I started listening to this series of book primarily because I could indulge in this "Harry Potter thing" without losing out on my limited reading time, through audio books. By the time I started the series, my elder son (13+) has read all seven of the series, and my second son (12) was about half way through the series. I see them indulging in the movies based on these novels quite often, and as a result my youngest (then 4) too is somewhat conversant about these characters. He is waiting till he can read enough to start on the books ( The picture is that of the copies owned by the kids - I think I read a total of twenty pages or there abouts towards the end of book seven, to enjoy Snape's story, but that's it. All the rest was thanks to the amazing Jim Dales. For, there was no way I was going to spend my time on those thick seven volumes. And of course, those girls (primarily) and guys (hardly) in the unofficial reading club, made a big thing about my not having read Harry Potter - so I thought, why the hell not.
Book One: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone: So I started "listening to" Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's stone( the copy of my sons', is titled Philosopher's Stone - guess Sorcerer is more precise term here) , and to be quite honest, I liked it quite a bit. The way the affairs in the lives of witches and wizards have been plotted, and how the authoress has looked into the finer details when drawing parallels with "muggle" life, portrays the level of creativity and effort that has gone in - but then am sure, this sounds like repeating the obvious, for most of you have lived through the whole series.
I thought the ending had a touch of Bollywood in it. The way that the
Gryffindor house at Hogwarts gets points awarded, to ensure there victory, was going to far. Overall I would say that, it was possibly the only complain I had
against this book, which was primarily targeted for a younger
readership. Given that audience, it is passable stretch.
The adventure and the pace kept me on the book ( again stating the obvious ), although the rate at which trouble finds Harry can only keep children and those in early teens convinced. Yet, I was happy to go along with that rate. I just started on Book two, and although it is too early to comment ( the "myth" of the Secret Chamber was just rejected by the History of Magic lecturer), it already appear to handle more plausible issues (e.g. mixed blood vs. pure blood ) -this after a start that almost made me stop reading the book, and try the new Dave Matthews Band album instead.
Book Two: Harry Potter and Chamber of Secrets: Completed listening to the second of the series, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" today (31st July 2018) - and contemplating whether I should start on the third immediately, or listen to some new music which has come my way.
While the second book starts off in high speed action - so much so, I started to feel a little silly listening to it, but soon settled to an accepted level once Ron and Harry reached school. From there on the "pure blood" vs. "mud blood" undertone, and the inferences of how the wizard and witches lineage might very well have died out if not for the mixing of the wizard families with the muggle families make a case for a political consciousness that even a kid will find easy to relate to other parallels as he grows up, To me, this by it self brings in a lot of value. Another point I was somewhat surprised to find here was the power of a mother's love - a lucky chance as per the lord of Darkness ( for by itself it has no magic in it in the literal sense ) - which is stressed as the only reason for Harry's survival and Voldermott's (temporary ) downfall. A third point I appreciate is the fake character of Gilderoy Lockhart ( whose everyday sequels are found in dozens in the corporate world), which is displayed in all its glory - or rather the lack of it. Coupled with the occasional humour, especially with respect to death ( mourning Murtle, headless Nick ), the far fetched incidents ( e.g. the car saving Ron and Harry from the forbidden forest ) feel tolerable and strangely exusable. Again, trying to put myself in the place of a twelve year old, I felt harsh to give the book three and a half stars as was my natural inclination, and gave it four instead.
Listened to book three after a reasonable break for music. The Harry Potter fan club aka the Harry Potter experts, ( who also act as the committee safeguarding against the defamation of Harry Potter ), have previously told me, that this was where, "the series actually takes off"
( plus, my son hinted without meaning to that Black wasn't the bad guy, a couple of chapters into the book - the innocent spoil sport !). So the twist in the second half of the book, was somewhat expected. Having said that it is no mean feat to have a plot with such twists, with many strands which we first read in the first two books. The consistency is quite amazing, and it amazes me as I wonder if Rowling had all these plots ( and twists ) worked out on her mind, as she lay pen on paper to write the first book.
One more thing that I couldn't help noticing was the admission of sometimes the necessity of taking the law into one's hands, when the odds are stacked against you. Dumbledore admits that an alternate path needs to be taken if Sirius Black was to be saved. Although its a work of fiction, it is an admission that there are times when "the course of law" mayn't give the most reasonable solution - and alternate paths could be inevitable. This I remembered, since I was having a discussion about the disappearance of a purported journalist with a friend of mine a couple of days back.
Having said that I cannot quite come to terms as to why, an author of such capacity and capability had to make a hero of Harry, all the time. Maybe it is genre thing that I cannot quite grasp ( I concede).
Of course, given the state of things at the end of book three, it is quite natural to look forward for book four - which I will start listening to, after a break for the music that has been released over the last couple of weeks.
The plot thickens as they say, and book four, "The Goblet of fire", is quite complex for a plot, even by JK Rowling' high standards, until book three. Harry is now getting into the adolescent stage, and the interest in each other by the boy wizards and girl witches of Hogwarts, now has an added flavour. This is the first time in which an actual death is experienced in any of the Harry Potter books, and that too adds to the overall feel of a real world of wizardry - and a world of good and evil. For me personally, the special part in this book is the prize the world of wizardry pays for one sentimental decision - that if Mr. Crouch had been more circumspect and non-partial in his office, some of the misfortune could've by clearly prevented. Another borrowing from the real world, the journalist Rita Skeeter and her gutter journalism, which depends on a lot of concoctions, and half truths too makes the fiction a little more believable. The experience of Harry and Ron, the discomfort that they had in finding a partner for the Yule ball is another episode that was enjoyed by me immensely. And it is to the credit of Rowlings, that she made that episode a little more real world, by going about the way she did, instead of making it a picture perfect ball for our hero.
The arrival of two other schools for the tri-wizard tournament, while makes the account more interesting with so much more possibilities, cannot but help appearing a little far fetched and predictable where all traditional school series's go.
By book five, Harry now a fifteen year old, finds that life is not getting any easier. He almost gets expelled at the start of the book itself. The battle between Cornalius Fudge and Dumbledoe becomes an open conflict, with the daily prophet painting Potter an attention seeking rumour monger.
I found an appeal in this book due to the author adding depth to each of the characters, as we see that there are no pure white characters, here. Even Dumbledoe errs, and Harry, Snape, Sirius Black are all found to have their shortcomings. This is probably the most attractive feature about this book, for me.
However I found that no member close to Harry remembering Snape to be a member of the Order of the Phoenix, a little unnatural, especially given the amount of deliberating they did before setting off to the Ministry of Magic.
While I did enjoy this book, possibly more than the previous volumes, I couldn't help help the feeling that it is a little contrived, to build a better environment for things to come.
I finished book six, thinking that the authoress is leading the readers up, as Snape is painted quite the villain. The reference to his villainy, I found to be too straight forward, and was almost impatient to read book seven so "thing are cleared".
At the completion of book seven, there was a full, complete character, who to me was a tragic hero, making whole series worthwhile and the time spent listening to it. Yes, Rowling has gone to such detail in building an almost model tragic hero out of Severus Snape, that to me the reference to a "Harry Potter this" and a "Harry Potter that", is but a populist gimmick to capture the YA audience. The hlaf blood prince was the man! The whole book series is built on the single thankless character of Severus Snape, if am to look at in an alternate way! His confidence, his insecurity upon being bullied, his love, his commitment and sacrifice - all this while being a flawed man with a quick temper, and bearing the wounds of a deep grudge, is to me what I came to appreciate most about the whole series. The character of Dumbledoe too is quite a good construct , although his trait of being an "all knowing", at times corrodes the confidence with time, that of a a true grey character with faults.
Oh, there was also Harry Potter, and his two friends Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley. As YA characters they have their attraction, despite their flaws - but I felt maybe the authoress should've at least limited Harry's count of lives to about five or six , instead to a number which suggests, double the count usually considered to animal such as Hermione's cat, Crookshanks.
( I listened to four books last year, and the remaining three this year. Jim Dale does a fantastic job with the audio narration, and this is as good a way to spend two hours in traffic, to and fro from office to work. Long live audio books, which allows us access to authors, who might be denied the plum reading slots offered to the our more preferred authors. Other authors who have so far benefited from the audio book offering are Stephen King and Neil Gaiman. )
