Finally!! I’ve finally gotten to the point of writing my opinions on this book!! Leave it to me to wait until the last possible moment to get started on this challenge. I literally started this book at 10 a.m. yesterday. So. Bad. But I read almost all day yesterday and for about an hour tonight and finished it. I honestly feel proud to know that I set out to accomplish this task and, at the moment, it looks like I will succeed. 😀
So, here we go. Starting with Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.
I am just as in love with this book as I was when I first picked it up. I still think that J.K. Rowling is an excellent writer and I can’t help but smile at certain quotes in this book.
I have to note, however, that I haven’t read this book since well before I started to study English here at uni. I still think that Rowling is an awesome writer, but this series is obviously one that the reader was to grow with as each book came out. At times, I felt like I was reading Eragon, a book written by a guy who was between the ages of 14 and 16 when he wrote it. It showed. BUT, with this being said, there was not a single time where I wished that I was not reading this book. It is so full of adventure and, though written about magic, I believe that it is full of life lessons such as loyalty to your friends and respect for your mentors which people of any age can learn from.
One of my favorite parts of writing about what I think about books is to post quotes from the books. So I’ll post three of my favorites from this book.
Diagon Alley
“Welcome,” said Hagrid, “to Diagon Alley.” (71)
Yes. There are quotes before this that should be discussed, but, I pick this one as one of my favorites because it is a turning point in the novel. This is when Harry finds that there is an entire other world out there that has just been waiting for him to show up. I find the break that Rowling put in when she adds that Hagrid is saying it was very much needed. If the quote had been merely stated at “Welcome to Diagon Alley”, there wouldn’t have been time to build anticipation for the reader. Dramatic pauses make me happy in novels. haha. I’m kind of energetic when I’m reading if that makes any sense. I like to turn novels into movies in my head, as many people do. So…yeah. haha. Moving on.
Devil's Snare
“Yeah,” said Ron, “and lucky Harry doesn’t lose his head in a crisis — ‘there’s no wood,’ honestly.” (279)
This line makes me laugh so hard every time I read it. Hermione had just remembered what would get rid of the Devil’s Snare and Harry had told her to light a fire to which she responded that there wasn’t any wood. Harry freaks out asking her if she was a witch or not. Sometimes even the brightest of people say the most stupid of things. In this case, I love that Rowling showed a side of Hermione again that showed that she was human; that she did make mistakes sometimes. I laugh because Ron finally gets a friendly jab at Hermione. And geez, if I would have known that Ron and Hermione were going to be together in the end of the series when I was 12…I would have laughed even harder the first time I ever read this book. haha. And one last quote…
Dumbledore Visits Harry
“After all, to the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.” (297)
This quote is my absolute favorite one from the entire series. I’ve come to realize that we shouldn’t be sad that our loved ones are gone. They’re starting a new adventure for themselves. Sure, we’ll miss them, but they’re starting something new. I dunno. But anyway! Rowling casually slips this quote from Dumbledore into his story about what is going to happen to Nicholas Flamel and his wife now that the Sorcerer’s Stone has been destroyed. Yes, to Dumbledore, his mind is well organized. His thoughts on death are far from being skewed even though Ron believes that he is “off his rocker” for thinking the way he does about death. I find the quote to be moving which, obviously, leads me to love it.
So that’s the end of my quotes. I have little left to say about this book except for I hope to read it again many times over before I die and I hope that at some point in my life, I will be able to pass along my love for the books to my own children.
Life is so full of adventure, but sometimes you have to go looking for it. And along the way, you find yourself.
What do you think of this book?
What are your favorite quotes from it?
❤
as told by melynda 