Mainly at my GGL’s urging I started reading the Harry Potter series of books. I have to admit that I read the first two books months ago and now that I’m ready to begin the third one, I figured I might as well post book reviews on the blog about the previous books.
The thing that really strikes you in terms of content in the first Harry Potter book is how badly he’s treated by the Dursleys. On top of that, the utter fear that people in the book have of Voldemort is well portrayed by author J.K. Rowling. I also think that as far as content goes, this book seems very elementary – which is OK! Whenever I hear some of the fraternity guys that I advise talking about Harry Potter, I always have to remind myself that today’s 18 – 22 year olds grew up reading this story. So it’s only natural that these guys would be talking about it like it’s second nature – just as it’s only natural that I would read this book and think that it’s written for young kids.
As far as the writing style, again, it’s elementary. That’s not a knock on Rowling, though. She wrote it VERY well in an elementary style and focused on details and character development like not many elementary books do. Overall it was a very well-written piece of literature.
And no one can deny the impact that this book had on the populous. People read this and went absolutely bonkers over Harry Potter and the entire world he lives in. It spawned successor books, movies, merchandising, and a ton of other Potter-related things. I enjoyed reading this book probably for the same reasons that many readers around the world enjoyed it – it was a nice, quick read that had a good story to go with it.
I’ll get some reviews of the movies up here on the blog at some point – be on the lookout. I recommend anyone who hasn’t read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone to go out and get a copy (chances are any little kid on your street has a copy that you can borrow). You’ll enjoy it!
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