Difference between revisions of "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone"

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'''''Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone''''' is a book written by JK Rowling, and the first in the Harry Potter series. I read the book after it was gifted to me by a girl who was really into the series.
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[[Image:Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.jpg|thumb|256x256px|North American hard cover, 1st edition.]]
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'''''Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone''''', known in the UK as '''''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone''''', is a young adult book written by [[J. K. Rowling]], and published on 1997-06-26. It is the first book in the [[Harry Potter (universe)|''Harry Potter'' series]].
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==Personal==
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I read the book in the early 2000s after it was gifted to me by a girl who was really into the series. This got me into it, and I became a fan. I've since read all the books.
 +
 
 +
==Status==
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I own a first edition US hardcover and have read a couple times. I've also listened to the Stephen Fry audio book recording.
  
 
==Reviews==
 
==Reviews==
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{{Spoilers}}
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===Good===
 
===Good===
 
* The book has wonderful characters. Harry, Ron, and Hermione are all lovable, Dumbledore, McGonagall, and the other professors are fun, Snape and the Dursleys are nicely wretched.
 
* The book has wonderful characters. Harry, Ron, and Hermione are all lovable, Dumbledore, McGonagall, and the other professors are fun, Snape and the Dursleys are nicely wretched.
* Hogwarts is wonderfully described. Everything seems fresh and magical, sentient pictures, moving staircases, secret passageways, dangerous monsters, etc. Unlike in the later books where it seems more formulaic.
+
* Hogwarts is exquisitely described. Everything seems fanciful and magical, sentient pictures, moving staircases, secret passageways, dangerous monsters, etc. It's all fresh here, unlike in the later books where it becomes more formulaic.
 
* I like how Snape is believed to be very evil, but through a certain lens, he's actually a hero. Of course, he's still a bully, but you can appreciate him.
 
* I like how Snape is believed to be very evil, but through a certain lens, he's actually a hero. Of course, he's still a bully, but you can appreciate him.
  
 
===Bad===
 
===Bad===
* Harry's natural affinity of flying is unbelievable for a kid locked in a cupboard his whole life.
 
 
* I don't like how so many people have alliterative names, I suppose it could just be a quirk of the wizarding world, but a fair amount of muggle-born children are also named in this manner.
 
* I don't like how so many people have alliterative names, I suppose it could just be a quirk of the wizarding world, but a fair amount of muggle-born children are also named in this manner.
* Trolls are supposed to be deadly, but the three bumble their way through its attack without so much as a scratch.
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* Trolls are supposed to be deadly, but the three children bumble their way through its attack without so much as a scratch.
* Quidditch could be a lot of fun, but it has several ruining features. Since the snitch is worth 150 points, catching it usually guarantees a victory for the catcher, making scoring with the quaffle pretty much pointless. Also, since the match ends the moment the snitch is caught, but not until, most games should end very quickly or take forever, neither outcome is impracticable. Finally, since brooms vary so much in quality, it becomes possible to essentially buy your way to victory.
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* Quidditch could be a lot of fun, but it has several ruining features. Since the snitch is worth 150 points, catching it usually guarantees a victory for the catcher, making scoring with the quaffle pretty much pointless. It seems like a winning strategy would be to have all the players just help the seeker get the snitch and ignore the quaffle all together. The opposing team would have to score 15 times just to end in a tie! Also, since the match ends the moment the snitch is caught, but not until, it seems like games will end very quickly (if there is a good seeker), or take forever (if both seekers are awful), and neither outcome would be enjoyable for the spectators. Also, while finding the snitch would be a difficult task in a game without spectators, when you have hundreds or thousands of people watching, any one of them could easily help the seekers by pointing them in the right direction. Finally, since brooms vary so much in quality, whichever team spends the most money has a major advantage over the other.
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* This is common to most childhood literature, so I don't fault Rowling, but it would be nice if authors stopped doing it: bad people tend to have ugly-sounding names. Crabbe, Goyle, Severus, etc., while good people tend to have common names, Harry, Ron, Molly, etc., a trend which continues through the series. It's a juvenile way of making evil characters seem evil and good characters seem good, but it also tends to influence children in real life so they assume that anyone who has an ugly sounding name, is an ugly person.
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* The reveal of the true villain is certainly a surprise, but I would have preferred a bit of hints leading up to it. It just happens out of the blue.
  
 
===Ugly===
 
===Ugly===
* Nothing.
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* Harry's natural affinity of flying is unbelievable. Even if he weren't locked in a cupboard his whole life, and therefore had the physical aptitude of the average boy, it's like taking an 11-year-old who's never played basketball, and on his first try, he's better than 18-year-olds who have been playing their whole lives.
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==Covers==
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<gallery>
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Harry Potter and the Philospher's Stone - Hardcover - UK.jpg|UK hardcover.
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Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.jpg|USA hardcover 1st edition.
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</gallery>
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==Gallery==
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<gallery>
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Honest Book Titles - Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.jpg|Honest title.
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</gallery>
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==Links==
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{{Link|Wikipedia|https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Potter_and_the_Philosopher%27s_Stone}}
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{{Link|GoodReads|https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3.Harry_Potter_and_the_Sorcerer_s_Stone}}
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{{Link|TVTropes|https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Literature/HarryPotterAndThePhilosophersStone}}
  
  
[[Category: Book]]
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[[Category: Books]]
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[[Category: Young Adult Books]]
 
[[Category: Fiction]]
 
[[Category: Fiction]]
[[Category: Fantasy]]
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[[Category: Media Theme - Adventure]]
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[[Category: Media Theme - Fantasy]]
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[[Category: Trope - Damsel In Distress]]
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[[Category: Trope - Queer Character]]
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[[Category: Trope - Strong Female Character]]
 
[[Category: Books I've Read]]
 
[[Category: Books I've Read]]
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[[Category: Overrated]]
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[[Category: Books With Unknown Bechdel Test Status]]

Revision as of 20:00, 12 August 2020

North American hard cover, 1st edition.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, known in the UK as Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, is a young adult book written by J. K. Rowling, and published on 1997-06-26. It is the first book in the Harry Potter series.

Personal

I read the book in the early 2000s after it was gifted to me by a girl who was really into the series. This got me into it, and I became a fan. I've since read all the books.

Status

I own a first edition US hardcover and have read a couple times. I've also listened to the Stephen Fry audio book recording.

Reviews

— This section contains spoilers! —

Good

  • The book has wonderful characters. Harry, Ron, and Hermione are all lovable, Dumbledore, McGonagall, and the other professors are fun, Snape and the Dursleys are nicely wretched.
  • Hogwarts is exquisitely described. Everything seems fanciful and magical, sentient pictures, moving staircases, secret passageways, dangerous monsters, etc. It's all fresh here, unlike in the later books where it becomes more formulaic.
  • I like how Snape is believed to be very evil, but through a certain lens, he's actually a hero. Of course, he's still a bully, but you can appreciate him.

Bad

  • I don't like how so many people have alliterative names, I suppose it could just be a quirk of the wizarding world, but a fair amount of muggle-born children are also named in this manner.
  • Trolls are supposed to be deadly, but the three children bumble their way through its attack without so much as a scratch.
  • Quidditch could be a lot of fun, but it has several ruining features. Since the snitch is worth 150 points, catching it usually guarantees a victory for the catcher, making scoring with the quaffle pretty much pointless. It seems like a winning strategy would be to have all the players just help the seeker get the snitch and ignore the quaffle all together. The opposing team would have to score 15 times just to end in a tie! Also, since the match ends the moment the snitch is caught, but not until, it seems like games will end very quickly (if there is a good seeker), or take forever (if both seekers are awful), and neither outcome would be enjoyable for the spectators. Also, while finding the snitch would be a difficult task in a game without spectators, when you have hundreds or thousands of people watching, any one of them could easily help the seekers by pointing them in the right direction. Finally, since brooms vary so much in quality, whichever team spends the most money has a major advantage over the other.
  • This is common to most childhood literature, so I don't fault Rowling, but it would be nice if authors stopped doing it: bad people tend to have ugly-sounding names. Crabbe, Goyle, Severus, etc., while good people tend to have common names, Harry, Ron, Molly, etc., a trend which continues through the series. It's a juvenile way of making evil characters seem evil and good characters seem good, but it also tends to influence children in real life so they assume that anyone who has an ugly sounding name, is an ugly person.
  • The reveal of the true villain is certainly a surprise, but I would have preferred a bit of hints leading up to it. It just happens out of the blue.

Ugly

  • Harry's natural affinity of flying is unbelievable. Even if he weren't locked in a cupboard his whole life, and therefore had the physical aptitude of the average boy, it's like taking an 11-year-old who's never played basketball, and on his first try, he's better than 18-year-olds who have been playing their whole lives.

Covers

Gallery

Links

Link-Wikipedia.png  Link-GoodReads.png  Link-TVTropes.png