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Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J. K. Rowling
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Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

by J. K. Rowling

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Year 1. Harry Potter is small and skinny, with a shock of black hair that never lies flat and a lightening-shaped scar cutting across his forehead. He lives with his Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon and their son, Dudley. Harry hates the Dursleys and they treat him like muck on their shoes. Harry sleeps in a cupboard under the stairs, he has never celebrated a birthday, and he has never gotten new clothes in his life. When Harry receives a letter, his first ever, the Dursleys act like it is a bomb. Soon, more and more letters arrive and although Uncle Vernon does all he can to destroy them, the family is finally forced to flee a house piled high with letters addressed Harry, who has yet to read one and has no idea who they are from. On a barren, windswept island in the middle of nowhere, where Uncle Vernon feels sure they are safe, a giant of a man visits Harry in the middle of the night and Harry finally gets to read his letter - he has been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry! Harry is a wizard, and he finally learns about his past - who his parents were, how they died, and that he, Harry, is famous in the wizarding world for something that happened when he was barely a year old. ( )
molliewatts | Jul 10, 2009 |  
Could any book possibly live up to the kind of hype that Harry Potter has acquired? Probably not. This one certainly didn't.

The opening chapters, regarding Hary's pre-Hogwarts life, were interesting enough... But by the time we get to the school, the book has fallen squarely into the trap of telling rather than showing. Knowing the doorstops yet to come in this series I can't believe I'm suggesting this book should have been longer, given a bit more room to breathe, but perhaps that would have allieviated this problem. It's as if, in a rush to get all the cool ideas down on paper, JK didn't give them the space they deserve and just wanted to get to the end of the book to get it finished.

Peppered with fantasy cliches and absurd games, I'm afraid it doesn't really compare favourably to Roald Dahl, whatever the Sunday Times says. ( )
pauliharman | Jul 10, 2009 |  
(Update 2/26/09) I just re-read this one in an attempt to make it through the whole series this time. (Gasp! I know!) I have to say I enjoyed it much more the second time around. Maybe I just had to let the hype settle down a bit before I could really enjoy them. ( )
colleenharker | Jul 8, 2009 |  
IT WAS AWEFUL ( )
bellafan | Jul 6, 2009 |  
This is the charming book that started the whole Harry Potter craze. It's childish (it was written for children after all) but has enough interesting characters and situation to keep the attention of the more mature. ( )
mohi | Jul 5, 2009 | 1 vote
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Series (with order)
Canonical Title
Original publication date
People/Characters
Important places
Important events
Awards and honors
Epigraph
Dedication
Para Jessica, a quien le gustan las historias, para Anne, a quien también le gustaban, y para Di, que oyó ésta primero.
First words
Mr and Mrs Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.
Quotations
It does not do to dwell in dreams, Harry, and forget to live
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
Disambiguation notice
Original title (UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand): Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
The Ancient Greek and Latin translations of this book are in ancient languages, and one of the fundamental rules of combining editions into works is that the ancient language editions don't go into the same work as the modern language editions.
Publisher's editors
Blurbers
Book description
Rescued from the outrageous neglect of his aunt and uncle, a young boy with a great destiny proves his worth while attending Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry.

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