Book Response: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

As I relaunch this blog, I have enjoyed reading the few posts I published five years ago. In the very first post, This I Believe, I pointed out that I had put some of the reviews from another, older blog on GoodReads, but they didn't seem to make much sense out of context. I still agree with this, so I am migrating them back, bit by bit (there aren't that many of them, so it shouldn't take long). I don't really know what order I wrote them in back then, so I'm just starting with the first one I added to GoodReads, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. I don't even know how many times I've reread these books at this point because I love them so much. A couple of things to point out, though, since this was first written NINE YEARS AGO...

• I have since acquired a British copy. Well, I guess technically it belongs to my daughter as the Easter bunny brought it to her when we spent Easter in London in 2015. It's fun to read, just to see the little differences in language. 
• As the above would imply, E has read and loved them all. I think we might have started a little younger than seven - we began with the audio book versions, which, if you haven't listened to them, you must, must, must! They are all read by Jim Dale who is, bluntly, a genius. She moved on to reading them on her own and as she finished each book, she was allowed to see the movie version. Hermione is her favorite, which proves I am raising her right. 
• I did a whole sermon about Harry Potter and humanist parenting at our UU church. Perhaps at some point I will post that here as well. 

So with that said, let's step back in time...

It's the summer of 2007 and the Harry Potter zeitgeist has reached its zenith (zzzzzz!). If there are original comments out there about this stuff, I'd love to see them!

Obviously, there is no need to rehash the plot of book one: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. It is a real pity, though, that the publishers didn't think Americans would gravitate to the original title: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. It's way cooler, IMO, and I would still love to own a Brit copy of the book. I'll put that on my list along with all the American ones I also don't own.

A few thoughts on re-reading book one:

1. Lots of fun to go back to the beginning and see how many clues are around for what comes later. Maybe clues isn't exactly the right word, but it will suffice. Fun to meet everyone again for the first time.

2. Why do they never TELL any of the adults what is going on? So many things could be avoided if they'd just confide in someone! Drives me nuts. And sometimes I think Dumbledore is the most irresponsible grown-up on the planet! Goodness gracious!

3. The movies are incredibly well cast. Normally I am bothered when re-reading after seeing the movie version of something b/c I can't find the characters the way I had imagined them again. I don't mind with these. Who else could Snape be but Alan Rickman? Love him! The only "miss" - and it isn't their fault - is poor Neville Longbottom. No way anyone could have anticipated that growth spurt! It does make it hard to read him as mousy and timid and so forth when that huge hulking kid is in my head.

4. The stuff about Harry's parents is much harder to read now that I am a parent myself. 'Nuff said about that.

5. I still don't like the more kiddy aspects of the book. Namely, the cave troll and the troll boogers on Harry's wand. Yeah, kinda funny, but also stupid. I blame the movie for this moment bugging me more this time around. They made too big a deal of it. But then, I'm not the target demographic, am I?

I wonder if it is possible to discuss the books apart from the movies at this point. The books are better, but the movies are improving. They're finding the heart the books have had all along, which is what makes them so wonderful. I love Harry's discoveries of life - friendship and learning and everything else. I can't wait until E is seven and we can start reading these books together (seven is the age J.K. Rowling herself feels is the right one to start, so I'll trust her on that).

Onto the next (which is really the same book all over again. Things don't really get rocking and rolling until book three)!