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Harry is by no means Bilbo or Frodo, which is probably a good thing—he
wouldn’t make a very good hobbit.
But he’s definitely worth reading about.
If you want to take your mind into a world that’s both fantastic and familiar,
and by chance have not yet read these popular books, Harry Potter and the
Sorcerer’s Stone is the one to start with. (If you’ve seen the
movie, the book is quite similar, but includes more detail.)
The first Harry Potter book introduces readers to Harry, a young wizard who
learns that he is, indeed, a wizard. And not just any wizard (he’d grown
up most of his life in a Muggle—a.k.a. non-magic—home, so this in
itself was quite a surprise to him), but a famous wizard. A ten-year-old wizard
who had somehow not been defeated by a dark wizard who had tried to kill him
when he was an infant. On learning this, Harry’s whisked away to the Hogwart’s
School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where he meets friends Ron and Hermione,
learns to play Quidditch (a sport played on flying broomsticks, for those of
you who are uninitiated), has the occasional trouble with Potions class, and,
of course, helps to defeat evil.
The world J. K. Rowling creates really is enchanting. It’s remarkably
parallel to our Muggle world, but with quirky twists—like people in photos
that wander from picture to picture if they get bored—and marvelous names
for things—like Quidditch.
If you know someone who hasn’t read in ages, this may be the very book
to get them back into it. It’s imaginative, compelling, and all in all,
fun to read. Of course, then the rest of the series is worth picking up as well….
By the way, if you like Harry Potter, you may want to check out my review of
The Hobbit
too.
Want to see how the movie stacks up to the book? Check out Kristin’s review.
