Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone - J.K. Rowling > Reviews (253)

Hello,

outside it is cold and gray. What does one make there best? Clearly, one sits down with a big cup of hot tea and a book in its bed and reads the whole day or at least the half one. Thus happen the whole last week and because I wanted to polish up my already rather stunted school-English again, I have bought to myself the books published up to now from Harry Potter in their English original version.

Only to your better understanding, I'm from Germany and might improve here my English a little.

Now, however, to the first volume!!!

Indeed many of you will already know the story, because you have read the books and with it also the first volume which appeared in 1997 either already or have seen at least the matching movie. Indeed, I must emphasize here once again that movies are never so good as the matching books, because in the books the figures can be much more exactly looked. But what happens now?

We are in the private drive number 4, to the house of the Dursleys which are very proudly to be a quite normal family. However, they have a secret and it is their biggest fear that this secret one day gets to the general public. Their secret are the Potters!

The Dursleys consist of Vernon, a thick and rather sullen man, Petunia, a tall, slender woman with neck good as giraffe and their son, Dudley which is the nicest and most great child in the world for both, although he probably has rather resemblance with a small, nasty pig.

One day, Dudley is one year old, the worst nightmare of the Dursleys should become true. Family Potter steps again in their life, or better said, the little son Harry. The Dursleys find him one day on their stair and take up him with themselves.

We make a big jump. Harry is 10 years old meanwhile. He still lives with his uncle and his aunt. Indeed, these are not the loving relatives, no. Harry must sleep under the stair in a broom chamber and is tyrannized by his cousin Dudley and his friends where it only goes. The Dursleys give only old and outworn clothes of Dudley to Harry, because Harry is, however, the whole opposite of his big and very much thick cousin, looks whole in it rather than he would have been put in potato bags. Harry von Dudley, but also from its remaining appearance differs not only from size and body fullness. While Dudley, is very pink, is meaty and blond, Harry is a little bit small for his age, very thinly, he has beaming green eyes and black, unkempt hair. What, however, the most remarkable of him is the scar on his forehead which looks like a flash. The Dursleys have always told to him that he has got this with the same car accident with which his parents have been killed. Harry believes this story also up to his 11th birthday, because he had to make up to now no reason this not.

However, shortly before Harrys 11th birthday everything should change. All at once funny letters arrive which move the Dursleys in fear and fright and they want on no case which he reads them. From day to day the letters become more, to uncles Vernon to itself his wife, his son and Harry snaps around his to take down pursuer ’ and to take from them thus the chance to send other letters to the Dursleys or better to Harry.

He creeps away with them at a very stormy night in an old hut on a little isle near the coast and already thinks that he has won, however, point 0 o'clock on 31.6 to Harrys birthday, there appears with rumbling and crashing Hagrid.

Hagrid is 5 times bigger certainly and as wide as a normal man. He explains Harry now in his 11th birthday who he really or better WHAT he is real. Harry is namely a magician and should go the following school year on the magician's school Hogwarts in which Hagrid the gamekeeper is. During this day Harry also finds out for the first time how his parents were really killed. They died not with a normal car accident, but were killed by the worst magician, lord Voldemort. Voldemort also wanted to kill the Harry year-old at that time, however, he failed because of him, lost his power and disappeared. Everything remained what Harry of this attack, is his scar on the forehead. The Dursleys are not inspired of course that Harry knows now everything and also should go to this school. For them is all agreed nonsense which should be forbidden, however, with Hagrids help Harry does not let himself forbid his life coming now and begins on the 1st September at the beginning of the new school year one ‚new' life.

Harry never had up to now friends, because his cousin Dudley beat up all which dealt with him. However, now he gets to know Ron Weasley, a red-haired boy with a lot of freckles from great family and both already get on in the train to the school perfectly and become right away the best friends. In the course of the school year pleasing itself both, after some initial problems, also with Hermione Granger in. She is a right grind, knows all school books them need by heart and also knows so almost everything from the magic world, although her parents Muggle (non-magic people) are.

In threes they are involved in many evening-expensive, however, also in quarrels with their biggest rival the Draco Malfoy which thinks that he is something better, because he comes from a magician's family with pure blood, that means in his family there is no Muggle. However, their biggest evening-expensive is the search for the Pholospoher's Stone from they might know as a pupil, actually, nothing. How they find out, however, the whole thing around the stone of the ways, however, what is the stone of the ways etc., you must find out this, if you should not know the story yet or have forgotten it again.

My thoughts
> <<p>Still I am still inspired by the story around and about Harry Potter. And I am on no case the only whom as ‚adult ’ person this book which was meant originally for children has devoured. As said I had read the book already into German (and this not only once), however, it was still just nice, above all because the English original version is different, nevertheless, anyhow, because the dialects of the single figures provide anyhow another emotion while reading.Nevertheless, as intimatedly my school-English had become stunted in the course of the years already a little bit, however, I must say, I did not have to understand really completely so bad problems the book what lies certainly with the fact that it was written, actually, for children.

Clearly I had to look from time to time sometimes in a dictionary, but not in such a way that I despairs and shortly before it was to be surrendered. I found, e.g., also the dialect of Hagrid (little extract:‚ Couldn't make us a cup o ’ tea, could yeh ? It's not been an easy journey … ’ He strode over to the sofa where Dudley sat frozen with fear . ‘ Budge up, yeh great lump, ’ said the stranger. *Bloomsbury paperback copie*) heavily so that one could also read his 'language' fast and liquidly.

J.K. Rowling has really found a nice and above all very easy writing style. Each also before its English has to bring at least a little bit again on person in front, I can only advise that to reach to this book, because I notice it in me who is made just by so simply texts already a lot! I can also imagine that the children for the book was meant originally which could very simply understand the story, because it is built up very simply and straight-lined. Clearly there are also little addition histories near the main history, because the smaller readers should exert their head during the reading also a little bit, then these are still simple, however, from my view and also nicely comprehensible thus.

As you see, I am and remain eager. Near the German edition (for all their German want to improve) I can recommend as Germans you English even still a little more. The paperback issue present to me from the Bloomsbury publishing company (ISBN 0-7475-3274-5; 223 sides), you can shop for 4.99 pounds.

I still wish you a nice day. Many dear greetings...

and I hope you could understand a little bit ;o).