Harry potter and the sorcerers stone vs philosophers stone reddit

It wasn't just the title - I read the American versions a while ago and it felt really strange reading things like "trash cans", "pants", "candy" etc. For most of the first book, I was translating back to the original British in my head xD

I think it was a stupid decision by the publishers - it's a British book with British characters set in Britain, written by a British author. It's not like American readers couldn't handle a few word changes. I'm pretty sure most Americans would know that we call our trash cans "rubbish bins" and stuff.

Tl;dr : Publishers think their readers are stupid. This is not true.

So, I'm aware that outside of the US, the first book and film is called HP and the Philosopher's Stone. I was just rewatching the first film when something occurred to me. In the film they refer to it as the sorcerer's stone... is there another version of the film where they simply use all different takes and refer to it as the "Philosopher's Stone?" Or do they also refer to it as the sorcerer's stone in the copy of the film with the title "Philosopher's Stone?" I hope this question makes sense...

And I'm assuming that in the Philosopher's Stone book they refer to it as such and not Sorcerer's Stone...

It's precisely because you've heard of the original philosopher's stone legend. The American publishers didn't think American children would know what it was, or associate it with a book about magic, so they pushed for a change and J.K. Rowling was just so happy to be published that she let them go with it, a move she now regrets.

The fact is that most British children would never have heard of the philosopher's stone either; I know I hadn't! It didn't stop us buying it in our hundreds of thousands, though.

Posted byu/[deleted]1 year ago

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Are there any other differences between the two aside from the name and the obvious fact that PS is what came out first? I’ve only ever read the version titled Sorcerer’s Stone(and watched the movie of course), but I want to buy the books in a set and I’m not sure if I want one with PS or SS as the first installment. I am somewhat of a purist when it comes to stuff like that, but if one word is the only difference and the plots and events are identical then I might not care as much and just purchase whichever I can find for the best price.

It is (I think) relatively common knowledge that in America, the first book in the Harry Potter series is called Harry Potter in the Sorcerer’s Stone, while in England it is called Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. As an American, the book I own is called Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.

My questions, however, are in regard to the film, as I know it, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Firstly, I want to know: is the movie called Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone everywhere, or is it called Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in some places? Second of all: if the book is called Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone in some places and Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in other places, does this mean that they had to film every scene that mentioned the Stone twice, once as Philosopher’s and once as Sorcerer’s? I assume that this would be wildly impractical, but I also feel like it would be confusing for the title of the movie to be Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone while mentioning some other, Sorcerer’s Stone throughout the movie. Of course it would also be confusing to have the book you read be called Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone while the corresponding movie was called Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.

My curiosity would be eternally grateful for any information. Many thanks!

It's my understanding that in Europe most people would accept a Philosopher's Stone to be an item of mystical properties. I don't know why you guys might associate philosophers with magic, but apparently you're more ready/willing to make that connection.

In the US, we think of a philosopher as just a guy who thinks about stuff. That's the general connotation. So to us, a philosopher's stone would carry the connotation of a guy going "So like, life is weird, right?" and having a rock. We wouldn't jump to an association that the rock is mystical or magical.