Potter's latest installment creates hysteria among fans<\/p>\n
Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
A strange sight was to be seen in Jakarta from Saturday midnight
\ninto the early hours of Sunday morning: dozens of cars packed
\nwith adults and children chasing three blue vans along Jl.
\nSudirman and other streets in the capital.<\/p>\n
Whenever the three vans stopped, people formed long queues to buy
\nwhat seemed almost more precious than gold dust -- first editions of
\nthe latest title in the \"Harry Potter\" series to be translated into
\nIndonesian.<\/p>\n
\"We have been here since 10 p.m. because we know this is the
\nfirst stop for the convoy,\" said Kaban from Tangerang, one of the
\ncrowd waiting near the Dharmala building. The Gramedia publishing
\nhouse has translated all five titles in the series by J.K.
\nRowling, the latest being Harry Potter and the Order of the
\nPhoenix.<\/p>\n
\"My sons are afraid that the stocks will run out as I heard
\nthey will sell only sell 300 copies on the streets,\" said Kaban,
\n55. The series, with almost 1,200 pages in the last title alone,
\nhas been commended by adults for encouraging children -- as well
\nas grownups -- to read at a time when it is rare for Indonesian
\nadults to read anything more demanding than comics or newspapers.<\/p>\n
The long convoy, which started in the Palmerah area, then
\nheaded to Kwitang before it stopped at Sarinah, all in Central
\nJakarta.<\/p>\n
A woman looked out anxiously as her car pulled up behind the
\nparked blue vans, with all three children in the car gazing out
\nwith anxious stares.<\/p>\n
\"Each of my three children has to have a copy because
\notherwise they would start fighting,\" she said. She later
\nexpressed relief that she was able to get three copies in
\nSarinah.<\/p>\n
Also at Sarinah, a young man, Vino, said he, his sister and
\ntheir friends had followed the convoy from Palmerah. \"We're
\nhaving a lot of fun. It's just like what we saw on TV when the
\nEnglish version was launched abroad in June. I going to read this
\nbook without stop for three days, and forget about my video games
\nfor a while,\" said Vino, who had come all the way from Bekasi.<\/p>\n
Five students said they all had the other four titles.<\/p>\n
\"Harry is so cute, and the series is so different from any
\nother sort of fiction. We use many of the words from the series
\nwhen we're talking every day,\" one said.<\/p>\n
After Sarinah, the convoy wound its magical way on to South
\nJakarta.<\/p>\n
Robby Chandra, an children's observer, said kids today were
\nbored with so much entertainment at their fingertips, must of
\nwhich lacked any kind of \"spiritual dimension\".<\/p>\n
\"Rowling offers what this generation needs, including the use
\nof many new and interesting words. She creatively chooses funny
\nbut real, Latin-rooted words,\" said Robby.<\/p>\n
Later on Sunday, the Gramedia bookstore in Matraman, Central
\nJakarta, said it had sold 1,000 out of its stock of 7,500 copies.
\nMarketing head of PT Gramedia's fiction section, V. Tuwadi, said
\nearly on Sunday that all 300 first editions had been sold on the
\nstreets. The first 150,000 copies had been sold out before they
\nwere published, he said, as fans had earlier placed orders,
\naccompanied with down payments, at bookstores.<\/p>",
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