Publisher’s write-up:
‘Harry Potter has never even
heard of Hogwarts when the letters start dropping on the doormat at number
four, Privet Drive. Addressed in green ink on yellowish parchment with a purple
seal, they are swiftly confiscated by his grisly aunt and uncle. Then, on
Harry's eleventh birthday, a great beetle-eyed giant of a man called Rubeus
Hagrid bursts in with some astonishing news: Harry Potter is a wizard, and he
has a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. An incredible
adventure is about to begin!’
Harry Potter and the
Philosopher’s Stone is the first book in the seven book Harry Potter series.
Released in the late 90s, this book took the world by storm in the decade that
followed – with an active fan base, roaring merchandise sales and a
multimillion-dollar movie franchise. Despite all this, this is the first time I
am reading this book by myself – this book was read to me when I was a child and
thus, I always knew the story from the book, but it has taken several years
before I picked it up myself.
Coming to the plot – there is a
boy living with his spoiled cousin, uncle, and aunt. It started out as a
typical fairy-tale of the oppressed orphan who had a greater calling and was to
be guided to it by a guardian angel. And that he was, by Hagrid – the
gamekeeper of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry – came to pick Harry
up and take him to ‘his world’ the world of magic. His parents were killed
by a power hungry dark lord during the wizarding war but surprisingly, had
himself incapacitated while trying to kill Harry; thus making him the Boy
who lived, extremely famous among wizards for this feat, a fame which to
this moment he is unaware of.
The book features Harry’s
adventures in his first year of school, where he has two friends, Ron the funny
one and Hermione, the smart one – thus forming the triangle of a standard young
adult novel. There are various challenges Harry needs to face, adapting to the
new world, learning the skills (whilst being a frequent target considering his
fame) and of course, terrible things begin to happen at Hogwarts which
the curious eleven year olds try to solve.
I would confess that when I was
young, I have fantasised a lot of situations from the Harry Potter universe –
wishing that my school were like Hogwarts and the amazing world that the
wizards lived in. In that sense, the author had done an excellent job in
capturing the imagination of the readers and that perhaps explains the fame
that this had. We are introduced a fine range of characters with diverse
characteristics, Albus Dumbledore – the protective headmaster of the school,
the professors McGonagall and Snape; while the former was the disciplinarian, the
latter maintained an air of mystery around him throughout the plot. There was
Hagrid, who was the caring figure and provided Harry with the sense of family
that he never had, and Malfoy – his rival who always seemed envious of Harry
and his friends.
It was an engaging plot and
certainly a page turner, as the curiosity surrounding the events in the school
and also the reader’s quest to learn more about this new world kept me going
(or what would have kept me going had I been introduced to it for the first
time). While I praised the wide range of characters that were introduced, I
also felt that they lacked the layers that normally produce characters whom we
love. They were either good or evil and there was nobody in between. For
instance, taking the example of Dursleys (Harry’s uncle and aunt) – they did
not shy away from the responsibility they felt towards Harry, did not leave him
to a foster home / orphanage and did raise him for eleven years. When such
options were available to them, their behaviour towards him made no sense
unless you buy into the logic that they are ‘evil people’. Same could be said
for the other characters who played a negative role such as Draco Malfoy.
Again, I understand that this is
a young adult novel and thus, the protagonist who is normally a schoolkid saves
the day; however, one must understand that people like Headmaster Dumbledore
are presented as infallible and the abilities of the other staff in the school
are spoken of very highly. However, despite all this – it falls to the three
curious first year students to ‘fix’ everything, which only has one conclusion,
the management of the school was not as great as it was projected to be.
Over time, I have been a lot
disillusioned with the kind of world that seems to have been portrayed in this
universe, but I would address that separately in another article.
To conclude, I would say that it
was a fine start to the series – and I would reiterate that it is a standard
young adult novel (it is not ageless as the fans claim) and if you like such
novels, this is certainly a great series to read and I would say with
absolutely certainty that it is better to read the book than to watch the film.
I would rate this book six on
ten.
Rating – 6/10
Have a nice day,
Andy
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