Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Harry Potter, #1)

by J.K. Rowling

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. Escaping his hideous Muggle guardians for Hogwarts, a wizarding school brimming with ghosts and enchantments, Harry stumbles upon a sinister adventure 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.

• ISBN10: 0747574472
• ISBN13: 9780747574477
• Publish Date: 10 July 2004 (first published 26 June 1997)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 4 June 2014
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
• Edition: UK open market ed
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 336
• Language: English
• URL: http://bloomsbury.com/Trade/

Reviews

[elvinagb]

It was good to finally go back and re-read this book. I had forgotten so much of the story and revisit characters that are so important to the story in later books. I had forgotten all about Peeves and wish that his character had of made it into the movies.
I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series this year with some of the book bloggers I follow.

[Mercy]

Una historia mágica, divertida, entretenida... ahora sé bien porque es adorada. Me hubiese encantado leerla desde niña :3

[celinenyx]

Great book, awful author.

[CrowNoYami]

This book series was my childhood, and this one is what started it all. For those of you who haven't yet, everyone should give this book a try. I'm not saying it's for everyone, but I know that a lot of who I am was developed from this book, I owe J.K. Rowling my childhood.

[clementine]

Okay, so, last time I read through this series spanned from July 2010 to July 2011, so I figured it was ABOUT TIME I did it again.

I must say, in general I grow to appreciate the Harry Potter series and JK Rowling's immense genius more every time I read the series, but the first two books are a notable exception. They are very clearly children's books - and good books, at that. But they aren't as magical for me as they were when I first read them at age 6. The series does absolutely grow with the reader, and the first two books are very indicative of the age range Jo was initially targetting.

So, Philosopher's Stone is good, but it's not as brilliant as the later books (in many ways, really), and it's a bit tedious. Once I get to PoA we'll be laughing.

(Oh, also, probably worth noting for the record that I have PROBABLY read Philosopher's Stone at least 6 times by now.)

[Jyc]

★★★★

[layawaydragon]

Read Harry Potter as a child and loved it. Not diehard or obsessive but I was a fan. Now it is what it is. Now I avoid anything Harry Potter to keep its author from profiting more. Rowling is transphobic. I can't support her in any way.

[mbtc]

I'm one of the few who hadn't read a Harry Potter book or seen a movie. I wish I would've started the series 10 years ago. Cute, charming, likeable characters, great plot. I loved it.

I remember that I started reading these in Junior High after the first movie came out, which I enjoyed. And I just loved these books that I had to read the first four books, that was how many were out at the time, and I read them all in probably a week. I love the main characters, the plot and it was just an easy read and definitely a page turner.

I would recommend these series of books to anybody.

[Jo]

Since watching the very last Harry Potter movie recently, I was bitten by the bug again and decided to re-read the series. It had been quite a few years since I last read Philosopher's Stone, as several years back I decided I prefered the latter books to the first ones and would start from them instead of from the beginning. So picking up the first book again after all these years was really nice!

There was so much I had forgotten about! Just how nasty the Dursleys were originally, Harry and Hermione getting caught after giving Norbert to Charlie's mates, the way the centaurs behaved in the forest, Snapes potion test underneath the trap door! Just so much was re-discovered, and I did go back to being the 11-year-old I was when I originally read this book. The wonder and the excitement all came rushing back.

What I did notice was how younng the writing style was, Harry is definitely a child. I am now reading Chamber of Secrets, and even in one school year, there is a noticeable difference. The language is less simple, and Harry is less self-absorbed - the business with his parents in the mirror didn't show him in the best light.

As I said earlier, I stopped reading the first few books quite a few years back, while I continued to re-read the others. What surprised me the most was how little actually happens. Obviously, the other books are quite long, so there'squite a lot of page time for different events, but I'd forgotten that little happened in the first compared to the latter. In that sense, it was slightly anticlimatical.

However, still a very enjoyable read, and I can still see why I and everyone else, loved this series so much! Completely absorbing!

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Dated 22/08/18:

Just quick notes for this re-read. Either Rowling wrote Philosopher’s Stone with a younger audience - who would grow older as Harry did - in mind, or she became a better writer over time. There are aspects of the story I felt she would have spent more time on was this written around the same time as Goblet of Fire. We don’t get much of the lessons, the fight with the troll happens real quick, as does getting past each obstacle under the trap door. Yet in later books, much more time is spent on things. I think, this time round. I would have preferred a longer book. But still awesome.