Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

 Here is a review of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling:

“Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone is one of the most popular children’s books ever written. It is a story about the triumph of love and bravery over evil. The protagonist, Harry Potter, is an orphan who discovers that he is a wizard. He is whisked away to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where he makes new friends and enemies, and learns about magic. The book is a very engaging read for children and adults alike. Since it is the first book in this series, we are introduced to an entirely new world in this book. The world of magic slowly builds itself as we read through the book. The genius of this book is using the protagonist Harry’s discovery of this world to parallel the readers. Furthermore, despite several hardships and literally being an orphan who never knew love, Harry still recognizes love and affection when he sees it. While this book is memorable for a plethora of reasons, some elements of Rowling’s writing triumph as winners. Discovering the Story World and Magic as a Metaphor J. K. Rowling does a great job writing this story with an omniscient third-person narrative but still keeping the narrator wherever Harry is for a major part of this book. This makes the reader’s fascination and interest in the world of magic as new and real as Harry’s. We are introduced to several facts and significant peculiarities of the world of magic, all of which seem very consistently developed, adding authenticity to it. While there are a lot of similarities between the real world and the world of magic, the differences are usually peculiar and downright funny at times. Platform nine and three-quarters, running through a brick wall, ghosts roaming freely and talking to living people, and many other peculiarities add to the charm of creating an interesting story world. One could go on to theorize that calling non-magic people muggles and portraying the Dursleys as ordinary people who hate things like magic has a metaphorical purpose. It furthers the cause and appeals to the readers to be more imaginative and creative. Magic is a metaphor for imagination in this case.

The Dursleys are scared of anything out of the ordinary. They spend their entire day doing mundane tasks they assign meaning to and criticize almost anything and anyone that doesn’t fit their design. On the contrary, Harry, despite being ill-treated and not loved by the Dursleys, has a flair for imagination and creativity. It didn’t take very long for him to get used to the wizarding ways, and he very clearly had the potential to do great things after all. This book is, in its essence, an inspiration for readers to make dreams come true and bravely follow their dreams despite obstacles. It is an apt narrative for children who, at their age, tend to discover new things and ideas to develop.”

I hope you find this review helpful! Let me know if you have any other questions.