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

J.K. Rowling

Start date: August 1, 2015

Finish date: August 31, 2015

Discussion: Series

Why we're reading this: It won the poll for the series BOTM
[close] It won the poll for the series BOTM

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Series

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What Members Thought

Mar 31, 2014 alana rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: childrenslit, post-collegiate-favs, books-on-the-big-screen, teachers-and-pupils, fantasy, audiobook, reread

I have lost count of exactly how many times I’ve read Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s/Sorcerer’s Stone. The second time was definitely in preparation for the final book release. The third was likely when I reread them all in British edition. There were at least of couple of rereads in anticipation of movie releases…another reread for nostalgia’s sake…oh, and a couple of attempts in different languages. Despite these murky recollections of rereading, I remember exactly the first time I entered I have lost count of exactly how many times I’ve read Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s/Sorcerer’s Stone. The second time was definitely in preparation for the final book release. The third was likely when I reread them all in British edition. There were at least of couple of rereads in anticipation of movie releases…another reread for nostalgia’s sake…oh, and a couple of attempts in different languages. Despite these murky recollections of rereading, I remember exactly the first time I entered the world of young Potter – August 2005.

As a sparkling fresh college grad, I declared my disgust with all things fantasy. Dragons? Ew. Witches? Ick. Wands and pointy hats and dwarves and pointy ears and imaginary languages and pointing friends who declared I absolutely had to watch The Neverending Story/Labyrinth/Lord of the Rings/Etc. All of it grossed me out. Unless the fantastic worlds were rooted in Wonderland lore, which I viewed as imaginative not magical, I had no interest. As a child, my parents steered me away from entertainment focused on magic and the supernatural so I never developed a taste for it. Newly released movies and books set in the world of fantasy held no appeal, and I abhorred the hype of related franchises (admittedly tied to some art student snobbery). Then, I entered the real world.

After graduating from undergrad, I was fortunate to land a teaching gig at a local junior high. It doesn’t matter how many years have passed, middle school never becomes a place of joy and wonder. School book fairs, however, are a different story. I’ve loved books since childhood and acquiring new ones has often been an obsession. Years of studying to get into schools and then to maintain high grades left me little time to read for pleasure. Then, spending all day with hormonal adolescents made me crave any source of readily available pleasure. A book fair at my school? I’ll be there at lunch! And then again after school! I’ll swing back by after this student finishes sharing her fairy drawings with me! (Fairies? Oh, why??) While I picked up several books at the sale, I only recall one: A $2 Scholastic paperback featuring a bespeckled boy on a broom. I did it for the children. While I hated that everyone was talking about Harry Potter, I had an even greater dislike for knowing less than my students about something. I thought, “Well, it’s only two bucks. I can read it and figure out what they keep going on about…” Then, I continued to spend my evenings with friends drinking PBR from glass boots and eating overpriced vegetarian fare with great gusto. That is, of course, when I wasn’t plagued by chronic strep throat (kids are germ factories).

Suddenly, it was the end of the summer. I was no longer a student for the first time since the 80s. I’d said au revoir to my college town and was getting ready to move abroad to teach. Bedridden and speechless from a tonsillectomy, I was gutted by the death of my thirteen year old schnauzer. Full of snot and sorrow, I picked up the boy wizard from my dwindling stack of unread books since it couldn’t help but be better than what I was currently living. Shock and awe followed. Why, it’s set at a school! I like schools. These subjects are fascinating! Maybe I should have studied something other than art. Oh, it’s so British! I want to go back to London, maybe visit Scotland. Before I knew it, the book was done.

While the story was all about a wizarding world, the fantasy lurked beneath the surface of human society. The world Rowling created existed secretly alongside normal reality with characters conscious of their magical distinction. Focusing on a boy starting a new kind of school and pursing a mystery, I found an entry point into a world of fantasy.

Still bedridden, I requested my mother check out the next book from the local library (disbelief ensued). The sixth book had just been released in the States so I gorged on Harry’s story, amazed as each installment not only built upon the mystery of a boy’s scar but also depicted a magical society full of historical rebellions, racism, corrupt politics, and passionate educators. Soon after moving to France that fall, I attended the midnight release of the French version of The Half-Blood Prince with a group of new friends and a few frogs in capes. I was hanging out with costume-wearing, fantasy enthusiasts. Who had I become?!

My mother had been concerned that Harry Potter might be a gateway drug to the occult. In reality, she was kind of right. Rowling’s series revealed to me that fantasy could be escapist, mysterious, imaginative, divertive, and fun – just like the art I enjoyed viewing and creating. Nothing Earth-shattering to normal readers, but the series changed my reading habits and reignited my enthusiasm for children’s literature.

Now, it’s almost a decade later. I’m in another new country, this time in a different role: wife, unemployed for the sake of her husband’s career. Cold and uninspired to get out of the house in thousands of layers. Enter: the discovery that my library offers digital downloads of audiobooks. Without question, the world of Harry Potter is a perfect place in which to disappear. As an audiobook, the story came alive in a whole new way – preserving the verbal detailing of the settings and narration while bringing distinctive voices to each character. The Hogwarts crew kept me company while cooking, folding laundry, even dusting and mopping. The drudgery of housewifery became a pleasurable time of rediscovering the joy of wizards. And that is a sentence I never would have thought I’d write and a feeling I never thought I’d have.
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Jan 06, 2009 Megan Robinette rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2011-reads, 2016-books

I am re-reading this as part of the Nest Book's Harry Potter Challenge. I'm to read this book during the month of January and then watch the movie. The first time I read this series, I picked up with book 4, since I had heard that the first three movies didn't leave too much out. It's nice getting to read it again from the beginning this time (especially when it's been quite a while since I've seen the first two movies).

I'm glad I reread this book, eventhough I knew it closely matched the movie. ...more

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