Hogwarts Express (Photo credit: Natasha Hartono)
Sometimes, I wonder how much time people put into reading, especially when they’re on their second or third or fortieth read of a favorite book. Do they look at the covers and the back copy? Does anyone really read the dedications or look at chapter titles? Are we just too impatient for the meat of the story to take our time looking at the other details?
In short… yes. We usually are. Readers will look at it before they buy a new book or if it’s for a school assignment, but usually we open to the first page of prose.
In this re-read project, I’m going to take a few minutes to look at everything again. Read everything again. Take it all in just like I did whenever I got my new book shortly after midnight. I’m going to savor the books.
I’m also procrastinating, but give me some credit. This is important stuff (at least in the HP books) that we don’t pay nearly as much attention to as we should.
Back-Cover Copy
I can’t remember the last time I read the back-cover copy for these books. It’s certainly been a long time since I read this one. The Sorcerer’s Stone’s has a good copy. A very good one.
Harry Potter has never played a sport while flying on a broomstick. He’s never worn a cloak of invisibility, befriended a giant, or helped hatch a dragon.
Neither have I! This is the perfect book for me. All of the suggestions here sound fantastic. I’m still upset that I never got my owl. Sure, it goes on to mention his family and that he’s never had birthday party or even a real bedroom for that matter, but all of that doesn’t stick in a kid’s head. He has friends, magic, and a flying broomstick. So what if it could be lethal?
Whenever I read to children (or anyone) I start with the back-cover copy, and we take a moment to peruse the cover. It engages and forces them to actively read the books, to think about the story and consider where the plot is going.
Reviews
I’m going to be honest here: this is the first time I’ve read these two pages. I was nine when the books came out; I didn’t care what some boring grown-ups thought about the book. By the time I’d finished the book I was hooked, so reviews mattered even less.
It’s vaguely interesting, but there’s nothing of note. Here are some of the running themes:
- Great characterization
- Captivating story and writing
- Contrast of the mundane with the supernatural
- Appeals to all ages
- Funny, action-packed, and suspenseful
- Engrossing and realistic with intricate details
…I’d also forgotten just how many awards it won. Jeez. Something of note is that the Potter books spent so much time at the top of the New York Times Bestseller list that they created a children’s list.
Inside Cover
From the Leaky Cauldron’s gallery. Click for the link.
I’m trying very hard not to put any spoilers on here for anything that we haven’t read yet, even though many of you have read the books or know of the different terms that we haven’t covered in the books. This will get easier once we finish the first few books (especially the first one), but for now my observations may seem a bit dim.
The inside cover is also done by Mary GrandPre, as is the chapter art. This creates that consistency that I’d mentioned in my post about the cover page. We can also see that the diamond pattern from the spine and the outside cover continue to the frontispiece page, and the inside cover.
The frontispiece shows a nighttime scene with a path leading up to a gated area surrounded by a forest. Most likely, this is the “wonderful place he never dreamed existed” that is mentioned in the back-cover copy. It looks like it’s a small town, or perhaps a school.
Dedication
For Jessica, who loves stories,
For Ann, who loved them too;
And for Di, who heard this one first.
I’ve always liked JKR’s dedications. They’re vague, but when you look into it, the influence these people have had on her writing and her life is apparent. This one according to The HP Lexicon is for her daughter, Jessica; her mother, Ann; and her sister, Di.
Also take a look at why she’s dedicating this book to them. Her daughter (a small child at the time) loves stories, her mother loved them, and her sister was one of the first to read this one. Stories are important to her, and through these particular stories, she’s made them important to all of us.
Table of Contents (just “Contents” in the books)
I’m weird: I always look at the table of contents before I start a book, and I’m always a bit disappointed when there isn’t one. The titles that she’s chosen for her chapters are clues to what will happen in the chapter. They’re vague enough not to be spoiler-filled, but it seems so obvious afterward. Also take note that the thirteenth chapter in each book is important.
- Favorite Chapter Title – Chapter 1: The Boy Who Lived
It sounds like an official title, but it’s a passive one, as any good grammar check program will tell you. It makes it sound like it’s something that happened to the boy not something he did or something that he caused. Although it sounds like a title, it shouldn’t be. It shouldn’t be unusual enough for a boy to live that he’s called “The Boy Who Lived.”
- Runner Up Chapter Title – Chapter 6: The Journey from Platform Nine and Three-Quarters
This just sounds exciting. Any journey is exciting in some way, and it’s a sign of something new because you never go on a journey to a place you’re familiar with. At the time of the first read, I’d never been on a proper train. It was something foreign and exciting to me, but I did understand that it was normal for others. However, the platform number is odd, which is one of those oft-mentioned juxtaposition of the normal and the supernatural.
- Least Exciting Chapter Title – Chapter 10: Halloween
Halloween is a normal, everyday holiday. It’s often connected to magic, spooky things, and pretending, but it happens every year. It seems like something that should obviously be in a book about supernatural things.
- Chapter 13: Nicolas Flamel
I know who this is, but most people don’t, so I won’t reveal it here. You can feel free to look it up if you’re too curious. The thirteenth chapter always has something that’s connected heavily to the book’s plot.
There we go for today’s procrastination. The next time we have the first chapter of the actual book. What’s your favorite or least favorite chapter title? Do you have anything to add?
Next Post: Chapter 1: The Boy Who Lived
Previous Post: Reflection Before the Book
Start at the Beginning: How I Got Into Harry Potter
All the Re-Read Posts: Reading the Books
All the Posts for this Book: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
Join Us Here: Getting on the Train – Guest Posts
On the Train to Hogwarts 