Rating: 
Summary: Harry Potter: CAsting A Spell on Everyone
Review: The only reason I took Harry Potter and The Sorcerors Stone out of the school library was because I needed a book for my fantasy book report and a classmate had reccommended it. Once Harry arrived at Hogwarts, I was spellbound with the book and all of its characters, especially Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley. It had a good plot and small details you'd never think to pay attention to came into play later on in the book. Harry's encounters with Lord voldermort, the idea of the game Quidditch, and the nasty Draco Malfoy instantly got me hooked on these books. Harry Potter's adventures are real, true adventures with a hero and a real evil villain, not the cheesey over advertised adventures of movies and cartoons.
Rating: 
Summary: Okay overall, but a bit disturbing in parts.
Review: The only reason this should be a children's book is because the syntax and words are very simple (even though they're confusing due to word order sometimes, but that may just be because it's by a British author). I found some of the messages inappropriate for children. Overweight people are made fun of and likened to pigs. Even the password for the portrait of the "Fat Lady" is "pig snout." Kids can understand Dudley is a negative character without having to make him grossly obese. Rowlings, it's imagery like this that prompts kidergarten children to say they'd rather be crippled than overweight. Yes, this is what a survey found. Makes me feel sorry for all of the overweight readers of this book.Secondly, Rowlings thinks it's acceptable for people to kick cats just because they don't like cats. Maybe Rowlings has a thing against cats because she says Hagrid is allergic to them, and students (Ron, specifically) want to kick Filch's cat, and we're supposed to find this funny. I wasn't particularly amused, and this is a VERY negative idea to teach children. Thirdly, why is the ONE female child portrayed in a negative light, and we are made to think Harry and Ron have a right to dislike her? She is right when she tells them they should obey the rules and have regard for Gryffindor, but they tell her to mind her own business and to go away. Hermoine is very intelligent, can think logically, and studies well, and we are supposed to see her as a "nag" and a "know it all." How nice. Hermoine becomes the boys' friend because they rescue her from a troll while she cowers against a wall in the bathroom. They don't treat her kindly because of who she is, but because of a shared dangerous experience. Smart girls out there, better throw yourselves in front of cars if you want to make friends...Overall, Harry and Ron have NO negative traits (the book tries to get across, anyway), and Hermoine is an annoying, condescending teacher's pet. Thank you, Rowlings, for further discouraging girls from trying to excel academically. Also, Harry is very bland, and Hermoine tells HIM that HE'S the better wizard because there are things more important than tricks and cleverness. Um, like what? HERMOINE got Harry to the last room under the castle. Harry was a dead blank with the logic puzzle, and all his skills are innate (flying, skin that burns monsters, you know, the usual). He didn't earn any of his talents, which is okay for fantasy's sake, but he doesn't have a kind personality to make us sympathize with and root for him. He talks about hating people, is vindictive, and never displays any sort of depth in the least. He gets sad when he thinks of his dead parents--not very deep. For all the development of Harry Potter, he might as well have been a supporting character. Rowling's tries to make him interesting by describing his past, but that still doesn't make his personality (or lack thereof) interesting. All we can really conclude is he is brave and misses his parents. And I REALLY do not appreciate the kids telling eachother to "shut up" all the time. I don't say this in front of my kid, and I certainly won't read it aloud from a book. Maybe things are supposed to be this simple because it's a children's book, and in that case, I don't see why anyone with above a high-school education gets all worked up over Harry Potter. The movie made the characters more loveable than the book, and the book painted some very negative images. I bought it to read to my daughter, but I won't be doing so now.
Rating:
Summary: Next Time...
Review: The only things better than reading Harry Potter is listening to Jim Dale's narration, and the variety of voices that bring the story to life. You will not be dissappointed. My only caveat is that the tapes will probably wear out if you listen to it as often as my family does. Next time I'm going for the CD version.
Rating:
Summary: This is one of the best books I ever read!!!
Review: The other best book I ever read was Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. I can't wait to read the next book! I am 7 years old and love books. I couldn't go to sleep without reading at least a chapter every night. The best news this summer was that there were going to be a lot more Harry Potter books.
Rating:
Summary: The PERFECT book for NEbody!
Review: The people at Amazon.com were smart enough to make this a book on the top of their list. It has a gripping plot, imaginative characters, and a good-and-evil storyline. This book does not contain all that foolish nonsense that other books have, it blends fictional magic into real-life, which I love! I've read the first, and second one, and I can't wait to see the third one in bookstores! This is a MUST BUY! It will stand in a treasured place in your bookcase. Perfect for ADULTS and children.
Rating: 
Summary: got to read this book
Review: The plot of the book is,Harry is a wizard and his mother and father die when he is a baby. So he has to go live with "muggles" or people that aren't witches or wizards. When he turns eleven he gets a lot of letters from the best school of witchcarft and wizardy, which his mother and father also went to. So he goes to the school, the name is Hogwarts, and a bunch strange things happen to him and his friends(Ron and Hermione). So they decide to try and find out what's going on around the school. And they do. It has to do with the Sorcerer's Stone(hints the name)and the person who killed Harry's parents(Lord Voldermort) That's all I'm going to tell you becuase i don't want to ruin it for you. My opinion of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is I thought is was wonderful, but I saw the movie before i I read the book. It was hard getting into the first few chapters. When
I did I could not put the book down. My parents had to take the book away to get me to go to sleep. The main antagonist main are Draco Malfoy, Profesor Snape, Lord Voldermort, Profesor Quirrell, and the DRusleys. The main protagonist are of course Harry Potter, Hermoine Ganger, Ron Weasley, Profesor Dumbledore,and Hargrid.
Rating:
Summary: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Review: The plot of the story is about a boy, Harry Potter, has to live with his aunt, uncle, and his cousin Dudly because his parents were murdered by Lord Voldemort. Harry makes new friends and enemies at Hogwarts School of Magic... I have read many books before, this book was a little bit juvenile for me but it was still very good to keep me reading through to the fourth book. The author did a good job using descriptive words and phrases in her book, it gave me a good mental picture of what was going on. To give an example 'Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers.' Harry Potter is a famous boy, ever since the night when his parents were killed Voldemort was about to kill him put his mothers love was too strong so he ended up with a lighting scar on his forehead. Here is a quote as an example, "Bless my soul," whispered the bartender, "Harry Potter... what an honor." "Always wanted to shake your hand - I'm all a flutter." I thought this book kept me interested with the action. I recommend this to book to kids between the ages of 8-12. Any adult can read it but they might not like it. I believe that this is not a book for everyone unless you like fictional, action, adventure books.
Rating:
Summary: Flying the flag for Children's Literature
Review: The popularity of the Harry Potter series is well deserved: itis not only a ground-breaking, original story which draws in thereader, but also responsible for bringing a lot of new readers intothe realm of children's books. Not just all of those boys who hadn'twillingly read a novel before, either. All over the world adults haverediscovered the magic of children's literature - on any bus or trainyou could spot a university student or a man in a suit reading aboutthe adventures of Harry. I loved children's books before HarryPotter, but many of my friends (who I nagged until they read the firstbook) had forgotten about them. My Mum in particular found the seriesa wonderful escapist experience for reading after work. The onlynegative I could say about the series is that it brought theimaginative, Fantasy genre to the attention of people who think thatanything out of the mundane must be of the occult. And the onlynegative thing that I could say about this particular book is that thenext one in the series is even better.
Rating:
Summary: The awesome 1st Book of Harry Potter
Review: The protagonist in this story is Harry Potter.
The conflict in this story is when someone is trying to steal the stone.
Harry just found out he is a wizard. In this book he will encounter trolls, several mean teachers,big feasts, friends, and big bullies.
The best parts in this book to me is when he finds out he is a wizard,When he takes his first at the wizarding world, and when he saves the stone.
I highly recommend this book to people who like fantasy and mysteries!!
Rating:
Summary: Hype over movie uncalled for--albeit excitement over book
Review: The real problem with trying to assess such a series objectively for its merits and weaknesses is simply the fact that the hype and furore, not to mention the backlash against the conservatives' hatred of it as "satanic", has obfuscated the truth of what it really is. In many ways, this is a case of the reputation preceding the "person", which I use to refer to the protagonist Harry Potter. The conflict between good and evil is set in an imaginary context of kids trying to learn magic in the Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The magic, however, has virtually little related to the magic amidst occult circles that Christians are wary of, and most of the time, they are in fact caricatures of the "magic" that has been mediatised on television and print media such as children's books. The character of Voldemort, while standing as a figuration of evil, with Harry Potter as his adversary, does not make the equation of "good versus evil" out to be that simple. Harry Potter, as we recall in many parts of the novel, does have the realization that his powers can be twisted to evil like Voldemort's, since Voldemort was in fact a former student of Hogwarts. Also, the revolting children in the series, such as Draco malfoy, who are bullies, but still do not really count as "evil", make the series appear more like a preamble to the revolting children of Roald Dahl stories. Comparisons of the series, and I particularly use the first book to reinforce my case, to the "Chronicles of Narnia" and "The Lord of the Rings" are also somewhat mistaken. C.S Lewis and J.R.R Tolkien wrote their novels such that characters were located either in a speculative leap into another world with a cosmic battle between good and evil, or another world with its own constitutive battles for the triumph and ascendancy of good over evil. J.K Rowling's series would be more pedagogically oriented, in that I perceive the audience to be a younger one, mainly kids and pre-high schoolers rather than the adolescent crowd of Lewis' or the adult audience drawn to epic in Tolkien's case.
To match that, the children do take a leap into another world, but the world does not necessarily have such cosmic principles of good versus evil governing them. The battle between Voldemort and Harry(and company) is not developed until late into the last few chapters, and the earlier and middle parts of "The Philosopher's Stone" focuses more on Harry's experiences as a young boy brought out of his immediate experiences (as an ordinary boy bullied by others as a loser into a stimulating environment which compels him to change, through education and the discovery of his parentage mainly). To be more critical of the series, I would comment that it does foster a greater sense of literacy and excitement in children indirectly but it is not commensurate with the amount of overt publicity it receives.
|
