This is a book review for "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone", released 1997. I had previously read this book in Spanish ("Harry Potter y la piedra filosofal") back in 2008 when I was studying in Costa Rica. I had purchased the Spanish version while I was at a book store. I remember going to a picnic with my classmates and sitting in the shade, reading the book with the dictionary next to me. It took a while to read the book, obviously, because it used a lot of words that I did not know but I did enjoy it at that time.
Upon deciding recently that I would be taking a look into more banned or controversial books, the Harry Potter series came up. I decided it is finally time to try reading the whole series, since I have watched the movies multiple times and enjoy the HP 'verse.
"Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone"
Author: J.K. Rowling
Language Read: English
Published: 1997
Genre: Fantasy Fiction, High School
Finished reading this book: July 26, 2021
Plot
An ordinary 11 year old boy named Harry Potter finds out that he is anything but ordinary. In fact, he's a wizard. His parents were both wizards too! He grew up being miserable and was treated like he was as an inferior being by his uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia (mom's sister), and cousin Dudley [whom likes to annoy and bully Harry] but now he finds out that he has been accepted to go to a school for wizards called Hogwarts. "One of the finest schools for wizards," says the messenger Hagrid after informing that he has been accepted.
However, Harry finds out that he isn't just a wizard. He's a famous wizard! Why? Because a dark wizard named Voldemort tried to kill him when he was a toddler and he survived, though anyone else that got on Voldemort's bad side was killed when he decided they should die. So how did Harry survive such a death sentence? What's in store for Harry? How can Harry grow up in the wizarding world as a preteen with such a history behind him (and potential high expectations from the wizarding world)? Can he find his classes on time...? Being a preteen is so tough as is! Good luck, Harry!
Review
4/5 - *SPOILERS* I obviously am not the targeted age range for these books but this was still good. It lost my attention for a bit and I picked up another book ("The Testaments" by Margaret Atwood, which I am still slowly reading). When I returned to reading this book, it eventually became more interesting. I would say about halfway was the turning point.
My biggest hang-up was the fact that I was comparing the book to the movie, since I have seen the movie many times.
Comparisons between the book and the movie:
- In the book, Harry meets Professor Quirrell and shakes his hand; in the movie, Quirrell and Harry do not shake hands. [This makes me wonder when Voldemort actually did take possession of some of Quirrell's body.]
- In the book, Malfoy is slightly introduced to Harry when they are getting fit for robes in Diagon Alley; in the movie, it is after they have gotten off of the train.
- In the book, Ron asks if he can sit in the train compartment with Harry; in the movie, it is the other way around.
- In the movie, Harry, Ron and Hermoine all receive detention (for what, I don't recall); in the book, it is Harry, Hermoine and Neville receiving detention because Neville went out to warn Harry that Malfoy was going to catch them out past curfew and tell on them [all 4 went to the forest, but it was Neville, not Ron].
- In the book, in the trials to get to the Sorcerer's Stone, they did not have to relax to get out of the Devil's Snare to fall through the snare (Hermoine beat it by using a flare from her wand); in the movie, they had to relax to get through or use a spell.
- In the book, in the flying trial, there are 3 brooms that they all had to use to catch the evasive key; in the movie, there was 1 broom that they entrusted to the youngest seeker (Harry) to get the key by himself.
A few things that I saw in the book that I liked that the movie did not cover as well (or at all):
- Hagrid takes Harry shopping but then brings him back to his Uncle's because school doesn't start for a while. We then get to see Uncle Vernon drop Harry off, mock Harry for there not being a 9 3/4 platform, and then head off to get Dudley's pig tail removed.
- After Norbert the dragon is hatched, we see how fast it grows and it actually bites Ron on the hand. The bite gets infected and he has to go to the hospital to have it looked at. (I wonder what the nurse said, honestly, since dragons have been banned as pets.) We also get to hear how Harry and Hermoine snuck the basket with Norbert in it up to the astronomy tower [supposed to be closed unless there is a class in session].
- We find out that the broom given to Harry was in fact a gift from Professor McGonagall, whereas the movie glossed over the sender's name (but McGonagall gave Harry a smile). The note said to not open it in the Main Hall, so what does Harry do in the movie but open it in the Main Hall. :-/
- We find out that James Potter (Harry's dad) gave the Invisibility Cloak to Dumbledore for safe keeping at some point, which is why Harry received it for Christmas.
- We find out that Snape offered to referee for a Quidditch match because of the whole "Quirrell controlling the broom" incident and that Snape wanted to pay back a debt to Harry's dad for saving his life previously.
- In the trials to get to where the Sorcerer's Stone was, there was an area with Potions. We think it was set up by Snape. The book did not go into much detail but Hermoine was able to figure it out and send Harry forward. I would have loved more detail about this in the movie, which they cut it out completely.
Honestly, my two biggest frustrations is the fact that Neville isn't given as much credit in the movie as he was in the book and the fact that there were parts of the trials that were cut out of (or modified) in the movie. Aside that, the movie was pretty spot on with the book.
From my perspective, it was definitely at a lower reading level than I have been used to but I have been told that they progress as the series continues, as if the reading level grows with the targeted reader. I think I enjoyed trying to read this in Spanish back in 2008 much more than I did in English in 2021, but that's just me. I did like this but probably will just stick to the movie for Sorcerer's Stone.
For those of you that still have not read this book or have someone younger that does want to read it, I'll give warnings: this book contains death, threatening death, violence, violence against animals / hunting, witchcraft/spells/brews (duh), and bullying.
Is this a book to read? Sure, why not. If you're too much of a conservative that you think a book about witchcraft/wizardry is evil, then stay away. Otherwise, keep an open mind about it and see what you think!
Thanks for reading my review! More to come eventually.
~ Gracie
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