Review of Harry Potter 1

A Review of
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer/Philosopher's Stone
by J. K. Rowling

This is the first volume in J. K. Rowling's epic and well-loved Harry Potter series. This first volume (unlike a few of the later volumes) is suitable for small children (I'd say age 6 or so is adequate, but I don't often deal with kids). There are some scary moments, but not many and they're properly dealt with in my opinion. There is some mild violence in a few parts, but every time someone gets hurt, the story skips along to them waking up in the hospital wing. If you've only seen the movie, I recommend reading as well because there is quite a lot more in the book.
    The story starts with the Dursleys being given a baby boy to raise, who turns out to be their orphaned nephew, Harry Potter. It continues with Harry at about 11 or 12, when it's time for him to start his higher schooling. The Dursleys are against it, but in the end (and with quite a few entertaining moments) Harry attends Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
    Once he is there, he makes some friends (and some enemies) and generally starts fitting in. He discovers that someone tried to kill him when he was young, and might still wish him ill. There is a mystery which he and his friends ultimately solve (along with the readers), leading to a confrontation, which in turn leads to the setup for the subsequent books.
Scattered all through this book are the traces of story elements which become important in later books in the series. As they all follow a partial mystery format, such elements sometimes become important. After you've read to the current book (#6 had just come out at th etime of this writing), I'd recommend going back and reading the whole series again to fit it all together. This is a book which bears rereading.
    As to the title, the British version of the book has "Philosopher's". The American has "Sorcerer's". The Philosopher stone is a legendary stone with the properties described in the book. I have never, outside of these books, heard of a sorcerer's stone. I'd guess the new name was just a ploy to gain market in the US.

I give this book a 7/10

The Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling

This page is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 2.5 License.