Review of Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling

 
Series: Harry Potter #1
Genres: Fantasy, Magic
Pages: 332
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Release Date: 26/06/1997
Find The Author: (Website / Twitter)
Find The Book: Book Depository / AbeBooks UK / US
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When a letter arrives for unhappy but ordinary Harry Potter, a decade-old secret is revealed to him that apparently he's the last to know. His parents were wizards, killed by a Dark Lord's curse when Harry was just a baby, and which he somehow survived. Leaving his unsympathetic aunt and uncle for Hogwarts, a wizarding school brimming with ghosts and enchantments, Harry stumbles upon a sinister mystery when he finds a three-headed dog guarding a room on the third floor. Then he hears of a missing stone with astonishing powers which could be valuable, dangerous - or both. An incredible adventure is about to begin!


I can't write a 'proper' review of Harry Potter. I'm 26, so when Harry Potter was released I was right at the age it was marketed towards. I remember starting to notice the hype around Harry Potter when the third book was released (I was 8) and I bought all three books for my holiday. I didn't have a great childhood to be honest and these books were very much my escape. I would beg and beg to get a copy on the release date and my Gran would literally have to fight crowds to get them, I've never seen so much hype around any other book since. So basically, I can't review something that was my entire childhood - here's everything I loved during this re-read (ratings are my guess at what I would have rated as a kid) instead (also I'm presuming that you've read the book or seen the movies, so potential spoilers) 

  • 'Mr and Mrs Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.' *heavy bawling noises*
  • McGonagall sat on the wall reading a map, in cat form
  • Mr Dursley trying to shoo cat McGonagall away and she just stares at him
  • Harry Potter And The Mystical Hair Growing Powers
  • 'It was not a mistake,' said Harry angrily. 'It had my cupboard on it.'
  • Harry standing on his Uncle's face in an effort to get the post first
  • Dumbledore sending letters via rolling them up into eggs. I like to imagine him doing this while a very exasperated McGonagall looks on
  • Uncle Vernon getting smacked round the back of the head with letters
  • Hagrid casually setting up a campfire in the shack, complete with sausage. Also Hagrid digging around his coat and producing an owl.
  • 'Harry, yer a wizard.' I'm so used to hearing 'Yer a wizard Harry' from the movies
  • 'Cornelius Fudge got the job. Bungler if ever there was one. So he pelts Dumbledore with owls every morning, askin' fer advice.' Please write this scene.
  • 'There was a train to London in five minutes time.' Literally never happens
  • Hagrid knitting 'what looked like a canary yellow circus tent' on the train ride 
  • Quirrel - 'I've g-got to p-pick up a new b-book on vampires m-myself.' - Yes I am picturing Quirrel reading Twilight  
  • Harry trying to buy a solid gold cauldron
  • I may have cried when Hedwig was purchased.
  • Professor Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945' OHHHH. OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.
  • 'Professor Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and tenpin bowling'
  • I forgot that the hat sings
  • Seamus Finnegan - 'Nearly Headless? How can you be nearly headless?' Role change alert
  • Professor Flitwick falling off his pile of books when he realised Harry was in his classroom
  • The greatest scene in the entire series - the Weasley twins bouncing snowballs off of the back of Quirrel's turban
  • Dumbledore casually wearing a flowered bonnet
  • Hagrid and McGonagall getting drunk together
  • I can 100% believe that Dumbledore saw himself holding a pair of thick woolly socks in The Mirror Of Erised
  • Hagrid singing lullabys to his dragon
  • Severus being described as 'swooping around like an overgrown bat' which is pretty legit
  • 'Alas! Earwax!'


Comments

  1. Aj @ Read All The Things!2:42 pm BST

    I couldn’t write a review of these books, either. I’m a few years older than you, so I also remember the hype. I remember begging my dad to take me out at midnight on release day to get them.

    Aj @ Read All The Things!

    ReplyDelete

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