Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Book I)

To be quite honest, I had not heard of Harry Potter until the day it was announced in the news that Daniel Radcliffe was chosen to be him in the movie. I steadfastly swore off reading or watching anything so mainstream; if it made this much of a fuss, chances are I wouldn't like it.

My husband wore me down one day, about the time that the 2rd movie came out. We were at our local video store and couldn't find anything to get, when he stumbled across the 1st movie. He bribed me with ice cream (hey, I'm a cheap date) if we could watch it.

Shortly thereafter Book 5 was coming out, and a friend wanted to go to the midnight release. I figured, if I was going that far, I might as well read the books, since I'd seen a few of the movies by then.

I found the book sucked you in very quickly. The characters are all well written and easy to relate to. The book has more of a 'filled out' feel than the movie, but that's to be expected. There's a nice collection of supporting characters also.

I think Rowling does a very nice job of creating a magical world that sort of slides in next to the Muggle world. An excellent job was done coming up with a sort of magical 'language': Quidditch, Muggles, magical spell incantations, etc. There's a fantastic history in the book; you almost feel like you could call up a travel agent and book a weekend's vacation in Diagon Alley - I know I'd love to!

The story line flows well; Harry goes through all sorts of things one might expect he would getting tossed into a new world: the learning curve, teasing from other students, new friends, new subjects to struggle and excel at.

My son is just about 8 years old now. He's seen most of the movies, and I'm hoping to get him into reading this book soon. He's expressed interest in it, but he's steadily working his way through his Pokemon chapter books and also the Boxcar Children series.

I think what I love most about this series is how much it can appeal to both children and adults. Growing up, I didn't have any books that I could share and talk about with my parents, so this seems to be such a wonderful gift. I like to be involved with what my kids are doing; this makes it so much easier, since I enjoyed it too!


From the back of the book:
Harry Potter has never played a sport while flying on a broomstick. He's never worn a cloak of invisibility, befriended a giant, or helped hatch a dragon. All Harry knows is a miserable life with the Dursley's, his horrible aunt and uncle and their abominable son, Dudley. Harry's room is a tiny closet at the foot of the stairs, and he hasn't had a birthday party in eleven years.
But all that is about to change when a mysterious letter arrives by own messenger: a letter with an invitation to a wonderful place he never dreamed existed. There he finds not only firneds, aerial sports, and magic around every corner, but a great destiny that's been waiting for him...if Harry can survive the encounter.

Wonderful Book

I had held off on reading any of the Harry Potter novels for a long time, assuming both, in my arrogance, that they were much too popular to be of any quality, and that they were written for small children, and therefore held no value to a discerning, literate (read: snobbish) adult.
I was wrong. The first novel is childish inasmuch as it doesn't have sex in it and it doesn't use adult language. There's some violence, which increases in later novels, but it's mostly G-rated. I can't believe I waited until 2007 to read these books.
The novel is never condescending--Rowling never talks down to the reader. The story is funny and extremely imaginative, and you really feel sorry for poor Harry Potter and what he must put up with, and consequently you feel joy for him when he goes to Hogwarts, escaping his terrible life on Privet Drive. Although, employing her constant use of verisimilitude, Rowling returns Harry to Privet Drive at the end of the novel, proving that even with magic, life isn't perfect.
I really enjoyed the way Rowling tied everything up at the end of the novel; it was written like a very good mystery in that respect. Although it may seem somewhat amateurish to have an enemy explain everything to Potter right before attempting to kill him (a disreputable movie cliche), that didn't make much difference for me--I was more interested in how cleverly the story had been written.
It's really funny to think that people opposed this book for its supposed link to the "dark arts." What year is this? 1999, when this was published. Are we still burning witches? Rowling remarks on witch-burnings in a later book, humorously mentioning that when villagers caught a real witch (as opposed to a "Muggle" mistaken for a witch), the witch would use magic to protect herself from the flames, and that the burning would give her a tickling sensation as she pretended to burn to death in agony.
Rowling has very realistic characters, and she captures foibles and endearing insecurities excellently. It's all believable--you feel angry with Harry and happy with Harry.
I honestly cannot think of anything wrong with these books--even the length of the book is just right. And Rowling's books become a LOT longer later on, which just adds to the pleasure of reading them because the story lasts longer. They do not feel overlong. The Order of the Phoenix, for example, is 870 pages long (in hardcover form). That's about three times as long as the first novel!
Anyway, if you're like me and haven't read any of these books because of some foolish prejudice, I highly recommend you at least read the first one and let a little magic into your life.

Rowling off to a good start

The story begins with Hagrid bringing the infant Harry to Privit Drive, where he links up with Professors Dumbledore and McGonnagal. Harry's parents were just killed by Voldermort, the most powerful dark wizard in history. Harry not only somehow survived Voldermort's attack, but the magical rebound destroyed Voldermort in the process. Dumbledore gives the orphan child to Petunia Dursley, Harry's aunt, to protect him until Harry becomes old enough to go to school.

In a very Brother's Grimm story line, Harry is treated less than kindly by his guardians and comes out of the experience humble but otherwise well adjusted. On his 11th birthday, Hagrid returns and explains to Harry that he is a wizard and is accepted to Hogwards School of Wizardry and Witchcraft.

At Hogwarts, Harry is awed by the wondrous workings of magic and quickly makes friends for life: Ronald and Hermione. Just as quickly, he meets the boy who will be a major nuisance for the rest of the series: Draco.

Harry has mixed success academically, but has especial trouble with Professor Snape. Snape has a loathing for Harry that goes back to when Harry's father was in school. To balance out his so-so book smarts and the irrational hatred of a professor, Harry learns that he is a natural at broom flying and makes school history by becoming a member of the Quidich team as a fist year student.

The real plot, however, centers around the Sorcerer's Stone, which is an enchanted chemical that can prolong life indefinitely or even raise the dead. Harry is certain that Voldermort, is after it. Harry and co race to discover its secret hiding place before Voldermort's minion does.

Rowling has created a rich world of magic that is believable. She blends an exciting mystery with fantastic fantasy. She was able to create a book that appeals to adults while still appropriate for younger children- no small feat at all.

Rowling fills her world with ghosts, animated paintings, moving stairs, shape changers, mythical beasts, interesting people and amazing spells. So much detail is given that she can easily hide important clues in plain sight. As a reader, it is easy to miss a clue because the mind is distracted with what the ghosts or paintings are doing.

Rowling provides many unique and interesting characters. No two are even close to being alike (excpet for the Weasly twins, but they are effectively one mind sharing two bodies). Only with the three main characters can the reader really identify with: Harry, Ron and Hermione. We get to see what is in Harry's mind because the story is told from his perspective. He is so close to the other two that we practically know what they are thinking.

I think what really sets this book apart from others of this genre is that she was able to bring traditional mythology to the modern world without being a revisionist. It is a pleasure to recognize the creatures from Bulfinch, Brothers's Grimm and other historical sources by how they look and act. Too many times when I read modern fantasy, if the writer did not give me the name of the monster, then I would never have reconginzed its origins.

John Holland-author of Necklace of Terrersylvanous