My Ramblings on Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by JK Rowling

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
By: J. K. Rowling

Summary: 

Harry Potter has never been the star of a Quidditch team, scoring points while riding a broom far above the ground. He knows no spells, has never helped to hatch a dragon, and has never worn a cloak of invisibility. 

All he knows is a miserable life with the Dursleys, his horrible aunt and uncle, and their abominable son, Dudley—a great big swollen spoiled bully. Harry's room is a tiny closet at the foot of the stairs, and he hasn't had a birthday party in eleven years. 

But all that is about to change when a mysterious letter arrives by owl messenger: a letter with an invitation to an incredible place that Harry—and anyone who reads about him—will find unforgettable. For it's there that he finds not only friends, aerial sports, and magic in everything from classes to meals, but a great destiny that's been waiting for him... if Harry can survive the encounter.

My Ramblings:

And so the summer of Fantasy and Magic continues. Although if I was being honest with myself, it would be called the "summer of Fantasy, Magic and a ridiculous amount of homework", but I'm picked these books to read as an escape from all that homework, so let's forget it even exists. 

On Thursday it all ends. No more books, no more movies, no more magic of the Hogwarts kind. Thank goodness we have Pottermore to look forward to, because at least it's something. For right now though, reading Sorcerer's Stone with Part 2 looming so near seemed fitting. Do you remember the first time you read it? The first time you imagined getting your own invitation to Hogwarts? I don't really. I think I was a senior in high school- so I was a good 3 years behind the game. I read the books right after I saw the first movie. So for me, Harry will always be Daniel Radcliff, Snape will always speak with that voice of Alan Rickman's and Hogwarts will always look the way it does on film. Of course this doesn't take anything away from the reading of the books because these are some beautifully and loyally made movies. They don't disappoint in any way. 

How about the book though? Does it hold up after all this time? Obviously, the answer is yes. A million times yes. It was just as magical to read it this time as it was 10+ years ago. I found myself marveling over the lack of sympathy shown by the Dursley, hating Draco from the word go and falling in love with the trio of hero's that we find in Harry, Ron and Hermione. It was if I had no idea how it would all end, even though I do. That says a lot about Rowling's writing and the world she created. 

There were other moments that once you know how they end, you can't really ever un-know, it changes the way you see the characters and their actions. You can see their motivation and their destiny now in a way that wasn't clear on the first read. I'm thinking, of course, of Professor Snape and Neville Longbottom. They have such a pivotal role by the end that seeing them for the first time here in Sorcerer's Stone takes on a new meaning because you see them as they will be instead of how Harry is seeing them for the first time. Can I again say that this says a lot about Rowling's writing and the world she created? I get the feeling that she knew from the first page where these characters would end up. 

I think it's only fair to say that I love these books, I love this series, I love these characters and I'm not nearly ready for it to all end. As an almost 30 year old I still wish that I'd get my invite to Hogwarts. What a fabulous first stop on one of the best series I've ever read. Can't wait to pick up The Chamber of Secrets in a few weeks and of course to see Part 7 in a few days. I can't think of any other way to end this then to say Thank God for J.K. Rowling for giving us all a little bit of magic. 

You've read Harry Potter right? If not, I can't say enough times, do. Read it. I hope you love it as much as I do!

A Journey to Middle Earth...

...With a side trip to Westeros and a pit stop at Hogwarts. So this has turned into a very, very busy summer. 4 classes leading into fieldwork in the fall and then student teaching. Something has to give and unfortunately I think it has to be the constant blogging. Trying to keep up with the latest and greatest, the reading a book a night, the joining in on every blog tour I can and saying yes to every review request that peaks my interest- well, it's exhausting. Pile school on top of that and it's almost undoable. I'm sure you've noticed that the posts are getting fewer and farther between. It's not intentional, every day I think "today I'll get a post up" and then it gets late and I get tired and, well, the posts get's pushed back.

So I've decided to do something different. I'm taking a literary journey through some of my favorite series...Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter and my new addiction A Song of Ice and Fire. I'll still be picking up books that I want to read (Hello Forever- I see you over there waiting), but I'm taking the pressure off.I'll still be rambling on about all the books I'm reading, I'm just taking the pressure to keep up with the Joneses off. So I hope you'll join me as I revisit old favorites (LOTR), say goodbye to good friends (HP. I'm not ready for the end) and embark on new adventures (SOIF).

Up first is The Hobbit- I'm reading it for the first time in about 15 years. So far it feels a little bit like coming home mixed with discovering that something you thought you knew is something altogether more amazing then you remember!

Care to join me on this journey? These are the books I'm getting into first...
J.R.R. Tolkien Boxed Set (The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings) (I actually own this set- it's awesome!)
Harry Potter Paperback Box Set (Books 1-7) (Also own this set- I'm a nerd)
George R. R. Martin's A Game of Thrones 4-Book Boxed Set: A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, and A Feast for Crows (A Song of Ice and Fire) (I do not own this whole set yet- but holy cow, do I want to...badly.)

Whatcha Thinking Thursday (1)

So I'm starting a new meme. I haven't seen anything like this so I don't think I'm stepping on anyones toes. Of course, I do not read every book blog out there so if someone knows of the meme going on somewhere else, please let me know!

With that out of the way- here's how this will work. Each Thursday I'll simply blog about something book related that's weighing on my mind. Feel free to comment away if you agree or disagree (just keep it clean, okay?), or if you want to post to your site either on the same topic or about whatever it is you're thinking about go right ahead. I just ask that you link back to here. Also- make sure you add your blog to the list so we can find you too!

So without further ado, I'm thinking about epilogues.

Yup. Epilogues. I finished two books on Tuesday. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins and Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce. I was already in love with Collins' Hunger Games books, so it is no surprise that I loved Mockingjay as well (review here). On the flip side, I'd never read anything by Pearce, and going up against Mockingjay is a pretty tough match, but I have to say, I really enjoyed Sisters Red as well. There was really only one thing that seperated the two in my mind. The epilogue.

To be upfront, I hate epilogues. I hated it in Harry Potter, hated it in Perfect Chemistry (Simone Elkeles) and I hated it in Mockingjay. Here's my arguement against the epilogue. It's such a let down. We've just spent an entire book, or in some case 7 entire books, living with these charecters. Laughing with them, crying with them, hurting with them and unltimately loving them. In many cases the book ends with a triumph of some kind, an overcoming of previously insurmountable odds and then suddenly it's 20 years later and everyone is happy and isn't it wonderful. I feel like it cheapens the lives that I know they must have had in the interim. I get that it is a way to give us a peak into the future, to let us know that they are all okay, but it still just doesn't work for me. To condense it to 3-4 happy pages seems inadequate, and I inevitable feel let down, dissapointed. These books are books that I love, and they end in a way that doesn't do the writing and charecters justice. Yet, I continue to see epilogues tacked on there at the end, like an afterthought to the brilliance that came before. It's tantamount to another device I dislike. Why not just end the book with "and they all lived happily ever after" and call it a day?

I was beginning to think that a good epilogue was impossible, and then I finished Sisters Red (review here), and there it was, a good epilogue. Why was it good? In my opinion it was good because it didn't make any giant leaps into the future, I didn't feel I missed anything. The epilogue jumps about 7 months forward to point where our three fenris hunters, Scarlett, Rose and Silas are just beginning to get their lives back on track, to find their own place in the world. We see them heading out into the world and are left to wonder what will happen next without wondering what it is that happened between the end of the story and the point at which the epilogue begins.

So that's what I'm thinking about. How about you? Epilogue love or epilogue hate? Or, do you have something totally different on your mind?