Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

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In brief, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is about a boy who loses his parent to a "car accident", Harry Potter, who lives with his negligent and aggressive Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, and cousin Dudley Dursley. Since Harry lives with this extended family, he is treated with utmost disrespect for a reason he knows not of: he, like his mother and father, has the capability of possessing magical powers.In order to repress Harry from knowing and keeping their own reputation clean, the Dursleys treat Harry horribly and lie to him about his parents' death as well as his background.  So, from as far as Harry can remember he has been treated poorly by his aunt and uncle, and never fully understood the reason why, that is, until Hagrid (the giant from the magical world) crashes into his life and tells him the truth about how his parents died and what Harry truly is, a wizard. Then Harry leaves with Hagrid and begins his wizardly life at a wizardly school and begins to adapt to the magical world. But, there are evil magical things that lurk in the shadows that challenge Harry and his new friends at Hogwarts.

Overall, I did not particularly enjoy this book because this is not my preferred genre of literature. However, it was an easy read, because there was always some event happening on every page. There was a sense of suspense instilled in each page of the novel, and that was an aspect I did enjoy as it made the reading nearly effortless, and almost fun to read --even if it isn't the type of book you may pick up on your own. One of my favorite parts of the book was when Hagrid took Harry "school shopping" and were getting things off of the Hogwarts list. I just think that the description J.K. Rowling used is beautiful and it really puts the reader in Diaon Alley with Harry and Hagrid, "Harry wished he had eight more eyes... A plump woman outside an Apothecary was shaking her head as they passed saying, 'Dragon liver, seventeen Sickles an ounce, they're mad...' A low, soft hooting came from a dark shop with a sign saying Eeylops Owl Emporium -- Tawny, Screech, Barn, Brown, and Snowy." (71-72). I really loved this scene of the novel because it felt like I was with Harry Potter and Hagrid seeing all of these different shops and odd people. The descriptions that were used were very intriguing and interesting and it made me feel as if Harry was visiting a real place.

Also, when compared to the movie, there are a great number of differences that one would not have noticed if they had not read the book. For instance in the beginning of the book the narrator mentions a time when Harry was running from Dudley and his friends and mysteriously ended up on the roof of the school, and how Harry got in a lot of trouble from the his headmistress and Aunt and Uncle Dursley from it. But, Hollywood decided to nix that bit completely, which although seems like a minute detail, is actually important. Why, you ask? It's because this is one of the first mysterious instances that indicates that some type of magic was happening with Harry, and that should be part of the focal point in the movie as it was in the book. Additionally, in the movie, it does not appear that Dudley has any friends and in the book it seems that he has multiple, and a particular one is named: Piers. Again, these seem like minute details, and they may be, but I personally think that they add to the credibility of the characters and their personalities.

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