The Boy Who Lived

Monday should have been the first official day of our reading challenge, however a combination of friends/sushi/prosecco/post-half marathon exhaustion meant I didn't get a chance to start reading until yesterday. I set off for my weekly dance class with Harry Potter book in hand and spent the ~20 minute bus journey thoroughly enjoying the 1st chapter of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

Chapter 1 - The Boy Who Lived

The first thing that struck me as I was reading, was just how easy it was. I have a few friends who have commented that JK Rowling isn't necessarily a good writer, because she doesn't use complicated language. But you have to remember, these books are primarily aimed at children so, to me, it makes sense to use a style that is easy to follow. The vocabulary is simple and the sentences are short, which makes reading faster. There are plenty of descriptions of places and characters, but these are again presented very concisely, which I much prefer to the long, drawn-out and overly-detailed descriptions of other authors (read: Dickens and Tolkien).

I love the opening paragraph

It's not necessarily a very action-packed chapter, but then why should it be? It sets the scene wonderfully and leaves readers with plenty of questions:

• Why do the Dursleys hate the Potters so much?
• What's up with all the owls?
• Who are McGonagall, Dumbledore and Hagrid?
• Even more importantly, who is Voldemort and why are people afraid to say his name?
• What is it about Harry that made Voldemort unable to kill him when, as Professor McGonagall pointed out, he has had no problem killing hundreds of other people?

As much as I wish I could rediscover the Harry Potter Series all over again, I do really like re-reading the books and picking up on things that I know will be important in the future. On that note, I thought I'd compile a list of the characters and items that appeared or were mentioned in this chapter, that will become important later on. I hope I'm not missing anything too obvious - Corrie?

First Appearance Of (characters)

1. The Dursleys (Vernon, Petunia and baby Dudley)
2. Professor McGonagall
3. Albus Dumbledore
4. Hagrid
5. Harry Potter

First Appearance Of (magical things)

1. Cloaks
2. Dumbledore's put-outer (!)
3. Sirius's flying motorcycle
4. Professor McGonagall as a cat

First Mention Of

1. James and Lily Potter
2. Dedalus Diggle
3. Madam Pomfrey
4. Sirius Black
5. Dumbledore's love of sweets

I don't want to make this post too long, so I think I will finish here and leave you with some of my favorite quotes from this chapter:

"He hurried to his car and set off home, hoping he was imagining things, which he had never hoped before, because he didn't approve of imagination."

"He'll be famous - a legend - I wouldn't be surprised if today was known as Harry Potter Day in future - there will be books written about Harry - every child in our world will know his name!" 

Until next time,
Lucia