Update: 23/8/2018 My review is still hidden from view on GR. If it were listed on the community reviews, it would be the third highest voted 1 star review. In fact, since it has now been hidden for five years, maybe it would be the highest. It was the highest voted negative review prior to removing it from view.

Should I make a list of my reviews in order of how proud I am of them, this would be somewhere in the dark. However, that doesn't seem like the point. The fact that it had 140 likes and several hundred comments has to count for something. As far as I can see, I haven't broken the rules of engagement on GR in this review.

I've decided to enquire further as to whether I might be reinstated. I wonder if they ever do that?

The REVIEW.

Enough. I'm putting this one to bed. I so don't want to finish it.

‘Not enough sex’ was my first thought, but then we do get to this part where boys are discussing the length and capacities of their wands and I perked up for a moment until I realised that they were actually talking about wands.

You will say that this is a book for children and that sex has no part in it, but, I think Randall has it right, as usual:

n  n
XKCD's take on young boys

Now, I don’t know a whole lot about boys on the verge of pubescence, but I’m fairly sure they are more interested in willies than wands. Perhaps this book would have sold better if the author had regarded that piece of advice. (Note to self: check if anybody bought this book. Perhaps the author would appreciate my thoughts.)

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So, I keep getting hate comments for this review and I thought it would be nice if you all had a place you could get together and badmouth it. Announcing....

A new group:

People who hate my Harry Potter review....

Come this way:

http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/4...

I'd be honoured if you joined. And I'm really sorry to all the people who wrote comments here which I misguidedly deleted.

----------------

20 August 2013: My Harry Potter review has been flagged and censored.

Given that the review itself has experienced its own form of peer judgement via the voting system and given that it has been up for a couple of years or more I wonder if this is part of the new Amazon way?

To quote the advice sent to me:

n
Your review of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was recently flagged as inappropriate. As the review is not about the book, it will not be shown on the community book page. For more information about our review policies, please see our review guidelines.
n

The review guidelines are here: http://www.goodreads.com/review/guide...

4th read: December 2018
I switched between the illustrated edition and the regular hardcover so I could annotate, and of course I love love loved it.

3rd read: April 2018
I tried out the audiobook (narrated by Stephen Fry) finally... and I loved it so so much. He does an incredible job bringing the story to life and his voices for every character are spot on in my opinion. Loved it

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone = Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Harry Potter #1), J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is a fantasy novel written by British author J.K. Rowling.

It is the first novel in the Harry Potter series and Rowling's debut novel, first published in 1997 by Bloomsbury.

It was published in the United States as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by Scholastic Corporation in 1998.

The plot follows Harry Potter, a young wizard who discovers his magical heritage as he makes close friends and a few enemies in his first year at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

With the help of his friends, Harry faces an attempted comeback by the dark wizard Lord Voldemort, who killed Harry's parents, but failed to kill Harry when he was just 15 months old.

عنوانهای چاپ شده در ایران: «هری پاتر و اکسیر جاودانگی»؛ «هری پاتر و سنگ جادو»؛ «هری پاتر و اکسیر»؛ «هری پاتر و سنگ معجزه گر»؛ «هری پاتر و سنگ کیمیا»؛ «هری پاتر و سنگ کیمیاگری»؛ «هری پاتر و سنگ فیلسوف»؛ نویسنده: جی.کی رولینگ؛ تاریخ نخستین خوانش ماه نوامبر سال 1997م و بار دیگر در ماه می سال 2001میلادی

عنوان: مجموعه هری پاتر - کتاب 1یک- هری پاتر و اکسیر جاودانگی؛ نویسنده: جی.کی رولینگ؛ مترجم: محمد قصاع؛ تهران، موسسه فرهنگی و هنری آدینده نگار؛ 1379؛ در 357ص؛ چاپ دوم 1381؛ شابک 9789649270708؛ موضوع داستانهای نویسندگان بریتانیایی - سده 20م

عنوان: هری پاتر و سنگ جادو؛ نویسنده: جی.کی رولینگ؛ مترجم: سعید کبریائی؛ ویراستار ویدا اسلامیه؛ تهران، تندیس، 1379؛ چاپ دوم و سوم 1379؛ چهارم تا هشتم 1380؛ چاپ دهم 1381؛ دوازدهم و سیزدهم 1382؛ چهاردهم 1383؛ هفدهم 1384؛ هجدهم و نوزدهم 1385؛ چاپ بیست و یکم 1386؛ بیست و دوم 1387؛ بیست و سوم 1388؛ چاپ بیست و هشتم 1392؛ در 352ص؛ شابک 9789645757029؛

عنوان: هری پاتر و سنگ جادو؛ نویسنده: جی.کی رولینگ؛ مترجم: صدیقه ابراهیمی (فخار)؛ تهران، دستان، 1379؛ در 350ص؛ شابک 9646555330؛ چاپ دوم 1380؛

عنوان: هری پاتر و سنگ جادو؛ نویسنده: جی.کی رولینگ؛ مترجم: سایه هومان؛ تهران، باغ نو، 1379؛ در 397ص؛ شابک: 9649024883؛

عنوان: هری پاتر و سنگ کیمیاگری؛ نویسنده: جی.کی رولینگ؛ مترجم: حمید بلوچ؛ تهران، خانه ادبیات، 1380؛ در 247ص؛ شابک 9647245092؛

عنوان: هری پاتر و سنگ معجزه گر؛ نویسنده: جی.کی رولینگ؛ مترجم: فلور طالبی؛ تهران، سپنتا، 1380؛ در 432ص؛ شابک 9649297200؛

عنوان: هری پاتر و سنگ جادو؛ نویسنده: جی.کی رولینگ؛ مترجم: نسیم عزیزی؛ تهران، ذکر، 1381؛ در 227ص؛ شابک 9643071995؛

عنوان: هری پاتر و سنگ جادو؛ نویسنده: جی.کی رولینگ؛ مترجم: حمیده اشکان نژند؛ تهران، گوهرشاد، 1381؛ در 400ص؛ شابک 9646905374؛

عنوان: هری پاتر و سنگ جادو؛ نویسنده: جی.کی رولینگ؛ مترجم: مرتضی مدنی نژاد؛ ویراستار ملک سیما طاهری؛ تهران، هیرمند، 1381؛ در 431ص؛ شابک 9646974430؛

عنوان: هری پاتر و سنگ کیمیا؛ نویسنده: جی.کی رولینگ؛ مترجم: بهارک ریاحی پور؛ تهران، زرین، نگارستان کتاب، 1381؛ در 392ص؛ شابک 9644073053؛ چاپ دوم 1382؛

عنوان: هری پاتر و سنگ کیمیا؛ نویسنده: جی.کی رولینگ؛ مترجم: مژده عبداللهی؛ تهران، شرکت توسعه کتابخانه های ایران، 1382؛ در 241ص؛ شابک ندارد؛ چاپ دوم 1385؛

عنوان: هری پاتر و سنگ جادو؛ نویسنده: جی.کی رولینگ؛ مترجم: ایران علیپور؛ تهران، عقیل، 1382؛ در 396ص؛ شابک 9647678209؛

عنوان: هری پاتر و اکسیر؛ نویسنده: جی.کی رولینگ؛ مترجم: فریدون قاضی نژاد پیرسرایی؛ ویرایش: نسیم عزیزی؛ عنوان دیگر هری پاتر و اکسیر (سنگ جادو)؛ در 407ص؛ شابک 96493061؛

عنوان: هری پاتر و سنگ جادو؛ نویسنده: جی.کی رولینگ؛ مترجم: مریم شعبانی؛ تهران، سنائی، 1383؛ در یک جلد؛ شابک 9646290261؛

عنوان: هری پاتر و سنگ جادو؛ نویسنده: جی.کی رولینگ؛ مترجم: الهام آرام نیا؛ شمس الدین حسینی؛ تهران، پیکان، 1385؛ در ده و 287ص؛ شابک 9643285162؛

عنوان: هری پاتر و سنگ فیلسوف؛ نویسنده: جی.کی رولینگ؛ مترجم: غلامحسین اعرابی؛ تهران، پلیکان، 1388؛ در 376ص؛ شابک 9789648690811؛

هری پاتر و اکسیر جاودانگی، سرگذشت پسرکی به نام «هری» است که در دنیای انسانهای عادی «ماگلها» با خانواده ای که او را به سختی پذیرفته اند زندگی میکند؛ سپس میفهمد که او به دنیایی تعلق دارد، که پدر و مادرش جزئی از آن بوده اند: «دنیای جادوگران»؛ آن دو (پدر و مادر هری) در نبرد با بزرگترین جادوگر جادوی سیاه از بین رفته اند؛ داستان، سراسر آکنده از رخداد است و طنز مخصوص خانم «رولینگ» آن را بسیار دلپسند کرده، نویسنده، جهانی موازی و در عین حال در خود همین جهان آفریده اند، ای سری ادامه دار است؛ ده یازده سال پیش بود و فرزندانم که نوجوان بودند، بسیار این سری را دوست میداشتند؛ برای اینکه بدانم، چه چیزی برای آنها اینقدر جالب است و جذابیت مجموعه در چیست؛ خود نیز آغاز به خوانش نخستین جلد مجموعه کردم؛ همان که نوشتم، دنیای جدید خانم «رولینگ»، مرا به خلسه و خیال فروبرد، خود را نوجوانی انگاشتم تشنه ی دانستن رازهای جادو، جلدهای بعدی را، یواشکی و پیش از بچه هایم میخریدم و میخواندم

تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 19/08/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ 24/07/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی

I simply adored this book <3. It was such a fast and funny read! Also, it brought childhood memories back, because I saw the first Harry Potter movie when I was 10 years old, and I was so nostalgic remembering it all <3.

I'm not used to read books after I watched the movies, but it'll be that way with my Harry Potter books, because I'm a huge fan of the movies and I've already saw them all. The good thing is that I don't really remember anything at all, haha (just the "big" parts. Oh, and also the deaths *cries*).

Sooo, I loved this book and I'm impressed by that! I mean, I knew I was going to like it! But it was so much more. Since the first page it had me hooked. J.K. Rowling has such a fluid writing style! I never got bored and I was gasping in some parts even when I knew what was going to happen!

Can't wait to read the next books :).

Fairly standard kid's fantasy fare from Rowling as she re-introduces the world to the classic British fairy tale, which had been mostly forgotten since Tolkien spliced it with the epic. She mines gold from this rich and storied tradition, but doesn't really fashion anything unique from it.

We can see the beginnings of Rowling's authorial failings (and a hint of her strengths as well). She adopts Rouald Dahl's 'awful family' trope, though it's clear that Rowling does not have the gift of bizarre characterization or the knowledge of the darker parts of the human soul that made his books resonate.

She writes sympathetic characters, but not unusual ones. Overall her writing has relatively little character or style. Then again, mass success often requires leaving the more unusual elements behind. So she relies on standard character types, managing to keep them afloat through the patented perpetual plot of the airplane book.

She also pulls from that old British tradition of 'children lost in fairyland', seen often in early fantasy (Dunsany, Eddison), which Lewis also made use of. She also has the vast, unknown underground of magic just beneath our world which keeps itself always mysterious and quiet, much favored by Gaiman and other Urban Fantasy authors (though Rowling's invented world is strained and piecemeal, moreso as the series goes on).

The strength of the book is that it combines the tradition of the 'child in fairyland' with another British standby: the boarding school bildungsroman. It's the same neat trick Mervyn Peake pulled in 'Gormenghast', though Rowling's version is tame in comparison. Her tale of the intellectual, emotional, and physical growth of the young, outcast everyman is rather predictable, except for some insight into angst in the fifth book.

Rowling's prose is quick and simple, but sometimes awkward and without music or joy. It is not the sort of deliberate simplicity Carroll achieved by expressing complex ideas in playful terms. It is rather the sign of an author whose unsophisticated voice prevents her language from vaulting higher.

Simplistic elegance is deceptively difficult to achieve, and so it's hard to blame Rowling too much when she falters. It's unfortunate that she didn't put a few failed books under her belt before finding success, as such early outings are often best winnowed chaff.

Her plotting--as ever--is scattered and convenient; though in a shorter book, it shows less. Her plot twists, as usual, disappoint; they are not built upon progression of events but upon reader expectation and emotional red herrings.

It's the beginning of an enjoyable series, but there's really no need to start any earlier than the third book, when Rowling finally finds her pace and begins to lean more heavily on that which she does well, which helps to hide her faults. Watch the movie if you need a primer.

My Fantasy Book Suggestions

It´s never too late to get back to magic school, even if one is just a dirty muggle.

Quite a while ago (I was young, so young, omg, what happened, where is all the time, how could this hopeful young boy become such a demoni…), sorry, typo; I read this thing and now I thought that a reread might be an extremely interesting experience, especially regarding my obsession of vivisecting literature with the help of the almighty tvtropes. But there is a problem.

I have a massive deficit of reading all kinds of fantasy because the series take such huge amounts of time, there is a hyperinflation of YA and high fantasy and I am more into sci-fi, humor, and horror, so I can´t really compare it with other, similar kids and YA fantasy literature. But I can just cherrypick any weird thought, Frankenstein it together, mwuahahaha call it a review, post it, run, and hope that nobody notices. I should have put this to the end of the review…

It would be really interesting to know which elements were already there, maybe even in similar constellations, and which were Rowlings´ own, unique inventions. The underdog group of friends, the systems of magic, the only sure thing and constant in fantasy might be the big bad evil lurking in the background while the sockpuppet antagonistic humans prepare the final war. More comparisons could be interesting in the other direction, the future, my obsession, too because there might have been the one or other opportunistic genre swifts, series, subgenres heavily influenced by Harry that are now beginning to collide with newer hypes and trends. Quite a freaking amazing evolution.

I am not sure if a man could have written a similar piece, because there are, gosh, gender differences. Yes, I just dissed and discriminated against my own gender, sue me if you want, I´ve legal expenses insurance so good luck with that, but my perfectly politically incorrect opinion is that there are genres and readers that just perfectly fit together. Or not, and in these cases, different genders, gender identities, etc. are prone to reading and writing gender specific content. Although there may be female hard sci-fi, plot focused writers with minimalistic characterizations and male authors writing soft epic, romantic fantasy, they are exceptions and I don´t deem this diversity something negative. On the contrary, I will just shout out that a man would maybe not have been able to write such a compelling book and that Potter could have failed, or at least not have had such immense success, without the feminine touch. Now I´ll be roasted, trolled, and hunted down, but that was totally worth it. Stupid haters, get a life. I should really consider reducing the offending the audience level.

Rowling did an immensely good job in using Sandersons´laws of magic to make anything interconnected and somewhat even linking character traits to certain kinds of magic systems, and preferences while aiming at one of the biggest and fangirly/boysest audiences possible, young readers. Many of these won´t have seen similar uses in old, unknown works or still too difficult to enter high fantasy concepts and will be blown away when they first enter this amazing universe.

Faith stereotypically and predictably, far less creative and open minded than the young readers, helped in promoting Potter by talking about the danger of magic and such trivial, evil works on kids and children. Really, bigots, did you learn nothing out of 2 millennia of religious wars, witch burning, and genocides? Sigh, as already said, haters gonna hate, but at least this ridiculous attempts of demonizing one of the most pop cultural big bangs of all time helped to make it even more popular. What did they fear, that millions of boys and girls start doing black magic, break quantum dimensional time travel stuff, and unleash the flying spaghetti monster that would ruin their assets?

The extreme success of Rowlings´ excessive use of adjectives and breaking many other rules of this, so called, self proclaimed, quality newspaper writing gurus, high brow literature, „I´ll tell anyone to write just with my, only right, recipe, because this is how art has to be done and creativity has to be unleashed under controlled circumstances“ is a good reason for rofling around all day. Seriously, Nobel price, elitist high culture literature trash woman/man? How many people would read your favorite, old and cheap as dirt, garbage if schools and universities wouldn´t buy this ridiculous, bad writing (fueled by nationalism, pride about the big sons (why no sisters?), each nation on earth with its own, terrible, old big prodigies of writing weird, boring, bad concoctions because they were the only freaking, elitist people writing something centuries or decades ago) to torture helpless young people and make them hate reading for the rest of their lives. Close to nobody! And honestly, what´s wrong with you ever so sophisticated literary critics, fine arts professors, and wannabe pseudo intellectuals, looking down at literature that kids love and that´s made for them while promoting the haters troll train that bores them out, steals their time, and makes them functional illiterates? Go, Harry, transform them from the inside out into the slimy, stinky creatures they truly are. That escalated quickly.

Looking at a kind of big history picture of the socio cultural impact of one of the most successful fantasy series ever, one could ironically say, that it´s the ultimate, exaggerated interpretation of what could be behind the words, using soft sciences and magics. Maybe doing so is wrong, true, ingenious, stupid, deep, a waste of time, however, how audiences perceive and philosophy about groundbreaking works, by reflecting its impact, is maybe one of the greatest extra joys of reading.

One of the coolest magic tricks would be to reactivate the fully immersive flow and flash of reading when young, but I can at least feed on the reminiscences of already quite blurry pictures and sharpen them while rereading one of the most groundbreaking fantasy works ever that helped make hundreds of millions of kids, and the one or other adult, avid readers.

Tropes show how literature is conceptualized and created and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...

A wiki walk can be as refreshing to the mind as a walk through nature in this completely overrated real life outside books: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandon...

This is where it all began, where we were introduced to Harry Potter, Rowling's magical world, a series of exciting adventures and the excellent characters and environments she has given to English literature. It set the standard for contemporary fantasy. Rowling make full use of classic literary and mythological references, freeing herself from the confines of the merely topical, while giving it all a daring sense of newness. This series will live forever.


=============================EXTRA STUFF

Just came across this opinion piece in the NYT re why it is cool for adults to be as smitten with HP as with books not written for a YA audience. - Why Grown-Up Muggles Should Read ‘Harry Potter’ - by David Busis - JUNE 26, 2017

May 6, 2020 - Came across this today. Celebs reading the series on video, beginning with Harry, himself, Daniel Radcliffe. What could be better? - Chapter One: 'The Boy Who Lived'

This book was okay. I didn't hate it or love it either way, though towards the end I realized how lukewarm I felt about the story since I would prefer to read any other book I had on hand. I appreciate the level of novelty in the world-building during the time this was first published. The friendship between the trio is cute. Hermione and Ron are fun characters and I might have enjoyed the book more if they had been the main protagonists. Downsides: I cringed at the excessive fatphobia, anti-semitism, and the turban part. I also didn't like that the final action of the book got skipped over quickly by having a fade-to-black moment and then a lengthy explanation told by one of the side characters. It felt like such an abrupt way to end the story... but TBH, I was glad to be done with it so I could move on to other books lol.

I read this long long ago to see how "evil" it was. You know, does it encourage children to become witches and wizards? Does reading Harry Potter cause evil?


After chopping off the heads of chickens, bats, a stray cat, and mixing it up in a cauldron pot, I dipped in my voo-doo doll and put a curse on my neighbor. (nothing too bad, just a case of incurable body lice) I then decided there is absoultely nothing wrong with Harry Potter!









*disclaimer for those who don't get my sarcasm: I never cut heads off any animal, ever. I open the door to let spiders and flies out of the house. So relax. (and let your kid read the damn book!)