JK Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

In the case of Harry Potter, I’m one of the late bloomers and I’m quite glad about it. I have been dodging JK Rowling’s Harry Potter series ever since I could remember. It started off as something that everyone (and by everyone I mean every other peer in school) was reading and I just did not want to follow suit. Then, as more books got added to the series, it became a mountain that I did not have the patience to climb.

And then, as time went on, I picked up The Lord of the Rings series and had fallen irrevocably in love with it and could not stand the risk or thought of any other book replacing it. So, I refrained from reading the series, until now. Nearly three decades into my life and now I get around to reading the series. Almost all credit for it goes to the blogging community – for motivating me to start the series.

In the short duration that I have been here, I have come across at least one post a day where someone is raving about the series. And I decided I’ve had enough. I’ve had enough of not knowing what this amazing series is, that everyone seems to love. And I dared to start with JK Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. And I got a small taste of what I’ve been hearing / reading about. Let me share it with you.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone starts with enough mystery to make you thumb through the first few pages without much effort. Then, as the story progressed and built up to Harry Potter meeting Hagrid, I felt that the story kind of started dragging. I was about to give up, when my friend at the Later Alligator Blog suggested that I try looking at this from the point of view of a youngster, and imagine the awe that a young mind would feel. Imagine, I did. And I realized that there was a sense of humor that a younger audience would definitely appreciate.

And so, thus encouraged, I moved on and before I knew it, I had reached the last page of the book. *Gasp* How did that happen? I thought it would take me at least a few days to finish it, but in reality, it took just all of 2 to 3 days (or rather, nights). And before I knew it, I was all geared up for book 2 of the series (which I will be reviewing very soon).

It’s really no wonder that most parents would be happy to indulge their children with the series – it has a whole lot about friendship, morals, perseverance, victory of the good over evil and all the other things that children should know about. And it communicates all of this in a wonderfully entertaining way. But more than anything else, what made me glad I picked up this book was the fact that it takes your imagination to another level. It’s rich with fantasy. And it’s amazing!

All-in-all a great read. Would I recommend this book to anyone? Yes, of course I will. While this book in itself is a big reason to start the series, the mystery in the following books (I’m currently on book 5) make the journey absolutely worthwhile!