Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Harry Potter)

The novel begins with the wizarding world's celebration of the downfall of Lord Voldemort, an evil, powerful and cruel dark wizard. After he killed James and Lily Potter, Voldemort attempted to murder their one-year-old son, Harry. The magical curse rebounded and destroyed Voldemort's body, leaving only a lightning-bolt scar on Harry's forehead. Harry is placed in the care...more

The novel begins with the wizarding world's celebration of the downfall of Lord Voldemort, an evil, powerful and cruel dark wizard. After he killed James and Lily Potter, Voldemort attempted to murder their one-year-old son, Harry. The magical curse rebounded and destroyed Voldemort's body, leaving only a lightning-bolt scar on Harry's forehead. Harry is placed in the care of his Muggle (non-wizard) relatives, the Dursley family. The book skips the next ten years and resumes shortly before Harry's eleventh birthday. The Dursleys have kept the truth about Harry's parents from him. However, the truth comes in the form of Rubeus Hagrid who tells Harry that he is a wizard and has been accepted at Hogwarts for the autumn term. One month later, Harry takes the train to Hogwarts from Platform Nine and Three Quarters at King's Cross Station. On the train, Harry sits with Ron Weasley who quickly befriends Harry. They are visited briefly by Neville Longbottom and Hermione Granger who are in search of Neville's missing toad, Trevor. Later on in the journey, Draco Malfoy comes into Harry and Ron's compartment with his friends Crabbe and Goyle and introduces himself to Harry. After Ron laughs at Draco's name, Draco offers to help Harry distinguish the wrong sort of wizards, but Harry declines............   hide

On his eleventh birthday, neglected, unloved Harry Potter finds out that he is a wizard and starts his first year at Hogwart's. With the help of his new friends Ron and Hermione, he manages to stop the evil Lord Voldemort, who murdered Harry's parents and left harry with a lightning-shaped scar on his forehead, from stealing the sorcerer's stone and gaining eternal...more

On his eleventh birthday, neglected, unloved Harry Potter finds out that he is a wizard and starts his first year at Hogwart's. With the help of his new friends Ron and Hermione, he manages to stop the evil Lord Voldemort, who murdered Harry's parents and left harry with a lightning-shaped scar on his forehead, from stealing the sorcerer's stone and gaining eternal life. Several people have told me that they picked up this book and were not impressed. While I realize that not everyone enjoys the fantasy genre, this book started a phenomenon that got millions of kids to enjoy reading. Rowling also wrote the early books in the series at a lower reading level so that kids Harry's age could enjoy the books. Each book gets longer, more complex, and darker. Don't miss this marvelous series!   hide

Hate to say it, but not great. Granted the book lost me in the very beginning when a boa "winks" at Harry. Simple fact that snakes don't have eye lids made that ludicrous, it wasn't even a magical snake. I'll admit, the story was entertaining, but I got tired of the abundance of adverbs. Skimming the book became more enjoyable, since half the words were superfluous. I will say this, Rowling...more

Hate to say it, but not great. Granted the book lost me in the very beginning when a boa "winks" at Harry. Simple fact that snakes don't have eye lids made that ludicrous, it wasn't even a magical snake. I'll admit, the story was entertaining, but I got tired of the abundance of adverbs. Skimming the book became more enjoyable, since half the words were superfluous. I will say this, Rowling did end the book well, despite the actual writing and glossy story leading up to the end, the book ends well. It wasn't quite well enough to make me forget having to force myself through the first 4/5ths, but well enough to make me feel it wasn't a waste of time. A good book for getting people to read again, but not much beyond that. The story was enjoyable if, not only can you suspend disbelief in the existence of magic, but also in the existence of fact in the non-magical realm. And of course you don't care about concise and powerful writing.   hide

Obviously known as the opening to the epic tale of Harry Potter, this book should be absolutely outstanding and ready to pull you into the series. In fact, this book does NOT do that to the Harry Potter Series. Though well written in some cases, it is obvious that Rowling intended this book to be for young children. There is little detail in the depths magic can go to, unlike the farther books...more

Obviously known as the opening to the epic tale of Harry Potter, this book should be absolutely outstanding and ready to pull you into the series. In fact, this book does NOT do that to the Harry Potter Series. Though well written in some cases, it is obvious that Rowling intended this book to be for young children. There is little detail in the depths magic can go to, unlike the farther books where magic has limitations, styles, and even laws against them. Little goes into the thought process involved in producing a spell such as a Patronus, or a Horcrux. Plus some of the characters have lines that have giant holes. An example, Harry says that he has to go that night and get to the sorcerers stone before snape does...with no build up and little reasoning on Harry's part. While it is necessary to read this book to understand the rest of the series, overall, it was farthest from the best book, and on the border line of a bad book.   hide

I’m about fifty pages into the first harry potter. I’m not really enjoying it, because it's all too familiar. Didn’t I used to write like this in the sixth grade? Yes, in fact I did. I find this very annoying. The writing style is the same, and the characterization is the same, and worst of all, the imagination is the same. This is easily my story, I could just as easily...more

I’m about fifty pages into the first harry potter. I’m not really enjoying it, because it's all too familiar. Didn’t I used to write like this in the sixth grade? Yes, in fact I did. I find this very annoying. The writing style is the same, and the characterization is the same, and worst of all, the imagination is the same. This is easily my story, I could just as easily write about a giant on a motorcycle that flies. How random, how me (giant and motorcycle disturbed me the most). I suppose I should be praising Rowling for getting into the mind of a sixth grader so well. As a sixth grader I would've loved this book, but now I’m asking, did it have to be my mind so exactly? There are differences, my stories were much more complicated, in the sense that if they had been less complicated they would have been easier to understand. But they were complicated as only a sixth grader could complicate things, and to simplify would have meant ending up with this harry potter product. It’s so simple it's almost humiliating. And I never relied on stereotypes the way Ms. Rowling does. Mostly because I didn't know what they were. I may have relied on some inadvertently, I mean hey, stereotypes are pretty funny to a sixth grader, but I never used it as a device to make my plots easier to understand. Maybe that's my problem, maybe this book is so dumbed down as only a sixth grader could do it, but then it's also refined by an adult point of view and dumb downed even more, in sneaky ways that we simple sixth graders can't understand. It’s polished and there are literary devices being used. What’s all that about? Review written in 1999 (yes, I finished it. And never picked up a Potter book again.)   hide

The first book in the Harry Potter series. If you want to read them, start here. This one is just classic young adult fantasy fare. Being the first book in the series, Rowling did not yet have the influence to control the final tone of her book, and it definitely shows. While fairly generic and standard in and of itself, it is a crucial read prior to delving into the later volumes. This will give...more

The first book in the Harry Potter series. If you want to read them, start here. This one is just classic young adult fantasy fare. Being the first book in the series, Rowling did not yet have the influence to control the final tone of her book, and it definitely shows. While fairly generic and standard in and of itself, it is a crucial read prior to delving into the later volumes. This will give you the oppurtunity to see the evolution of the series for yourself, and therefore learn exactly why it became the phenomenon that it was. Unlike most book series, this one truly grows up with its characters (and audience), but you cannot witness that growth without starting at the beginning. Therefore, this definitely makes my must-read list for fantasy fans.   hide

Harry Potter se ha quedado huérfano y vive en casa de sus abominables tíos y del insoportable primo Dudley. Harry se siente muy triste y solo, hasta que un buen día recibe una carta que cambiaría su vida para siempre. En ella le comunican que ha sido aceptado como alumno en el colegio in terno Hogwarts de magia y hechicería. A partir de...more

Harry Potter se ha quedado huérfano y vive en casa de sus abominables tíos y del insoportable primo Dudley. Harry se siente muy triste y solo, hasta que un buen día recibe una carta que cambiaría su vida para siempre. En ella le comunican que ha sido aceptado como alumno en el colegio in terno Hogwarts de magia y hechicería. A partir de ese momento, la suerte de Harry le da un vuelco espectacular.En esa escuela tan especial aprenderá encantamientos, trucos fabulosos y tácticas de defensa contra las malas artes. Se convertirá en el campeón escolar de quidditch, especie de fútbol aéreo que se juega montado sobre escobas, y se hará un puñado de buenos amigos…aunque también algunos temibles enemigos. Pero sobre todo, conocerá los secretos que le permitirán cumplir con su destino. Pues, aunque no lo parezca a primera vista, Harry no es un chico común y corriente. ¡Es un verdadero mago!   hide

Summary:The story begins with young butthurt harry. The source of Harry's butthurt is that he doesn't have any parents, which is REALLY funny because i HAVE parents. But yeah his uncles fat and he has to eat salad which is pretty fucking depressing if you ask me. Then he gets a special visit from local sex offender, hagrid, who lures children away from their homes by telling them that...more

Summary:The story begins with young butthurt harry. The source of Harry's butthurt is that he doesn't have any parents, which is REALLY funny because i HAVE parents. But yeah his uncles fat and he has to eat salad which is pretty fucking depressing if you ask me. Then he gets a special visit from local sex offender, hagrid, who lures children away from their homes by telling them that they're magic and should come live at his house. So hagrid says, "You can do magic!". and then harrys all, " YEAH! i am just SO misunderstood, I really am a special youngster". Then Hagrid's like, " Now go make friends and have adventures!". So harry does that for the next 20 books occasionally visiting Hagrids candlelit apartment to nestle in his large sensual beard. THE END. Read this shitty kid's book and love it like everyone else.   hide

These are the books that started my reading journey. J.R. Rowling is by far one of the best authors in the world. Thank you for giving me inspiration to read and write. These books are written to grow with children as they grow up in years. They start off innocent enough, but become darker as you farther in the series. Even Adults can get into this book, creating a world that doesn't exist,...more

These are the books that started my reading journey. J.R. Rowling is by far one of the best authors in the world. Thank you for giving me inspiration to read and write. These books are written to grow with children as they grow up in years. They start off innocent enough, but become darker as you farther in the series. Even Adults can get into this book, creating a world that doesn't exist, and sparking an imagination beyond reason. I would recommend these books to anyone who loves a visit away from reality every once in a while, and if you dont' know what these books are about, what rock have you been living under.   hide