Harry Potter Readalong: Post the Second
Or, if you are me, this is the first post, because you forgot to post last Friday and you were pretty sad about it.
For this post we are talking about the second half of HP and the Sorcerer's Stone, but I will be talking about the whole book, since I suck at posting as mentioned above. This is the only one of these books that I have read in its entirety prior to this readalong. I had definitely forgotten just how magical the world is, especially in the transition from the Muggle world to the magic world. Harry is stuck with the awful Dursleys for kind of a large portion of the book, so when Hagrid show up, I felt like this:
The other thing that I had forgotten about the book was how much Hermione is like this:
And not so much of this:
By the end though, I totally fell in love with her, because she is a total bad ass with her brain, and especially when she solves the logic problem set up by Snape, which is exactly the type of thing that I liked to do when I was about her age. Remember those Dell Logic Problem books with the big charts, that you filled in based on clues? Yep, loved those.
Other things I love: Hagrid. Dumbledore. You know, the obvious things. Rowling is really great at connecting the reader with the characters just like everybody says, and there are actually some lines that are real doozies; for instance, "Call him Voldemort, Harry. Always use the proper name for things. Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself." Well said, Dumbledore, well said.
The action at the end is short-lived, and I was kind of wondering as I got to the end whether I had misremembered and nothing happened in the first book, not that just hearing about feasts and Quidditch wasn't enough, but I was waiting for the creepiness under the turban, and there were only a few pages left in the chapter, so I didn't think it could possibly still be coming, and then it did.
I can't wait to get on to the ones I haven't read. In particular, I am looking forward to more Snape, who is just a floating ominous presence in this one.
On to the next...
For this post we are talking about the second half of HP and the Sorcerer's Stone, but I will be talking about the whole book, since I suck at posting as mentioned above. This is the only one of these books that I have read in its entirety prior to this readalong. I had definitely forgotten just how magical the world is, especially in the transition from the Muggle world to the magic world. Harry is stuck with the awful Dursleys for kind of a large portion of the book, so when Hagrid show up, I felt like this:
 | |
| http://johnkrasinski.tumblr.com/ |
The other thing that I had forgotten about the book was how much Hermione is like this:
 |
| http://hermionegrangergifs.tumblr.com/ |
 | ||||
| From Vanity Fair |
By the end though, I totally fell in love with her, because she is a total bad ass with her brain, and especially when she solves the logic problem set up by Snape, which is exactly the type of thing that I liked to do when I was about her age. Remember those Dell Logic Problem books with the big charts, that you filled in based on clues? Yep, loved those.
Other things I love: Hagrid. Dumbledore. You know, the obvious things. Rowling is really great at connecting the reader with the characters just like everybody says, and there are actually some lines that are real doozies; for instance, "Call him Voldemort, Harry. Always use the proper name for things. Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself." Well said, Dumbledore, well said.
The action at the end is short-lived, and I was kind of wondering as I got to the end whether I had misremembered and nothing happened in the first book, not that just hearing about feasts and Quidditch wasn't enough, but I was waiting for the creepiness under the turban, and there were only a few pages left in the chapter, so I didn't think it could possibly still be coming, and then it did.
I can't wait to get on to the ones I haven't read. In particular, I am looking forward to more Snape, who is just a floating ominous presence in this one.
On to the next...
Yay for joining in on the readalong! Better late than never.
ReplyDelete"Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself." Dumbledore is so smart. Even if he does put a lot of children in danger. I love him anyway.
But they are wizard children, right? They can hang:)
DeleteI find it very hard to believe that there are still people who have not read this entire series. You have blown my mind. And I loved those logic puzzles too, where you rule out all the combos! I still do them sometimes, lol. I agree that the end is kind of abrupt but to me, it's not really the point of the book. The first half is what it's all about for me.
ReplyDeleteI know. I can't believe I haven't read it either. I'm kind of like a unicorn...
DeleteI love all the magicalness :)
ReplyDeleteI love that Hermione gif. It's so her. And me.
The ending did happen really really fast. Actually the whole school year flew by, I like the later ones so much more because they are so much more detailed and intricate and awesome.
Welcome to the readalong gang!
Thanks! I can't wait to get to the later books. I've wanted to read them forever, but couldn't get myself to start at the beginning. This is the perfect opportunity.
Delete"a total bad ass with her brain," yes correct. And she only gets MORE brain-bad-ass-y as the series goes on. And she's so teeny and cute in that gif! I can't believe they were every that tiny!
ReplyDeleteI know! I always picture grown up Harry and Hermoine. Not Ron for some reason...
DeleteDumbledore is so so so wise! Apart from his negligence that Red mentions ALL THE TIME. I, of course, immediately forgive him for all of this.
ReplyDeleteAhhhh, Harry Potter. How we love you. :)
Dumbledore and Snape are the most mysterious characters to me. I'm not sure I have a good picture of either of them yet. Complex, very complex:)
DeleteI always misremember this book too. I think there should be more action, but then the action comes super late and is over really quickly. But it's all the early details that make me feel warm and fuzzy about the book and the series and the characters. Love it!
ReplyDeleteAnd there is kind of a lot of action. It is just ALL OVER THE PLACE. There are so many plot strands, but they are pretty fun and I definitely started to love the characters (or hate them if they are the Dursleys).
Delete