So here's the format I think I'll try to follow for each book.
Title/Year originally published:
When I originally read it:
What I thought of it then:
When I re-read it:
What my thoughts are now:
Maybe I'll do a separate blog for when I rewatch the movie for each book? I'll take your thoughts on that as well..
So here we go!
Title/Year originally published: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone/1997 (sorry the info in the last blog entry was wrong, so most of you were about 2 or 3...and I was 12)
When I originally read it: I don't recall exactly, but it must have been it first came out because I hadn't heard any of the hype*, so I'll say 1997.
What I thought of it then: Let me paint a picture for you, this was probably the summer while I was in jr. high and I was browsing through the juvenile fiction stacks* and I came across this kinda interesting looking book*. I checked it out and read it, and I thought it was pretty good. I pronounced Hermione as 'Hermoine' in my head, something that didn't get fixed until the movies came out...I loved how pathetic Scabbers was. Peeves annoyed me. For some reason, even though he comments on how pretty Angelina is during the Quidditch game was, I was convinced Lee Jordan was a girl (I still think it'd be awesome if he was, a girl prankster friend of the Weasley twins? Awesome). But I think I probably forgot about it until I heard the 2nd one was coming out.
When I re-read it: I started last week (November 23) and finished today (November 30)
What my thoughts are now: It's really interesting and frankly really awesome to reread the first one after having read the entire series. I don't often re-read a series so this is a new sensation. I like re-meeting characters I've known for so long, and knowing in advance what and who is going to be important to the stories. For instance I dislike any mention of Scabbers when I initially loved him. Fred and George are just as funny though. And Ginny's minor appearance made me giggle. I did wonder why we don't see Ron play any more chess as the series goes on (or do we and I just don't remember?) or if that epic chess game got it all out of his system. Also, having the movie characters in my head actually made some scenes scarier/funnier/sadder, even when I didn't imagine them in the way they happened in the movie. If that makes any sense.
Little things that bothered me. The reader of the audiobooks in America is Jim Dale and he is great. But he pronounces some of the words a little differently than we're used to. For instance, Hermione is more like Herminy, the 'T' in Voldemort is silent, and the way he says the spells is different. Another thing is that when I read these books I didn't know a fraction of the stuff I now know about British customs/words/culture etc. So this time I really noticed all the ways they change words for the American version of the books. Crisps become chips and other really tiny things that shouldn't bother anyone, but irritated me.
Overall, I stand by my opinion of really liking this book!
Okay, I'll be waiting for Karen to catch up before starting Chamber of Secrets. Should I make her blog about her thoughts?
DFTBA,
Sti
*that makes me sound like I'm trying to be cool 'I was into before it was popular' but I'm not!
*my library didn't have a separate YA section
*It was Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone!
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