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Harry Potter #1
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Harry Potter has no idea how famous he is. That's because he's being raised by his miserable aunt and uncle who are terrified Harry will learn that he's really a wizard, just as his parents were. But everything changes when Harry is summoned to attend an infamous school for wizards, and he begins to discover some clues about his illustrious birthright. From the surprising way he is greeted by a lovable giant, to the unique curriculum and colorful faculty at his unusual school, Harry finds himself drawn deep inside a mystical world he never knew existed and closer to his own noble destiny.
309 pages, Hardcover
First published June 26, 1997
About the author
J.K. Rowling
625 books226k followersSee also: Robert Galbraith
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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 162,669 reviews
March 11, 2024
(A-) 83% | Very Good
Notes: An effortless enchantment, it's lush with warmth and lore: seeded well, it casts a spell, and leaves you wanting more.
*Check out progress updates for detailed commentary:
Notes: An effortless enchantment, it's lush with warmth and lore: seeded well, it casts a spell, and leaves you wanting more.
*Check out progress updates for detailed commentary:
December 9, 2020
Stuck at home? Got some time on your hands? Want to start a long series? But you don't want a dud?
Check out this booktube video all about which series are worth your time (and which ones aren't)!
Here's the Written Review!
Can you hear me screaming?
As expected, the illustrations brought this book to a whole new level. I legitimately want to buy another copy, solely to take it apart and frame it.
Each page is just bursting with new life. Honestly, how could you not love such beautiful images?
Hogwarts, Hogwarts. Hoggy Hoggy warty warts.
I think at this point, everyone and their great-great-grandmother has heard of this book.
Harry Potter, orphaned before he was one, was sent to live with his Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon. He was always a bit of an odd child - much to his family's dismay.
Things just... happened ...around him. Like when he was running from bullies and jumped to the school roof. Or when he got an atrocious haircut (courtesy of Aunt Petunia) and all of his hair grew back in a single night.
On his eleventh birthday, a letter comes to him and a whole new world opens in front of his eyes.
In short - I LOVED THIS ONE. I thought I loved the Harry Potter books when I first read them, but when I bought the illustrated version...well, that love instantly quadrupled.
The fully illustrated Philosopher's Stone still has all the wonder and amazement as the boy-turned-wizard embarks on a harrowing 7-book-adventure and the illustrations bring a whole new dimension.
Seriously, I can't emphasize enough how much I love this book. Just look at these images - they're magnificent:
Ahh! Just look at sad, tiny Harry. Don't worry kid - life will get better!
Not only are these full-color, high quality images but there are so many of them.
Often, illustrated books have a picture here or there but not HP. There's pages and pages of pictures like this - and often the pages without full-sized images will have a small illustrations here and there between the large ones.
Words cannot express how highly I recommend this one. If you haven't read HP recently...I strongly urge you to check out this book.
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April 6, 2022
Update – 4/4/2022 – Reread out loud to my kids
Both of my kids were born after the whole Harry Potter series was released. They are now old enough to start appreciating the story so I thought it would be fun to read it out loud to them. While it did take us a while because, you know . . . life happens . . . we were able to find a few minutes every few nights or so to read a chapter or part of a chapter. It was really fun to see them getting into it.
They are looking forward to watching the movie and starting in on the Chamber of Secrets!
Original review:
One of my first jobs was at a bookstore. When I was a kid my Mom would take me to the mall and I would spend tons of time hanging out at Waldenbooks (who here remembers Waldenbooks?) Right when I became legally old enough to work, I went in and submitted my application and a few weeks later I was selling literature to the masses.
Why do I tell you this story on this review, you ask? Well, at the time, young adult/teen literature consisted mainly of RL Stein, Christopher Pike, Beverly Cleary, Judy Blume, and a few other classic Newberry Award winners, but certainly we did not have a YA section to the extent you see it today.
Towards the end of my tenure at Waldenbooks - as Oprah's book club was hitting its stride and Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus was in its bazzilionth week on the New York Times best seller list - a book display arrived featuring a buzzy new title about a certain boy wizard. I remember the display at the front of the store, and selling a few copies, but I didn't realize what it would become.
A few years later (early 2000s), I had kinda gotten out of the loop on what was big in books. I had just finished college, which had taken up most of my free reading time. A friend of mine named Bronco (yup, real name, not a nickname, who also was the Best Man at my wedding) had a copy of this book on his coffee table. Holy cow! Here is that same book we were selling at Waldenbooks about 5 years before - what was he doing with it!?
Well, he said it was good, so I borrowed it. I quickly plowed through the first 4 books and then got the pleasure of joining the world in waiting for the release of Order of the Phoenix. And, I noticed when I went to the bookstore, the YA section and selection was not so small anymore. I truly believe it was Harry Potter that opened the door to get more young adults (and even adults, of course) reading and authors interested in writing for that genre.
Both of my kids were born after the whole Harry Potter series was released. They are now old enough to start appreciating the story so I thought it would be fun to read it out loud to them. While it did take us a while because, you know . . . life happens . . . we were able to find a few minutes every few nights or so to read a chapter or part of a chapter. It was really fun to see them getting into it.
They are looking forward to watching the movie and starting in on the Chamber of Secrets!
Original review:
One of my first jobs was at a bookstore. When I was a kid my Mom would take me to the mall and I would spend tons of time hanging out at Waldenbooks (who here remembers Waldenbooks?) Right when I became legally old enough to work, I went in and submitted my application and a few weeks later I was selling literature to the masses.
Why do I tell you this story on this review, you ask? Well, at the time, young adult/teen literature consisted mainly of RL Stein, Christopher Pike, Beverly Cleary, Judy Blume, and a few other classic Newberry Award winners, but certainly we did not have a YA section to the extent you see it today.
Towards the end of my tenure at Waldenbooks - as Oprah's book club was hitting its stride and Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus was in its bazzilionth week on the New York Times best seller list - a book display arrived featuring a buzzy new title about a certain boy wizard. I remember the display at the front of the store, and selling a few copies, but I didn't realize what it would become.
A few years later (early 2000s), I had kinda gotten out of the loop on what was big in books. I had just finished college, which had taken up most of my free reading time. A friend of mine named Bronco (yup, real name, not a nickname, who also was the Best Man at my wedding) had a copy of this book on his coffee table. Holy cow! Here is that same book we were selling at Waldenbooks about 5 years before - what was he doing with it!?
Well, he said it was good, so I borrowed it. I quickly plowed through the first 4 books and then got the pleasure of joining the world in waiting for the release of Order of the Phoenix. And, I noticed when I went to the bookstore, the YA section and selection was not so small anymore. I truly believe it was Harry Potter that opened the door to get more young adults (and even adults, of course) reading and authors interested in writing for that genre.
August 20, 2015
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 that you can't help but love.
It has talking chess pieces, singing hats, a giant three-headed dog named Fluffy, a hilarious giant with a dragon fetish, a master wizard that's just a little bit crazy, mail carrier owls, goblins running a bank, unicorns, centaurs(!), trolls . . . and probably much more that I'm forgetting.
And then there's the lead characters: Hermione, the young scholar who starts out prim and up-tight but soon becomes a true friend; Ron, the boy who has little money but who has an abundance of family and loyalty to his friends to make up for it; and then there's Harry, the boy who starts out sleeping in a closet and ends up being a hero. Harry is kind to those that deserve it, fearless when it counts the most, and wonderfully intelligent. What's not to love?
In regards to the ending:
FAVORITE QUOTE: "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."
Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to start Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
*******************************************************
My reviews of other titles in this series:
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
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 that you can't help but love.
It has talking chess pieces, singing hats, a giant three-headed dog named Fluffy, a hilarious giant with a dragon fetish, a master wizard that's just a little bit crazy, mail carrier owls, goblins running a bank, unicorns, centaurs(!), trolls . . . and probably much more that I'm forgetting.
And then there's the lead characters: Hermione, the young scholar who starts out prim and up-tight but soon becomes a true friend; Ron, the boy who has little money but who has an abundance of family and loyalty to his friends to make up for it; and then there's Harry, the boy who starts out sleeping in a closet and ends up being a hero. Harry is kind to those that deserve it, fearless when it counts the most, and wonderfully intelligent. What's not to love?
In regards to the ending:
FAVORITE QUOTE: "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."
Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to start Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
*******************************************************
My reviews of other titles in this series:
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
May 8, 2016
My original review was a comparison of sorts between Harry Potter and Twilight. However, this is stupid as the two are incomparable. Honestly, its not even worth discussing. Its not just that Twilight doesn't come close, it is the fact that Harry Potter transcends other similar works. Its peerless. To quote Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction: It "ain't the same fuckin' ballpark, it ain't the same league, it ain't even the same fuckin' sport."
There was a day when I thought I needed to defend Harry Potter, in the midst of the now dead Twilight craze, and you can see that below in what was my original review. It is a testament to the power of this series, that while various other franchises (Twilight, Hunger Games) have surged into popularity and then faded, Harry Potter remains unwaveringly strong after nineteen years. It is clear readers hold just as much admiration for these books as they always have. Time has not dimmed that.
I will, one day, write an essay about what these books mean to me. Eternal, this is the one that started it all.
Original review (circa 2010)
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 ahead,
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.
There was a day when I thought I needed to defend Harry Potter, in the midst of the now dead Twilight craze, and you can see that below in what was my original review. It is a testament to the power of this series, that while various other franchises (Twilight, Hunger Games) have surged into popularity and then faded, Harry Potter remains unwaveringly strong after nineteen years. It is clear readers hold just as much admiration for these books as they always have. Time has not dimmed that.
I will, one day, write an essay about what these books mean to me. Eternal, this is the one that started it all.
Original review (circa 2010)
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 ahead,
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.
July 26, 2016
Rereading for the 3rd time for the group read.
Once upon a time, there was a 10th grader named Khanh who didn't get along with people very well. She wasn't an outcast in school, and all the bullying and teasing stopped with the commencement of high school, but she had always been a bookworm and has generally preferred the company of her own thoughts.
Lunchtime had always been dedicated not to eating, but to sitting in the library, browsing through books.
(Not to worry, she got her nutrition in 5th period in the form of a giant 6-inch M&M studded cookie and a package of Sour Patch Kids and/or a package of Reese's Pieces. Ah, the effortless metabolism of youth.)
One day, there were shiny new books on her school library's "New Releases" shelf. Harry Potter, books 1 through 3. She had heard of the books before, of course, since they were a constant presence on the NYT bestsellers list, but she had always avoided them, thinking of them as children's novels.
At the grand age of 14, surely she was too old for a little kid's fantasy novel. She had read the Outlander series earlier that year, after all. And it had sex in it. SEX! She didn't really quite understand everything in the book, but the point is, she had read them. Surely, at 14, Khanh was ready for more mature novels.
And that did not include Harry Potter. Harry Potter is 11. Khanh is 14. There is a vast difference in their ages. Khanh was a teenager, dammit.
But the Harry Potter books were new. Brand new. They were shiny, they had never been touched by another reader. And Khanh was tempted.
She picked up the first book in the series: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.
The end.
Or rather, the beginning.
Once upon a time, there was a 10th grader named Khanh who didn't get along with people very well. She wasn't an outcast in school, and all the bullying and teasing stopped with the commencement of high school, but she had always been a bookworm and has generally preferred the company of her own thoughts.
Lunchtime had always been dedicated not to eating, but to sitting in the library, browsing through books.
(Not to worry, she got her nutrition in 5th period in the form of a giant 6-inch M&M studded cookie and a package of Sour Patch Kids and/or a package of Reese's Pieces. Ah, the effortless metabolism of youth.)
One day, there were shiny new books on her school library's "New Releases" shelf. Harry Potter, books 1 through 3. She had heard of the books before, of course, since they were a constant presence on the NYT bestsellers list, but she had always avoided them, thinking of them as children's novels.
At the grand age of 14, surely she was too old for a little kid's fantasy novel. She had read the Outlander series earlier that year, after all. And it had sex in it. SEX! She didn't really quite understand everything in the book, but the point is, she had read them. Surely, at 14, Khanh was ready for more mature novels.
And that did not include Harry Potter. Harry Potter is 11. Khanh is 14. There is a vast difference in their ages. Khanh was a teenager, dammit.
But the Harry Potter books were new. Brand new. They were shiny, they had never been touched by another reader. And Khanh was tempted.
She picked up the first book in the series: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.
The end.
Or rather, the beginning.
May 11, 2019
I will never ever rate this lower than 5 stars. BEAUTIFUL.
February 21, 2016
There are no words to do this book justice.
March 1, 2022
(A-) 83% | Very Good
Notes: Despite a weak climax, it's a delightful read: an excellent introduction to its richly layered, wildly imaginative world.
Notes: Despite a weak climax, it's a delightful read: an excellent introduction to its richly layered, wildly imaginative world.
August 15, 2013
This is a disgrace to all pure bloods. My head looked quite dashing on that strange professor's head.. If only I could have extended my stay. Harry Potter.. This is not over yet.
October 23, 2015
Why the heck did I not read Harry Potter before now...its flipping magical (literally)!
January 29, 2024
These Are The Stories Before We Had SmartPhones
Many years ago, I read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone when it was first published in the US, before the movie, before all of the fame and merchandising opportunities. Initially, when I read it, I devoured it in two days. Now that I am old, well as old as Megan Fox, I wanted to hate on the author but couldn't.
JK Rowling makes writing look easy. Her prose is easy to read out loud, very smooth. Although the world that she has created is magical, it isn't confusing or that difficult to imagine unlike LOTR or Dune. The book is also incredibly fast paced. Many of the fantasy books that I have read have at least 100 pages to warm up. So how does the author make us want to root or cheer for Harry? How do we become invested in him? He is an orphan and an abused orphan at that. On the one hand, this formula definitely works, but isn't it a little over done? JK Rowling also sets up some beautiful scenes like when Harry is receiving his invitation to Hogwarts. How many people actually try that hard? When Ron and Harry discover that Hermione is in danger, they both go to assist her. However, most people these days would go, "Oh well." Sorry my INFJ is showing.
There were a few things that I didn't like:
*Why does JK Rowling hate cats? Mr Dursley sees something odd, a cat reading a map. My cats play chess, play the piano, watch TV, and once even typed "hi" on my computer. I don't find reading a map to be a bit strange at all. Maybe my house is just brimming with magic and as a muggle I just don't know about it? Mrs. Figg also made Harry look at photographs of all of the cats that she has ever owned. As if that is some sort of punishment!
*How Hermione is treated. When Ron and Harry are in trouble, Ron screams at her, "Have you gone mad? Are you a witch or not?" Um Ron, if you treat me like, you can save yourself. At the end of the book, Hermione is never fully rewarded for her portion in saving Ron and Harry, just figuring out the riddle. Even after she was a better person than I.
*Quidditch and chess - not really my thing although this opened up a brilliant line of merchandising for the author.
*Some things didn't make sense to me. Why was there a sip of the potions left? Why exactly was Dudley so popular at school?
Now, I think a trip to Orlando is in order to visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter!
2024 Reading Schedule
Jan Middlemarch
Feb The Grapes of Wrath
Mar Oliver Twist
Apr Madame Bovary
May A Clockwork Orange
Jun Possession
Jul The Folk of the Faraway Tree Collection
Aug Crime and Punishment
Sep Heart of Darkness
Oct Moby-Dick
Nov Far From the Madding Crowd
Dec A Tale of Two Cities
Connect With Me!
Blog Twitter BookTube Facebook Insta
Many years ago, I read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone when it was first published in the US, before the movie, before all of the fame and merchandising opportunities. Initially, when I read it, I devoured it in two days. Now that I am old, well as old as Megan Fox, I wanted to hate on the author but couldn't.
JK Rowling makes writing look easy. Her prose is easy to read out loud, very smooth. Although the world that she has created is magical, it isn't confusing or that difficult to imagine unlike LOTR or Dune. The book is also incredibly fast paced. Many of the fantasy books that I have read have at least 100 pages to warm up. So how does the author make us want to root or cheer for Harry? How do we become invested in him? He is an orphan and an abused orphan at that. On the one hand, this formula definitely works, but isn't it a little over done? JK Rowling also sets up some beautiful scenes like when Harry is receiving his invitation to Hogwarts. How many people actually try that hard? When Ron and Harry discover that Hermione is in danger, they both go to assist her. However, most people these days would go, "Oh well." Sorry my INFJ is showing.
There were a few things that I didn't like:
*Why does JK Rowling hate cats? Mr Dursley sees something odd, a cat reading a map. My cats play chess, play the piano, watch TV, and once even typed "hi" on my computer. I don't find reading a map to be a bit strange at all. Maybe my house is just brimming with magic and as a muggle I just don't know about it? Mrs. Figg also made Harry look at photographs of all of the cats that she has ever owned. As if that is some sort of punishment!
*How Hermione is treated. When Ron and Harry are in trouble, Ron screams at her, "Have you gone mad? Are you a witch or not?" Um Ron, if you treat me like, you can save yourself. At the end of the book, Hermione is never fully rewarded for her portion in saving Ron and Harry, just figuring out the riddle. Even after she was a better person than I.
*Quidditch and chess - not really my thing although this opened up a brilliant line of merchandising for the author.
*Some things didn't make sense to me. Why was there a sip of the potions left? Why exactly was Dudley so popular at school?
Now, I think a trip to Orlando is in order to visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter!
2024 Reading Schedule
Jan Middlemarch
Feb The Grapes of Wrath
Mar Oliver Twist
Apr Madame Bovary
May A Clockwork Orange
Jun Possession
Jul The Folk of the Faraway Tree Collection
Aug Crime and Punishment
Sep Heart of Darkness
Oct Moby-Dick
Nov Far From the Madding Crowd
Dec A Tale of Two Cities
Connect With Me!
Blog Twitter BookTube Facebook Insta
September 8, 2023
Publishers have my sympathy. If I try to put myself in the place of an editor picking this manuscript from the pile I can say with some certainty that I would not have recognized it as the ticket to a multi-billion dollar prize. I would have thought to myself that it was a good fun read, revisiting the magic-school trope and doing a fine job for children in the 8 to 12 range. If I hadn't had anything better land on my desk I might have published it, but then again, like quite a number of publishers, I might have passed in favour of a book I liked better.
I read this maybe 15 years back so I could share in what was exciting my three kids at the time. And I've read it twice to my daughter, Celyn. We read the first 5 some years back, and now she's 12 we're going to read the whole lot. She's very disabled and can't read for herself (she can't hold the book or see the page for starters...)
Having just finished I've checked the shelves to discover we have two copies of book 1 and two copies of book 3, but none of book 2. So JKR will be getting some more of my money shortly!
To the review... I liked the book. I have no idea why it has sold a gazzilion copies more than any other children's book or why so many adults are so taken with it. JKR writes solid enough prose, though her addiction to adverbs in dialogue tags irks me no end, he said testily. She writes a fun and inventive story, though the internal inconsistencies would have distressed me even as a child. Why do the finest wizards in the land leave a great treasure guarded only by a series of puzzles rather than actual defences? If in the final scenes the puzzle poem hadn't been left to give the solution to the potion test ... or the key hadn't been left in the same room as the door that wouldn't yield to magic ... would that not have been a better way to defend the treasure? Yes ... it was more fun this way, but ... dammit ... kids aren't stupid...
But yes, funny and inventive magic, school dynamics of making friends and enemies, the hijinx, the evil baddie, the chosen one... it's all good. Celyn certainly enjoyed it. She's on team Hermionie.
The only other thing that really bothered me was the repeated insinuation, present even in the term itself, that 'muggles' are somehow lesser. That the random gift of magical ability somehow makes you better.
I remember that later on (and hinted at in this book) the idea of mud-bloods (wizards born of muggles) is offered up as a proxy for racism and we're invited to condemn Draco Malfoy for his views (rightly so). But all the time I read this I'm feeling the hypocrisy embodied in the whole idea of muggles, which, albeit voiced without open malice, is really the same damn thing.
I will report back on book 2 when we're done.
EDITED IN FROM THE COMMENTS:
>>Aliyah wrote: "Personally I believe the trope is so familiar to you because of JK Rowling. She made this style of fantasy more popular."
>My reply: Personal beliefs are fine and dandy, but in this instance ... badly wrong.
My first encounter with magic schools was in The Worst Witch series (1974) which centres on a magic school and which I began in 1974. Followed by A Wizard of Earthsea (1968) which also centres on a magic school and which I read in 1975.
The mechanics of reaching a boarding school on a dedicated train laid on for the purpose and of sorting a boarding school into four groups to be housed in four towers was something I encountered at a still younger age in the early 70s in my mother's copy of First Term at Malory Towers (1946).
Join my Patreon
Join my 3-emails-a-year newsletter #prizes
..
I read this maybe 15 years back so I could share in what was exciting my three kids at the time. And I've read it twice to my daughter, Celyn. We read the first 5 some years back, and now she's 12 we're going to read the whole lot. She's very disabled and can't read for herself (she can't hold the book or see the page for starters...)
Having just finished I've checked the shelves to discover we have two copies of book 1 and two copies of book 3, but none of book 2. So JKR will be getting some more of my money shortly!
To the review... I liked the book. I have no idea why it has sold a gazzilion copies more than any other children's book or why so many adults are so taken with it. JKR writes solid enough prose, though her addiction to adverbs in dialogue tags irks me no end, he said testily. She writes a fun and inventive story, though the internal inconsistencies would have distressed me even as a child. Why do the finest wizards in the land leave a great treasure guarded only by a series of puzzles rather than actual defences? If in the final scenes the puzzle poem hadn't been left to give the solution to the potion test ... or the key hadn't been left in the same room as the door that wouldn't yield to magic ... would that not have been a better way to defend the treasure? Yes ... it was more fun this way, but ... dammit ... kids aren't stupid...
But yes, funny and inventive magic, school dynamics of making friends and enemies, the hijinx, the evil baddie, the chosen one... it's all good. Celyn certainly enjoyed it. She's on team Hermionie.
The only other thing that really bothered me was the repeated insinuation, present even in the term itself, that 'muggles' are somehow lesser. That the random gift of magical ability somehow makes you better.
I remember that later on (and hinted at in this book) the idea of mud-bloods (wizards born of muggles) is offered up as a proxy for racism and we're invited to condemn Draco Malfoy for his views (rightly so). But all the time I read this I'm feeling the hypocrisy embodied in the whole idea of muggles, which, albeit voiced without open malice, is really the same damn thing.
I will report back on book 2 when we're done.
EDITED IN FROM THE COMMENTS:
>>Aliyah wrote: "Personally I believe the trope is so familiar to you because of JK Rowling. She made this style of fantasy more popular."
>My reply: Personal beliefs are fine and dandy, but in this instance ... badly wrong.
My first encounter with magic schools was in The Worst Witch series (1974) which centres on a magic school and which I began in 1974. Followed by A Wizard of Earthsea (1968) which also centres on a magic school and which I read in 1975.
The mechanics of reaching a boarding school on a dedicated train laid on for the purpose and of sorting a boarding school into four groups to be housed in four towers was something I encountered at a still younger age in the early 70s in my mother's copy of First Term at Malory Towers (1946).
Join my Patreon
Join my 3-emails-a-year newsletter #prizes
..
May 9, 2018
Doing a listen of the entire series, Stephen Fry edition.
January 31, 2020
This book was okay. I didn't hate it or love it either way, though towards the end I realized how lukewarm I felt about the story since I would prefer to read any other book I had on hand. I appreciate the level of novelty in the world-building during the time this was first published. The friendship between the trio is cute. Hermione and Ron are fun characters and I might have enjoyed the book more if they had been the main protagonists. Downsides: I cringed at the excessive fatphobia, anti-semitism, and the turban part. I also didn't like that the final action of the book got skipped over quickly by having a fade-to-black moment and then a lengthy explanation told by one of the side characters. It felt like such an abrupt way to end the story... but TBH, I was glad to be done with it so I could move on to other books lol.
February 25, 2018
***Because I got hate in the comments for OMG swearing in a children's book review (which I get, I guess...), DON'T READ THIS IF YOU ARE UNDER 18. Happy now, everyone?***
Well, I did it. I FINALLY read my first Harry Potter book...and in the same year as its 20th anniversary no less.
But better late than never, no?
Annnnd I already ordered the illustrated hardback.
And asked for the full hardcover set for Christmas.
From my dad.
Because nothing says, “I’m a thirty-fucking-five-year-old adult” like asking Daddy for Harry Potter for Christmas.
#TeamDumbledore
XXXXXXXXXXX
I have a confession to make.
*
*
*
I have never read Harry Potter.
Yes, yes, I know...this is akin to reader sacrilege.
But I just had no interest in these books when they came out. I was too busy reading about men in kilts fucking the milkmaid.
Therefore, my only experience with "Hermione" is the SNL skit where Lindsey Lohan shows Harry and that other scarfed dude her ginormous tatas.
Well, what with everyone going ape shit over the newest installment, I figure I should probably find out what all this Hogwart's business is about.
And since my friend's 9 year old demanded that I read his copy, I now have the paperback in my possession.
Hoping to get starting this week...
Well, I did it. I FINALLY read my first Harry Potter book...and in the same year as its 20th anniversary no less.
But better late than never, no?
Annnnd I already ordered the illustrated hardback.
And asked for the full hardcover set for Christmas.
From my dad.
Because nothing says, “I’m a thirty-fucking-five-year-old adult” like asking Daddy for Harry Potter for Christmas.
#TeamDumbledore
XXXXXXXXXXX
I have a confession to make.
*
*
*
I have never read Harry Potter.
Yes, yes, I know...this is akin to reader sacrilege.
But I just had no interest in these books when they came out. I was too busy reading about men in kilts fucking the milkmaid.
Therefore, my only experience with "Hermione" is the SNL skit where Lindsey Lohan shows Harry and that other scarfed dude her ginormous tatas.
Well, what with everyone going ape shit over the newest installment, I figure I should probably find out what all this Hogwart's business is about.
And since my friend's 9 year old demanded that I read his copy, I now have the paperback in my possession.
Hoping to get starting this week...
April 29, 2020
Third Re-read of the series, and this time I read the illustrated edition, which was pure magic. On to the next one!
********************************
Original Review:
I read this book a couple of years ago and, for some unknown reason, never continued on. It was just as wonderfully magical as I remembered, a breath of fresh air during what is usually a stressful time of year for me. I have yet to find a story that feels so pure and childlike that appeals to such a broad range of people. There’s something for everyone here; whether you are 10 or 100, Hogwarts is a place you can escape to and enjoy hearty adventures that you won’t find elsewhere.
I truly love all of the characters and feel the entire cast is well done, but my personal favorites are the Weasley twins, Hagrid, and Professor McGonnall. While I’ve seen all the movies and know the general storyline, I’m really excited to experience the story “first hand” and see what all was left out from the films. I’m also intrigued to find out more about each house, especially the ones that took a backseat in this story. Not sure if I can say anything that hasn’t been said before, but I loved it!
Buddy read with Sam of Clues and Reviews!
********************************
Original Review:
I read this book a couple of years ago and, for some unknown reason, never continued on. It was just as wonderfully magical as I remembered, a breath of fresh air during what is usually a stressful time of year for me. I have yet to find a story that feels so pure and childlike that appeals to such a broad range of people. There’s something for everyone here; whether you are 10 or 100, Hogwarts is a place you can escape to and enjoy hearty adventures that you won’t find elsewhere.
I truly love all of the characters and feel the entire cast is well done, but my personal favorites are the Weasley twins, Hagrid, and Professor McGonnall. While I’ve seen all the movies and know the general storyline, I’m really excited to experience the story “first hand” and see what all was left out from the films. I’m also intrigued to find out more about each house, especially the ones that took a backseat in this story. Not sure if I can say anything that hasn’t been said before, but I loved it!
Buddy read with Sam of Clues and Reviews!
June 3, 2021
So I read the newest editions of the books that I’m going to collect. I have so many different collections I’ll probably add later. In these new books I actually love the art on all the pages instead of the interactive stuff. I put together a collage of a couple pages
*******
Where in shit’s ass is my review with all of the pics of the illustrations from the book in it!! Rat bastards!!
Anyhoo, reread on Audible 😘
Well, I actually found my review in my blog so suck it GR 🤣😂
Blog: http://melissa413readsalot.blogspot.c...
Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾
*******
Where in shit’s ass is my review with all of the pics of the illustrations from the book in it!! Rat bastards!!
Anyhoo, reread on Audible 😘
Well, I actually found my review in my blog so suck it GR 🤣😂
Blog: http://melissa413readsalot.blogspot.c...
Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾
February 13, 2018
It's Always Great, Coming back Home..
There's a reason us, the Fans, feel that we're connected, no matter where we from, different culture, ethics, ages..we're all graduated from there..
..Hogwarts.. even like we were in same class,classmates, no matter which edition we read..
..Cause Harry Potter is not just a story..it's a Life..
This Review also for those who hate the series !
Please bear with me..
Without it, most Book stores & publishers may have the same fate of Video Stores like Blockbuster LLC, which, despite being super popular in the 90s, closed all the stores by 2013, shutting down forever.
Yes, without this Novel, and with the rapid change in technology, the ease of making e-books and reading it in PCs, Smartphones, Tablets..etc, the publishing and trade of new paper books may decrease rapidly.
It'd be limited for religious or educating books, classics, small novels. Even those could be just electronic too, and the Books be just like Good Ol' Video Tapes.
A Dystopia, right? very gloomy idea to the world without This novel, The One.
Well, in the case you think I'm exaggerate..Let's have,
Those of this new generation who read are “weirdos" or "nerds” to the rest of their peers.
And for those “few who read”, book stores mostly got for them comics and graphic novels, which most of them created early this century.
Classic Novels, they read just for Schools and Classes mostly.
And New Novels that make Best Seller are the ones made, or will be made, into movies for Julia Roberts, Tom Cruse or any of the 90s Hollywood celebrity, or the ones by Stephen King because ,of course, will be made into movies too.
Even these new novels didn't live up the selling numbers of Tolkien, Charles Dickens, Agatha Christie -what’s with the British authors and selling numbers :)?- , also in Russia no more Dostoevsky and Tolstoy, no more Hugo in France, in Egypt no more like Naguib Mahfouz & the great authors of the 50s to 70s..
No new Big Hit for novels, most of the selling books are those of Speculation about strange & mysterious things in the world or in religion, Dream interpretation , cocking books or celebrities rumors.
While in US & UK, Top Selling books mostly the Self Help ones, or those teaching Computers Programming and Web Sites -this brand new huge technology leap back then-
No new novels to attract the new generation of kids and teenagers, There's few Successful Highlights though, like R.L.Stine’s Goosepumbs in 1992 which made a very good success, and translated in many countries including Egypt.
And in Egypt there’s also a very successful project by respectful Publishing house that made “Pocket Novels” for youth, by brilliant Egyptian writers presenting huge variety of novels of many genres, Sci-Fi, Action Thriller, comics, Romance .etc.
There’s also “Reading for All”, project by the first lady “Susan Mubarak”, reprinting a huge verity of important books and novels from all over the world in very cheap prices.
But all these effort didn't attract “more and more” of new youth readers as intended, it just made more and more books for those few who already reads.
The vast numbers of those who don’t just read will increase if there isn't a BIG new attractive Reading Experience to get them into reading, specially with the more channels, more movies.
But the BIGGEST Obstacle for them to read came out in 1994, and became a real phenomenon by 1995..
..it’s Playstation, The giant Japanese Gaming leap..
Football, Crash, Pepsi man, even the comics heroes also have their games, so why reading Superman, Batman’s comics when you can play them..
So by 1996, with this growing leap in Gaming, also the Computer 3D games getting much improved, Books get replaced bit by bit by a gaming controls.
So do you think it’s wise for publishers to publish a book for new writer?
Of course not, it may not even cover it’s publishing cost.
So it was very normal when in this year, 1996, when Joanne, a 31 years old lady from England , handed the manuscript of her first novel to 12 publishing houses, all of them rejected it...
A manuscript of over 200 pages of a novel, that she had hard times in her personal and professional life while writing it, and for children??? Seriously is there still any Child left who still read? it’s 1996, the Era of Playstation and Video Games.
But then, the Modest “Bloomsbury“ agreed to publish it , with 2 advises for her, first that she’d get a day job, since it’s a little chance of making money in children's books. - later she received a grant from the Scottish Arts Council to help her continuing writing.-
But the significant advice was to change her pen name cause young boys might not want to read a book written by a woman..
So with her name & her grandmother’s "Kathleen" come the 2 initial of her pen name..
And in 26 June 1997 , with 1,000 copies, 500 of which were distributed to libraries, come out in UK, to our World The Greatest..
And Bam!! , everything happened so fast..
Before the end of this year the novel was awarded many important literary awards in the UK.
An American important publisher, Scholastic, won the rights to publish the novel in US, with a huge check Rowling would never dreams of.
Just with small change, 'Philosopher's Stone' to be 'Sorcerer's Stone', as the American publisher feared 'Philosopher's' may not be that attractive to young readers..
And Thanks to Harry Potter, now Every young readers worldwide know much more about Philosopher's Stone's legend.
In 1998 Book Two released in UK , 1999 in US, winning more literary prizes. And becoming NO.1 Top Selling Book in UK , US and many other countries which start to publish the translated first book.
With the fast growing popularity of Harry Potter among readers, more records had been broken..
The 3 books takeover the Top Spot in all charts of Best Selling Books for weeks & months, and it's even still in hardcover editions.
This conquer of the Top Spots made some literary magazines & newspapers separate the 'Harry Potter books' selling records from the rest of the top selling books, splitting the lists into 'Children Books' and 'Adult Books' sections, under pressure from other publishers who were eager to see their books given higher ranking.
And then it was year 2000 , where everything is about to change ... forever..
The Playstation 2 is out there, and even higher leap in Computer Games..
But even with this much of temptations, thousands of children, teens and parents gathered in the Midnight of 8 July 2000 in UK and US at the same day in front of stores, not in front of Cinemas as usual, not electronic stores as Apple stores as happening theses days, But it was in front of Bookstores, for The First time in the Book Stores History, to buy a copy of...
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
And They didn't mind to find out that the book is over 700 page, it was even for their pleasure, more than double the size of any of the first 3 novels.. double the thriller, double the fun..
Over 3 million copies sold at that day only in the US , a New World Record, totally unexpected one.
Huge story, bigger plot , mysterious and very well written.
And more literate prizes for Rowling... more translated editions to more than 40 language.
And a huge budget for the upcoming first movie of the series, which beautifully visualize the magic of the novel by the faithful producers and the director...and it also made some Cinematic Records back then, but that's not our subject now.
With the announcement of pushing the publishing date of Book Five to mid. 2003 , and with 2 movies out so far, The Hunger for reading Harry Potter kept on..
So, As more readers from this generation start to increase , Publishers and Book Stores start to promote for more books for those readers who are hungry for more..
Older Fantasy books , like Lord of the Rings -which was a super successful movie by then too- Narnia , Golden Compass and many other novels start getting more reprinted editions. And so Book Stores prosperity increased as it get more and more readers.
More countries welcomed the Harry Potter phenomenon.. The English edition AND the local translated ones , both been sold everywhere worldwide.
Even in Egypt English edition sold at many books stores. And, hopefully, some New Book Stores specialized in English novels and books start to open in Cairo & Alexandria by 2002-2003..
And in summer 2002, after the Movie wild success, Nahdet Masr publishing house got the rights and published the Arabic edition.
Although it cut some of the lines for length issues, the edition still hold the magic of it ..making a very good sales.
The good news is, the literary movement didn't stop there, Harry Potter and Reprinted Classics. No , there's more new books come out for the increasing demand from the readers..
By 2002 ,Life of Pi, Man Booker winner make very good sales numbers.
And in April 2003 Dan Brown (previously published 3 novels, making good sales) released a novel that made Huge Fuss around and making a new sales records, The Da Vinci Code..
The funny thing that there's a reference in this novel that Harry Potter is 'the Second Most Selling Book in History after the Bible', a speculation that happens to be true in less than 5 years after that.
A month later, May 2003, Khaled Hosseini released his first novel, The Kate Runner which also made a very good records too. -Don't you agree if there's no Harry Potter before, this Afghan-born author would have a chance? He'd be rejected by 12 publishers like you know who :)-
And all that didn't affect the main reason for this new 'Literal Renaissance'.
All that didn't affect the Records Breaker to break records one month later..
On 20 June 2003 book Five 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix' comes out..
Ten thousands of all ages conquer the Book Stores in UK, US and other countries too at the same day to get The One Book they've been waiting for at least 2 years. Shipping agents like FedEx made the delivery to many countries to get the book at the same time.
A New world Record ,5 millions copy at the first day only..
For the first time in France a non french language book placed in no.1 of the bestselling book....
Some kids got a headache called 'Harry Potter Headache' as they read the whole 850 pages of the book five, the biggest so far, at the same day without resting.
And in Egypt, September the same year, the Arabic edition of book three comes out with unexpected sales records, first edition run out of the stores by the first week only, though it's nearly the beginning of the School year, and the movie of this 3rd book still filming.
ِAnd the price of it get higher 20% in 2 days and still with increasing demand..
More English books and novels sold in Egypt too, along with the Arabic ones, publishing more books for new Egyptian authors and writers along with more of the famous ones, Alaa El Aswany's debut Novel 'Yaqubean's Building' making a very good selling numbers..
And in July 2004 the Arabic edition of Book Four makes a price war between book stores and magazines stands.
January 2005 , an abridged translated edition of Book Five make many readers angry in Egypt , specially that many already read the English edition before, so the publisher release an unabridged one by May.
And on 21 July 2005, A Higher Record that breaks all the previously ones
6.9 million copy of Book Six sold in US in its first day only...
A huge book, it may not be as the fans' expectations of being full of action , but it get a twist that blow minds about one of the most interesting characters, Professor Snape. That made many fans and even big authors like Stephen King and Salman Rushdie talk about for months..
With Pre-Final Book of Harry Potter is out, it followed by a massive variety of New Novels, New Series, New Authors..
Twilight series, Percy Jackson series, and much more, more Books Sales not only in US, UK but worldwide..
More Novels hit the top sales..
A Real Prosperity.
But still Harry Potter is the Records Big Breaker...
At the midnight before 21 June 2007, Everywhere around the Globe, the scene of thousands of people lining in front of Book Stores was repeated...even Bigger than any time before..
A Huge Record for Pre-Orders online reach to One Million copies by Amazon only, and total sales of 11 millions copies in UK and US in the first day only.
The book sold at the Same Day almost in Every Single Country..
even in Israel which made a big religious fuss because the Book Stores opened to receive and sell the book at the releasing day which was their holy Saturday, But it's Harry Potter after all, the world's most unusual, unexpected phenomenon and sales records breaker.
And that's not bad, it was the Miracle of bringing back readers to Book Stores...
And it's not just Harry Potter...
Now, that 'All was well.' , thousands of topics went online asking 'what to read next'....
Indeed, although there's the e-books, e-readers..etc, still there's thousands of new books and novels published and sold every year , in every where in the world.
The gaming devices is increasing? yes, But not as expected though by the 90s and early 2000s 'remember Nokia N-Gage?'.. but so does the reading devices which first come out by Sony in 2004,make big step by Amazon's Kindle in 2007...the ebook applications on every device.
New books and series come after that, and still on, making super sales, attracting more readers... more writers come with more books and novels, some are just a rip off others and some are really original and brilliant. in UK, US , Egypt ..everywhere all over the globe..
No matter a Playstation 4 is out, or new Xbox, the Books still there...with its most beloved magic..
The magic of books is back and , I believe, to stay..
Don't you see with me that the magic of Harry Potter is one of the main factors of this magic?
That's what Rowling wrote at the very early pages of her first book.. The one that rejected by 12 Publishing Houses in 1996..
Well, what about now?
God, Talked too much in the "Brief" introduction , didn't I?
Well, that's it for this review... I guess some still think it's just the Propaganda that made that all....
Well I'll try to prove them wrong by the upcoming next 6 reviews at the other 6 Books of the series..
Links will be here as soon as it'd done ..
But for The First one... sorry to add one more , but 20000 characters aren't enough.
The Ultimate Review of Book One
Now I'll be back to go around Hogwarts...
For the Zillionth time I guess..
Hope to see you there too, come on and try first year :)
From Hogwarts
Mohammed Arabey
The Craziest Potterhead of Egypt
Re-reading the new edition -Guess I'm addicted to new editions BUT this one really rocks.."Bloomsbury-2014"
from 12 Sep. 2014
to 23 Sep. 2014
المقال بالعربية من هنا
There's a reason us, the Fans, feel that we're connected, no matter where we from, different culture, ethics, ages..we're all graduated from there..
..Hogwarts.. even like we were in same class,classmates, no matter which edition we read..
..Cause Harry Potter is not just a story..it's a Life..
The Boy WhoIt's One of the most important novels in modern history, Sorry, it's The Most Important ONE.SavedFlourished the Book Industry
This Review also for those who hate the series !
Please bear with me..
Without it, most Book stores & publishers may have the same fate of Video Stores like Blockbuster LLC, which, despite being super popular in the 90s, closed all the stores by 2013, shutting down forever.
Yes, without this Novel, and with the rapid change in technology, the ease of making e-books and reading it in PCs, Smartphones, Tablets..etc, the publishing and trade of new paper books may decrease rapidly.
It'd be limited for religious or educating books, classics, small novels. Even those could be just electronic too, and the Books be just like Good Ol' Video Tapes.
A Dystopia, right? very gloomy idea to the world without This novel, The One.
Well, in the case you think I'm exaggerate..Let's have,
A Brief !! History of Literature in the 90sWell, let’s back to early 90s , where TV is in every house, even in every room, Video sets are there too, rental video stores everywhere, satellite receivers and cable channels growing fast packed with channels for kids & teenagers, making them attached more & more into screens, not to mention Video Games, Game boy and Nintendo…
-------------------------------
Those of this new generation who read are “weirdos" or "nerds” to the rest of their peers.
And for those “few who read”, book stores mostly got for them comics and graphic novels, which most of them created early this century.
Classic Novels, they read just for Schools and Classes mostly.
And New Novels that make Best Seller are the ones made, or will be made, into movies for Julia Roberts, Tom Cruse or any of the 90s Hollywood celebrity, or the ones by Stephen King because ,of course, will be made into movies too.
Even these new novels didn't live up the selling numbers of Tolkien, Charles Dickens, Agatha Christie -what’s with the British authors and selling numbers :)?- , also in Russia no more Dostoevsky and Tolstoy, no more Hugo in France, in Egypt no more like Naguib Mahfouz & the great authors of the 50s to 70s..
No new Big Hit for novels, most of the selling books are those of Speculation about strange & mysterious things in the world or in religion, Dream interpretation , cocking books or celebrities rumors.
While in US & UK, Top Selling books mostly the Self Help ones, or those teaching Computers Programming and Web Sites -this brand new huge technology leap back then-
No new novels to attract the new generation of kids and teenagers, There's few Successful Highlights though, like R.L.Stine’s Goosepumbs in 1992 which made a very good success, and translated in many countries including Egypt.
And in Egypt there’s also a very successful project by respectful Publishing house that made “Pocket Novels” for youth, by brilliant Egyptian writers presenting huge variety of novels of many genres, Sci-Fi, Action Thriller, comics, Romance .etc.
There’s also “Reading for All”, project by the first lady “Susan Mubarak”, reprinting a huge verity of important books and novels from all over the world in very cheap prices.
But all these effort didn't attract “more and more” of new youth readers as intended, it just made more and more books for those few who already reads.
The vast numbers of those who don’t just read will increase if there isn't a BIG new attractive Reading Experience to get them into reading, specially with the more channels, more movies.
But the BIGGEST Obstacle for them to read came out in 1994, and became a real phenomenon by 1995..
..it’s Playstation, The giant Japanese Gaming leap..
Football, Crash, Pepsi man, even the comics heroes also have their games, so why reading Superman, Batman’s comics when you can play them..
~~~~~~ A beat. ~~~~~~
So by 1996, with this growing leap in Gaming, also the Computer 3D games getting much improved, Books get replaced bit by bit by a gaming controls.
So do you think it’s wise for publishers to publish a book for new writer?
Of course not, it may not even cover it’s publishing cost.
So it was very normal when in this year, 1996, when Joanne, a 31 years old lady from England , handed the manuscript of her first novel to 12 publishing houses, all of them rejected it...
A manuscript of over 200 pages of a novel, that she had hard times in her personal and professional life while writing it, and for children??? Seriously is there still any Child left who still read? it’s 1996, the Era of Playstation and Video Games.
But then, the Modest “Bloomsbury“ agreed to publish it , with 2 advises for her, first that she’d get a day job, since it’s a little chance of making money in children's books. - later she received a grant from the Scottish Arts Council to help her continuing writing.-
But the significant advice was to change her pen name cause young boys might not want to read a book written by a woman..
So with her name & her grandmother’s "Kathleen" come the 2 initial of her pen name..
J . k . Rowling
And in 26 June 1997 , with 1,000 copies, 500 of which were distributed to libraries, come out in UK, to our World The Greatest..
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
And Bam!! , everything happened so fast..
Before the end of this year the novel was awarded many important literary awards in the UK.
An American important publisher, Scholastic, won the rights to publish the novel in US, with a huge check Rowling would never dreams of.
Just with small change, 'Philosopher's Stone' to be 'Sorcerer's Stone', as the American publisher feared 'Philosopher's' may not be that attractive to young readers..
And Thanks to Harry Potter, now Every young readers worldwide know much more about Philosopher's Stone's legend.
In 1998 Book Two released in UK , 1999 in US, winning more literary prizes. And becoming NO.1 Top Selling Book in UK , US and many other countries which start to publish the translated first book.
And on 8 July 1999, The First Breaking Record made when Book Three sold 68.000 copies in just three days after its release in the United Kingdom.. and more copies when it released late 1999 in US..
With the fast growing popularity of Harry Potter among readers, more records had been broken..
The 3 books takeover the Top Spot in all charts of Best Selling Books for weeks & months, and it's even still in hardcover editions.
This conquer of the Top Spots made some literary magazines & newspapers separate the 'Harry Potter books' selling records from the rest of the top selling books, splitting the lists into 'Children Books' and 'Adult Books' sections, under pressure from other publishers who were eager to see their books given higher ranking.
And then it was year 2000 , where everything is about to change ... forever..
The Playstation 2 is out there, and even higher leap in Computer Games..
But even with this much of temptations, thousands of children, teens and parents gathered in the Midnight of 8 July 2000 in UK and US at the same day in front of stores, not in front of Cinemas as usual, not electronic stores as Apple stores as happening theses days, But it was in front of Bookstores, for The First time in the Book Stores History, to buy a copy of...
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
And They didn't mind to find out that the book is over 700 page, it was even for their pleasure, more than double the size of any of the first 3 novels.. double the thriller, double the fun..
Over 3 million copies sold at that day only in the US , a New World Record, totally unexpected one.
Huge story, bigger plot , mysterious and very well written.
And more literate prizes for Rowling... more translated editions to more than 40 language.
And a huge budget for the upcoming first movie of the series, which beautifully visualize the magic of the novel by the faithful producers and the director...and it also made some Cinematic Records back then, but that's not our subject now.
~~~~~~ ~~~~~~
With the announcement of pushing the publishing date of Book Five to mid. 2003 , and with 2 movies out so far, The Hunger for reading Harry Potter kept on..
So, As more readers from this generation start to increase , Publishers and Book Stores start to promote for more books for those readers who are hungry for more..
Older Fantasy books , like Lord of the Rings -which was a super successful movie by then too- Narnia , Golden Compass and many other novels start getting more reprinted editions. And so Book Stores prosperity increased as it get more and more readers.
More countries welcomed the Harry Potter phenomenon.. The English edition AND the local translated ones , both been sold everywhere worldwide.
Even in Egypt English edition sold at many books stores. And, hopefully, some New Book Stores specialized in English novels and books start to open in Cairo & Alexandria by 2002-2003..
And in summer 2002, after the Movie wild success, Nahdet Masr publishing house got the rights and published the Arabic edition.
Although it cut some of the lines for length issues, the edition still hold the magic of it ..making a very good sales.
~~~~~~ ~~~~~~
The good news is, the literary movement didn't stop there, Harry Potter and Reprinted Classics. No , there's more new books come out for the increasing demand from the readers..
By 2002 ,Life of Pi, Man Booker winner make very good sales numbers.
And in April 2003 Dan Brown (previously published 3 novels, making good sales) released a novel that made Huge Fuss around and making a new sales records, The Da Vinci Code..
The funny thing that there's a reference in this novel that Harry Potter is 'the Second Most Selling Book in History after the Bible', a speculation that happens to be true in less than 5 years after that.
A month later, May 2003, Khaled Hosseini released his first novel, The Kate Runner which also made a very good records too. -Don't you agree if there's no Harry Potter before, this Afghan-born author would have a chance? He'd be rejected by 12 publishers like you know who :)-
And all that didn't affect the main reason for this new 'Literal Renaissance'.
All that didn't affect the Records Breaker to break records one month later..
On 20 June 2003 book Five 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix' comes out..
Ten thousands of all ages conquer the Book Stores in UK, US and other countries too at the same day to get The One Book they've been waiting for at least 2 years. Shipping agents like FedEx made the delivery to many countries to get the book at the same time.
A New world Record ,5 millions copy at the first day only..
For the first time in France a non french language book placed in no.1 of the bestselling book....
Some kids got a headache called 'Harry Potter Headache' as they read the whole 850 pages of the book five, the biggest so far, at the same day without resting.
And in Egypt, September the same year, the Arabic edition of book three comes out with unexpected sales records, first edition run out of the stores by the first week only, though it's nearly the beginning of the School year, and the movie of this 3rd book still filming.
ِAnd the price of it get higher 20% in 2 days and still with increasing demand..
More English books and novels sold in Egypt too, along with the Arabic ones, publishing more books for new Egyptian authors and writers along with more of the famous ones, Alaa El Aswany's debut Novel 'Yaqubean's Building' making a very good selling numbers..
And in July 2004 the Arabic edition of Book Four makes a price war between book stores and magazines stands.
January 2005 , an abridged translated edition of Book Five make many readers angry in Egypt , specially that many already read the English edition before, so the publisher release an unabridged one by May.
~~~~~~ ~~~~~~
And on 21 July 2005, A Higher Record that breaks all the previously ones
6.9 million copy of Book Six sold in US in its first day only...
A huge book, it may not be as the fans' expectations of being full of action , but it get a twist that blow minds about one of the most interesting characters, Professor Snape. That made many fans and even big authors like Stephen King and Salman Rushdie talk about for months..
With Pre-Final Book of Harry Potter is out, it followed by a massive variety of New Novels, New Series, New Authors..
Twilight series, Percy Jackson series, and much more, more Books Sales not only in US, UK but worldwide..
More Novels hit the top sales..
A Real Prosperity.
But still Harry Potter is the Records Big Breaker...
At the midnight before 21 June 2007, Everywhere around the Globe, the scene of thousands of people lining in front of Book Stores was repeated...even Bigger than any time before..
A Huge Record for Pre-Orders online reach to One Million copies by Amazon only, and total sales of 11 millions copies in UK and US in the first day only.
The book sold at the Same Day almost in Every Single Country..
even in Israel which made a big religious fuss because the Book Stores opened to receive and sell the book at the releasing day which was their holy Saturday, But it's Harry Potter after all, the world's most unusual, unexpected phenomenon and sales records breaker.
And that's not bad, it was the Miracle of bringing back readers to Book Stores...
And it's not just Harry Potter...
Now, that 'All was well.' , thousands of topics went online asking 'what to read next'....
Indeed, although there's the e-books, e-readers..etc, still there's thousands of new books and novels published and sold every year , in every where in the world.
The gaming devices is increasing? yes, But not as expected though by the 90s and early 2000s 'remember Nokia N-Gage?'.. but so does the reading devices which first come out by Sony in 2004,make big step by Amazon's Kindle in 2007...the ebook applications on every device.
New books and series come after that, and still on, making super sales, attracting more readers... more writers come with more books and novels, some are just a rip off others and some are really original and brilliant. in UK, US , Egypt ..everywhere all over the globe..
No matter a Playstation 4 is out, or new Xbox, the Books still there...with its most beloved magic..
The magic of books is back and , I believe, to stay..
Don't you see with me that the magic of Harry Potter is one of the main factors of this magic?
“This boy will be famous. There won’t be a child in our world who doesn’t know his name”
That's what Rowling wrote at the very early pages of her first book.. The one that rejected by 12 Publishing Houses in 1996..
Well, what about now?
God, Talked too much in the "Brief" introduction , didn't I?
Well, that's it for this review... I guess some still think it's just the Propaganda that made that all....
Well I'll try to prove them wrong by the upcoming next 6 reviews at the other 6 Books of the series..
Links will be here as soon as it'd done ..
But for The First one... sorry to add one more , but 20000 characters aren't enough.
The Ultimate Review of Book One
Now I'll be back to go around Hogwarts...
For the Zillionth time I guess..
Hope to see you there too, come on and try first year :)
From Hogwarts
Mohammed Arabey
The Craziest Potterhead of Egypt
Re-reading the new edition -Guess I'm addicted to new editions BUT this one really rocks.."Bloomsbury-2014"
from 12 Sep. 2014
to 23 Sep. 2014
المقال بالعربية من هنا
November 17, 2019
I have absolutley no idea why goodreads deleted my review AND rating but thankfully I still had it saved! So here it is again, may it stick around this time!
”It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live, remember that.”
Okay, here’s the thing: There are already 96.502 reviews about this book on goodreads and I think it’s safe to say that mine will carry no weight. *lol*
So I decided to make this a short “my thoughts about this book” review. ;-P
1.) ”Thirty-six,” he said, looking up at his mother and father. “That’s two less than last year.”
I totally forgot how horrible the Dursleys are and I think I kind of suppressed how dreadful Dudley is! Such a spoilt brat and this is actually putting it more than just lightly. If anyone should go to a boot camp sort of school it certainly should be him.
2.) ”Ah, go boil yer heads, both of yeh,” said Hagrid. “Harry – yer a wizard.”
Bless Hagrid for being the kind and compassionate man that he is! <3 Those lines went down in Harry Potter history and started it all! XD
3.) ”Blown up a toilet? We’ve never blown up a toilet.”
“Great idea though, thanks, Mum.”
Haha! You gotta love the Weasley twins! They might be side characters but they always manage to bring some humour into the book and they succeed to give that typical sibling and family vibe. =)
4.) ”Are you sure that’s a real spell?” said the girl. “Well, it’s not very good, is it? I’ve tried a few simple spells just for practice and it’s all worked for me.”
When I read this I totally had the Hermione of the movie in my mind. Emma Watson played her so well and I’m really glad that Hermione came off her high horse. She was really insufferable at the beginning of the book. *lol*
5.) ”You’ll soon find out some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don’t want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there.”
Urgh! And so it begins! I never liked Malfoy and I’ll never do. Sorry, guys! Yes, I felt sorry for him after book 5 but he’s still a slimy little spoilt brat at the beginning of the series. Still, if his parents would have raised him differently he might have even turned out to be a nice guy. *sighs*
6.) ”Let’s try again. Potter, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?”
And here comes another character I’ll never forgive. Snape is a horrible teacher and an even worse human being. There I said it. Nothing that happens over the course of the following books will change anything about the fact that he’s unfair and mean to his students! His past doesn’t excuse his actions. Still, I gotta give Rowling kudos for all the foreboding! Boy, alone the comment with the bezoar. XD And Dumbledore explaining the relationship between Snape and Harry’s father. Well done! ;-)
7.) ”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.”
I still love that scene and I’m really glad Hermione and the others finally bonded. Also, I love that they tried to be good kids at the beginning. In the first book they actually don’t want to do anything forbidden and feel bad about it. Well, and then the other books happen. *LOL* Apparently practice makes perfect though, because they go for plenty of forbidden things but don’t get caught anymore. Haha!
8.) ”All right, all right. Flint nearly kills the Gryffindor Seeker, which could happen to anyone, I’m sure, so a penalty to Gryffindor, taken by Spinnet, who puts it away, no trouble, and we continue play, Gryffindor still in possession.”
Lee Jordan is the best! <3 He’s the main reason I enjoy the Quidditch games so much! His commentary is just funny and brilliant!
9.) ”If I get caught before I can get to the Stone, well, I’ll have to go back to the Dursleys and wait for Voldemort to find me there. It’s only dying a bit later than I would have done, because I’m never going over to the Dark Side!”
I LOVE HARRY’S DEFIANCE!!! That’s one of the many things that made me like him so much! He never backs down and always continues to fight. No matter the odds, he’s facing his troubles holding his head high! Even this early in the series you can already see that he’s going to be a great MC!
And now let’s move on and read book two! ;-)
”It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live, remember that.”
Okay, here’s the thing: There are already 96.502 reviews about this book on goodreads and I think it’s safe to say that mine will carry no weight. *lol*
So I decided to make this a short “my thoughts about this book” review. ;-P
1.) ”Thirty-six,” he said, looking up at his mother and father. “That’s two less than last year.”
I totally forgot how horrible the Dursleys are and I think I kind of suppressed how dreadful Dudley is! Such a spoilt brat and this is actually putting it more than just lightly. If anyone should go to a boot camp sort of school it certainly should be him.
2.) ”Ah, go boil yer heads, both of yeh,” said Hagrid. “Harry – yer a wizard.”
Bless Hagrid for being the kind and compassionate man that he is! <3 Those lines went down in Harry Potter history and started it all! XD
3.) ”Blown up a toilet? We’ve never blown up a toilet.”
“Great idea though, thanks, Mum.”
Haha! You gotta love the Weasley twins! They might be side characters but they always manage to bring some humour into the book and they succeed to give that typical sibling and family vibe. =)
4.) ”Are you sure that’s a real spell?” said the girl. “Well, it’s not very good, is it? I’ve tried a few simple spells just for practice and it’s all worked for me.”
When I read this I totally had the Hermione of the movie in my mind. Emma Watson played her so well and I’m really glad that Hermione came off her high horse. She was really insufferable at the beginning of the book. *lol*
5.) ”You’ll soon find out some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don’t want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there.”
Urgh! And so it begins! I never liked Malfoy and I’ll never do. Sorry, guys! Yes, I felt sorry for him after book 5 but he’s still a slimy little spoilt brat at the beginning of the series. Still, if his parents would have raised him differently he might have even turned out to be a nice guy. *sighs*
6.) ”Let’s try again. Potter, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?”
And here comes another character I’ll never forgive. Snape is a horrible teacher and an even worse human being. There I said it. Nothing that happens over the course of the following books will change anything about the fact that he’s unfair and mean to his students! His past doesn’t excuse his actions. Still, I gotta give Rowling kudos for all the foreboding! Boy, alone the comment with the bezoar. XD And Dumbledore explaining the relationship between Snape and Harry’s father. Well done! ;-)
7.) ”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.”
I still love that scene and I’m really glad Hermione and the others finally bonded. Also, I love that they tried to be good kids at the beginning. In the first book they actually don’t want to do anything forbidden and feel bad about it. Well, and then the other books happen. *LOL* Apparently practice makes perfect though, because they go for plenty of forbidden things but don’t get caught anymore. Haha!
8.) ”All right, all right. Flint nearly kills the Gryffindor Seeker, which could happen to anyone, I’m sure, so a penalty to Gryffindor, taken by Spinnet, who puts it away, no trouble, and we continue play, Gryffindor still in possession.”
Lee Jordan is the best! <3 He’s the main reason I enjoy the Quidditch games so much! His commentary is just funny and brilliant!
9.) ”If I get caught before I can get to the Stone, well, I’ll have to go back to the Dursleys and wait for Voldemort to find me there. It’s only dying a bit later than I would have done, because I’m never going over to the Dark Side!”
I LOVE HARRY’S DEFIANCE!!! That’s one of the many things that made me like him so much! He never backs down and always continues to fight. No matter the odds, he’s facing his troubles holding his head high! Even this early in the series you can already see that he’s going to be a great MC!
And now let’s move on and read book two! ;-)
May 30, 2007
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...].
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...].
December 4, 2013
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 review of this first volume. I figured it was high time to rectify that oversight.
Harry deserves it.
However, with over a million ratings, and almost two reviews for every day I’ve been alive, I think I can dispense with any plot distillation or character profiles. It has all been eloquently said before. Therefore, I just want to briefly express what I see as the essential magic at the heart of the series, and why I think it has resonated so strongly with so many people.
Here goes...
Only rarely does a story come along that can so completely wrap you up in a warm blanket of contentment and good feelings. One that can hold at bay, even if only for precious moments, the nasty brutishness of what often passes for daily life. These stories do that.
It’s an escape into a world of optimism, honor, and hope, where things always look hopeful and anything is possible. Who wouldn't want to hang around in a place like that, especially when it is decorated with sorting hats, kindly giants, magic wands and Quidditch.
Granted...no aspect of the story is revolutionary, or even particularly noteworthy, from the standpoint of blazing new trails within the fantasy genre. It isn’t great literature, and nothing about its technical merits makes it befitting of even a fraction of its unprecedented success.
Fine...acknowledged. And? So what!
The virtue of this story is the postive feelings it conjures in its readers. Harry’s story is something that radiates acceptance, inclusion, and friendship. It invokes a sense of belonging. Inside these pages, you can find the impetus to see the better angels of humanity’s nature, and feel just a little better about the world around you.
How is that not worthy of praise?
As for Harry himself, he’s just a good kid. The quintessential everyman who makes good. A loving boy with a clear head on his shoulders and a caring heart that pumps affection for the world around him. He’s someone you can’t help but like.
He’s not perfect. He makes mistakes, he’s occasionally short sighted, and I know many of us wish he would stick up for himself a little more. Maybe reduce his aunt and uncle to a pair of fatty stains on the carpet, or give Dudley an atomic wedgie until his skivvies scrape against his pancreas.
But that’s not Harry. He’s a better person than that. That’s why we love him.
Maybe all of the above is a bit much. Like I said, I was feeling nostalgic and maybe the gush got a tad away from me. Let’s just say that these stories are perfect comfort food and reading them will make you happy.
I’ll certainly settle for that.
As for the rating, I Initially only gave this first volume 3 stars, and I’m not going to change that now. As much as I love the series as a whole, I don’t think it reaches stratospheric heights until Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
Still, this is where it all began. As such, it should be read and savored knowing that it only gets better.
3.0 stars. Highly Recommended.
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 review of this first volume. I figured it was high time to rectify that oversight.
Harry deserves it.
However, with over a million ratings, and almost two reviews for every day I’ve been alive, I think I can dispense with any plot distillation or character profiles. It has all been eloquently said before. Therefore, I just want to briefly express what I see as the essential magic at the heart of the series, and why I think it has resonated so strongly with so many people.
Here goes...
Only rarely does a story come along that can so completely wrap you up in a warm blanket of contentment and good feelings. One that can hold at bay, even if only for precious moments, the nasty brutishness of what often passes for daily life. These stories do that.
It’s an escape into a world of optimism, honor, and hope, where things always look hopeful and anything is possible. Who wouldn't want to hang around in a place like that, especially when it is decorated with sorting hats, kindly giants, magic wands and Quidditch.
Granted...no aspect of the story is revolutionary, or even particularly noteworthy, from the standpoint of blazing new trails within the fantasy genre. It isn’t great literature, and nothing about its technical merits makes it befitting of even a fraction of its unprecedented success.
Fine...acknowledged. And? So what!
The virtue of this story is the postive feelings it conjures in its readers. Harry’s story is something that radiates acceptance, inclusion, and friendship. It invokes a sense of belonging. Inside these pages, you can find the impetus to see the better angels of humanity’s nature, and feel just a little better about the world around you.
How is that not worthy of praise?
As for Harry himself, he’s just a good kid. The quintessential everyman who makes good. A loving boy with a clear head on his shoulders and a caring heart that pumps affection for the world around him. He’s someone you can’t help but like.
He’s not perfect. He makes mistakes, he’s occasionally short sighted, and I know many of us wish he would stick up for himself a little more. Maybe reduce his aunt and uncle to a pair of fatty stains on the carpet, or give Dudley an atomic wedgie until his skivvies scrape against his pancreas.
But that’s not Harry. He’s a better person than that. That’s why we love him.
Maybe all of the above is a bit much. Like I said, I was feeling nostalgic and maybe the gush got a tad away from me. Let’s just say that these stories are perfect comfort food and reading them will make you happy.
I’ll certainly settle for that.
As for the rating, I Initially only gave this first volume 3 stars, and I’m not going to change that now. As much as I love the series as a whole, I don’t think it reaches stratospheric heights until Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
Still, this is where it all began. As such, it should be read and savored knowing that it only gets better.
3.0 stars. Highly Recommended.
April 3, 2021
❝This boy will be famous. There won't be a child in our world who doesn't know his name.❞
Everyone grew up with Harry Potter. They read all the books when they were young and watched all the films. They would re-watch and re-read them. They would fall in love with the Wizarding World and would completely adore Harry, Ron, and Hermione. They would talk about them non stop, about Hogwarts, about its teachings, about them wanting to become students there and pretending they are, about joining the HP fandom, about loving every character and instantly missing the world. Everyone would adore Harry Potter and knew about it since they were young ones.
Except me.
I didn't grow up with Harry Potter. Not because I didn't get to, but because I chose not to. I know, it's like living a life where everything has been a lie. Worse even. It's just, the movies would appear on my tv. From the first one, to the next and the next, and every time I saw the trailer for the upcoming one, I wouldn't be interested and would skip it when I came to it. I wouldn't bother and wouldn't care, and that made a big problem in my life now. Here I am now, being left out because of such poor choices and decisions I made when I was 7, 8, 9, and older until now. But now, as 2016 and having over 500 friends that are caught up and have read the recently published novel, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, I have finally read the first book and am able to continue the series and watch the films. Now, here I am, wishing to go back to my past and change this nightmare and actually watch the films or read the books because I have literally missed on so much, missed too much, and have been missing too much. I have been out of this world and never realized how good it is, and how special it already has become.
There is no good and evil, there is only power, and those too weak to seek it.
Harry Potter is one of the most famous, loved, and top series out there. It is loved, adored, cherished, and amazing for HP fans every time they read it. No matter how many times it is read, it fills the person's heart with warmth and happiness, as they are going back to the wizarding world. As for me, I have finally entered it and feel young and new and early to this, because I am new to this all.
Other than that, Harry Potter is considered a Children's book but in my opinion, it's in between middle grade and young adult because it can be hard to read for some. Although it was very very easy for me to read and understand, I see myself reading this all these years before and having a lot of trouble pronouncing some names.
Harry Potter, a story about a young wizard that didn't even know he was a wizard. Harry Potter, a 10 year-old boy, who turned 11, is living with his horrible, rude and awful "family", The Dursleys. Mrs. Dursley is known as Harry Potter's mother's sister. The problem is, they didn't like each other, nor blend in with each other. They were different. Her sister was a witch, while she was just a Muggle, a person who cannot seek the magic and find it, nothing and no one special because they aren't able to turn things into other things, aren't able to fly on a broom, cast a robe on fire, defeat a villain, confuse a troll, aren't able to do anything, really.
The reason for Harry living with this family and having to go trough all this trouble and mess is because he was actually given to them by Professor Albus Dumbledore, known as one of the greatest wizards and the headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. When Harry was a baby, his parents were killed by Everyone-Knows-Who but as he tried killing Harry, he really wasn't able to. His mother was killed because she was trying to stop him, but as he tried killing Harry, he couldn't bare to do it and left him a scar, the scar that has made Harry known and popular for surviving this evil person. Once saved and taken, the only people they can rely on are The Dursleys, and as Harry grows, they expect them to tell him he is a wizard and tell him everything and fix all the lies. Except they don't.
As days pass, Harry has been getting letters from someone he doesn't know. He doesn't know who it is and what they want, but he knows there is something going on, due to the amount of letters being sent. After getting the chance to open the first one, his Uncle Vernon decides to snatch it away from him, read it, and burn it. He knows, he knows who it is and what they want, but he doesn't want Harry to know. But even with him burning letter by letter and collecting them all, letters keep arriving and arriving, until the person finally shows up face-to-face with The Dursleys and Harry on his 11th birthday.
He's huge, introduced as a half-giant and half-human, known as Rubeus Hagrid. Hagrid is the one who tells Harry the truth, telling him he is a wizard, and a well-known one as well. He's got talent, and has some of the same abilities as his parents. One being a witch and the other being a wizard, Harry is known as a wizard as well. And as Hagrid tells him the truth, Harry does too. He doesn't know what he is talking about and doesn't know what is going on. He doesn't believe he is a wizard, and doesn't believe the reason for his parent's deaths. But of course, Hagrid decides to tell him the truth and tell him his parents did not die on a car crash, for that seemed impossible, but they were killed by Everyone-Knows-Who and is the reason for his scar.
When Harry leaves with Hagrid, they go and buy him what he needs, including clothes and supplies for the school. As they go to the shop, he is introduced as Harry himself but is instantly known by everyone else. Everyone is pleased to meet him and feel proud because they have shaken his hand. He's famous, his name is everywhere, and he can be considered a legend for what happened. But even with all this going on, Harry is still a little confused and figuring things out. As Harry and Hagrid get what they need, it's time for Harry to go to school, where he meets Ron Weasley, as to what I know, one of his best friends. Ron is small, red-haired, has freckles, pale, and has two twin brothers going to Hogwarts with him. He's not accepted into the other groups, and that is why he blends in with Harry and becomes his friend. Harry also meets Hermione Granger, known as someone annoying and as a nightmare to them both because of how bossy and unrealistic she can be. Of course, they are all so small and Hermione is a little nerd that enjoys every teaching at this school, so I was just like "we get it."
Days pass, and Harry is being trained. He's a neutral to broom-stick flying, is able to play Quidditch, the most popular game in Hogwarts, is given special supplies, and is of course, known by everyone. Other than that, Harry suspects his own secrets and wants to find out truths, but in order to do that, he must find a way to find them and figure them out. With the help of his two friends, he might just be able to figure out the real reason behind him being a wizard, more about his parents, history about himself, who this "You-Know-Who" person is, remember his past, and see how his life really will be changed, forever.
Humans do have a knack of choosing precisely those things that are worst for them.
Harry Potter was easy to read, understand, and there was no hesitation when it came to rating it 5 stars. Now, I hate myself once again and ask myself, again, "Why did I not read this earlier?" The answer is obvious, because I already know it and it's because I was never a fan of it. I hate speaking about my past, but this is one ugly past and I hate it. I hate the choice I made and I hate myself for allowing it. But soon I'll get over it and will be able to re-read this as many times as I will be able to during my last 3 years of being a teen. Yes, a 15 year-old that has not read Harry Potter simply because she chose not to when she was able to and when she was young. PATHETIC.
The fantasy is cute, I will say. It's easy to understand and the book is easy to fly through. It's not long, it's not hard, and it's not boring. It's gripping, fun, and everything is filled with some kind of magical element that has me turning page by page. Having no regrets anywhere, I am finally able to talk about HP and the world of wizards, where students learn how to make potions, talk to ghosts, learn about other creatures, transform things into other things, read minds, become invisible, fly in the air with a broomstick, play soccer in the air, have a feast and enjoy it all, learn magic, have a wand, and just be filled with happiness because of the friends and families considered in the houses. Well, I guess in most.
Everything was fun to read. I laughed at some parts and found the story to be more affective to me as Harry was figuring out his new and changed life. He was confused, but he found out a lot more. There's still more, but I know that as he grows, I will be able to follow along the late ass journey and see where he grows to and how. I'll see how strong he gets and find out some strengths and weakness'. I'll be able to join an invisible magic carpet and fly through the series because I just want to know what happens next and how everything goes. I want to see Harry become a better person and be able to prove Draco and his stupid friends wrong about what they think. I want his friendship with Ron to grow and become stronger. I want Hermione to stop being so talkative and take a little break of being so bossy. But more importantly, I want to have a fun journey reading this and feeling like I'm on an adventure. Reading it for the first time feels like one. I've never watched the films. I've watched parts, but skipped them. Now, I won't skip anything. It's like an adventure where I'm dived in and can't seem to leave because I'm so alive and intrigued.
What can I say about Harry Potter that others have not said? Nothing. Reviews are always similar, and this one might be too. Everyone loves it, and so did I. Yes, I rolled my eyes at times because there were moments where I was annoyed. But nothing was boring, and even when I rolled my eyes, there was a reason for that eye rolling scene. Maybe it was Hermione being annoying, or Draco being a rude boy, mocking an adorable red-haired. Or both. But I was also laughing. I would always laugh when it came to Hagrid. Since the beginning, I instantly loved him and considered him hilarious. I love how he turned Dunley into a pig but failed because he was already too much of a pig. I remember laughing and noticing my parents looked at me weirdly, but that's okay because I needed a novel where I was happy and ended up laughing at times. Oh and also, Hagrid is honestly so nice and adorable guys, I love him. He's so funny and protective and is such a good friend to Harry. I loved everything he did for him and was glad he was the first one to introduce himself to Harry. He cared for him since he was a baby and saw him as 11, bring him a present and giving him another one at the end.
Ron is honestly the cutest. I don't understand how anyone could be mean to him. He may be weak, but he has his own strengths. He's so adorable and small and I hated how Draco treated him. There were some times unnecessary and I hated Draco for it, but I'll probably end up loving Draco some time throughout the series and probably regret it because I know he's still gonna be really mean throughout the series. I'm sure. I haven't spoiled myself, so I have no idea how his or anyone else's life goes, but I do know that he changes in some way. Hermione is a small and cute nerd as well, but sometimes I hated how sassy she was and bossy. She hated losing points for her house and because she, Ron, and Harry were in the same house, they had to work together and find a way to become friends to find out other truths and earn points for Gryffindor. She took everything very serious and showed off at times because of her perfect test grades and assignments, but I was glad she was able to put up with Ron and Harry while they put up with her.
The friendship between Harry, Ron and Hermione was probably one of my favorites. I know it didn't work out at first and they honestly hated her, but I was so happy it literally had to work toward the middle. Thanks to the troll, she became their friend and actually was able to cooperate with them. She didn't yell at them for fighting the troll, but instead told them to be careful and send word if anything goes wrong when Harry went for the mirror again. As it was ending, she was saying goodbye to Harry and Ron and was even awkward because she couldn't really figure out what to say. But also, my heart was really happy when she hugged Harry because it felt real and it felt like something I had been waiting since the beginning. It was friendship goals as they were becoming friends, and it just made me happy seeing them all together, same house, same team, same classes.
The writing of course is, like I said, easy to understand. There were no words that were confusing in any way or words that got me mixed up because of how similar they sounded, and there were no problems. I didn't know what was gonna happen next and I know books are always better than movies, but I will watch the films after or after finishing one book just to see the differences. I hear they are kind of the same, just that the book provides some more information and detail. Like always, it's no surprise.
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.
Overall, I am so proud of myself for getting the first book over with, now wanting the 2nd and the 3rd and the rest. Really excited to see where this all goes to, and how Harry becomes a better wizard.
May 13, 2014
As wonderful and magical as promised. Because I didn't remember the movie, the third act of the book was a delightful surprise to me.
I wish I'd had this book when I was a kid, because the idea that someone could be special without knowing it, and then get to visit a special world where the things that made him different were the same things that made him awesome would have been really inspiring to me.
Anne's finishing this, too, and I have to wait for her before I start in on the second book ... HURRY UP ANNE!
I wish I'd had this book when I was a kid, because the idea that someone could be special without knowing it, and then get to visit a special world where the things that made him different were the same things that made him awesome would have been really inspiring to me.
Anne's finishing this, too, and I have to wait for her before I start in on the second book ... HURRY UP ANNE!
September 7, 2014
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 is my friend and it is her right, so why question?)
When the book came out in 1998, I was not yet a bookworm so I brushed this aside. I read only those books that my brother told me to read. He was the bookworm but he would not be caught reading any book being pushed by media hype. However, when Warner Bros. released the film adaptation in 2001, my daughter was 6 years old and I thought that, since there was too much hype, the movie must be good and we would have a memorable time with our first ever father-daughter movie date. I was wrong. She not only got scared because of the darkness inside the movie house but she trembled with fear during the life-size human chess game, in that scene when Ron was sacrificed. We left the movie in that scene with my daughter crying and me cursing it: I will never read Harry Potter .
My daughter is now 15 going 16. She is not fond of movies and she still does not show interest on reading Harry Potter. However, I am now a bookworm and the other week, I was with my 4 Goodreads friends and 3 of them raved (two of them, again) about Harry Potter books. Oh well, first-time fathers can make mistakes about first movie date with their daughters, Book 1 is included in 500 Must Read Books and the book must be a quick read. So the following day, I bought my copy.
After 13 years of the book's existence and me ignoring it, did I finally make a good decision of reading it? Are all of those 39 friends of mine in Goodreads wrong in giving this 5 stars? Most of them did not bother writing a review. Maybe those would be too long or maybe they read this when they were not in Goodreads yet. But I am in Goodreads already so I can make this review long.
These are what some of them say:
Oh well, the Bible says that sorcery is Satan's work. The book even used the word Transfiguration as a subject in the sorcery school. Blasphemy.
Just kidding. This is a work of fiction and I am not too old to appreciate it. I was just kidding. To be frank, I tried hard not to like this. I thought that giving this a 1 or 2 will freak out my friends and somehow get votes from those who are, up to now, ignoring this book. I told you so! Why waste your time? . However, unless you are a grumpy old man/woman, there is nothing not to like about this book. I maybe too old for it but hey, talent is talent and J. K. Rowling has it!
My 39 friends are indeed right!
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.
When the book came out in 1998, I was not yet a bookworm so I brushed this aside. I read only those books that my brother told me to read. He was the bookworm but he would not be caught reading any book being pushed by media hype. However, when Warner Bros. released the film adaptation in 2001, my daughter was 6 years old and I thought that, since there was too much hype, the movie must be good and we would have a memorable time with our first ever father-daughter movie date. I was wrong. She not only got scared because of the darkness inside the movie house but she trembled with fear during the life-size human chess game, in that scene when Ron was sacrificed. We left the movie in that scene with my daughter crying and me cursing it: I will never read Harry Potter .
My daughter is now 15 going 16. She is not fond of movies and she still does not show interest on reading Harry Potter. However, I am now a bookworm and the other week, I was with my 4 Goodreads friends and 3 of them raved (two of them, again) about Harry Potter books. Oh well, first-time fathers can make mistakes about first movie date with their daughters, Book 1 is included in 500 Must Read Books and the book must be a quick read. So the following day, I bought my copy.
After 13 years of the book's existence and me ignoring it, did I finally make a good decision of reading it? Are all of those 39 friends of mine in Goodreads wrong in giving this 5 stars? Most of them did not bother writing a review. Maybe those would be too long or maybe they read this when they were not in Goodreads yet. But I am in Goodreads already so I can make this review long.
These are what some of them say:
it was a great bookFor an eloquent reviewer, she must have been too happy to express herself.
i enjoyed reading it
Such a great story and creative way of writing. I love Harry Potter.Yes, I agree about the story being great and J. K. Rowling being creative.
I was secretly wishing I was studying in Hogwarts too! It was silly, but I was simply enraptured by Harry Potter. Honestly, I still am :) It was a great book. I enjoyed reading itComing from one of my favorite reviewers in Goodreads. I do not share her wanting to be a sorcerer though.
Honestly, I don't know anybody who'd refuse to even entertain the thought of attending a school for wizards.Another one of my favorite reviewers. That seems to have nailed this. Young people wanting to be in Hogwarts and study sorcery. That should be it! The world seems to be a dreadful place that we would all like to have powers to turn our enemies into frogs, pigs, ride on a broomstick and get the Snitch and earn points (money) for our family!
Oh well, the Bible says that sorcery is Satan's work. The book even used the word Transfiguration as a subject in the sorcery school. Blasphemy.
Just kidding. This is a work of fiction and I am not too old to appreciate it. I was just kidding. To be frank, I tried hard not to like this. I thought that giving this a 1 or 2 will freak out my friends and somehow get votes from those who are, up to now, ignoring this book. I told you so! Why waste your time? . However, unless you are a grumpy old man/woman, there is nothing not to like about this book. I maybe too old for it but hey, talent is talent and J. K. Rowling has it!
My 39 friends are indeed right!
July 28, 2021
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone = Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Harry Potter, #1), J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is a fantasy novel written by British author J. K. Rowling.
It is the first novel in the Harry Potter series and Rowling's debut novel, first published in 1997 by Bloomsbury.
It was published in the United States as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by Scholastic Corporation in 1998.
The plot follows Harry Potter, a young wizard who discovers his magical heritage as he makes close friends and a few enemies in his first year at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
With the help of his friends, Harry faces an attempted comeback by the dark wizard Lord Voldemort, who killed Harry's parents, but failed to kill Harry when he was just 15 months old.
عنوانهای چاپ شده در ایران: «هری پاتر و سنگ جادو»؛ «هری پاتر و اکسیر»؛ «هری پاتر و اکسیر جاودانگی»؛ نویسنده: جی.کی رولینگ؛ تاریخ نخستین خوانش ماه نوامبر سال 1997میلادی، و بار دیگر در ماه می سال 2001میلادی
عنوان: هری پاتر و سنگ جادو - کتاب اول؛ نویسنده: جی.کی رولینگ؛ مترجم: سعید کبریایی؛ ویراستار ویدا اسلامیه؛ تهران، تندیس، 1379؛ در348ص؛ چاپ دوم و سوم 1379؛ چاپهای چهارم تا هشتم 1380؛ دهم 1381؛ دوازدهم و سیزدهم 1382؛ چهاردهم 1383؛ هفدهم 1384؛ هیجده و نوزده 1385؛ بیست و یکم 1386؛ بیست و دوم 1387؛ بیست و سوم 1388؛ شابک 9789645757029؛ چاپ بیست و پنجم 1390؛ چاپ بیست �� هشتم 1392؛ موضوع داستانهای نویسندگان بریتانیا - سده 20م
با عنوان: هری پاتر و سنگ جادو؛ مترجم: صدیقه ابراهیمی؛ تهران، دستان، 1379؛ در 350ص؛چاپ دوم 1380؛
با عنوان: هری پاتر و سنگ جادو؛ مترجم: سایه هومان؛ تهران، باغ نو، 1379؛ در 397ص؛
با عنوان: هری پاتر و سنگ جادو؛ مترجم: پرتو اشراق؛ تهران، دستان، 1380؛ در 356ص؛چاپ دوم 1381؛ چاپ سوم 1382؛ چاپ چهارم 1386؛
با عنوان: هری پاتر و سنگ جادو؛ مترجم: حمیده اشکان نژند؛ تهران، گوهرشاد، 1381؛ در 400ص؛
با عنوان: هری پاتر و سنگ جادو؛ مترجم: مرتضی مدنی نژاد؛ تهران، هیرمند، 1381؛ در 431ص؛
با عنوان: هری پاتر و سنگ جادو؛ مترجم: سعید کبریائی؛ تهران، تندیس، 1381؛ در 350ص؛
با عنوان: هری پاتر و اکسیر؛ مترجم: فریدون قاضی نژاد پیرسرایی؛ تهران، جوف، 1381؛ در 407ص؛ شابک 9649306161؛
با عنوان: هری پاتر و سنگ جادو؛ مترجم: ایران علیپور؛ تهران، عقیل، 1382؛ در 396ص؛
با عنوان: هری پاتر و سنگ جادو؛ مترجم: مریم شعبانی؛ تهران، سنائی، 1383؛ در 400ص؛
با عنوان: هری پاتر و سنگ جادو؛ مترجم: الهام آرام نیا؛ تهران، پیکان، 1385؛ در 287ص؛
با عنوان: هری پاتر و سنگ جادو؛ مترجم: نسیم عزیزی ؛ تهران، ذکر، 1381؛ در 227ص؛
با عنوان: هری پاتر و سنگ جادو؛ مترجم: سهیلا زمامی؛ تهران، نیک فرجام، 1383؛ در 396ص؛ چاپ دیگر تهران، سپهر ادب، 1383؛
با عنوان: هری پاتر و سنگ جادو؛ مترجم: صدیقه ابراهیمی؛ تهران، دستان، 1379؛ در 350ص؛چاپ دوم 1380؛
با عنوان: هری پاتر و اکسیر جاودانگی؛ مترجم: محمد قصاع؛ تهران، آدینه نگار، 1379، 356ص؛ شابک 9649270701؛
دخترم نخستین جلد «هری پاتر» را خواندند، سپس برای برادرانش قصه را باز نمودند، و آنها نیز خواندند، هر روز در خانه، صحبت از «هری» بود، و جادو، با خود گفتم بخوانم و خواندم، دنیای خیال انگیز بانوی نویسنده را گسترده دیدم، داستانی که در آن دنیای خیالی خویش را آفریده بودند، و آنرا به آهستگی میگستردند؛ خود را در آن روزهایی دیدم، که داستانهای دنباله دار مجله ی «پسران و دختران» را میخواندم، شاید داستانی از جناب آقای «پرویز قاضی سعید»، یا از دیگران، یادم نمانده نام قهرمانان آن روزهای مجله ی «دختران و پسران»؛ انگار یادم هست، که در کلاس درس دبیرستان نیز، با یکی از همشاگردیها، داستانهای دنباله دار همان مجله را، پی میگرفتیم، تا هفته ی بعدش لابد دل تو دلمان نبود؛ بعدها جلدهای دیگر دنیای خیال بانو «رولینگ» را پیش از بچه هایم میخواندم؛ هنوز هم، از کار روزانه و خواندن مقالات، و دانشنامه ها که خسته شوم، به فانتزی و جادوی «هری» روی میآورم.؛
و اما درباره ی این کتاب: «هری پاتر و اکسیر جاودانگی»، سرگذشت پسرکی به نام «هری» است، که در دنیای انسانهای عادی «ماگلها»، با خانواده ای، که او را به سختی پذیرفته اند، زندگی میکند؛ سپس میفهمد که او به دنیایی تعلق دارد، که پدر و مادرش نیز جزیی از آن بوده اند؛ او به دنیای جادوگران وابستگی دارد؛ آن دو (پدر و مادر «هری»)، در نبرد با بزرگترین جادوگر جادوی سیاه، از بین رفته اند؛ داستان، سراسر آکنده از رخداد است، و طنز ویژه ی بانو «رولینگ» آنرا بسیار دلپسند کرده است، نویسنده، جهانی موازی، و در عین حال در خود همین جهان، آفریده اند، سری ادامه دار است؛ سال 1376هجری خورشیدی بود، و فرزندانم که نوجوان بودند، بسیار این مجموعه را دوست میداشتند؛ برای اینکه بدانم، چه چیزی برای آنها اینقدر جالب است، و جذابیت این سری از کتابها در چیست؛ خود نیز آغاز به خوانش نخستین جلد از این سری کردم؛ همانطور که نوشتم، دنیای جدید بانو «رولینگ»، مرا به خلسه و خیال فرو برد، خود را نوجوانی انگاشتم تشنه ی دانستن رازهای جادو، جلدهای بعدی را، یواشکی و پیش از بچه هایم میخریدم و میخواندم
تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 22/05/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ 05/05/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is a fantasy novel written by British author J. K. Rowling.
It is the first novel in the Harry Potter series and Rowling's debut novel, first published in 1997 by Bloomsbury.
It was published in the United States as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by Scholastic Corporation in 1998.
The plot follows Harry Potter, a young wizard who discovers his magical heritage as he makes close friends and a few enemies in his first year at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
With the help of his friends, Harry faces an attempted comeback by the dark wizard Lord Voldemort, who killed Harry's parents, but failed to kill Harry when he was just 15 months old.
عنوانهای چاپ شده در ایران: «هری پاتر و سنگ جادو»؛ «هری پاتر و اکسیر»؛ «هری پاتر و اکسیر جاودانگی»؛ نویسنده: جی.کی رولینگ؛ تاریخ نخستین خوانش ماه نوامبر سال 1997میلادی، و بار دیگر در ماه می سال 2001میلادی
عنوان: هری پاتر و سنگ جادو - کتاب اول؛ نویسنده: جی.کی رولینگ؛ مترجم: سعید کبریایی؛ ویراستار ویدا اسلامیه؛ تهران، تندیس، 1379؛ در348ص؛ چاپ دوم و سوم 1379؛ چاپهای چهارم تا هشتم 1380؛ دهم 1381؛ دوازدهم و سیزدهم 1382؛ چهاردهم 1383؛ هفدهم 1384؛ هیجده و نوزده 1385؛ بیست و یکم 1386؛ بیست و دوم 1387؛ بیست و سوم 1388؛ شابک 9789645757029؛ چاپ بیست و پنجم 1390؛ چاپ بیست �� هشتم 1392؛ موضوع داستانهای نویسندگان بریتانیا - سده 20م
با عنوان: هری پاتر و سنگ جادو؛ مترجم: صدیقه ابراهیمی؛ تهران، دستان، 1379؛ در 350ص؛چاپ دوم 1380؛
با عنوان: هری پاتر و سنگ جادو؛ مترجم: سایه هومان؛ تهران، باغ نو، 1379؛ در 397ص؛
با عنوان: هری پاتر و سنگ جادو؛ مترجم: پرتو اشراق؛ تهران، دستان، 1380؛ در 356ص؛چاپ دوم 1381؛ چاپ سوم 1382؛ چاپ چهارم 1386؛
با عنوان: هری پاتر و سنگ جادو؛ مترجم: حمیده اشکان نژند؛ تهران، گوهرشاد، 1381؛ در 400ص؛
با عنوان: هری پاتر و سنگ جادو؛ مترجم: مرتضی مدنی نژاد؛ تهران، هیرمند، 1381؛ در 431ص؛
با عنوان: هری پاتر و سنگ جادو؛ مترجم: سعید کبریائی؛ تهران، تندیس، 1381؛ در 350ص؛
با عنوان: هری پاتر و اکسیر؛ مترجم: فریدون قاضی نژاد پیرسرایی؛ تهران، جوف، 1381؛ در 407ص؛ شابک 9649306161؛
با عنوان: هری پاتر و سنگ جادو؛ مترجم: ایران علیپور؛ تهران، عقیل، 1382؛ در 396ص؛
با عنوان: هری پاتر و سنگ جادو؛ مترجم: مریم شعبانی؛ تهران، سنائی، 1383؛ در 400ص؛
با عنوان: هری پاتر و سنگ جادو؛ مترجم: الهام آرام نیا؛ تهران، پیکان، 1385؛ در 287ص؛
با عنوان: هری پاتر و سنگ جادو؛ مترجم: نسیم عزیزی ؛ تهران، ذکر، 1381؛ در 227ص؛
با عنوان: هری پاتر و سنگ جادو؛ مترجم: سهیلا زمامی؛ تهران، نیک فرجام، 1383؛ در 396ص؛ چاپ دیگر تهران، سپهر ادب، 1383؛
با عنوان: هری پاتر و سنگ جادو؛ مترجم: صدیقه ابراهیمی؛ تهران، دستان، 1379؛ در 350ص؛چاپ دوم 1380؛
با عنوان: هری پاتر و اکسیر جاودانگی؛ مترجم: محمد قصاع؛ تهران، آدینه نگار، 1379، 356ص؛ شابک 9649270701؛
دخترم نخستین جلد «هری پاتر» را خواندند، سپس برای برادرانش قصه را باز نمودند، و آنها نیز خواندند، هر روز در خانه، صحبت از «هری» بود، و جادو، با خود گفتم بخوانم و خواندم، دنیای خیال انگیز بانوی نویسنده را گسترده دیدم، داستانی که در آن دنیای خیالی خویش را آفریده بودند، و آنرا به آهستگی میگستردند؛ خود را در آن روزهایی دیدم، که داستانهای دنباله دار مجله ی «پسران و دختران» را میخواندم، شاید داستانی از جناب آقای «پرویز قاضی سعید»، یا از دیگران، یادم نمانده نام قهرمانان آن روزهای مجله ی «دختران و پسران»؛ انگار یادم هست، که در کلاس درس دبیرستان نیز، با یکی از همشاگردیها، داستانهای دنباله دار همان مجله را، پی میگرفتیم، تا هفته ی بعدش لابد دل تو دلمان نبود؛ بعدها جلدهای دیگر دنیای خیال بانو «رولینگ» را پیش از بچه هایم میخواندم؛ هنوز هم، از کار روزانه و خواندن مقالات، و دانشنامه ها که خسته شوم، به فانتزی و جادوی «هری» روی میآورم.؛
و اما درباره ی این کتاب: «هری پاتر و اکسیر جاودانگی»، سرگذشت پسرکی به نام «هری» است، که در دنیای انسانهای عادی «ماگلها»، با خانواده ای، که او را به سختی پذیرفته اند، زندگی میکند؛ سپس میفهمد که او به دنیایی تعلق دارد، که پدر و مادرش نیز جزیی از آن بوده اند؛ او به دنیای جادوگران وابستگی دارد؛ آن دو (پدر و مادر «هری»)، در نبرد با بزرگترین جادوگر جادوی سیاه، از بین رفته اند؛ داستان، سراسر آکنده از رخداد است، و طنز ویژه ی بانو «رولینگ» آنرا بسیار دلپسند کرده است، نویسنده، جهانی موازی، و در عین حال در خود همین جهان، آفریده اند، سری ادامه دار است؛ سال 1376هجری خورشیدی بود، و فرزندانم که نوجوان بودند، بسیار این مجموعه را دوست میداشتند؛ برای اینکه بدانم، چه چیزی برای آنها اینقدر جالب است، و جذابیت این سری از کتابها در چیست؛ خود نیز آغاز به خوانش نخستین جلد از این سری کردم؛ همانطور که نوشتم، دنیای جدید بانو «رولینگ»، مرا به خلسه و خیال فرو برد، خود را نوجوانی انگاشتم تشنه ی دانستن رازهای جادو، جلدهای بعدی را، یواشکی و پیش از بچه هایم میخریدم و میخواندم
تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 22/05/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ 05/05/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی
February 5, 2020
ENGLISH (Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone) / ITALIANO
Let me dream.
I'm reading for the first time this book to my daughter (6 years old), but for me (37 years old) it's the third time I read "Harry Potter and the philosopher's stone". Everyone should read this book, if only to realize why the phenomenon "Harry Potter" has spread. With an essential and enjoyable style, J.K. Rowling catapults the reader into a fantasy world, populated by wizards and flying broomsticks, unicorns and talking hats. A world where even the most complicated topics, such as the death, are treated with delicate gentleness.
«After all, to the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure»words of Albus Dumbledore, the master of life and the most charismatic character of the universe created by Rowling. An universe where your worst misfortune is to be a non-magical, a sad "muggle" who will never be able to see the platform nine and three quarters.
Let me dream.
Vote: 10
Lasciatemi sognare.
Mentre leggo per la prima volta a mia figlia (6 anni) questo volume, personalmente (37 anni) sono alla terza rilettura di "Harry Potter e la Pietra Filosofale". Tutti dovrebbero leggere questo libro, quantomeno per rendersi conto del perché si sia diffuso il fenomeno "Harry Potter". Con uno stile godibilissimo ed essenziale J.K. Rowling catapulta il lettore in un mondo fantastico, popolato da maghi e scope volanti, unicorni e cappelli parlanti. Un mondo dove perfino i temi più complicati come la morte vengono trattati con delicata leggerezza.
«In fin dei conti, per una mente ben organizzata, la morte non è che una nuova, grande avventura»ci dice Silente, il maestro di vita, la figura più carismatica dell'universo creato dalla Rowling. Un universo dove la sfortuna più grande è quella di essere un non magico, un triste "babbano" che non sarà mai in grado di vedere il binario nove e tre quarti.
Lasciatemi sognare.
Voto: 10
Want to read
October 24, 2007Yes, I've been living under a rock.
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