Second Book of the Year
Posted by Rube | 1 February, 2008
"Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Book 1)" (J.K. Rowling)
I blame my mother for this one. She's obsessed with all things Harry Potter. She came to visit us for Christmas this year, and brought with her all 7 books and 5 DVDs. Owing to a healthy batch of presents, and a good bit of shopping, she was forced to leave the book collection here. I picked up the first book, having been unimpressed by the film, and decided to give it a whirl.
The first thing I noticed from the book was how dead-on identical J. K. Rowling's style is to that of Roald Dahl. There's the same sort of fairy-tale darkness lurking behind what is presumably a story for children. Think of the innate creepiness in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory or James and the Giant Peach to get an idea of what I mean.
All in all, it's an easy, entertaining read. If you've seen the movie, you can skip it. There's nothing in the book that wasn't explained in the amazingly well-adapted screenplay.