Great Book, but listen to samples by Stephen Fry before going with Jim Dale

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	• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Book 1) J. K. Rowling Scholastic Trade, 2000 - 320 pages average customer review:based on 5414 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

What is there to say about this book. All of the books in the series were very good. Unfortunately, I loaned this one to a "friend". Had to replace it as I have them all in hardback.

Wonderful...truly a performance

I love the Harry Potter series, but I was unsure of the audiobooks. Jim Dale really brings J.K. Rowling's books to life. He doesn't read--he performs. I would recommend them to anyone!

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Great Book, but listen to samples by Stephen Fry before going with Jim Dale

Well, This book and the whole Harry Potter Series is excelent, I love them. I'm currently thinking if I want to get the last Audio Books before the movies. I love the movies but books will always be better (although the first three movies I think are almost as good as the books). I did not give this 5 stars because I've heard the Audio Books by Stephen Fry (not sure if the spelling is right ;-P ). I have to say, in my humble opinion, Fry's voice is more grown up as a narrator and his character voices are excellent. His voice sounds over all more respectfull and apropiate. Jim Dale has done his version for the american audience which doesn't mean it's bad, but I like things in their original state. If a movie is made in the US, England, Mexico, or Spain, I usualy prefer it as it came out first. But that is my opinion. Listen to a sample of the Audio Book by each of the readers before you buy.

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First and Second Readings

Writing a review on the first Harry Potter book seems superfluous, as it must surely be one of the most reviewed books in the history of literature.

I will therefore refrain (more or less) from summarizing the story, and instead compare my first reading to my recent re-reading of the book.

In my first reading, I met a boy called Harry, who was the quintessential "uncool kid." He grew up at his aunt and uncle's because his parents were supposedly killed in a car crash when he was a baby. That was at least what Aunt and Uncle Dursley told him. Harry was the uncool kid both at home and at school, hence constantly jumping from the frying pan into the fire. At home, "the Dursleys often spoke about Harry (...) as though he wasn't there--or rather, as though he was something very nasty that couldn't understand them, like a slug." Their spoiled son, Dudley, also did his best to bully Harry around. And at school, "Harry had no one. Everybody knew that Dudley's gang hated that odd Harry Potter in his baggy old clothes and broken glasses, and nobody liked to disagree with Dudley's gang."

Hence, when Hogwarts' half-giant gamekeeper told Harry that he was a wizard, he could hardly believe it. And when Harry stepped through the Leaky Cauldron onto Diagon Alley, everything was new and exciting. He had not had the slightest clue that such a world existed; accordingly he saw everything through the eyes of an amazed and hungry learner.

And since I as the reader always walked by Harry's side, I, too, had this "sense of awe." Together with Harry, I marveled at Gringotts Bank and its goblins, the power of the magic wands, the magic broomsticks, Platform 9 ¾ and the steaming Hogwarts Express, the gigantic school castle, the meeting hall with its enchanted ceiling, the moving staircases, the "living" paintings, the ghosts, the owl post, and numerous other things.

Harry became like a two-year old toddler again who is excited about discovering the world, and as the reader I was a toddler with him. This is Fantasy at its best. The fact that J.K. Rowling made Harry an "outsider" to the world of magic is of great importance to the experience of the reader. Otherwise I would not have been nearly as astonished about the details of Mrs Rowling's world as I was. It also prevented the technological aspects of the Harry-Potter magic from totally disenchanting her world.

Now to my re-reading of the "Philosopher's Stone" (I still like the original British title better than the "Sorcerer's Stone").

I read the story again shortly after I finished the seventh book. Knowing where the story and characters are headed, many scenes now took on new significance. It was fascinating to read a particular passage and think: "Ah! Now I know why she put that in there." I have to complement J.K. Rowling on having planned the seven books so well.

Furthermore, reading the first book from the retrospective view of the whole series also makes a difference for the moral custodians among us. If you only read the first book, you might come away thinking that Harry Potter tries to justify the means by the end a little too much. Harry's magic is at first set into motion when he is "upset and angry", the toffee-nosed know-it-all Hermione turns likable by lying on Harry's behalf, and one of Harry's chief character traits is that of a rule breaker.

Aside from the point that novels--including juvenile ones--don't have to portray their main characters as saints, the series has, in fact, turned out to be of great moral depth. Given Harry's final moral choices at the end of Book VII, Book I can now be seen as the beginning of a "Bildungsroman." That is, a Coming Of Age Story in which Harry goes through all the stages of childhood and adolescence, to finally arrive at moral, social, and psychological maturity.

If that is not an ideal way of making teenagers aware of their own journey to maturity, I don't know what is.

- Jacob Schriftman, Author of The Crack Beneath the Worlds and Other Books

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Modern Magic

The first time I picked up this book, the first in the Harry Potter series, it was with great hesitation. Firstly, it had been a few years since I had done much reading for pleasure, so I was out of practice. Secondly, and more importantly, I had heard a great deal of hype about the series in the media, which automatically made me feel that the books were probably overrated--and I didn't want to be disappointed. In the end, around the same time the film version of this book was released, two of my close friends convinced me to give the series a try, and lent me the first book, which I read shortly thereafter.

Within a week, I had purchased and read the rest of the series (at the time, books 1-4), and was itching with anticipation for book 5. I have since purchased and read the entire series, and just recently decided to reread them all in one go.

So what makes Harry Potter so magical? For me, it was the bare simplicity of the central premise of the series that drew me in instantly. Who hasn't dreamed of having some magical powers to spice up life a bit? Not that magical powers are unique to Harry Potter; far from it, in fact. But it's much harder to really relate to grand tales of epic battles in faraway, long ago kingdoms like Tolkein's Middle Earth or so many others that have followed. What Harry Potter touches is that little daydreaming part inside of us that believes that maybe magic could be real... that it might exist right alongside us in our own "real" world.

Book 1 (The Sorcerer's Stone) will always have a special place in my heart, as it really was the book that brought me back to reading (as stated above). It is imaginative, fun, and has splashes of humor throughout. It introduces many lovable characters who will be with us throughout the series, and does a brilliant job of setting up our journey. It has a comparatively light feel (the later books get progressively darker, without question), but still keeps the reader engaged with elements of mystery and rivalry to generate conflict. And, unlike some of the later books, it is a quick read.

There are, I admit, a few times when one must employ the willing suspension of disbelief (lest the grown witches and wizards of the story seem horribly inept), but otherwise, it is a charming story and a great introduction to the journey ahead. I give it 5 stars, even though it is not my favorite in the series, mostly because this one drew me in so effectively and made me want to read the rest.

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