Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Book 1)
by J.K. Rowling
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Book Reviews of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Book 1)
Book Review: Slow Start, Improves Immensely; I'll Buy More
Summary: 3 Stars
Well, i just finished the first "Harry Potter" book.I find it interesting that, among all of the honours it's won, listed on the back cover, there is no mention of the Newbery Medal or Newbery Honorable Mention status -- they ARE still awarding the Newbery for outstanding children's/YA fiction, aren't they?
I was a bit worried at first, actually holding the book in my hand and reading the blurbs, to find it compared by more than one blurb to the children's books of Roald Dahl (e.g., "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" or "James and the Giant Peach").
I happens that i abhominate the children's books of Roald Dahl.
And, at first, it looked as if the blurbs were right -- it was just as twee and arch and coy as Dahl and came across as just as aware of its own cleverness. ((In Dahl's case this reads like a smarmy condecension to the Dear Little Kiddies' Limited Comprehension; in the case of this book it seemed like a First-Time Author trying to be Clever because That's What Kiddies Like...))
And the opening pages, in which she demonstrated her arch inventiveness with such strokes as "Muggles" to mean non-magician humans, and described Harry's home life with his uncle and aunt and cousin in such over-the-top whimsical terms that i almost got seasick reading them, almost put me off the book entirely.
But i persevered and finally got to Chapter Four, in which Harry finds out just who and what he is and his dead parents were and receives his invitation to attend Hogwarts School, the premier school of magic in the World. From there on it's a pretty straightforward Term story, except that the main subject at THIS school is Magic. Harry makes friends, makes enemies, becomes a star on his House's Quidditch team and deduces that one of the Masters is Up To No Good and Must Be Thwarted.
I sort of wonder if the author didn't experience the Mimieux Effect -- i read that when George Pal began filming "The Time Machine", Yvette Mimieux was ((actually)) slightly underage and had never acted in movies before. By the time they finished making the film, they had to go back and reshoot several of her early scenes, because she'd learnt so much about acting in the course of the shoot -- since i understand she is a young single mother who began writing this on scraps of paper in London(?) coffeehouses.
However, Harry and his friends are fun in the Term sequences, and the quest he and two others undertake is sufficiently interesting that it carried me straight along to the end and left me deciding i WILL read the next one -- even if the quest's working-out DID remind me of quest-fantasy computer game...
For those who have read the books of DIana Wynne Jones -- particularly the "Chrestomanci" books, which have similar themes to the "Harry Potter" books, the comparison between Jones and Rowling is natural; i would definitely recommend Jones's books to anyone who has enjoyed the "Harry Potter" volumes.
A point of irritation is that the American publisher apparently feels that those of us in the USA are not sufficiently intelligent or well-educated to understand some things, and has made changes in the text for the US edition -- up to and including changing the title; the "real" title is "...and the Philosopher's Stone". I strongly suspect that there have been changes in the text as well in this book and in "Chamber of Secrets"... i haven't read the other two to check yet.
Book Review: Addictive through and through.
Summary: 5 Stars
I've been a series reader for as long as I'v been able to read. From the Sweet Valley Twins, to Fear Street and Everworld, I rarely strayed from my strict regimen of series books. That is, until I saw Harry Potter sitting haphazardly on the shelf, the very last one of it's kind, at my local bookstore. I couldn't help myself; the promise of wizardry and dragons intrigued my every atom. I began to read it a few days later (only for the sake of an extremely chaotic weekend.) From the first page to the last, Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone never ceased to amaze me. The author emits the talent of Roald Dahl, and even excedes him in her work. I was extremely amazed to hear that this is a first try of a struggling sinlge mother (as it said in About the Author.) But about the book: It starts off in our basic world; one filled with Muggles (as the wizards call us) and, gasp! no magic. Harry Potter is an emotionally abused boy who was left at the doorsep of his Muggle Aunt and Uncle's house, after the tragic demise of his parents. But even at his youngest age, Harry was a celebrity in wizard terms. The most powerful and evil wizard ever known to set foot upon the earth murdered Mr. and Mrs. Potter, but somehow failed to kill Harry himself. The only thing this wizard, timidly named You-Know-Who, left in his wrath was a lightning shaped scar on Harry's forhead; the only interesting thing about him, or so Harry thought. Harry is treated as the red-haired stepchild of the family, physically abused by Dudly (his cousin) and completely ignored by everyone else, Harry had a pathetic existence. Locked in a cupboard he lived, until the first of the letters came. Harry went to open it, but his Uncle Vernon snatched it away before he had the chance. Vernon and Petunia (I think that's the aunt's name...) forbid Harry to read it, and they dispose of it. The next day, Harry finds TWO letters, addressed to him, seemingly identical. These too are ripped away from him. Day after day Harry recieves letter after letter, the amount doubling each time. Finally, Uncle Vernon gets fed up with this, and he moves his entire family, including Harry, into a hotal room. There, Harry recieves another letter. Outraged, Vernon moves them to a ramshackle house (generously named so) for surely no one would be able to reach Harry there! But again he was mistaken; a huge giant named Hagrid stormed in their little haven, and whisked Harry off the second Harry's birthday hit. Hagrid told Harry all about his wizardry roots, and that the myth that his parents died in a tragic car crash was completely untrue. Harry goes back to live with his Aunt and Uncle, but then goes off to Hogwarts, a wizardry school. There, he meets the good, the bad, and the disgustingly ugly. He forms wonderful friendships with Ron and Hermoine. Together, the trio get themselves in many a jam, but they always manage to pull through. Things ran rather smoothly for awhile, if you exclude Draco, until the three learn of the Sorcerer's Stone, hidden deep within the castle of Hogwarts. They form suspicions that a certain teacher named Snape is plotting to steal the stone, that contains the Elixer of Life, which would make anyone immortal. So, they go off on an adventure to capture the stone before Snape has the chance. You'll have to read the book to find out what happens, but look out and beware, because this book is filled with action, adventure, and a moral that every child, literal or at heart, must learn to know.Book Review: The Most Magical Book of All Time
Summary: 5 Stars
Before writing this review, I took some time to look at what others had written, especially the reviews with low ratings. All who wrote those seemed to have one thing in common: they didn't see any sophistication in style, a lot of figurative language, blah...blah...blah....
Well, for one, if you need to feel "sophisticated" when reading a book, and that is why Harry Potter doesn't suffice to such an extraordinary appetite for "real" literature, maybe you should step back and think...
This book is writen in Rowling's genious style which is meant to draw the reader in and does so like no other book EVER.
This unique style which, if you notice, works fairly well, goes beyond all the boring crap and sometimes awfully long pointless passages. Dickens, for example, though great, we can all admit bores us sometimes. You're reading the book and thinking- "Oh, come on... just get to the point." As THE greatest author of all time, Mark Twain, put it in a letter to D.W. Bowser: "I notice that you use plain, simple language, short words and brief sentences. That is the way to write English - it is the modern way and the best way. Stick to it; don't let fluff and flowers and verbosity creep in. When you catch an adjective, kill it. No, I don't mean utterly, but kill most of them - then the rest will be valuable. They weaken when they are close together. They give strength when they are wide apart. An adjective habit, or a wordy, diffuse, flowery habit, once fastened upon a person, is as hard to get rid of as any other vice."
This applies very well to Rowling's style. Her descriptions DO contain a fair amount of adjectives and wordplay, but she doesn't overdo them, and she spaces them out. This style keeps her readers hooked while allowing them to notice the passages of description wothout feeling overloaded. It is a brilliant way to write and I love how easy it makes these books to read.
So, for those of you who see these books as childish, stop trying to be SO sophisticated for once, and just let them take you away to a different place like every great book should. Again, I refer to Twain: "I conceive that the right way to write a story for boys is to write so that it will not only interest boys but strongly interest any man who has ever been a boy. That immensely enlarges the audience."
Rowling has absolutely succeeded here.
To another point that I noticed- how there is no elaborate background as with most fantasies- that actually makes this book BETTER. Tolkein's Lord Of The Rings is truly classic and epic, but with all of the history and "flowery stuff" I tend to get lost in the shrubbery. Rowling, however, sets you off on the same footing as Harry, which really connects you to him, and then gradually introduces her world of magic. This is truly relatable due to its setting in our modern time, not Middle Earth. Her world of magic is much more human and less fantastic which makes you really connect to every witch and wizard. I don't even see these books as that much fantasy but much more of mystery. Rowling keeps the reader's attention that way, too.
Overall, if you've never read a Harry Potter book, start on this one, The Most Magical Book of All Time, and don't look back. Let yourself go from "sophistication" and the shrubbery and enjoy yourself. The ride is the best I, for one, have ever had. As Rowling herself puts it- "The best of us must sometimes eat our words."
Book Review: Those Brits don't write half-bad
Summary: 5 Stars
Here goes with the much needed review number 5,040 of "The Sorcerer's Stone"- as of this writing. It'll be a little difficult to say anything that hasn't already been said many times over by others, and probably much better at that, but I'll give it a whirl. This will also be from the viewpoint of a 48 year old Bible-thumper, so perhaps it will give some different perspective.
The story, as everyone knows by now, begins in a fine Dickensian, young adult literature tradition. Like "Wolves of Willoughby Chase", "Great Expectations", and a multitude of other young adult novels,the protagonist is an orphan brought up in a tough spot without much love. Harry is watched from afar down through the years by other witches and wizards, and finally they make known to him that he is a bit special, to say the least. It would at this point disintegrate to a "Prince and the Pauper" kind of rags to riches story, except that Harry must still stay dependent on his unpleasant relations, a process that has the effect of keeping him humble and a bit grounded. He also has the blessing of falling in with the right crowd, and making some great friends.
The first time I read one of the Potter books I knew I was in for the kind of enchantment I'd not encountered since the Lord of the Rings. Vivid, exciting, they immediately lift one to a place reservered for the loftiest of fantasties. Lots of good versus evil, and in the tradition of Lewis, magic can be either, and lots of drama. Only occasionally does one feel that Rowling has forgotten what it's like to be a kid, and even rarer does one feel preached at or condescended to.
The books are problematic theologically, no doubt about it- and I sometimes wonder if they are not unwittingly part of a larger push to make the dark supernatural attractive. It's not so much that they are evil in and of themselves, in fact I think they are quite the opposite- although clearly Rowling is not an apologist like Lewis. Rather, the problem comes more from the mood it helps to set- that "magic isn't all that bad"- and that kids starved for a supernatural encounter have nowhere else to turn save the occult. This is not true, but few Christian authors have come even close- Peretti comes to mind as one, and Lewis's muse George MacDonald is another- to opening this possibility to the young mind. I have no kids, but I probably wouldn't let very young kids read HP until they were able to determine good and evil at a fairly sophisticated level for themselves.
I also read the book in German, one of the first books I've ever read in another language. I'd read it twice in English, so the story wasn't all that tough to follow in German. For the record, it translated pretty well and I thoroughly enjoyed it in both languages. I think it's some of the best new literature out-for kids or adults, and even the larger and less well edited later volumes of the HP series I've thoroughly enjoyed as well. To compare to Lewis one last time- if you're looking for good theology, dry intellectual humor, and well developed characters, then go with the Chronicles of Narnia. If you're looking for a more in-depth view of a child's world through modern eyes with less theology, and the most vivid, vibrant, alternate world you've ever encountered, then Rowling is choice one. Reading them both is best. And you might want to track down some old George MacDonald as well- "The Princess and Curdie" or "The Princess and the Goblin".
Book Review: Redemption found in Harry Potter
Summary: 5 Stars
This is what I wrote as a review for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.
After reading book one, I can defenitely see why these stories were so popular. The author does a great job of creating suspense throughout the whole book. She sets you up to believe one thing and then surprises you in the ending. She sparks your imagination with the fantasy world and life at a wizard school. But I think there are two themes that come out in this book that touched me the most:
1. The rise of the underdog. Harry Potter is raised in a family that doesn't value him; his peers in school don't value him;he is a true underdog. But he is famous in this other world of wizardry because he (as an infant) had defeated the great dark wizard. Many kids and adults can relate to Harry's circumstance of be devalued by the culture, society, world in which you live in. You do find yourself rooting for him throughout the book.
Years ago we went to a family camp and the speaker used movies throughout the weekend. One thing he said has always stuck with Acey and me. He talked about movies being the modern day parables, similar to the stories which were used in the Bible. How many times do you find yourself relating to a scene in a movie, or being brought to tears by something protrayed on the big screen. Yet these parables need to be interpreted in light of Biblical thinking. Why do these scenes, themes, shows touch us at the core?
2. In light of that, Acey asked me today when I finished the book what was the spiritual theme that needs to be redeemed in this book? As I began to think about his question it came down to the the last chapter when Harry asks the trustworthy Dumbledore for some answers to his mysterious life.
One question he asks is why the bad character in this story, Quirrell, couldn't hold on to him and was acutally burned when he tried to touch him. Dumbledore's response brought tears to my eyes: "Your mother died to save you. If there is one thing Voldemort (the dark wizard who tried to kill Harry) cannot understand, it is love. He didn't realize that love as powerful as your mother's for you leave its own mark. Not a scar, no visible sign...to have been loved so deeply, even though the person who loved us is gone, will give us some protection forever. It is in your very skin. Quirrell, full of hatred, greed, and ambition, sharing his soul wiht Voldemort, could not touch you for this reason. It was agony to touch a person marked by something so good."
Isn't that the message of Christ. Christ died to save us. If there is one thing Satan does not understand it is love. Christ's love leaves its own mark on our lives. To have been so loved by God that He sent His only Son, Jesus into the world is what stirs our hearts that are so desperetley seeking love. This belief in what Christ has done will give us protection forever from the the enemy who desires to destroy us.
My conclusion as a Christian parent is that I would allow my children to read this first book under two conditions: (I am only concluding this about the first book so far...I haven't read the others)
1. I get to read it with them
2. They have to discuss it with me.
This allows me to talk about what is true, what is fiction. It helps me to find out what things from the story they are connecting with. And in the end it allows me another opportunity to present the gospel to my kids.