Currently I'm reading: Jenseits vom Tatort by Horst Brandt
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30 June 2014
Title
| Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets |
Author
| JK Rowling |
Publisher
| Bloomsbury |
Publication Date
|
1998
|
Pages
| 251 |
Genre
| Fantasy |
Blurb:
The Dursleys were so mean and hideous that summer that all Harry Potter wanted was to get back to the Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. But just as he's packing his bags, Harry receives a warning from a strange, impish creature named Dobby who says that if Harry Potter returns to Hogwarts, disaster will strike.
And strike it does. For in Harry's second year at Hogwarts, fresh torments and horrors arise, including an outrageously stuck-up new professor, Gilderoy Lockheart, a spirit named Moaning Myrtle who haunts the girl's bathroom, and the unwanted attentions of Ron Weasley's younger sister, Ginny.
But each of these seem minor annoyances when the real trouble beings, and someone--or something--starts turning Hogwarts students to stone. Could it be Draco Malfoy, a more poisonous rival than ever? Could it possibly be Hagrid, whose mysterious past is finally told? Or could it be the one everyone at Hogwarts most suspects...Harry Potter himself.
And strike it does. For in Harry's second year at Hogwarts, fresh torments and horrors arise, including an outrageously stuck-up new professor, Gilderoy Lockheart, a spirit named Moaning Myrtle who haunts the girl's bathroom, and the unwanted attentions of Ron Weasley's younger sister, Ginny.
But each of these seem minor annoyances when the real trouble beings, and someone--or something--starts turning Hogwarts students to stone. Could it be Draco Malfoy, a more poisonous rival than ever? Could it possibly be Hagrid, whose mysterious past is finally told? Or could it be the one everyone at Hogwarts most suspects...Harry Potter himself.
Mini review
I didn't read the HP books when they first came out, but only in 2013, after I've seen all the movies, so I do knew the story of course. But that doesn't really matter - its the beauty and incredible drawn fantasy world of the books.
As before, the 2nd book in the series is, in my opinion, written with children readers in mind. At the beginning, Rowling skilfully re-caps the important bits from book 1 in her familiar style. Anyone wanting to write for a younger age group should read her first chapter and can learn how it's done.
Apart from the imaginative constructed fantasy world - nicely woven in with the 'real world' (= the muggles), I feel that the other real strength of the story lies in the great characters. Not too over the top, and still what we expect from a proper baddy (i.e. Malfoy) or the posh impostor (Lockheart), the poor Weasleys, the mean Dursleys.
I personally still prefer the later, darker HP books. The greatest contribution of the books for me is the fact that it brought children back to reading books who wouldn't have otherwise picked a book up and in fact, got a whole new generation reading.
