Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Harry Potter, #1)

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Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Harry Potter #1)

by J.K. Rowling, Mary GrandPré (Illustrator)

4.35 of 5 stars 4.35 · rating details · 1,803,273 ratings · 33,314 reviews

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 Dursleys, his horrible aunt and uncle, and their abominable son, Dudley. Harry's room is a tiny cupboard under the stairs, and he hasn't had a birthday party in ten years.

But...more

Paperback, 310 pages

Published April 11th 2003 by Scholastic Press (first published 1997)

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Aug 14, 2011 Lora rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: anyone who is still waiting to read it

Recommended to Lora by: Tina, Morgan, my own curiosity

Shelves: favorites, lib-read, book-to-movie, middle-grade-lit, surprised-me

I'm going to keep this brief since there isn't much to say that hasn't already been said. *clears throat*
I think the reason I waited so long to read this series is because I just couldn't imagine myself enjoying reading about an eleven-year-old boy and his adventures at a school of wizardry. I thought it would be too juvenile for my taste. I was wrong, of course.
I can honestly say that I loved every minute of this. It's a spectacular little romp with funny, courageous, and endearing characters t...more

284 likes · like · see review

Oct 25, 2010 ★ Jess rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-own, 5-star-excellent, read-in-2010, special-top-favorites-♥

A note in regard to the on-going Potter vs Twilight debate:

Go ahed, tell me Twilight is better.
Tell me that James is scarier than Voldemort,
That the Cullens are a better family than the Weasly's
That Edward is cooler than Harry,
and Bella is smarter than Hermione.
Tell me that Stephenie Meyer is more talented than J.K. Rowling.

Go ahed,
I dare you.

Those who think the topic of Harry Potter or Twilight is worth debating and arguing over,
are utterly stupid.

Quite frankly-this book is amazing.

188 likes · like · see review

Mar 28, 2013 notgettingenough rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: childrens, will-be-regretted-on-my-deathbed

28 March 2013: given the announcement that Amazon is now goodreads, I am now boycotting goodreads until this changes. SHAME ON GOODREADS.

So, I keep getting hate comments for this review and I thought it would be nice if you all had a place you could get together and badmouth it. Announcing....

A new group:

People who hate my Harry Potter review....

Come this way:

http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/4...

I'd be honoured if you joined. And I'm really sorry to all the people who wrote comments here whi...more

103 likes · like · see review

Nov 14, 2010 K.D. Oliveros rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to K.D. by: Purplycookie, Jzhun and Ruby

Shelves: 501, childrens

How can more than half of my Goodreads friends be wrong with this?

I have to get this right. As of this writing, I have 98 Goodreads friends. 61 (62%) of them have read J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Out of those who read this, 39 (64%) rated this with 5 stars. 11 of them with 4 stars. All the others gave 3 or 2. Only 2 rated this with 1 star. One of them admitted not being able to finish it. ~~She should not have rated it really since she did not read its entirety. (But she~~...more

162 likes · like · see review

Aug 17, 2011 Nikki rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, children-s-and-ya

I really don't like Harry Potter. It's one of those little concealed but apparently not widely known facts about me, which shocks everyone when I say I love books and they're all, "yeah, rite, Harry Potter is so awesum rite?" and I say "...no, it really isn't." I confess: when I was eleven or twelve or so, I read them. I also read the Sabrina the Teenage Witch novels. I read everything and wasn't very discriminating about it. I did enjoy them. I continued to enjoy them until I got to Order of th...more

77 likes · like · see review

Jun 01, 2012 Stephen rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 1990-1999, ya, fantasy, potteresque, comfort-food

On my list of reasons why my daughters are the bestest thing to ever happen to me, Number 14,577 is that they gave me, at 41 years old, the perfect excuse to revisit the Harry Potter series.

When my oldest angel told me she wanted to start reading the Harry Potter books, I couldn’t have been happier. As I was collecting all seven volumes off the shelf to bring up to her room, I started feeling nostalgic for the whole Hogwarts gang, and I realized that I’d never done more than a perfunctory revie...more

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May 29, 2007 Harold Bloom rated it 1 of 5 stars Recommends it for: children, the carrion-eaters of scholarship

Shelves: therabblement

Can 35 Million Book Buyers Be Wrong? Yes.

Taking arms against Harry Potter, at this moment, is to emulate Hamlet taking arms against a sea of troubles. By opposing the sea, you won't end it. The Harry Potter epiphenomenon will go on, doubtless for some time, as J. R. R. Tolkien did, and then wane.

The official newspaper of our dominant counter-culture, The New York Times, has been startled by the Potter books into establishing a new policy for its not very literate book review. Rather than crowd o...more Can 35 Million Book Buyers Be Wrong? Yes.

Taking arms against Harry Potter, at this moment, is to emulate Hamlet taking arms against a sea of troubles. By opposing the sea, you won't end it. The Harry Potter epiphenomenon will go on, doubtless for some time, as J. R. R. Tolkien did, and then wane.

The official newspaper of our dominant counter-culture, The New York Times, has been startled by the Potter books into establishing a new policy for its not very literate book review. Rather than crowd out the Grishams, Clancys, Crichtons, Kings, and other vastly popular prose fictions on its fiction bestseller list, the Potter volumes will now lead a separate children's list. J. K. Rowling, the chronicler of Harry Potter, thus has an unusual distinction: She has changed the policy of the policy-maker.

Imaginative Vision

I read new children's literature, when I can find some of any value, but had not tried Rowling until now. I have just concluded the 300 pages of the first book in the series, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," purportedly the best of the lot. Though the book is not well written, that is not in itself a crucial liability. It is much better to see the movie, "The Wizard of Oz," than to read the book upon which it was based, but even the book possessed an authentic imaginative vision. "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" does not, so that one needs to look elsewhere for the book's (and its sequels') remarkable success. Such speculation should follow an account of how and why Harry Potter asks to be read.

The ultimate model for Harry Potter is "Tom Brown's School Days" by Thomas Hughes, published in 1857. The book depicts the Rugby School presided over by the formidable Thomas Arnold, remembered now primarily as the father of Matthew Arnold, the Victorian critic-poet. But Hughes' book, still quite readable, was realism, not fantasy. Rowling has taken "Tom Brown's School Days" and re-seen it in the magical mirror of Tolkein. The resultant blend of a schoolboy ethos with a liberation from the constraints of reality-testing may read oddly to me, but is exactly what millions of children and their parents desire and welcome at this time.

In what follows, I may at times indicate some of the inadequacies of "Harry Potter." But I will keep in mind that a host are reading it who simply will not read superior fare, such as Kenneth Grahame's "The Wind in the Willows" or the "Alice" books of Lewis Carroll. Is it better that they read Rowling than not read at all? Will they advance from Rowling to more difficult pleasures?

Rowling presents two Englands, mundane and magical, divided not by social classes, but by the distinction between the "perfectly normal" (mean and selfish) and the adherents of sorcery. The sorcerers indeed seem as middle-class as the Muggles, the name the witches and wizards give to the common sort, since those addicted to magic send their sons and daughters off to Hogwarts, a Rugby school where only witchcraft and wizardry are taught. Hogwarts is presided over by Albus Dumbeldore as Headmaster, he being Rowling's version of Tolkein's Gandalf. The young future sorcerers are just like any other budding Britons, only more so, sports and food being primary preoccupations. (Sex barely enters into Rowling's cosmos, at least in the first volume.)

----------------------------

The first half of a little piece I wrote from the Journal in July 2000. Rest is available at [http://wrt-brooke.syr.edu/courses/205...].(less)

112 likes · like · see review

Dec 27, 2010 Elizabeth rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: in-by-of-england, gods-myths-heroes, reviewed, vamps-and-other-mythical-beasts, fantasy-sci-fi

What's your favorite book from childhood? Do you remember? I had two, but both written by the same author; they were The Secret Garden and A Little Princess. I can remember reading them over and over again. I remember pestering my mother and librarians for books like them. I remember reading them into my teenage years, when I was home sick and needed something more comforting than the softest blanket and ginger ale. For me, these are two of the greatest books ever written because they're mine, m...more What's your favorite book from childhood? Do you remember? I had two, but both written by the same author; they were The Secret Garden and A Little Princess. I can remember reading them over and over again. I remember pestering my mother and librarians for books like them. I remember reading them into my teenage years, when I was home sick and needed something more comforting than the softest blanket and ginger ale. For me, these are two of the greatest books ever written because they're mine, my memory of escapism in childhood, the first characters I identified with and wanted for friends, they were the first characters who were complex enough to do that with. These were the first books that were vivid enough to feel like I could step into their world, leaving my own for a while, since it was wholly unsatisfying in a way that a magical garden hidden in the Yorkshire moors or a transformed attic in nineteenth century London were not.

For millions of people, the answer to that first question is going to be Harry Potter. I think that's amazing; a shared cultural point of reference that they'll carry together all their lives; like Star Wars, for us older ones, and not like Twilight. There's a difference. Harry Potter is like The Beatles, Twilight is like New Kids on the Block. It doesn't really matter that there are weaknesses in the book, that Rowling's story is mostly borrowing clever ideas from a myriad of sources, modern and mythic, that are combined into a strange tale of an orphan, consumerism, and team sports. The wonder of the books comes as much from the readers' imaginations and their longing to be part of that magical world as it does from her prose. The prose is fine. It's serviceable, which is all that really matters. When characters are chasing unicorn-killers and rescued by centaurs, the prose can be pretty mediocre and the story will still be successful.

Reading this book as an adult, after all the hype, isn't nearly as much fun as it should be. It's hard to turn off that analytical brain that wonders why they're always eating pumpkin (something I find revolting, personally) and noticing how important money is. It was written by a woman while she was on the dole, after all. The comparisons with Jane Austen are there for anyone who recognized Rowling's Mrs. Norris as the horrible busy-body aunt in Mansfield Park who made Fanny Price's life such a misery, always spying and without a hint of kindness for the small, lonely ward lost in that great house. Sound familiar?

Personally, I love how familiar this story is. I love that we are introduced to an orphan who hasn't been tainted by the corruption of the household he's been living in and that he has managed to retain his essential goodness until he is liberated/discovered and enters into a magical existence. There is danger to face there, of course (it wouldn't be much of a hero's tale without that), adversity to be overcome, something that every child identifies with. It's the kindness in Harry that we identify with, how genuine he is, how he instantly dislikes the snob and befriends the others who are lonely, awkward, poor, outcasts, until they are the heroes of the school, and the story. As Tadpole said,This book is for every kid who got picked last for kickball, which is basically true (even if you've never played kickball or weren't literally picked last). It's for all of us who feel like they don't fit in, who have felt lonely or unhappy as a child and wished for a magical school, or garden or attic or Mary Poppins to visit or a friend like Miss Bianca. It's one of those eternal feelings, in some ways, that those with enough empathy can still draw on, and find the enchantment of it all again.(less)

108 likes · like · see review

Feb 20, 2013 Palice Pottle rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: absolute-favorites-forever-and-ever, characters-like-no-other, love-love-the-female-character, made-me-laugh-till-i-cried, need-to-reread, now-she-knows-how-to-kick-butt, you-must-read

I'm very ashamed to say that I only made it through half of this and then got stuck with summer courses.

----

So I'll go with a chapter a day for now...

----
It's tomorrow! Also, I think we have another member joining us. I have a 7 year old little sister. She's not much of a reader... so I'm going to read the books to her. I'M GOING TO MAKE HER LIKE IT OR ELSE.

She has seen the movies, so she knows a bit. Let's hope she sticks around till the end.

------
IN THREE DAYS GUYS! :D

STARTING MAY. Find you...more

27 likes · like · see review

Mar 22, 2013 Inge *Studying for Exams* rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: magic, main-character-is-cool, villain-rocks-my-socks, all-time-favourites, dragons, ghosts, laugh-out-loud-funny, put-a-sock-in-it, smiles-a-plenty, whole-new-level-of-awesome, friendship-never-eeeends, children, fantasy

This doesn't really need a review, does it?

This series is brilliant and it will live on forever in our hearts and minds.

27 likes · like · see review

Aug 15, 2007 Keely rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, contemporary-fiction, novel, reviewed, contemporary-fantasy, uk-and-ireland

Fairly standard kid's fantasy fare from Rowling as she re-introduces the world to the classic British fairy tale, which had been mostly forgotten since Tolkien spliced it with the epic. She mines gold from this rich and storied tradition, but doesn't really fashion anything unique from it.

We can see the beginnings of Rowling's authorial failings (and a hint of her strengths as well). She adopts Rouald Dahl's 'awful family' trope, though it's clear that Rowling does not have the gift of bizarre c...more Fairly standard kid's fantasy fare from Rowling as she re-introduces the world to the classic British fairy tale, which had been mostly forgotten since Tolkien spliced it with the epic. She mines gold from this rich and storied tradition, but doesn't really fashion anything unique from it.

We can see the beginnings of Rowling's authorial failings (and a hint of her strengths as well). She adopts Rouald Dahl's 'awful family' trope, though it's clear that Rowling does not have the gift of bizarre characterization or the knowledge of the darker parts of the human soul that made his books resonate.

She writes sympathetic characters, but not unusual ones. Overall her writing has relatively little character or style. Then again, mass success often requires leaving the more unusual elements behind. So she relies on standard character types, managing to keep them afloat through the patented perpetual plot of the airplane book.

She also pulls from that old British tradition of 'children lost in fairyland', seen often in early fantasy (Dunsany, Eddison), which Lewis also made use of. She also has the vast, unknown underground of magic just beneath our world which keeps itself always mysterious and quiet, much favored by Gaiman and other Urban Fantasy authors (though Rowling's invented world is strained and piecemeal, moreso as the series goes on).

The strength of the book is that it combines the tradition of the 'child in fairyland' with another British standby: the boarding school bildungsroman. It's the same neat trick Mervyn Peake pulled in 'Gormenghast', though Rowling's version is tame in comparison. Her tale of the intellectual, emotional, and physical growth of the young, outcast everyman is rather predictable, except for some insight into angst in the fifth book.

Rowling's prose is quick and simple, but sometimes awkward and without music or joy. It is not the sort of deliberate simplicity Carroll achieved by expressing complex ideas in playful terms. It is rather the sign of an author whose unsophisticated voice prevents her language from vaulting higher.

Simplistic elegance is deceptively difficult to achieve, and so it's hard to blame Rowling too much when she falters. It's unfortunate that she didn't put a few failed books under her belt before finding success, as such early outings are often best winnowed chaff.

Her plotting--as ever--is scattered and convenient; though in a shorter book, it shows less. Her plot twists, as usual, disappoint; they are not built upon progression of events but upon reader expectation and emotional red herrings.

It's the beginning of an enjoyable series, but there's really no need to start any earlier than the third book, when Rowling finally finds her pace and begins to lean more heavily on that which she does well, which helps to hide her faults. Watch the movie if you need a primer.

My Fantasy Book Suggestions (less)

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Dec 06, 2012 Scarlet rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: amazing, magic, witch-wizard, fantasy, favorites

96 likes · like · see review

Mar 19, 2009 Books Ring Mah Bell rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: kidsbooks

I read this long long ago to see how "evil" it was. You know, does it encourage children to become witches and wizards? Does reading Harry Potter cause evil?

After chopping off the heads of chickens, bats, a stray cat, and mixing it up in a ~~cauldron~~ pot, I dipped in my voo-doo doll and put a curse on my neighbor. (nothing too bad, just a case of incurable body lice) I then decided there is absoultely nothing wrong with Harry Potter!

*disclaimer for those who don't get my sarcasm: I never cut heads...more

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Nov 29, 2010 Mariel rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Harry is the one I'll marry

Recommended to Mariel by: Potter you rotter

I'm not the usual Harry Potter fan, I don't think.

To the well organized mind death is but the next great adventure." - Albus Dumbledore I don't wanna die! Who cares? My favorite Dumbledore is Aberforth. Y'know, the one who performed an experimental charm on goats and got sent to appear before the ministry for it. Albus isn't even sure he can read, for that matter. I'm more Aberforth on the wisdom scale, fo' sho'. (I once asked JK Rowling what the charm was. She said my guess was as good as hers...more I'm not the usual Harry Potter fan, I don't think.

To the well organized mind death is but the next great adventure." - Albus Dumbledore I don't wanna die! Who cares? My favorite Dumbledore is Aberforth. Y'know, the one who performed an experimental charm on goats and got sent to appear before the ministry for it. Albus isn't even sure he can read, for that matter. I'm more Aberforth on the wisdom scale, fo' sho'. (I once asked JK Rowling what the charm was. She said my guess was as good as hers. She also laughed evilly. I have my answer.) Wake up and smell the flowers? Huh? The goats are eating all the flowers and they sure smell experimental pretty. It wasn't as fun after Order of the Phoenix and the bitching commenced. Yeah, there were problems. But I'm not organized, I don't wanna die, and I never really cared how it ended as much as I cared about focusing on the cool little stuff.

I got into the series after Prisoner of Azkaban came out and before Goblet of Fire. (So it wasn't the movies or that Daniel Radcliffe was -then- Elijah Wood before he was uglier.) What made me want to read them? The Dursleys. I thought they sounded wonderfully delicious (they are hilarious. I love it when Vernon tells everyone that Harry attends "St. Brutus' Center for Incurably Criminal Boys". His Japanese golfer joke. When playing trivia games with friends I'd piss myself with excitement if I got a muggle question. "Vernon's drill company is called Grunnings! Yes! I'm more amazing than all of you put together!" Wonder why no one plays reindeer games with me anymore...) I love muggles.

I loved the stupid shit. No, not the mythology references. Yaaay she read Shakespeare. My Uncle Remus did too. Not even that she listened to The Smiths and The Beatles while coming up with the series (I do love that). I loved the Aberforth goat stuff. I loved the names of Lockhart's books (Gadding with Ghouls, Year with the Yeti, etc.) and the little humor stuff she slips in. I can still quote asshole-y things that Draco Malfoy taunted them with (Potter stinks!) and can't remember the basic plot twists.

I was a card carrying Potterite (laminated!). Sigh. I do miss wondering what was going to happen next. I miss having that place to retreat to in my mind. I'd go on my favorite Harry forum and have fun making up theories (I was right about EVERYYTHING *coughs*). I'm jealous of JK Rowling for having that place in her mind. Yeah, I've got my own stories. But I don't think I have as much fun with mine (probably because I'm not a sadistic murderer like she is).

I liked the books better before they grew up. Rowling couldn't write a love story for anything. I hated it whenever Ron was mad at Harry. My favorite Buffy seasons to watch when depressed are the first three because the core group are still together. I love the togetherness. (Aberforth was eventually important in the last book. That almost ruined it.)

P.s. In case I didn't look dorky enough... I used to get into rabid debates about the English to American changes with the transatlantic fans. They were all like: "Americans are so dumb that you don't understand what Philosopher means." I delivered eighteen shots to their stomach with my comebacks about Lee not being black in their versions, JK Rowlings name being JK in the first place (it doesn't mean Just Kidding. The publishers thought boys wouldn't read a female author), and their effing ugly covers (English kids lose so often. No Edward Gorey for Joan Aiken's books!). I did know that jumper meant sweater. It's not just a Hayden Christensen vehicle.(less)

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Sep 04, 2007 Mike rated it 2 of 5 stars

I'm not going to comment on the literary shortcomings of this book, the cliches, the painfully long narrative, the fact that the characters will not think about an issue for months, but then suddenly it becomes important again. Smarter people than me have already said all this.

What bothers me about the Harry Potter universe is its characterization of magic. Why is magic so easy in the Harry Potter universe? It's only moderately a matter of skill to use magic. Magic is mostly saying the correct w...more I'm not going to comment on the literary shortcomings of this book, the cliches, the painfully long narrative, the fact that the characters will not think about an issue for months, but then suddenly it becomes important again. Smarter people than me have already said all this.

What bothers me about the Harry Potter universe is its characterization of magic. Why is magic so easy in the Harry Potter universe? It's only moderately a matter of skill to use magic. Magic is mostly saying the correct word with the correct intonation and the correct flourish of the wand and boom! you've done something magical. If it were only for small things I don't think this would bother me so much, but the same works for more serious things, like killing someone.

There is so much that is contrary to logic (and I don't mean science, I mean how reasonable people would behave) in the magic of Harry Potter that it drives me crazy. Why is the magical world so separated from the real world? What is their interaction? If magic works in the muggle world, what is preventing someone like Voldemort from completely taking over the muggle world? What is preventing any character from killing any other character by simpling saying the killing curse at any time? Human decency? Obviously there are a lot of characters in the books that don't have any. This never made any sense to me.

I would like to draw a comparison with (and I'm sure people on a site about reading books will crucify me for mentioning TV, which is obviously incapable of being an art form) Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In Buffy, every time you use magic, you pay for it. For little things, like floating a pencil, you pay for it in concentration, and maybe a little physical energy, but not more than going for a walk. However, the more you take, the more you have to give back in one form or another. The show is not always entirely consistent on this, but the idea makes sense. To bring someone back from the dead, you have to kill something else, or pay some other kind of price. If you want to kill someone, there is a physical price, a mental price. Nothing is free. In Harry Potter, it seems like everything is free.

It's always put me off, and every time a fan tries to explain to me why I'm wrong it sounds like a deus ex machina, or just a plain old stretch.

Also, quidditch is the most pointless sport ever created. Only in 1 game out of 1000 does anything 99% of the action matter to the outcome of the game. Only the seeker and the bludgers mean anything.(less)

40 likes · like · see review

Apr 11, 2010 Hollis rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: childrens-fiction

Supermarket literature for fresh generations of illiterates. What's not to like? For the TV-stunned audience of today, I think frantically marketed childrens books are about all we can focus on. Actually, I think the first few Potters were not too bad but after ''Harry Potter and the Crock of Shit'' and ''Harry Potter and the Forest of Embarassment'' I think they started to go down in quality. I fucking hate them. No, really. I don't hate the books themselves but they are books for kids at the e...more Supermarket literature for fresh generations of illiterates. What's not to like? For the TV-stunned audience of today, I think frantically marketed childrens books are about all we can focus on. Actually, I think the first few Potters were not too bad but after ''Harry Potter and the Crock of Shit'' and ''Harry Potter and the Forest of Embarassment'' I think they started to go down in quality. I fucking hate them. No, really. I don't hate the books themselves but they are books for kids at the end of the day and not especially brilliant ones at that. When I see a thirty-year old man on the bus looking profound as he reads one of them I just want to whip it out of his hands and hit him in the face with it.

And no, they are not the best children's books, don't even try to suggest that. They are many, many books for children that are much less publicised and much better in quality and much better written. And the ideas are so brilliant, aren't they? Not really: they're just taken from popular culture, different fairy stories (yep Rowling, take ideas from traditional sagas in other languages, no-one will notice because we're all monolingual apart from you, right?) and mythology. The things that aren't taken from other areas are just stupid. Take Quidditch. It's so cool and imaginative, don't you think? But it's not cool just because it's in a film and everyone screams a lot, it's fucking stupid. 99% of the things that are going on the pitch and being commentated on are pointless because the team wins that gets the Snitch. So all that matters is whether Harry grabs that little ball on the side of the stadium and the rest of it is more or less pointless. That's just obviously stupid and no amount of CGI can be up for it.

The thing that people often say is ''Well, they're not that good, but they do get people into reading.'' No they don't, that's nonsense. People who read Harry Potter read Harry Potter and maybe Stephen King if they think they can manage that. Anyone one who I have ever spoken to who is an avid Rowling/Dan Brown fan has read almost nothing apart from Rowling/Dan Brown/Twishite. Fair enough if it does actually encourage kids to read (if there is actual evidence of that) but adults: well, leave them to their bread and circuses. (less)

12 likes · like · see review

Oct 23, 2007 Jennifer marked it as to-read

Shelves: fiction-is-fun

Yes, I've been living under a rock.

110 likes · like · see review

Dec 06, 2010 Becky rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: owned, 2010, fantasy, favorites, highly-recommended, multi-dimensional, young-adult, reviewed, challenge-1010

I wasn't sure if I was going to write a review of these books, but I try to write a review of all of the books that I read, and it's been kind of nagging at me that I didn't write one for this. It's hard to write a review for a book that is so dang popular and well known. What is there to say that's new? I dunno. I think pretty much everything's been said, but still I wanted to write a review for this, and to talk about these books, even if I'm just rehashing everything that's already been done....more I wasn't sure if I was going to write a review of these books, but I try to write a review of all of the books that I read, and it's been kind of nagging at me that I didn't write one for this. It's hard to write a review for a book that is so dang popular and well known. What is there to say that's new? I dunno. I think pretty much everything's been said, but still I wanted to write a review for this, and to talk about these books, even if I'm just rehashing everything that's already been done.

I remember when these first came out, I never really wanted to read them. I thought of them as "kid's books" and even though I read YA, my overly-critical half just kept saying that these weren't for me. I don't know if it was the cover, or the insta-popularity of the books or what, but I didn't read them. I avoided them like the plague. Until a friend of mine was reading the 5th book, and was so engrossed in it that he would do the "...yes, yes, I'm paying attention..." nod while his eyes remained glued to the page. And as a reader myself, I know that look. So I asked to borrow the book he was reading, and he refused. He told me that if I was going to read it, I'd have to READ it, starting with the first book. So the next day, he lent me the first and second books, both of which I finished in record time, and then I understood. And I never looked back.

There's something about these books that is just... magical. Yeah, yeah, cliche, I know. But it's true. Yes, they are about magic, but they are about so much more than that. They are about love, and friendship and loyalty and trust and betrayal and commitment and all the things that we aspire to have and to be as humans. They are about understanding and forgiveness and learning who we are when it really matters. And all of these things are buried in this shell of fun and adventure and mystery that makes them irresistible.

I decided to read these again in the original UK editions, because I know that the US editions were "Americanized", and I wanted to re-experience them in their true form. I dislike when things are changed from their original format, I hate abridgments and condensed versions etc. I want to experience the story how the author wrote it, how it was meant to be experienced without some guy in a suit somewhere trying to make it "accessible" to me. I like the feeling that I get of learning something of another culture through the words they use, and the meaning that they give the words. This is why they taught us reading comprehension in third grade, so that we can read and LEARN. Learning doesn't have to be boring and tedious, it can be fun if we allow it to be. But it seems that we've lost that ability. Sad.

Anyway, I re-read the first book, now appropriately titled "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone", and I was surprised at how emotional I felt reading it, especially after knowing where it all ends. It was like seeing friends that you've missed for years again, and while it makes you happy to see them, it's also sad because you know they'll have to go again too soon. That's how I felt, like I was seeing friends and that my time with them is short. That's kind of a silly way to feel, because they are forever, and I can visit anytime I want to, but I felt that way anyway. Especially meeting Ron again. He's my favorite character for an absolute reason, which is because he is so loyal and funny and true, and he gives his whole heart when he gives it at all. I wish that there were more people like Ron.

I can't wait to re-read the rest of the series and see if this feeling remains. I love discovering the hidden gems that Rowling has left for us to find, in mythology and history and legend and word-play and in life. Who wouldn't love these books? (less)

28 likes · like · see review

Feb 28, 2012 Mike (the Paladin) rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, favorites, ya-fantasy

I read this years ago...my kids were still young.

Did it bother anyone else that the publishers assumed Americans were too ignorant to know what the "philosopher's stone" was?
yeah, me to.

Well anyway, I've read and listened to this (these) and gone back to them several times since. Even though my children are grown I still enjoy this series of books. As originally written the series (considering the time between publication of each volume) actually grew with the first generation of kids who read t...more

13 likes · like · see review

Aug 31, 2009 Brad rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Brad by: Michelle Svenson

Shelves: fantasy, youth, read-to-bronte

Is there any point in saying anything about Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone anymore? Not really. Not as far as critiques go.

If I were to delve into some interesting critical analysis of an issue raised in The Philosopher's Stone, or take a critical look at Rowling's authorship, then maybe...but most everything that can be said about liking or disliking the book, about its excellence or its shabbiness has been said.

And while I feel I may eventually take a stand for those who appreciate...more

13 likes · like · see review

Nov 14, 2007 Sue atie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Harry Potter is the most miserable, lonely boy you can imagine. He’s shunned by his relatives, the Dursley’s, that have raised him since he was an infant. He’s forced to live in the cupboard under the stairs, forced to wear his cousin Dudley’s hand-me-down clothes, and forced to go to his neighbour’s house when the rest of the family is doing something fun. Yes, he’s just about as miserable as you can get.

Harry’s world gets turned upside down on his 11th birthday, however. A giant, Hagrid, info...more Harry Potter is the most miserable, lonely boy you can imagine. He’s shunned by his relatives, the Dursley’s, that have raised him since he was an infant. He’s forced to live in the cupboard under the stairs, forced to wear his cousin Dudley’s hand-me-down clothes, and forced to go to his neighbour’s house when the rest of the family is doing something fun. Yes, he’s just about as miserable as you can get.

Harry’s world gets turned upside down on his 11th birthday, however. A giant, Hagrid, informs Harry that he’s really a wizard, and will soon be attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry also learns that, in the wizarding world, he’s a hero. When he was an infant, the evil Lord Voldemort killed his parents and then tried to kill Harry too. What’s so amazing to everyone is that Harry survived, and allegedly destroyed Voldemort in the process.

When Harry hears all this, he doesn’t know what to think. However, everything Hagrid tells him turns out to be true, and with a joyful heart Harry starts wizarding school in September. He quickly becomes best friends with a boy named Ron Weasley, and before they even make it to Christmas, they break tons of school rules when they attack a troll and prevent it from killing fellow student Hermione Granger. After the troll incident, the three become inseparable, and Harry is amazed to have found such great friends. He is constantly busy trying to stay on top of the mounds of homework, as well as participating in weekly Quidditch practices. Quidditch is a popular sport among wizards and Harry is the youngest Quidditch player in over a century. It's also a game Harry loves more than anything else at school.

As the year progresses, the three friends set out to solve the mystery of the gigantic three-headed dog that is guarding something in a deserted corridor in the school. They figure out that a very valuable object, the Sorcerer’s Stone, is being hidden in the school, although they don’t know why. When one of the professor’s starts acting as if he’s trying to steal it, they quickly take action to circumvent the theft.

Things come to a head when they sneak past the vicious, three-headed dog and go down into the bowels of the school, determined to save the stone. Ron and Hermione help Harry get through the challenges set forth to stop the thief, but Harry must go on alone to battle the professor. When he finally gets to the last room, however, he’s astonished to find someone else entirely.

Harry is forced to do battle with the wizard that tried to kill him so many years before, Lord Voldemort. He’s able to save the Sorcerer’s Stone, although he’s almost killed in process. The school headmaster, Dumbledore, arrives just in time to save Harry.

The school year ends spectacularly. Harry, Ron, and Hermione are honored for their service to the school, and Harry leaves to go back to the Dursley’s for the summer feeling as if he’s finally found a place where he really belongs.
(less)

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Jul 24, 2012 Brandon rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Brandon by: Alaina

Shelves: fiction, 2012, ya

I'm not going to spend a whole lot of time on this one. I speculate that I may be the last person on earth to start this series so I'm pretty sure the plot doesn’t require a lot of summarizing.

I will say that I'm glad I've finished this book. I've seen the movie adaptation twice and going through the story a third time in this format wasn't really all that enjoyable for me. Overall, I think that hindered my rating, which probably isn't all that fair.

Seeing as I haven't seen the other movies nor...more

10 likes · like · see review

Sep 12, 2011 Meg ♥ rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: e-books

Wow, I can't believe I read this book almost 14 years ago! Time flies, but it just go to show how great this book actually is. It's memorable, so much so that I can remember so much from it, and also remember the excitement I had opening this book for the first time not knowing what to expect at all. These books are wonderful fantasy that do their job. Grab you, pull you in and take you for a fun ride! If you haven't read these do so ASAP! No matter what age you are.

6 likes · like · see review

Sep 14, 2011 Sam rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: harry-potter, ultimate-favourites, 5-star-gems

Harry Potter's world is just pure genius. This first book is a brilliant start to the captivating series that so many people have grown to love all over the world.

If you are one of the remaining few who have not yet followed Harry's journey through Hogwarts and the Wizarding World, you need to hurry up and do so!

It's definitely the best series in existence.

10 likes · like · see review

Jul 28, 2012 Raeleen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: EVERYONE

Shelves: favorites, own, boarding-school, read-more-than-once, movie-or-tv

GINNY'S FANGIRLING IN THIS BOOK IS JUST TOO GOOD.
Also, the Dursleys aren't as bad as people think they are, because after all, they DID pick Harry up at the end of the year rather than just abandoning him. So THAT'S worth something.
mmmm, this book smells so good. It's good to be back.

8 likes · like · see review

Jun 03, 2012 Peter Meredith rated it 5 of 5 stars

In my gradual return to books after my harrowing experience with Mockingjay, I've built myself up to Harry Potter:
Five stars to a book that is what it is and isn't what it's not. Make sense? This is a middle school children's book and when it's read as such it's great. I see people giving this one or two stars and I scratch my head in wonderment. Do they compare it to Shakespeare or Hemmingway? Do they read it as it was meant to be read or are they bringing snooty, intellectual baggage to the ta...more

29 likes · like · see review

Dec 13, 2010 Elisa rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: kids-fiction, fantasy-paranormal, seven-greatest-books-ever, 2013-rereads, own-it

I highly doubted that I would ever write a review for any of the Harry Potter books. Instead, I created a shelf called "seven greatest books ever" and threw them all in there, hoping that would be enough to display my immense love for them.

After seeing Part 1 of the Deathly Hallows movie, I decided that I would kick start the re-reading process before the release of Part 2, so I picked up Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone for probably the 15th time, and began to read. I realized part way th...more I highly doubted that I would ever write a review for any of the Harry Potter books. Instead, I created a shelf called "seven greatest books ever" and threw them all in there, hoping that would be enough to display my immense love for them.

After seeing Part 1 of the Deathly Hallows movie, I decided that I would kick start the re-reading process before the release of Part 2, so I picked up Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone for probably the 15th time, and began to read. I realized part way through, that even if I didn't want to review it for its literary merit, I still had much to say about the book solely regarding how it makes me feel.

At twenty three years of age, the book is still everything that it was for me when I was only twelve. I remember seeing it in a book order (remember those?) in the sixth grade and putting a star next to it to take home to my mom. My mom, not wanting to buy me a book I'd never read, denied me my request, adding that it looked pretty silly anyway (the joke was on her though, she came to love them too). Anyway, the next year, my cool uncle (don't we all have one?) decided he was going to buy them for my cousin and she was going to have to let me borrow them. So I began the Harry Potter books, and suddenly being twelve- awkward and unpopular, wasn't quite so lonely as it had always been.

I dreamed myself right into Harry Potter's world; not in a dangerous, psychotic way, but in a starry eyed, childlike way. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were better friends to me than anyone I met throughout my junior high and high school years, which in a way is a bit sad, but I have no regrets.

This was the first time that I've read Sorcerer's Stone since Deathly Hallows came out, and it inevitably made for a far more emotional experience than the first time around. What was once just good, innocent, fun can't exactly be viewed as such when you've seen the big picture. I literally burst into tears at the end of the chapter in which Harry and Ron finally take Hermione as their friend. Oh, what the heck? I'll go ahead and post the paragraph, in case anyone else is wanting to ride the high of that emotional wave:

But from that moment on, Hermione Granger became their friend. There are some things you can't share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them.

Ah! Knowing what they were in store for- years of utter devotion to one another made this moment so much bigger now than it had seemed at first. Either way though, it's a very moving moment. I love this book. I will always love this book. And I full intend to disown any future children of mine who can't appreciate it with me (I haven't decided as to whether or not that's a joke yet).(less)

16 likes · like · see review

Apr 26, 2012 Namratha Kumar rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: childrens-fantasy, books-i-love-gollum-style, fantasy, journey-within, mystery, ya-lit

I was expecting my return trip to be something of a dampener. I had finished the series…and after all, how many more surprises could the first book unveil? The magic must have faded over time and the characters must surely have achieved the status of house-guests who had overstayed their welcome.

Predictably enough, I was proved wrong. It offered me new avenues of thought. It was interesting to see how the complex and brave heroes of the later years started off as grimy, nervous, ickle-firsties!...more I was expecting my return trip to be something of a dampener. I had finished the series…and after all, how many more surprises could the first book unveil? The magic must have faded over time and the characters must surely have achieved the status of house-guests who had overstayed their welcome.

Predictably enough, I was proved wrong. It offered me new avenues of thought. It was interesting to see how the complex and brave heroes of the later years started off as grimy, nervous, ickle-firsties!

It was a time for firsts: neglected, ill-treated Harry’s discovery that he is a wizard – an actual-honest-to-goodness-magic, wand-wielding-wizard. The discovery that he had a family who loved him and lost their lives to save him……that there exists a fantastic magical world where’s he much, much more than just an unwanted kid who stays under the stairs. It is also the first time he meets his to-be best friends, not knowing that it would be the start of unforeseen but memorable adventures for them.

My personal delight lay in the re-introduction to some of the finest characters I could hope to find sandwiched in one series: Dumbledore, McGonagall, Ron, Hermione, Neville Longbottom, Peeves, Filch, Malfoy,Nearly-Headless Nick, Hagrid, Snape, Voldemort, Fred and George, the Dursleys and of course…a truly well-crafted hero…The Boy Who Lived.

I also liked the fact that Rowling didn’t patronize her young readers. She spoke about death and other sensitive topics that usually don’t find their way into a children’s book. With minimal sugar-coating…she created realism in a world of improbability. It’s not all fun and games…at the end of the day, Harry has to face his demons. He gets his first opportunity to prove that he’s more than just the kid with a glorious and mysterious past.

The book sets an adequate pace, unsolved questions and a strong foundation for the rest in the series. It engages, thrills and satisfies. Needless to say……the rest is history.(less)

7 likes · like · see review

Mar 30, 2012 Kira rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya

Okay, let's see here.

I somehow recall reading (and not particularly enjoying) a book called Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. So what is this sorcerer GoodReads speaks of?

Granted, my copy was a UK one, and came out eons before the movies. I think I was about twelve when I read this.

Ugh. You know, props to Ms. Rowling. She's an absolutely fabulous writer and her imagination is completely mid-blowing. I just cannot endorse stories about witches/wizards/quidditch. They just don't do it for...more

22 likes · like · see review

Dec 18, 2012 Nathan rated it 2 of 5 stars

In his excellent little book Art and the Bible, Francis Schaeffer says, "We are not being true to the artist as a man if we consider his art work junk simply because we differ with his outlook on life. Christian schools, Christian parents, and Christian pastors often have turned off young people at just this point. Because the schools, the pastors, and the parents did not make a distinction between technical excellence and content, the whole of much great art has been rejected with scorn and rid...more

7 likes · like · see review

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About J.K. Rowling

Although she writes under the pen name J. K. Rowling, pronounced like rolling,her name when her first Harry Potter book was published was simply Joanne Rowling. Anticipating that the target audience of young boys might not want to read a book written by a woman, her publishers demanded that she use two initials, rather than her full name. As she had no middle name, she chose K as the second initia...more Although she writes under the pen name J. K. Rowling, pronounced like rolling,her name when her first Harry Potter book was published was simply Joanne Rowling. Anticipating that the target audience of young boys might not want to read a book written by a woman, her publishers demanded that she use two initials, rather than her full name. As she had no middle name, she chose K as the second initial of her pen name, from her paternal grandmother Kathleen Ada Bulgen Rowling. She calls herself Jo and has said, "No one ever called me 'Joanne' when I was young, unless they were angry." Following her marriage, she has sometimes used the name Joanne Murray when conducting personal business. During the Leveson Inquiry she gave evidence under the name of Joanne Kathleen Rowling. In a 2012 interview, Rowling noted that she no longer cared that people pronounced her name incorrectly.

Rowling was born to Peter James Rowling, a Rolls-Royce aircraft engineer, and Anne Rowling (née Volant), on 31 July 1965 in Yate, Gloucestershire, England, 10 miles (16 km) northeast of Bristol. Her mother Anne was half-French and half-Scottish. Her parents first met on a train departing from King's Cross Station bound for Arbroath in 1964. They married on 14 March 1965. Her mother's maternal grandfather, Dugald Campbell, was born in Lamlash on the Isle of Arran. Her mother's paternal grandfather, Louis Volant, was awarded the Croix de Guerre for exceptional bravery in defending the village of Courcelles-le-Comte during the First World War.

Rowling's sister Dianne was born at their home when Rowling was 23 months old. The family moved to the nearby village Winterbourne when Rowling was four. She attended St Michael's Primary School, a school founded by abolitionist William Wilberforce and education reformer Hannah More. Her headmaster at St Michael's, Alfred Dunn, has been suggested as the inspiration for the Harry Potter headmaster Albus Dumbledore.

As a child, Rowling often wrote fantasy stories, which she would usually then read to her sister. She recalls that: "I can still remember me telling her a story in which she fell down a rabbit hole and was fed strawberries by the rabbit family inside it. Certainly the first story I ever wrote down (when I was five or six) was about a rabbit called Rabbit. He got the measles and was visited by his friends, including a giant bee called Miss Bee." At the age of nine, Rowling moved to Church Cottage in the Gloucestershire village of Tutshill, close to Chepstow, Wales. When she was a young teenager, her great aunt, who Rowling said "taught classics and approved of a thirst for knowledge, even of a questionable kind," gave her a very old copy of Jessica Mitford's autobiography, Hons and Rebels. Mitford became Rowling's heroine, and Rowling subsequently read all of her books.

Rowling has said of her teenage years, in an interview with The New Yorker, "I wasn’t particularly happy. I think it’s a dreadful time of life." She had a difficult homelife; her mother was ill and she had a difficult relationship with her father (she is no longer on speaking terms with him). She attended secondary school at Wyedean School and College, where her mother had worked as a technician in the science department. Rowling said of her adolescence, "Hermione [a bookish, know-it-all Harry Potter character] is loosely based on me. She's a caricature of me when I was eleven, which I'm not particularly proud of." Steve Eddy, who taught Rowling English when she first arrived, remembers her as "not exceptional" but "one of a group of girls who were bright, and quite good at English." Sean Harris, her best friend in the Upper Sixth owned a turquoise Ford Anglia, which she says inspired the one in her books.(less)

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Books by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter, #7)

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Harry Potter, #3)

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Harry Potter, #4)

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter, #6)

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter, #2)

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