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Summary: I am over 35 and I loved this book!
Review: I NEVER read books like this and when I got it for Christmas, I thought, "Oh, like I'm really going to read this! It's a kid's book!" I couldn't put it down. The adventures of Harry and his pals facing a 3-head beast and an ugly, club-carrying troll kept me glued to the book for hours. I loved the very believable characters like Hermoine Granger and school bully, Draco Malfoy. We all knew people like that in school! The book is full of great characters, fast-moving adventures and lots of humor that all adults would enjoy.I am definitely a Harry Potter fan now. Sorry, "Danielle" and "Syndey," but your novels will have to wait!
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Summary: This was SOOOO GOOD!!!
Review: I never really liked reading books about witches until now. I read this book and ever since I started reading until the very end, I was kept in suspense, trying to the best of my ability to guess who would end up being the villain. It had a marvelous plot, and was an enjoyable story to read through and through! I guarantee you, even if you don't like witch books, chances are you will like this one!
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Summary: Harry Potter
Review: I never thought I would become a fan of the Harry Potter series until I happened upon the movie. After seeing it, I decided to read the book and I'm glad I did. It's better than I could've imagined, making great use of suspense, foreshadowing, and symbolism. The characters are defined so you feel as though you've known them all your life. I can't wait to read the other books!
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Summary: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Review: I never thought that I would enjoy the Harry Potter series myself. However, after hearing just how good the books were repeatedly, I decided to give the books a try. As soon as I started reading, I found myself thrown into the world of witchcraft and wizards. The book was simple, not like others that are full of symbolism and figurative language. Despite it's simplicity, I found the book to be an enjoyable story of a boy's struggle to find out who he really is.
Harry Potter is a young boy who lives with his Aunt and Uncle, the Dursleys. They treat him cruelly by basically making him a servant and forcing him to live in a small room under the stairs. Not to mention lying to him about his parents' death, who were actually killed by a dark wizard named Voldemort. He then learns that Voldemort, though killing his parents, spared Harry's life. After arriving at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft & Wizardry, Harry learns of his popularity among the witches and wizards. This event begins his search for the truth about himself and his family.
Rowling uses this boy's story to convey a larger message to the audience. Upon boarding the train for Hogwarts, we find that Harry is beginning a new life. Many times we begin new lives by something being revealed to us just like Harry. Personal growth appears to be her message, and is clearly shown through Harry's story. How a timid little boy transforms into a brave, cunning young man who is looked up to by many of his fellow students as well as peers.
Though some parts of the novel read more slowly than others, Rowling's ability to create such vivid images made the book hard to put down. Although the book is quite simple to read, it allows the reader to ultimately relate to Harry, no matter whom it may be.
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Summary: An rad book!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Review: I never used to like to read but when my friends said it was a great book I took it out of our libary and every day I couldn't wait to get home from school and read I finished It in like 2 or 3 days it was rad every body should read it.
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Summary: BEST BOOK IVE EVER READ!!!
Review: I normaly don't like reading that much. I like it but it's not my favorite thing to do. but after my sister finished reading it(and she loved it.) I lust couldnt help but read it. That long a book would normally take me about a month to read but it was so good I finished it in just two days!! It was so exciting and anyone who hasn't read it should i promise you'll love it.
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Summary: IMAGINATION INVOKING
Review: I notice that the age range for this book is very young - being in my 30's I can definitely say that the Harry Potter books carry no age limitations. From the moment I read the first page, I became enthralled with Harry and his wizard friends. My imagination was again awakened. Rowling doesn't write down to children, making her books a true joy to all who open their magic pages. The descriptions of the people, places and things are thought provoking and well written. I've since gone on to read her other books, and am dreamily awaiting her next. KUDOS!
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Summary: This is a must read.
Review: I noticed this book at a bookstore one day several months ago but did not get it, as it was in the children's section. Then I saw Rosie's program with the author and I was even more intrigued. After reading the customer reviews, written by children and adults, I decided to purchase both of her books. I am so glad I did. I really enjoyed it. This is a must read. J. K. Rowling has created an instant classic.
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Summary: Made me want to read til all hours of the night!!!
Review: I often start a book, but don't finish it because I'm eager tobegin a new one. I kept reading Harry Potter and couldn't put itdown. I wish there was more time in a day so I could read more!!! The story was very touching in places and exciting in others. . I highly recommend Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone to anyone!
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Summary: It shows the monster!
Review: I once read that Stephen Spielberg's philosophy of moviemaking was something like the reverse of the low budget strategy of allowing people's imagination to scare them by NOT showing the monster. Spielberg wants to scare the audience by showing the monster in all its glory. That's how I felt about HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE. It shows the monster - all the monsters and fantasies that an eleven-year-old might have. Like Spielberg, Rowling only pulls it off because her monster really matches our expectations. In this case, the "monster" might be an actual monster - a troll, a dragon, an evil wizard, or a metaphorical one - uncaring step parents right out of the central casting of a child's angst; the discovery that, "hey," I really am special; teachers who really are out to get me; and bullies that get what they deserve at every corner. The book works first because Rowling does not experiment with too many alien concepts. Centaurs, unicorns, goblins pretty much look and act like a child might expect them to. Other than the annoying "Quidditch," game, there aren't too many new magical concepts or creatures needing explanation. A ghost appears and its place in the story is explained, but what a ghost is needs no explanation. J.R.R. Tolkien understood this when he wrote THE HOBBIT - although hobbits themselves required explanation, dwarves, elves, goblins, spiders and eagles did not. That's why THE HOBBIT works as a children's book, while THE LORD OF THE RINGS, with its Nazgul, ents, olephants, and balrogs is best appreciated by adults. The second aspect of this book that works is that Rowling unabashedly does with her familiar creatures and characters what an eleven-year-old would want done with them. The bully never wins the day. Nor does Harry Potter suffer from taking pleasure in seeing the bullies fail. This happens again and again, most dramatically at the end of the story when the good guys win the big contest because the benign but distant father figure somewhat arbitrarily awards them victory. All this works well together and kept me, as an adult interested enough that I now want to read the next book. I did have two small problems with SORCERER'S STONE. First, the book was enjoyable to me as an adult because in most respects, the child characters of the book thought like adults. The one exception to this rule is that they have a child-like fear of authority. They rarely go to authority figures for assistance, for fear of not being taken seriously. This is understandable for children and to children, but the reasoning, articulation and problem solving abilities of the characters are more fantastic for eleven-year-olds than their magic. The second problem I had was that the children overcome obstacles set by adults, or designed to stop adults, pretty much by repeated frontal assaults. At one point, for instance, the children out-maneuver a magical chess set. Surely the adult wizard who set the trap could out-play what amounts to a first grade wizardling? If not, how useful would the trap be in stopping a more powerful foe (it turns out the answer is, not much, but that's another matter). At another point, a clumsy child-wizard uses a basic spell to stop a troll. If it is that easy, why are adults afraid of the troll? But these are minor points. Part of the fantasy for the children for whom this book is aimed is to imagine beating grown-ups at the own games. That's a small enough demand for suspension of disbelief for a grown up to endure while enjoying this otherwise captivating story.
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