Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone - A Retrospective

While not my favorite book of the series, Philosopher's Stone has a special place in my heart for obvious reasons - it is the story that first introduced us to the characters we all know and love. I read the book for the first time 15 years ago (where has the time gone?) and was very happy to see that it has stood the test of time.

I think this was my 8th or 9th reading of Harry Potter's origin story and I still love it. After so many years, it still has the ability to make me smile or even laugh out loud. Obviously the mystery is not a mystery anymore and there are very few surprises left, but I like that I am still picking up on new details and am still finding new topics to think about and discuss.

Overall, I had a great time reading and analyzing this book. In a way, knowing what's coming makes it even more enjoyable as I can more fully appreciate the hints and clues that JK Rowling has planted right at the beginning of the series.

Personally, I would have liked the book even more if it had been a bit longer - at 223 pages it is the shortest book of the series. I can understand why - keep coming back to this: it was a book primarily marketed for children - but I am nevertheless a fan of chunkier pieces of literature, which is why I love Books 4 and 5 so much, and think that Philosopher's Stone could have been fleshed out a bit more, especially near the end. By the time we get introduced to Norbert the Norwegian Ridgeback, it feels like JK Rowling is just barreling down to the finish line and I feel the story suffers for it a bit.

I like all of the characters, although I would have liked to see more of Quirrell - I don't really buy him as the bad guy and would have liked to know more about him. The other characters are a bit one-dimensional, but as there are still 6 books in which they will grow into more well-rounded people, this doesn't bother me too much.

And so we have reached the end of my journey through Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. All that is left for me to do now is to rate and rank it. The ranking will be easy for this one:

1. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

As for the rating:

7/10 - liked the book a great deal, but as an adult would have liked to have some more world building and really think the ending would have benefited from another chapter or two to properly tie things up.

The Golden Trio (source)

Until next time,

Lucia