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A review by bookphile
Harry Potter und der Stein der Weisen by J.K. Rowling
4.0
So I finished re-reading Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, thoughts:
Tumblr has a way of warping canon, like the fact that Harry is kind of dumb. You know, like the broom shaped parcel (oh I wonder what that is??!), in the book, it isn’t actually broom shaped, it’s not described at all, it just says parcel.
Or that Harry doesn’t seem that curious about magic and Hogwarts enough. First, he does read a lot of the school books after he gets them. But since he can only read at night and he has about a week, he obviously doesn’t have a lot of time. Also, no matter how interesting the subject, when it’s taught by a boring ass teacher, nothing can save it.
Second, the poor boy is, at least at first, terrified of asking questions. Because the Vernons would yell and punish him for it all the time and tried to stomp out all curiosity out of Harry. This made me so upset.
Like, I saw that post that pointed out all the ways in which Dumbledore is an asshole, and one of them was leaving Harry in an abusive household. Aside from beating him (though they let Dudley do that) I’m pretty sure the Vernons had mentally and emotionally abused him, starved him, punished him for curiosity. For some reason, it didn’t seem so bad to me before? But the last time I read the books was like five years ago… I’m just beyond upset thinking about it. Dumbledore you’re a piece of shit, and it’s like, a miracle that Harry turned out into a kind, loving, amazing person that he is and not some emotionally stunted zombie.
Ron is surprisingly decisive, which I guess I forgot because the movies made him the dumb jealous friend. But he always thinks on his feet and is quick to action.
Even though Neville is barely there, he actually does go through a lot of character growth. Including not only standing up to bullies, but also his friends. Also, seeing value in himself, even repeating the words “I’m worth ten of you Malfoy.”
I wish Professor Quirrell was a slightly more obvious villain, but Harry is so determined (and for good reason) to be suspicious of Snape and to hate him, that he doesn’t notice Quirrell.
Also, I wish we got to see more inside the different classes and actual classes and spells, I feel like this is glossed over a lot.
Tumblr has a way of warping canon, like the fact that Harry is kind of dumb. You know, like the broom shaped parcel (oh I wonder what that is??!), in the book, it isn’t actually broom shaped, it’s not described at all, it just says parcel.
Or that Harry doesn’t seem that curious about magic and Hogwarts enough. First, he does read a lot of the school books after he gets them. But since he can only read at night and he has about a week, he obviously doesn’t have a lot of time. Also, no matter how interesting the subject, when it’s taught by a boring ass teacher, nothing can save it.
Second, the poor boy is, at least at first, terrified of asking questions. Because the Vernons would yell and punish him for it all the time and tried to stomp out all curiosity out of Harry. This made me so upset.
Like, I saw that post that pointed out all the ways in which Dumbledore is an asshole, and one of them was leaving Harry in an abusive household. Aside from beating him (though they let Dudley do that) I’m pretty sure the Vernons had mentally and emotionally abused him, starved him, punished him for curiosity. For some reason, it didn’t seem so bad to me before? But the last time I read the books was like five years ago… I’m just beyond upset thinking about it. Dumbledore you’re a piece of shit, and it’s like, a miracle that Harry turned out into a kind, loving, amazing person that he is and not some emotionally stunted zombie.
Ron is surprisingly decisive, which I guess I forgot because the movies made him the dumb jealous friend. But he always thinks on his feet and is quick to action.
Even though Neville is barely there, he actually does go through a lot of character growth. Including not only standing up to bullies, but also his friends. Also, seeing value in himself, even repeating the words “I’m worth ten of you Malfoy.”
I wish Professor Quirrell was a slightly more obvious villain, but Harry is so determined (and for good reason) to be suspicious of Snape and to hate him, that he doesn’t notice Quirrell.
Also, I wish we got to see more inside the different classes and actual classes and spells, I feel like this is glossed over a lot.