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Harry Potter Craze Hits Gib
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Harry Potter has once again broken sales records, selling 1.2 million copies worldwide on its first day of release. It seems that the whole world has gone Harry Potter crazy, throwing parties celebrating Harry's final adventure, determined to grab the first copy of the book.
"They wanted to get that book Saturday, lock themselves in the house and read it, because they didn't want their other friends by Monday telling them who made it and who didn't," said Dan Fellman, Warner Bros.' head of distribution.
Gibraltar has certainly not escaped this craze. Whilst the book was released elsewhere in the world on Saturday, eager Gibraltarian fans had to wait one more day before Bell Books opened its doors to greet swarming Harry Potter fanatics. Bell Books actually received the books on Friday but were not allowed to sell any until the Sunday and hid them away until then. Bell Books ordered 100 copies of the books as the books were already on sale in Spain, and all were sold in an instant, most copies having been reserved way in advance. There is already a waiting list for those who just failed to grab a copy.
Everywhere you went on Sunday you saw a Harry Potter book, on the bus, at the beach, down Main Street with everyone completely engrossed as the story unfolded. Speaking to numerous fans, they can't put the book down, drawn into the action from the very start of the book. Despite the prelease 'spoilers' that proliferated on the internet, reader enthusiasm remained intact with glowing reviews worldwide, '"The book was fascinating, and I think I'll have to read it through at least once more before I get the full scope of it but I thought it had some of her best, most action-packed, funniest moments in it," says Melissa Anelli, Webmaster for the Potter fan site http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org, who said she finished the 759-page book Saturday.'
For those who have already finished reading the book, there is a certain amount of sadness in that the tale has come to an end. Melissa Anelli went on to say '"When I closed the book I was overjoyed and devastated, overjoyed at the story, and the way it had played out, but devastated that the tale was complete," she said. "It did feel like a bereavement, like it was saying farewell to a long-trusted friend."'
Indeed many fans will feel that they are saying goodbye to a close friend, but the beauty of books is being able to read them again and again, passing them down to new generations.
Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows is now on sale in Morrisons and The Gibraltar Bookshop as well as in Bell Books. If you haven't grabbed your copy yet, what are you waiting for!
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