Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Book Review - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
Until recently, I think it would have been safe to say that I was one of the few (if not the only) book bloggers that had never read a Harry Potter book. Yes, you heard me right. When the book first came out, I was going through a “it’s too mainstream for me” phase. Then I had too many other books to read and before I knew it over 20 years had passed and I still hadn’t read it. And on top of that, I haven’t even seen the movies. My book club friends have been putting pressure on me to read it for almost two years now and I finally relented. I broke down and read the first book, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.
I’m going to skip the part where I usually tell you what the book is about because I’m pretty sure you’ve all read this one. So here is what I can say about reading a book that everyone loves, that has become an international phenomenon, and is probably the most-referenced book in pop culture: I feel like I’ve already read it. You can’t work in the book industry and not understand cultural references to Harry Potter. You can hardly live in this world without understanding cultural references to Harry Potter. So, of course, I knew the gist of the story. But what I hadn’t expected was this feeling that I had already read it. I knew SO MUCH about the story that I only picked up a few new tidbits that I hadn’t known before. It is a really odd sensation.
Did I enjoy reading the book? Yeah! Do I see why it has taken the world by storm? Sure. Do I feel like I was missing out by having not read it? Not really. Of course, I’ve now only read the first book. So maybe I won’t be as familiar with the plots of the rest of the books. Perhaps reading those will give me more new information that I don’t already have by merely existing in a world obsessed with Harry Potter. I plan to finish the series, it might take me another 20 years to get through them, but I will eventually read them. I do feel better about being a book blogger now that I’ve read a Harry Potter book, I definitely feel less like an imposter.
