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annathepiperWith this post, I hereby commence my charging through the entire Harry Potter series. Today was Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, since my housemate ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
risu owns the UK editions of books 1-4, and I wanted to read those; got in the reading today on the bus to and from going to a movie.
Once I got into the story I started remembering the various plot details, most of which I'd recalled from the film version, with one or two smaller exceptions. So there weren't any real surprises here for me. Prose-wise, I found it mostly a quite accessible read, though Rowling's propensity for ellipses and all-caps screaming towards the very end got a little over the top. Plot-wise, it's a nice little story, with just enough dark adventure to it that I can see why everyone went agog over it when it came out.
What really makes the book for me, though, are the smaller details: the various strange things that happen to Harry before he gets the word to come to Hogwarts, the wave of endless letters and their changing addresses, all the little touches and descriptions of the layout of Hogwarts (like the staircases that go different places on Fridays), the Weasley family's accountant cousin that they don't talk about, the individual crafting of every student's wand, and more. It's all these things that not only put the story on a real-seeming foundation, but also give it not just a sense of wonder, but an outright rush of it. All these details are the things that make a magical world magic. Three and a half stars.
risu owns the UK editions of books 1-4, and I wanted to read those; got in the reading today on the bus to and from going to a movie.Once I got into the story I started remembering the various plot details, most of which I'd recalled from the film version, with one or two smaller exceptions. So there weren't any real surprises here for me. Prose-wise, I found it mostly a quite accessible read, though Rowling's propensity for ellipses and all-caps screaming towards the very end got a little over the top. Plot-wise, it's a nice little story, with just enough dark adventure to it that I can see why everyone went agog over it when it came out.
What really makes the book for me, though, are the smaller details: the various strange things that happen to Harry before he gets the word to come to Hogwarts, the wave of endless letters and their changing addresses, all the little touches and descriptions of the layout of Hogwarts (like the staircases that go different places on Fridays), the Weasley family's accountant cousin that they don't talk about, the individual crafting of every student's wand, and more. It's all these things that not only put the story on a real-seeming foundation, but also give it not just a sense of wonder, but an outright rush of it. All these details are the things that make a magical world magic. Three and a half stars.
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no subject
Date: 2007-11-25 10:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-11-25 07:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-11-25 09:19 pm (UTC)6 & 7 I thought were the most seriously flawed, but still enjoyed them both anyway.
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Date: 2007-11-30 03:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-11-25 05:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-11-25 07:31 pm (UTC)Also, after the recent outing of Dumbledore, I must admit to a small jolt of "HEY" when I got to the bit about his caption on the Chocolate Frogs trading cards, and the bit where it talked about his "partner" Nicholas Flamel. I was vaguely disappointed later when it was noted that he had a wife. ;)
no subject
Date: 2007-11-25 06:39 pm (UTC)&
I'm just happy you liked the films enough to give the books a try; I got bored to death trying to watch the first two movies and never looked at the rest.
&
so right about the small details adding up to a rush of wonder (nice phrase, btw, can I steal it at some hypothetical future date(s)?)
no subject
Date: 2007-11-25 06:42 pm (UTC)And you may certainly swipe the phrase at your leisure!
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Date: 2007-11-25 09:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-11-30 03:55 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-11-27 05:46 am (UTC)I know a couple of the deaths that are coming just because I got inadvertently spoiled about them, but oh well. I'll still appreciate reading about how those deaths actually happen. But I agree about the hype thing.
And let's hear it for the Ravenclaws, the House of Nerds. ^_^