Another slice of my previous blog wreckage here.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone – J. K. Rowling
Imagine, you’ve just spent the first 10 years of your life believing your parents died in a freak car accident and as a result, you ended up sleeping in the cupboard under the stairs with a family who absolutely despise you and treat you like vermin. Now, imagine that by some magical miracle, a giant man with a curious umbrella and a flying motorbike comes to rescue you from this horrible family and tells you that not only were your parents murdered by an evil wizard, but that you’re a wizard too! All of a sudden you’re a wizarding celebrity surrounded by other wizards, magic wands, flying broomsticks and snot flavoured sweets!Well in true children’s storytelling style, this is exactly what happens to eleven year old Harry Potter in J.K Rowling’s first novel of the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.
Dubbed as the next Roald Dahl, J. K. Rowling’s magical boarding school thriller draws plenty of similarities between Rowling’s vile Dursley family and Dahl’s depiction of horrible guardians/parents like Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker from James and the Giant Peach and the Wormwood’s from Matilda. I could probably write an essay about the similarities between Rowling’s magical tale and others much like it, not least it’s detective like style akin to that of Sherlock Holmes.But what truly ticks every box when it comes to this first novel, is Rowling’s refreshingly inventive use of narrative devices, the enchanting characters she introduces us to along the way and the invention of the most brutally magical sport we’ve ever imagined!
A true classic for children and adults alike. If you haven’t read this a) what rock have you been hiding under and b) read it. I loved it
