-Cambridge professor who re-reads The Hobbit whenever he feels sad.

Many books that seem lightweight, or childish, are masterpieces, and far superior works of art to the Booker nominees. P. G. Wodehouse, for example, was a genius. Lewis' Narnia series, Roald Dahl's stuff, even batty old Enid Blyton's books, are all fantastic. I'm a big advocate for reading children's fiction. It would be weird if that was all you read, just as it's a shame when people read nothing but science fiction or fantasy. The best thing to do is mix them up – read Harry Potter and Tolkien, but also read Virginia Woolf and Henry James and Jane Austen, etc.

Bearing in mind that my late dad introduced me to the Harry Potter books, I wouldn't say you are too old at all. Enjoy! I wish I had the pleasure of reading them from the beginning again, they are fantastic.

Excellent post - except for the Virginia Woolf bit, because I've never managed to get through more than 30 pages of any of her novels!

If you have audible you can listen to The Philosophers Stone for free (included in your subscription) until the 5th August.

I have loved having it on my phone, it's like being transported back to being 8 and having the tapes back to back on my Walkman as I pottered around the house stopping only to find more batteries and the next tape.

I'm not sure I can justify buying the audiobooks again as I have tapes of 1-6 CDs of 6&7 and mp3s of all of them, but it is so lovely having them on my phone.