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Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

(Harry Potter, Book 1)

By J. K. Rowling

(3200)

| Paperback | 9780747532743

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Book Description

Say you've spent the first 10 years of your life sleeping under the stairs of a family who loathes you. Then, in an absurd, magical twist of fate you find yourself surrounded by wizards, a caged snowy owl, a phoenix-feather wand, and jellybeans that come in every flavor, including strawberry, curry, grass, and sardine. Not only that, but you discover that you are a wizard yourself! This is exactly what happens to young Harry Potter in J.K. Rowling's enchanting, funny debut novel, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. In the nonmagic human world--the world of "Muggles"--Harry is a nobody, treated like dirt by the aunt and uncle who begrudgingly inherited him when his parents were killed by the evil Voldemort. But in the world of wizards, small, skinny Harry is famous as a survivor of the wizard who tried to kill him. He is left only with a lightning-bolt scar on his forehead, curiously refined sensibilities, and a host of mysterious powers to remind him that he's quite, yes, altogether different from his aunt, uncle, and spoiled, piglike cousin Dudley.

A mysterious letter, delivered by the friendly giant Hagrid, wrenches Harry from his dreary, Muggle-ridden existence: "We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." Of course, Uncle Vernon yells most unpleasantly, "I AM NOT PAYING FOR SOME CRACKPOT OLD FOOL TO TEACH HIM MAGIC TRICKS!" Soon enough, however, Harry finds himself at Hogwarts with his owl Hedwig... and that's where the real adventure--humorous, haunting, and suspenseful--begins. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, first published in England as Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, continues to win major awards in England. So far it has won the National Book Award, the Smarties Prize, the Children's Book Award, and is short-listed for the Carnegie Medal, the U.K. version of the Newbery Medal. This magical, gripping, brilliant book--a future classic to be sure--will leave kids clamoring for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

55 Reviews

2 people find this helpful

Harry potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

This is one of the best books anyone has ever made.
sometimes i don't even consider it as a book, it seems as if beneath those papers lies life.
The 1st time i read harry potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, i don't know how j.k. rowling did it, but i know she made me feel like i'm a part of the book. ... (continue)

This is one of the best books anyone has ever made.
sometimes i don't even consider it as a book, it seems as if beneath those papers lies life.
The 1st time i read harry potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, i don't know how j.k. rowling did it, but i know she made me feel like i'm a part of the book.
She changes the ambiance where i am in.
books are not the relievers of boredom,
for me it's another world, invisible to the naked eyes of humans.

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cherii said on Jan 15, 2010 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

1 person find this helpful

You must read the saga twice...

...to find out that the second time you'll love it even more.
As it always happens with complex plots - and we can't deny that this is such a story - you need to re-read it all once you have finished in order to catch the hidden details JK Rowling has been putting in her books since the very first p ... (continue)

...to find out that the second time you'll love it even more.
As it always happens with complex plots - and we can't deny that this is such a story - you need to re-read it all once you have finished in order to catch the hidden details JK Rowling has been putting in her books since the very first pages. I was pleasantly surprised, honestly, at seeing how many details clarified only in the last two books had been mentioned already in "The Philosophers' Stone".
Without being fanatical: this first book is the basement upon which the story we know rests. We are introduced in a world we've never seen before (truly, even though we might have read other fantasy's masterpieces before) by the brilliant mind of JK Rowling.
It's clear this first book was written for children, but somehow it's as if language and style simply grow up with Harry, Hermione and Ron book after book. Plot goes ahead quickly and soon you forget you are an adult reading a children book: you just want to get to the last page and see how the story'll end.
A pleasure to have read it in English this time. I enjoyed it even more and stopped having goosebumps at reading characters' italianized names. Somehow in English it seems even less childish. Maybe we really lost an awful lot with the Italian translation.

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Drawy82 said on Nov 25, 2011 | Add your feedback

1 person find this helpful

It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live, remember that.
After all, to the well-organised mind, death is but the next great adventure. You know, the Stone was really not such a wonderful thing. As much money and life as you could want! The two things most human beings would ch ... (continue)

It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live, remember that.
After all, to the well-organised mind, death is but the next great adventure. You know, the Stone was really not such a wonderful thing. As much money and life as you could want! The two things most human beings would choose above all - the trouble is, humans do have a knack of choosing precisely those things which are worst for them.

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Rosalie said on Aug 11, 2011 | Add your feedback

Devo pure commentare?

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Anna (che fu Hanachan) said on Feb 10, 2012 | Add your feedback

In lingua originale sembra davvero di ricevere qualcosa in più. Non mi stancherò mai di questa saga.

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Rowena said on Jan 11, 2012 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback