we've had multiple members of our system pushing us to re-read Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. you'd think a book that lightweight would be easy to power through in a day but no, it's too upsetting for multiple reasons. partly it's because the last time I read any Harry Potter was over twenty years ago, so re-reading "Philosopher's Stone" raises up a cloud of old memories of a time that wasn't entirely happy. roughly around this time was when we were trying (and failing) to find some sort of spiritual home in the Northwest pagan community—a curious coincidence. I'm trying to remember if any of the aspiring witches I met during that time were really into Harry Potter; I vaguely recall there was at least some fondness, and come to think of it...I think I went to see the first Harry Potter movie together with some of our witchy friends at the time. oh, that's unfortunate. I guess I did want to think Harry Potter might be cool, even though I wasn't getting much out of the actual writing.

I think Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is in fact very bad writing. I could go on about this or that issue I've already got with the book (and I'm only four chapters in), but I just want to say generally: people complain that the later HP books feel like Rowling slipped out of editorial control, but this first Harry Potter book feels weirdly unedited too! it lumbers along at a glacial pace and yet almost nothing happens.

~Chara