UK Book Club discussion

The series took the world by storm. Her first book, “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone”, was real literary magic and enmeshed the reader. Her next two books were not that “magical”, but nevertheless still continued to enthrall the reader. Her balance four books were “ordinary” books. However, by then the reader was thoroughly hooked and continued to read till the very end of the very last chapter of the 7th novel.
I was one of those readers!

I'm turning into one of those reads at the moment as I'm reading Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and just finished the previous book last night.

I recently started reading book one to my five year old daughter. I love that I can share the magic of the book with her. She absolutely loves Harry Potter

I have read all 7 books over the years and am now reading the play script 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child' which I am really enjoying. Now have the urge to read the books all over again - enthralling is definitely the right word!

Harry Potter: Book or Movie?

The Harry Potter movies were magnificent and many came to know Harry Potter through them. Most of them never cared to read the books!
However, though I liked the movies, I liked the books much more. The "magic" of the books was not there in the movies. Moreover, it is difficult to condense in a movie all the stuff contained in a whole book.

Some of the Main Characters in the Series

Harry Potter is, of course, the hero of the series, the boy destined to finish off Lord Voldemort, the villain of the series.

Hermione Granger is the main heroine of the series. Though she comes from a "non-magical" family, she is a “know-all” of all things magical! Her knowledge of magic helps Harry a great deal in his quest to vanquish Lord Voldemort.

Ginny Weasley can also be termed a heroine of the series. She plays a vital role in the second book, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets". And, of course, she eventually marries Harry Potter.

Ron Weasley is Harry’s best friend and takes part in all his adventures, together with Hermione Granger.


Draco Malfoy is a “villain” of the series. He baits Harry continually throughout school and then, as an adult, he becomes one of the "dark lord's" supporters. However, at the very end he does appear to repent of his ways.

You make some good points Terence, however I would think that watching Harry Potter on stage (as in the Cursed Child) would be a very different experience to watching a movie. For a start it is possible to 'surround' the audience with the action by enabling the characters to make their entrances 'through' the audience in various scenes, and this certainly seems to be the intention from reading the script. I look forward to seeing the play when its' initial popularity has worn off ( at the moment it is almost impossible to get a ticket) and it hopefully becomes more affordable!

I read all of the books during the summer of 2009 in my native language (Italian) and enjoyed them far more than the films.

I would however like to read them again (in English) in the future.

I love the Harry Potter series. Have lost count of the times i have read them (started when I was 12 now over 30 and still love them!) The illustrated editions are stunning and I hope to read them with my kids. Definitely prefer the books to the movies but was gutted not to have got tickets for the cursed child play - friends have said it is amazing!

I read the Harry Potter series at least 10 timesand I've seen the films three times. I haven't seen the play yet and not sure if I will. I would like to visit the studios as well but haven't got to it.