Book: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s (Philosopher’s) Stone
Author: J.K. Rowling
Series: Book 1 of Harry Potter
This review contains no significant spoilers for the book in question.
I’ll start this review with a gripe for Scholastic (though I admit that I don’t know if it was primarily their decision or not):
Why did you de-British the Harry Potter series in such bizarre ways?
Am I as an American too stupid to understand the term “Philosopher?” Did you fear it would lead people to thinking the book to be boring? Maybe it was the right choice for marketing—I certainly can’t say that I know otherwise—but it feels an odd choice when the book sells very well internationally under the original title.
This is actually not my greatest gripe with the Americanization of the text. There is much that is so uniquely British that is left in (rightly so) only to be quickly juxtaposed with something oddly American and jarring. An example of this that stood out was at the opening feast where Harry eats things like treacle tart (quite British) and fries (jarringly American).
If the publisher decided they had to change the name of the stone, whatever. Fine. It’s cool. But little global changes like this (lavatory to bathroom is another that comes to mind) are just weird. Let people get immersed in a culture different than theirs. Allow some learning to take place.
Rant done. Probably.
If it isn’t obvious, I recently reread the first Harry Potter book and reencountered some of the magic of my youth. I first read Harry Potter in the 3rd grade because a teacher of mine began reading it to the class after our lunch break and I decided I had to get the book and get ahead to learn what happened next. I quickly read the first two (it might have taken me about a week to do so) and launched into the third. The fourth had come out just before I began reading them and I had to wait impatiently for each one after that.
In fact, I don’t think I can recall ever being so excited for a new release as when the sixth book launched. Rowling instilled a need in my teenage heart to experience that book the day it came out. I think I read for nearly 16 hours straight from the morning I picked it up.
These books inspired me to read. I enjoyed them. I had so much fun living in their world. In fact, I credit Harry Potter and Redwall as being the two series who most made a reader out of me. More books would come and many I would love better over time, but for the books that first stoked that fire in me I will always be grateful.
How then, does one review a book so formative to one’s identity? I don’t believe I can overstate this. I’ve been “the reader” for most of my life. When my friends are looking for books to read, they tend to come my way. I give unsolicited copies of books I love to friends and family on a regular basis. Books are in many ways tied to who and what I am.
I don’t know how to be solely objective for this book. It’s far from perfect and quite probably my least favorite of the series, but it’s still nostalgia-ridden and dear to me. Rowling is a young author for her first outing and the book clips along at a pace that serves its momentum, but robs its characters. There is very little time to really establish her characters beyond flashes of action and scenes where they simplistically show us their motivations. Reveals are quick and easy and Harry finds himself in danger and then out of it as quickly as a few passing paragraphs.
And, well, the book does exactly what it’s trying to do. The narrator is plain and clear. It’s written for children. It’s sometimes easy to forget that this series began as middle grade because it grew up with its audience. Any complaints I might have about this book might be unfair merely because I’m explicitly not who it was written for anymore. That’s not a weakness.
Sorcerer’s Stone excels at being readable, fun, magical, and full of wonder. Rowling is particularly good at narrating her story in a voice that adds to its whimsy and compels a reader to keep reading. This is a series that your children—and probably yourself—will love.
It’s not without its flaws and blind spots and plot holes. It’s not without its messes and issues. But no book is. That this series has so much attention given it and such a spotlight shone on it means that its flaws will necessarily be talked about more than the average. And that’s okay. Notoriety has its costs.
As I said above, I think this is probably my least favorite of the series. It’s a great starting point, but it is certainly the least of her writing. Pick it up if you haven’t for a while. It brought back many fond memories for me.
My Rating: ★★★