Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Obviously I don't need to write a review about this, since everyone in the world had read this book except for me.  Until now.  Almost fifteen years after it was first published and became a global phenomenon, I finally read the first Harry Potter book.  This is just a month after the final movie came out too!  Wow, I am way behind the times on this one.

You may ask why I never read the series when it was in its hay-day (which I suppose it still is.)  Here is the only reason I can come up with.  In 1997 when the first Harry Potter book came out, I was a timid little high school sophomore and junior at a very conservative Christian boarding school.  All books containing anything about witches, wizards, goblins, and magic were strictly forbidden at school, not to mention strongly discouraged by my parents at home.  (My father was with me when I bought this book a couple weeks ago, and when he saw my purchase he simply exclaimed, "Why?!")  Also, in my teens and early twenties I turned my nose up at such juvenile literature that was meant for annoying prepubescents.  Those kind of books were so below me!  If I was going to rebel with my reading, it was going to be with Danielle Steele or other such frivolous romances.  Harry Potter?  Pishaw!  I would not be caught dead with a CHILDREN'S book oh, no. 

It took me many years and a Master's Degree in English Literature to truly appreciate Children's literature.  I have much catching up to do, believe me, and Harry Potter is only the beginning.

Right away, I loved this book.  The writing is very clever and entertaining.  Should I dare say it was spell-binding?  Just as a youngster might be, I was quickly drawn into the story of Harry and his adventures with Ron and Hermione at the Hogwarts Castle.  I couldn't wait to find out how they were going to solve the mystery of the trap door, Fluffy the three-headed dog, and Professor Snape's suspicious behavior.  It is very creative and imaginative -- just the kind of reading I especially love right now.  I do have to admit that at first I had a hard time accepting all the magic and hocus-pocus when they first arrived at Hogwarts.  It seemed unfair that anyone or anything can just magically transform at any time.  For example, Harry describes how it was confusing to find his way around the castle during his first few days at Hogwarts because the passageways and doors kept changing directions or never seemed to be in the same place from day to day.  For some reason that really bothered me!  How is a person supposed to live in that kind of environment?  Also, it seemed that anyone could just cast a spell on anyone to get them to stop doing whatever they were doing.   I just wasn't buying it.

Needless to say, I quickly got over my issues with the magic and soon fell in love with the characters and the powerful story telling.  I have never seen any of the movies, but while I was reading, I could picture exactly how it might play out in the movie of my mind. 

This was a very fun book to read, and I finally feel like I'm a part of history now!  I've heard so much about Harry Potter for the past fourteen years, I can finally understand what everyone is talking about.