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Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
By J.K. Rowling; Scholastic Press, 1998; 309
pages
Reviewed
by Kent d Curry
January 24, 2000
I don’t read much current fiction. I lean more toward the classics in
Western Civilization’s (undeconstructed) canon. This isn’t due to cultural
snobbishness, but more to a certain blue-collar practicality. After all, there
is no certainty, despite a critic’s greatest praise, that a new work will hold
any relevance beyond the month it is printed. Choosing a classic title however,
is a guarantee that I won’t waste my meager reading time - even if the work is
not quite worth its reputation. (But how delicious when it is! "Ah! So this
is what they’re talking about when they mention ‘Tolstoy’.")
Having said that, even I haven’t been able to ignore Pottermania. In case
you’ve somehow missed this literary tsunami, Harry Potter is the protagonist
in a children’s series that tackles the biggest theme in life—maturing
through difficulties.
These books have all the characteristics of the immortal classics-
traditional archetypes; deeper truths buried within the metaphors of magic,
adventure, and mystery; bullies, know-it-all classmates, and a self-conscious
protagonist who’s just trying to stay alive (literally and metaphorically)
through his first year of high school. Oh yes, did I mention the evil troll?
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone is Year One (of a planned seven)
in which young, orphaned Harry discovers he has the trappings to be a major
magician - if only he can escape the shackles of his snooty adopted "Muggle"
family. (Muggles are normal humans such as you and I.)
Upon unexpectedly receiving his personal invitation to attend the famous
Hogwarts School, Harry begins exploring this odd, new world—probably as we
first explored high school—with the wide eyes of the innocent, trying to
understand the rules without being squashed by more knowledgeable veterans.
There are competing dormitories with names like Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and
Ravenclaw, strange sports with four flying balls (Quidditch), classes that seem
to have no application to real life (Potions, Herbology, and The History of
Magic), and a mysterious secret that somehow entangles Harry at every turn of
his bumbling scholastic life. It’s an amazing page-turner whose charm and fun
catapult off the page. Oh yes, did I mention the baby dragon?
What makes it even more endearing is the back story. Author J.K. Rowling
began writing this book as a single mother during her lunch hours for temporary
jobs. The Scottish Arts Council then granted an award that allowed her to finish
the story. Soon, the book rocketed to the top of the British lists and won the
National Book Award.
There are now three Potter books available, and I find it especially
delicious that they stand win, place, and show on the bestseller lists, while
former champs Michael Crichton, Danielle Steele, and Stephen King crowd behind
this self-conscious teenager who thought he was a Muggle. I’ll bet I haven’t
mentioned that magicians send their mail by trained owls, did I?
Of course, any success of this magnitude can’t escape criticism. Most
loudly, but to me also ill-founded, is the censure over the emphasis on magic.
Yes, magic is integral to these stories, but it is the magic of J.R.R. Tolkien’s
Lord of the Rings and Disney’s wicked witches. Both display a keen
sense of Right and Wrong, allowing this powerful force to help define the
protagonist’s unique world without diminishing the real strength within
everyone, that of the heart. Rowling’s is little different, though her scale
is smaller, as she details life today in its own strange circumstances. (Except
we don’t generally have to deal with gigantic three-headed dogs.)
Supposedly focused on 7-12 year olds, in reality this is an all-ages story
that surprises at every turn, leading readers to examine the same truths Harry
must face. Where this leads me is to the next Harry Potter book. After all,
another advantage to those other timeless classics in the Western Canon is that
they’ll always be around to read another week.
ninetyandnine.com
Article © Kent d Curry, 2000
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Kent d Curry is an Executive Editor of ninetyandnine.com.
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