Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (1997)
by J.K. Rowling
I've read this book once before, but I saw a bunch of internet chatter about the release of the trailer for the final Harry Potter film, and I figured why not pick up this series again. I actually only made it through three of the books so I figured it'll be nice to finish off this best-selling series.
However, as I was reading, I got a sense of why I stopped in the first place. Rowling is simply not a great writer (I know, pot-kettle-black here). Everything's so simplistic -- too much so, if you ask me. And when she chooses to describe certain things in greater detail it just seems frivolous.
Add to that the fact that I really never get any emotional arc for any character. Not to mention that there is zero tension in the book's climax -- the denouement isn't even "shown" to us in "real time," but instead relayed to us by the headmaster Dumbledore telling Potter what the title character did to save the day. Just a narratively boring finale.
Oh, well. Here's hoping the remaining books pick it up a bit. I'll get around to them at some point.
The material and writing matures. Its a kids book. By the end its young adult. HARRY POTTER IS LIKE FINE WINE JEFF.
ReplyDeleteI get that it's a kids book...which is why, despite the fact that I was being overly critical, I can give it a little breathing room.
ReplyDeleteI'm gonna read through 'em all, but after reading this first one again, I realize why I stopped originally.