Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone review

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

Bloomsbury, 1997, 223 pages

Have you ever accidentally trapped your cousin in the snake enclosure at the zoo because you’re a famous wizard and don’t even know it? Harry Potter has. This is how the most successful book and movie franchise of all time starts. Yep, this week I’m reviewing the very reason J. K. Rowling bathes in diamonds every night.

Back in 1990, J. K. Rowling was on a four hour delayed train trip when the idea for a boy attending a wizarding school formed in her mind, though she isn’t sure from where. As soon as she got home, she started writing. It was around this time, she had already written the epilogue for the final book, but it wasn’t until 1995 that she finished the first book. She wrote the first one from a few local coffee shops because the air-conditioner at her house was busted (I wonder if she has the money to fix it yet). What amazes me is that when it was finished, there were about ten publishers who rejected it (coincidently, there were also about ten people working at those same publisher who soon got fired).

Now, for the seven of you worldwide who are yet to read it, what the hell is wrong with you? Anyway, the story is of a young boy (for argument’s sake, let’s call him Harry) who finds out he’s a wizard after accidentally getting his cousin stuck in the snake enclosure at the zoo (fun fact: many fans believe that the snake that got released was Nagini, Voldemort’s snake). Anyway, he is soon admitted to Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft And Wizardry, where he makes his first friends ever, Ron Weasley (the sixth of seven children in an entirely red-haired family) and Hermione Granger (a girl smarter than the collective minds of NASA, MENSA and MIT combined…when it comes to magic at least).

The trio get into many adventures, from battling trolls and three-headed dogs to learning the mysteries surrounding the Philosopher’s Stone, and finding it before the Dark Lord Volde…err, He Who Must Not Be Named does. I first read this book over a decade ago, and it has since become one of the cornerstones of my childhood. For young readers, it’s a journey of wonder and excitement, and pretty damn captivating too. For older readers, it can take you back to your childhood, when you believed in all the wonder and magic that Harry Potter offers. All us Muggles are very lucky to get a glimpse inside the world we didn’t know existed under our very noses.

Really, I only have one criticism of the whole series (not just this book, the whole series). The problem is that the best character (Loony Luna Lovegood) doesn’t appear until book five. Other than that, enjoy you sad, sad people who for some reason haven’t read this book, or all you awesome people who have read the whole series five times.

My rating: 10/10

Any suggestions, post them below.