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

by J.K. Rowling

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This was my first ever series and ironically the third book in the series that I actually read, so because I want to read a childhood favourite for my 2018 challenges, it was about time I picked up the book and what a fun time it was.

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I’m sure that my reading this time around was filled with nostalgia, either from what I remember of my previous reading of this book or what I know of the films, “which one was better?” Is the most common question when taking in a form of entertainment and it’s adaptation, which makes the diplomatic answer that “both were great for different reasons” be the best answer to this question every single time. Now that I am finished trying to be philosophical, let me get into my thoughts of the book which honestly makes me feel like I’ve been away from this world (a world I also considered and still consider a home) for a much longer time than I really was.

As I was about to pick up a copy of the book, I learned about the existence of an Enhanced edition on iBooks’s store which was a very easy choice to make to satiate my curiosity. Was it worth it? Hell yes. The book itself is the same, nothing of the actual content was changed, but only illustrations were added to emphasize a few things or make them clearer. Even better was when the illustration moved, which felt like it was a creative take on the movie pictures that exist in J.K Rowling’s amazing world. The main thing to note when reading this book is how close yet far the film is to the source material when taking in the happenings, in the book, thanks to the format that allows for a lengthier narrative, the book added more to the journey of their first year than what was shown in the film.

Specifically when taking in the never before seen subjects like astronomy, the extra encounters Harry had with some of the students, the development of the friendship between our Golden Trio and the extra knowledge on some of the locations in both the castle and outside of it. Of course, the extra information is a surprise treat that will await those who want more after starting with the film, but sometimes I’ll be reading a paragraph and kind of feel downhearted that it wasn’t included in the film version like Harry’s more specified trip in Diagon alley, to name the most non-spoilery event in the book despite me really not seeing how this book could ever be spoiled at this point.

J.K Rowling is really amazing, I like the way she blended in the povs and how she went about showing her brand new world to a boy who didn’t know any better. Starting with the Dursleys’ rejection of the notion, to taking a stroll through Diagon alley to riding the Hogwarts Express, to taking classes at Hogwarts, Quidditch, the stone and finally the house cup. Despite the many things happening in the book, it remains fast paced and gripping without things being info dumped regularly without end. The world building is done appropriately through this method, while making sure the characters aren’t idle and the best thing about it is that it promises way more interesting stuff to see once Harry gets more acquainted with the world.

The two things that I didn’t recall about the book though was the amounts of subtle humor that J.K Rowling would reveal either through dialogue or an encounter (I absolutely loved the one between Vernon and Professor Mcgonagall in the first chapter) and the fact that despite the performance of magic in some instances, some spells out of the bunch weren’t actually yelled out to be recognized later on which was a bit odd tbh, but it’s probably because of how too many of them would actually be somewhat confusing for those who have just entered the world.

I’m being mostly vague in these thoughts because I need a little bit more than “ IT WAS GREAT AS EXPECTED!!!!!!!!” For it to actually have some worth lol. I loved this experience and I will be trying to finish the series this year since I don’t have many upcoming releases that I know of that I’m very interested in as of now so we’ll see how that plan goes. Definitely continuing with the Enhanced edition though, it was really fun to read while seeing the provided illustrations.

Final rate: 5/5
Reread Date: 3-5 May 2018