(b) and it has begun...

Yes, I set myself a challenge this year, to start reading the Harry Potter books. I was sure I didn't like them, or would feel rather impartial about them. Well, as it turned out, it is not a challenge after all. Here I go:

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
by J.K. Rowling

I'm rather certain everyone knows what these books are about, even the people who haven't read them or seen the films.. Still:
The story is about an orphan, so to say, Harry Potter, who lives with his horrible aunt and uncle and their son. One summer day, on his 11th birthday, Harry finds out he is a wizard, and he is shipped off to Hogwarts, a school of wizardry and witchcraft. He befriends other students, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, and they embark on many adventures together, and Harry will have to face his mortal enemy from since he was a baby, Voldemort, the man (or whatever form he's currently in) responsible for his orphaned status. It's first in the series, as well you know, so the book ends with the schoolyear and a promise of more adventures to come. Can't wait.

As for my opinion, well.. I've always admired writers who can conjure up a new world next to ours, with a feeling that it could be perfectly real. This author has a real talent for that, everything is explained and no matter how unbelievable it may seem, you never doubt that this world coexists with ours. Well, at least, in the books...You know what I mean. (Though I might keep a look-out the next time I'm in London, for suspicious pubs or people with cloaks...)

I'd say it's a great book, and a series. I will have to rush through my work today, in order to continue reading the second book. I'm not enthralled by it like by another series (begins with a T and ends with a t, and in the middle you find the letters wiligh), since there's no love story in it, YET, and I'm just a sucker for those (I'm sorry), but nevertheless... It is a wonderful world and Rowling deserves the highest praise for it. The language, I read it as an original although I believe the Estonian translation is equally good, was amazing and just a joy to read. I laughed out loud several times, which is always a good thing. And despite being about children, and well, MAGIC, I still loved it. There was one bit which seemed a bit clumsy, but you know, it was only a few lines and purely for the sake of the plot, and did not ruin the pure perfection of the rest of the book.
If you haven't read it, and feel like you want, but are in doubt - do! It sure is a thrill. Read it in two sittings, but only because it was 3 am and I thought it best to get some sleep. I liked the book, and the beginning of the series, a lot, but then again.. I've always had a thing for outworldly creatures and things conjured up by overinventive and vivid imaginations.
The series isn't a legend for no reason, after all. No rating, you either read and love them, or you don't read them, because you don't like them. Easy as that, no?