Thursday 26 July 2012

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets review

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
J.K. Rowling
July 2nd 1998
Bloomsbury


Harry, Ron and Hermione have returned to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizadry for their second year. (But Harry and Ron only just made it-they missed the Hogwarts Express and had to get there in a flying car...!) Soon the threesome are immersed in the daily round of Potions, Herbology, Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Quidditch.

But then horrible things start happening. Harry hears evil voices. Sinister messages appear on the wall. But nothing can prepare the three friends for what happens next...

A brilliant sequel to the award-winning Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.



Let's just get this out of the way: Chamber of Secrets is my least favourite of the films, and it'll probably be my least favourite out of the books, too. I still liked it, and I can't really pinpoint why I don't like it as much as the others, but I just don't, so. It still has all the charm and wit as the first book, though, and all the action. And also probably one of my favourite characters to ever grace paper with his magnificent presence - Gilderoy Lockheart. (More on why I love him later.)

I still like Harry a lot more that I do in the films. I'm guessing this is going to a be a theme of all of these reviews. I basically like everything more than I do in the films, because that's the way film adaptations of books work. But the films will always be really, really important to me, and I think that the films are really freaking good and if the books are better than the films then that just means that the books are AMAZING. But yeah, I like Book Harry more than Film Harry because I feel that you don't really get that much of Harry's personality in the films. Like, it feels like he's been toned down quite a lot because they don't really have the time to make every character exactly the same as they are in the book, or have every scene in the book be in the film because then each film would be about seven hours long, and I even don't have that good an attention span.

I've always felt like Hermione had a really hard time in this book. First Malfoy calls her a Mudblood, then she accidentally turns herself into some kind of freaky cat-human hybrid, and then she gets petrified! I mean honestly, can't the girl catch a break! But, as much as I missed Hermione's presence (and I actually did, because she's way less annoying in this book), I did feel that we could get a better insight into Harry, Ron and Hermione's friendship. At the beginning of the book, I still kind of felt like Hermione wasn't a main, main character like Ron or Harry. I felt like she wasn't as important. But seeing Harry and Ron's reaction to her getting petrified, and how it increases their determination to find out what the Chamber of Secrets is, I realised that they do actually care about her quite a lot, and that she is important to them both. Also, she basically solves the whole mystery for them weeks before they even get close to figuring it out for themselves, so that all they have to do is fight a fragment of Voldy controlling a giant, evil, mythical serpent. Easy enough, right? ;)

Gilderoy. Gilderoy, Gilderoy, Gilderoy. I fail to comprehend how anyone, ever, can even come close to being as much of an idiot as you. And I really want to hate you. I know that if you were a real person that I would hate you, like everyone that isn't an easily charmed, potentially pre-pubescent, lovestruck witch. Alas, I cannot find it within me to hate you. You're probably the funniest thing in this book, and I'm going to miss your arrogant idiocy, though I know that I'm probably the only one. I just don't understand how anyone could be such a pompous arse! And be so ignorant about it! Oh, I just love him.

The actual story in CoS is probably the weakest, in my opinion. I know that it's necessary and stuff, and it sets up Voldemort as the main villain of the whole series instead of just sticking around for one book, as well as giving a tiny bit of Voldy backstory, but I just don't think it's as good as the others. It makes up for it because it's funnier than the first, I guess, but still, if I'd have read PS and waited, like, 2 years for this book, I would've been a teeny bit disappointed. But the the 3rd book would've come out and it would've all been awesome again, so. I think it's mostly to do with Dobby, really. Sorry, guys, I know everyone loves him, but I just don't like him. He annoys me to no end, and he caused me a lot of pain when I went to go see the film in the cinema when I was eight and decided it'd be fun to go home and bang my head against the bannister pretending to be Dobby. Spoiler: It was NOT fun. That was one bitch of a headache, let me tell you. And I think I cried. So I kind of have a personal vendetta against Dobby. I never wanted him to die, though.

Oh, and just one quick comment about Percy Weasley. Yes, you are a prefect. No, NOBODY ACTUALLY CARES. GO AWAY PERCY. NO ONE LIKES YOU.

*Breathes* Sorry. Had to get that out there. So yeah, Chamber of Secrets. Good, but not as good as the rest. I think I'll be taking a quick break from Potter before I start Prisoner of Azkaban, but it'll probably only be a week or two. Enjoying the following normalcy in this gap while you can. I'm fairly certain Harry Potter will be the end of me.

4 comments:

  1. Lol about your Dobby imitation. I mean, we're sorry you got a headache, but you have to admit, it's kind of funny. :P

    Don't worry about Hermione, she'll continue to grow. In fact, we think she ends up being more important than Ron overall. But maybe that's just because we liked her so much...

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  2. I think CoS its my least favourite as well, it just seems to be the one I always forget for some reason! Except the flying car bit. THAT IS THE BOMB.

    And ew stupid PErcy being his annoying prefect self. :P

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  3. How can you not love dobby! Poor guy! Loving hese views though, I really wish I could read HP for the first time again!

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