The Abomination of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, by Draco Malfoy
Written: May 25 '05
Product Rating:
Pros: An introduction to a wonderful world.
Cons: The series only really starts to shine in later books.
The Bottom Line: Read it! Whether you're a young adult yourself, have children or grandchildren of your own, or are just a sf/f geek like myself, please do give it a try.
Jellyn's Full Review: J. K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Sto...
A Review of the Worst Book Ever
by Draco Malfoy
This book is nothing but an overglorification of Potter. It's full of lies to make him look good and to make others look bad. It starts out with Potter living with Muggles, as if we're supposed to feel sorry for him. It's his own fault for having Muggles in his family. Then we see Potter saving the day, over and over. As if he could save so much as a knut if you sewed it onto his hand. Potter this and Potter that. Youngest Seeker in a century. The Boy Who Lived. The Boy Who Lied, more like it. I wouldn't be surprised if he wrote this piece of trash himself. I have half a mind to--
... Yes, well, I'll take over the rest of this review. I think Draco's got a rather more biased opinion of this book than most people.
Introduction
Sorcerer's Stone is the start of your Harry Potter adventure. It's best to keep this in mind when you're reading it for the first time. It's the first book of a planned seven book series that gets increasingly more rich, complex, and interesting with each successive book. So Sorcerer's Stone is akin to dipping your toe into the ocean. You may not be too impressed by the experience, but once you're out there surfing, it's a whole other world.
I wasn't very impressed by this book the first time I read it. About the only thing it had going for it was that it was a fantasy story and about a school. I like books about schools for some reason. However, I've just finished reading it for the third or fourth time and I find new things each time I read it.
The Plot -- Those Familiar With the Story May Skip
A mysterious man named Dumbledore, a woman who can turn into a cat, and a giant on a motorcycle leave one year old Harry Potter on the doorstep of his aunt and uncle when his parents are killed by You Know Who. We then jump to Harry, aged 10 and 3/4ths, living with his horrible aunt, uncle, and cousin Dudley. He's forced to live in the cupboard under the stairs. This is a common storage space, often for a water heater, in British houses of a certain type. It's cramped and unpleasant, to say the least. He's also forced to do chores, wear Dudley's hand-me-downs that are much too large for him due to Dudley's large waistsize, and generally leads a miserable Cinderella-like life.
When a giant shows up and tells him he's a wizard, he's a little thrown by it. Not only is he a wizard, but his mother and father were a witch and wizard respectively and he'll get to attend Hogwarts, a school to learn how to do magic. His first trip into Diagon Alley shows him a world he never knew existed, full of goblins, cauldrons, wands, and flying brooms.
At Hogwarts, he learns magic, studies, makes friends (Ron and Hermione in particular), makes enemies (the aforementioned You Know Who and one Draco Malfoy), gets into trouble (often by Professor Snape), plays the wizarding sport of Quidditch, and uncovers a mystery that started in Diagon Alley. Or maybe it started much further back, when his parents were killed.
For Those Who Tried to Read HP:SS and Stopped
My aunt says she started reading this book with her daughter (aged oh.. 8 or 9 perhaps at the time) and neither of them could really get into it. To anyone who feels the same, I urge you to keep reading at least until Harry gets to Hogwarts. It actually takes longer than I ever think it does when I'm remembering the book. Around chapter seven, in fact.
The first part of the book reads like Roald Dahl books, especially certain ones where the children are living with horrible families. It's exaggerated misery with moments of humor at just how absurdly awful these adults are. It can make some people uncomfortable, I think. Let me assure you that this tone does not last. I think it's mostly there to show a stark contrast between living with his family and living in the wizarding world.
Once you meet the Weasleys at the train station and then Hermione shortly thereafter, I think you'll find the book much more enjoyable. So please do read at least that far!
And, well, if you've read that far, you might as well keep reading right? After all, it's a young adult book and not that long. Might as well see it through and find out just what it was Hagrid got out of the vault at the bank in Diagon Alley a chapter or two ago.
Why You Should Read This Book at All
Why bother at all? Because as I said before this is just the start of an interesting series that gets more involved with each book. To understand the later books, you should read this one. They really are part of a whole. There are hints and mysteries in this book that are only revealed in later books. I see new things each time I read one of the books in this series.
Will I Have to Read the Others Then?
Well, no. This book works well enough as a stand-alone. However, I urge you not to stop. The third book in the series is the best one, in my opinion, but the other books also have much to offer. So, keep going. Besides, the second book is also fairly short, so not a huge investment of time.
Version Details
I'm working from the American version, ISBN 059035342X. If you want the full experience, buy the British version from the UK or Canada. It's called Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Same book, but a few different translations of words, and obviously spelling differences. It just doesn't sound right somehow when all these British kids are saying Mom instead of Mum, y'know?
Summary
Come to Harry Potter with an open mind. Try to forget all the hype and the controversy surrounding it. It's a British fantasy and a children's book, so it may have tones and themes that you're not used to reading. It only starts to reach levels of greatness when seen as part of the whole of the series and the world of Harry Potter.
And don't listen to Draco, he's just sore it's not Draco Malfoy and the Sorcerer's Stone.
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