Book 37: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling, read by Jim Dale, isbn 9780807282328, 448 pages / 10cds, Scholastic / Listening Library, $54.95 (for the cds)
Even with the book series all said and done, I still proclaim the third Harry Potter novel my favorite in the series. At this point, Rowling has mostly smoothed the rough edges off of her style, and she has a much clearer idea of where the series is going. She lays so much groundwork here not just for book four, but for the end-game of the entire series. Draco Malfoy begins the slow fade to the background that will remove him as any kind of main plot participant until Half-Blood Prince, while Severus Snape steps up into the limelight and becomes more than an aggravation / subplot. With the arrival and then departure of Remus Lupin, we get our first hint that the constant vacancy of the Dark Arts position is more than just happenstance. And with the introduction of Lupin, Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew, we start to get the history that will affect every decision Harry makes throughout the rest of the series.
What I've always liked about Rowling's writing is that Harry, Ron, Hermione and their teenage friends don't always make the right decision -- they go on their instincts, their hormones, and sometimes make the kind of mistake we as readers are slapping our foreheads and shouting at them to not make. Every time Harry fails to tell Dumbledore something, every time the Trio hare off on their own someplace, the writer in me recognizes Rowling setting up important complications but the reader in me yells at them to stop being stupid and myopic. Of course, they are teenagers -- they are virtually made of myopia. And that's what makes them so real. They are not perfect. Even amongst themselves -- the discord between Ron and Hermione here, how easily they cut each other out, is a great hint at how Seamus Finnegan will turn completely against Harry in "Phoenix" based solely on what Seamus thinks he knows versus what is the truth.
Prisoner is also the last of the short books in the series, the last that is tightly plotted and in which the subplots are not given equal page time with the main plot. Which also mirrors the age Harry and the gang are at -- life gets more complicated the older kids get, as their world-view expands beyond themselves.
Jim Dale, of course, does his usual fantastic job performing the book. I've commented before that his Hagrid and McGonagall sound just like Robbie Coltrane and Maggie Smith, while the rest of his characters sound original. This time, he manages to also make Remus Lupin sound almost exactly like David Thewlis. Certain voices, certain inflections, just fit certain characters, and I think in these cases Dale is wise to go with what sounds right rather than differentiating just to avoid comparisons.
Showing posts with label 2010. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2010. Show all posts
Friday, July 16, 2010
Sorcerer's Stone review
Book 28: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling, read by Jim Dale, isbn 9780807281956, 7 cds, Listening Library, $49.95
Listening to this on cd while on my current travel swing for work, I realized that I read most of the Potter books long before I started blogging on Livejournal, and definitely before I started putting so much effort into my book reviews here. I came to the Potter books relatively late: it wasn't until Goblet of Fire came out in hardcover that I gave in to the recommendations of the countless teenagers (and quite a few random adults) in my life who were virtually ordering me to read them. This first book hooked me enough to read the second; the second likewise; but it was the third, Prisoner of Azkaban, that made me a fan who would read the whole series in hardcover and buy the books the day they came out.
Being the obsessive-compulsive I am when it comes to book series (and comic books, and tv shows on dvd, and ... okay, yeah, just about anything of a continuing nature), I also decided I had to have the Potter books on cd because they were performed by one of my all-time favorite actors, Jim Dale. I got the first four, lent them to various people ... and never actually got around to listening to them myself. The first two were returned in less-than-good condition (boxes crushed, cds scratched), and I pretty much tucked them away for a long time. Even with all the travel I've done the past four years, I kept avoiding bringing the Potter cds with me. I think perhaps I was afraid of aggravation at the skipping on the cds (which was not as bad as I thought it would be) and afraid of disappointment because I'd built Jim Dale's performance up so much in my head. A needless fear, as his performance is everything I thought it would be. His light tone fits this first book especially, and he makes the character voices distinct. Of course, the characters with the heaviest accents -- Hagrid, McGonnagle -- are the performances that most closely match the actors from the movies (Robbie Coltrane, Dame Maggie Smith), but for the most part Dale eschews trying to match the actors and just imbues the characters with his own take on what they would sound like. It's a wonderful performance overall.
Because I never actually wrote a book review for this when I read it, I'll say a few words about the book itself. Listening to it, the joy I had in discovering an interesting new world returned. I entered Rowling's world not knowing much about it. I remember thinking her characters were a bit simple but not simplistic, if that makes sense. I took to Harry, Ron, Dumbledore and McGonnagle immediately in those early chapters; I wondered how much of a threat Draco would become as the series went on (the answer, of course, was "not much of one until HBP"). I knew early on that Snape would not turn out to be the major bad-guy of the book (the set-up for him to be the bad-guy was TOO obvious, something that really stands out in Dale's reading), although I didn't call the real villain's identity at all. Overall, I felt the book was a good start, and a nice tight little mystery on it's own. Had I read the book when it was first published, I'm not sure I would have immediately rushed out to grab the second book -- knowing books 1 through 4 were immediately available may have helped my decision to push on to the next book right away.
I was very proud, the past few months, that my now-twelve-year-old nephew has decided to read the Potter books (after he'd read, and gotten me hooked on, the Percy Jackson books and I told him his excitement for the Jackson books matched my excitement for the Potter books). And I think that also played a part in my decision to "reread" the Potter series by listening to them on cd. I do plan, on the next travel swing, to bring Chamber of Secrets.
Listening to this on cd while on my current travel swing for work, I realized that I read most of the Potter books long before I started blogging on Livejournal, and definitely before I started putting so much effort into my book reviews here. I came to the Potter books relatively late: it wasn't until Goblet of Fire came out in hardcover that I gave in to the recommendations of the countless teenagers (and quite a few random adults) in my life who were virtually ordering me to read them. This first book hooked me enough to read the second; the second likewise; but it was the third, Prisoner of Azkaban, that made me a fan who would read the whole series in hardcover and buy the books the day they came out.
Being the obsessive-compulsive I am when it comes to book series (and comic books, and tv shows on dvd, and ... okay, yeah, just about anything of a continuing nature), I also decided I had to have the Potter books on cd because they were performed by one of my all-time favorite actors, Jim Dale. I got the first four, lent them to various people ... and never actually got around to listening to them myself. The first two were returned in less-than-good condition (boxes crushed, cds scratched), and I pretty much tucked them away for a long time. Even with all the travel I've done the past four years, I kept avoiding bringing the Potter cds with me. I think perhaps I was afraid of aggravation at the skipping on the cds (which was not as bad as I thought it would be) and afraid of disappointment because I'd built Jim Dale's performance up so much in my head. A needless fear, as his performance is everything I thought it would be. His light tone fits this first book especially, and he makes the character voices distinct. Of course, the characters with the heaviest accents -- Hagrid, McGonnagle -- are the performances that most closely match the actors from the movies (Robbie Coltrane, Dame Maggie Smith), but for the most part Dale eschews trying to match the actors and just imbues the characters with his own take on what they would sound like. It's a wonderful performance overall.
Because I never actually wrote a book review for this when I read it, I'll say a few words about the book itself. Listening to it, the joy I had in discovering an interesting new world returned. I entered Rowling's world not knowing much about it. I remember thinking her characters were a bit simple but not simplistic, if that makes sense. I took to Harry, Ron, Dumbledore and McGonnagle immediately in those early chapters; I wondered how much of a threat Draco would become as the series went on (the answer, of course, was "not much of one until HBP"). I knew early on that Snape would not turn out to be the major bad-guy of the book (the set-up for him to be the bad-guy was TOO obvious, something that really stands out in Dale's reading), although I didn't call the real villain's identity at all. Overall, I felt the book was a good start, and a nice tight little mystery on it's own. Had I read the book when it was first published, I'm not sure I would have immediately rushed out to grab the second book -- knowing books 1 through 4 were immediately available may have helped my decision to push on to the next book right away.
I was very proud, the past few months, that my now-twelve-year-old nephew has decided to read the Potter books (after he'd read, and gotten me hooked on, the Percy Jackson books and I told him his excitement for the Jackson books matched my excitement for the Potter books). And I think that also played a part in my decision to "reread" the Potter series by listening to them on cd. I do plan, on the next travel swing, to bring Chamber of Secrets.
Chamber of Secrets review
Book 32: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling, audiobook read by Jim Dale, isbn 9780807281949, 352 pages / 8 cds, Scholastic / Listening Library, $49.95
Chamber of Secrets is a fine book, but even after having read it several times and now listening to it on audiobook (the first time I've revisted the story in probably 5 years), my feeling hasn't really changed in regard to it being my least favorite of the Potter books. Even saying that, it's not that I hate the book. There's a lot to like in it. I just feel like it remains the volume in which the main mystery is the least well-developed; it's the book in which two of the final reveal feels like they come from out of left field. Yes, I'm still bothered by the way Ginny is absent for most of the book yet stands revealed in the end as a main component of what has been going on at the school all year long. I felt like there should have been more indicators than the occasional "Ginny looks like she's got a stomach ache" toss-off line. I also think the reveal of Lucius Malfoy's connection is a bit of a stretch, although there at least you can go back to the beginning of the book and think "okay, yeah, I guess that happened."
However, as I said, even with that dissatisfaction, there's still plenty to like. Gilderoy Lockhart remains one of my favorite smarmy, self-involved characters of all time. I can't help but picture Kenneth Brannagh when I reread the book, and even with Jim Dale's slightly different take on the voice of the character, I still felt Brannagh's presence. And of course, Rowling used this book to set up so much of what will come later: the mystery of Harry's shared abilities with Lord Voldemort, the Harry-Draco Quidditch rivarly, the possibility that rather than being the Heir of Slytherin, Harry is actually the Heir of Gryffindor, and of course the introductory mention of Azkaban prison. While Nearly Headless Nick's Deathday party feels like a bit of a waste of space considering the smaller and smaller roles the ghosts play as the series evolves, it is still a fun diversion.
Jim Dale, of course, does his usual stellar job at performing the book and giving characters individual voices. It is a little tough listening to these while driving because his voice is just so darn soothing, but if I don't listen to them on the road, I never will!
Chamber of Secrets is a fine book, but even after having read it several times and now listening to it on audiobook (the first time I've revisted the story in probably 5 years), my feeling hasn't really changed in regard to it being my least favorite of the Potter books. Even saying that, it's not that I hate the book. There's a lot to like in it. I just feel like it remains the volume in which the main mystery is the least well-developed; it's the book in which two of the final reveal feels like they come from out of left field. Yes, I'm still bothered by the way Ginny is absent for most of the book yet stands revealed in the end as a main component of what has been going on at the school all year long. I felt like there should have been more indicators than the occasional "Ginny looks like she's got a stomach ache" toss-off line. I also think the reveal of Lucius Malfoy's connection is a bit of a stretch, although there at least you can go back to the beginning of the book and think "okay, yeah, I guess that happened."
However, as I said, even with that dissatisfaction, there's still plenty to like. Gilderoy Lockhart remains one of my favorite smarmy, self-involved characters of all time. I can't help but picture Kenneth Brannagh when I reread the book, and even with Jim Dale's slightly different take on the voice of the character, I still felt Brannagh's presence. And of course, Rowling used this book to set up so much of what will come later: the mystery of Harry's shared abilities with Lord Voldemort, the Harry-Draco Quidditch rivarly, the possibility that rather than being the Heir of Slytherin, Harry is actually the Heir of Gryffindor, and of course the introductory mention of Azkaban prison. While Nearly Headless Nick's Deathday party feels like a bit of a waste of space considering the smaller and smaller roles the ghosts play as the series evolves, it is still a fun diversion.
Jim Dale, of course, does his usual stellar job at performing the book and giving characters individual voices. It is a little tough listening to these while driving because his voice is just so darn soothing, but if I don't listen to them on the road, I never will!
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