Book Club | February – Harry Potter #1
- rwallaceppcservices
- Mar 2, 2018
- 2 min read
Month #6: Val's the Pagemaster
This month, we were going to read Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, but after a mere five chapters we collectively decided to switch gears and read Harry Potter and the Philosopher's (or "Sorcerer's", whatever floats your boat) Stone.
We all met up at Val's house after a lengthy travel time (Montreal metros were down and bus lines were as long as HP #5!).
After a delicious feast and a few brews, we were ready to get to business!
****Reminder: don’t read past this part if you can’t risk potential spoilers! I don’t want to be responsible for ruining any punches for you.****
Here are the discussion questions from our meeting:
How many of you just read the book for the first time? How many of you are re-reading the Harry Potter series?
Why do you think J.K. Rowling depicts the Dursleys as being so terrible?
What are your first impressions of Hogwarts School? What about it makes it seem special and different?
Why did defeating the troll turn Harry, Ron, and Hermione into best friends?
What would you see if you were to look in the Mirror of Erised?
Quirrell tells Harry that “There is no good and evil, there is only power, and those too weak to seek it.” Do you agree with this? Is this the reality of the world? Or if good and evil do exist, what makes them so? Which is more important in the world, power, or good and evil?
Many novels of high fantasy borrow from the traditional stories of fairy tales, myths, and legends. The dog Fluffy which guards the trapdoor at Hogwarts School resembles Cerberus, the three-headed dog which guards the underworld of Greek mythology. What other creatures from traditional tales are paralleled in the story?
The Harry Potter series is arguably the most popular children’s book series ever written. Why do you think adults and children both like it?
Philosopher vs. Sorcerer: which title is the most fitting?
If you were a character, which one would you be?
What is the equivalent of the sorcerer’s stone in the real world?
How did you find Rowling’s writing? (especially Hagrid’s dialogue)
*****
Not going to lie, despite the fact we'd already read this book countless times, Val's questions made the discussion lively and we laughed the entire time.
When watching the movie, Riley and I chowed down on chips like no tomorrow and the soothing HP music had us both snoozing for spurts at a time. The journey home was less than easy, but totally worth it!
Next up: I'm the Pagemaster and we're reading a book called Where the Heart Is. Only Riley and I participated in this round, but that didn't make it any less fun!
Comments