"If you think Scripture is telling you what you want to hear, take a long, hard second look."
- The Ancient Mariner
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
In a word: Wow.
(Side note: to those of you who have been putting it off, stop. Read the books. Or better yet, rent them on audio from your local library. Listening to Robert Dale perform these books has got to be the best way to experience them. Better than just reading them, and better than the movies. The Dude is amazing. Plus it's a timesaver because you can listen in your car.)
This book is ... I'm at a loss for words. If I call it a masterpiece, those of you who haven't read it will think I'm exagerating. Let's just say that it is up there among the finest of Children's literature...though this book really isn't for elementary age children.
These books really do keep getting better and better. The end of this one was like reading the end of "Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card. The whole thing is at school kid-stuff, even while the seriousness of the adult world is looming, it's still "out there", in the sense that it's not really in the realm of serious worry. And then you get to the end, and the hero (and the reader) finds out that what's been going on in school was the real world. And it's serious. And wham-o! It's life or death.
Whereas "Prisoner of Azkaban" lays the groundwork, this is where it turns really serious. The endings of books 3 and 4 are both amazing pieces of adrenaline rushes. It's like finally coming to the end of a roller coaster ride, only to find that the final screaming descent doesn't stop...It just keeps going. The endings of these two books just pulled me along.
A few thoughts:
Yaaaay. Finally, one of the books starts somewhere other than the Dursleys. I also liked that there is lots of story before we ever get to Hogwarts. The Quidditch World Cup...
The rift between Harry and Ron was a great addition to the story. Realistic. I began to root for them to reconcile, but was actually surprised (but relieved) that it happened as soon as it did. The scene where they reconcile is brilliant.
Ron is hilarious. "Percy wouldn't recognize a joke if it danced in front of him naked...wearing a house-elf's tea towel." I haven't said much about Ron, yet, but he is a brilliant character. His wisecracks are awesome. Each character in these books has real personality. ("House Elf Liberation Front!")
The Christmas Ball was hilarious. What a great picture of "the middle school dance". Neither Harry or Ron's dates really like them, and end up wandering off. Rowling does a great job of showing that at that age, girls are better at that romantic stuff than boys. She also does a great job of portraying how awkward and uncomfortable and stressful such things like who's taking whom to the dance is to young adolescents. Though it is set in the fantastical wizarding world, it was still so real. This is always a good mark of good sci-fi/fantasy.
Rowling is a great mystery writer too. Every thread every detail of the story ends up being important. When the big reveals come at the end, it turns out that everything that happened in the first chapters had a reason. How a writer has the end so well worked out even in the beginning, I'll never fully understand.
One quibble: if Voldemort's inside man had just turned Harry's Broomstick into a port key in the beginning, half the book wouldn't even have been necessary. ;-)
Please put your discussion and thoughts about book 4 under comments. I want to hear from you! But I haven't read books 5, 6, 7 yet, so no spoilers please!
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Comments on "Let's Talk About Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire":
2. Karl
- 01/27/2010 4:09 pm CST
Now imagine reading the books as they were published, reaching the end of book 4 and realizing you have to wait a year and a half before you can read book 5! It was torture.
After each book - or rather, before beginning each new one - I kept thinking "can she pull it off again?" Azkaban ended with such promise, and so obviously took an already delightful series to a whole new level of depth and grappling with big themes, that I wondered if Goblet of Fire could rise to meet the new challenge. I agree that it did - and then some. The opening chapter showed that she was ready to answer the bell.
The reaction of Fudge at the very end was something that surprised me. I didn't see it coming, even if I should have.
I enjoyed the moments of comedy and pathos with Winky the house elf.
I think she does an excellent job showing the growth and evolution of the individual personalities, and the relationships between the main characters (Harry, Ron and Hermione) as they grow older. The same, but different. They are still the same kids, consistent with who they've been shown to be, but they aren't 11 year olds stuck in 14 year old bodies. Like with how she handles the Yule Ball, "crushes" and the like. It feels natural, real and true to life.
I was surprised with how "dark" (scary) she let it get in the graveyard scene. I am of the opinion that it HAD to get that dark/bad/scary, if Lord V is as bad a dude as we've been told and if the dark arts are really evil. Of course it had to, if it was going to be more than a nice kids' story. My fear had been that she'd shy away from letting it go there, but she WENT there. The forcible taking of the "blood of the enemy", the opening of the grave for the "bone of the father" and the "flesh of the servant, willingly given" ending in the image of him rising from that cauldron, made my hair nearly stand on end. Rather than a continued series of stories re. "how Harry Potter keeps preventing the Dark Lord from coming back" she brought him BACK! Holy crap, I said. Now what?
4. Alex Costa
- 01/27/2010 4:46 pm CST
Wow, this is crazy. I finished the fourth book last night, and was about to comment today about why there hadn't been a review yet.
I enjoyed the book. The first 4/5ths weren't really anything special for me though, but those last 150 pages were incredible. I couldn't put it down. I had no idea about the cup being a portkey, or about Moody, or any of that stuff... maybe I should have paid better attention! Cedric's fate was really sad... until I realized that he was Edward from "Twilight," lol.
Very strong ending. I'm really intrigued about reading "The Deathly Hallows." I watched the movie, and I felt like I didn't really get it at all. I think that book 5 becomes the point where you don't really understand what is going on if you only watch the movie. You have to read the book too.
5. Alex Costa
- 01/27/2010 4:51 pm CST
Wow, this is crazy. I finished the fourth book last night, and was about to comment today about why there hadn't been a review yet.
I enjoyed the book. The first 4/5ths weren't really anything special for me though, but those last 150 pages were incredible. I couldn't put it down. I had no idea about the cup being a portkey, or about Moody, or any of that stuff... maybe I should have paid better attention! Cedric's fate was really sad... until I realized that he was Edward from "Twilight," lol.
Very strong ending. I'm really intrigued about reading "The Deathly Hallows." I watched the movie, and I felt like I didn't really get it at all. I think that book 5 becomes the point where you don't really understand what is going on if you only watch the movie. You have to read the book too.
6. Alex Costa
- 01/27/2010 5:02 pm CST
Correction, I'm really intrigued about reading the Order of the Phoenix.
7. GinH
- 01/27/2010 8:46 pm CST
I'm just so darned excited to see someone as excited about Harry Potter as I was when I first read them. I waited a long time to jump on board but when I did I was so glad I waited until the first few were already written. I read them all in a little over a week. Only had to wait on the last one. Can't wait for your reaction to the end of the story.
Loved GoF, as well and that's when I knew it was turning out to be a great story, not just a good kid series.
9. Kenny
- 01/28/2010 8:52 am CST
Book 4 was a turning point for me in that I started reading the series as a result of Book 4's release being covered in EW. So I had the first four to read back-to-back. After finishing, I had the wait that Karl mentioned above. Part of what was so fun for me was the midnight runs to Borders to pick up the new book as it released.
That being said, I loved this book.
10. Linda GIlmore
- 01/29/2010 2:43 pm CST
Like Ally, The Goblet of Fire wasn't my favorite, though the end is incredible. But the first time I read it, I felt like it slowed down some in the middle. But when I was listening to the books again this fall, the GoF jumped out at me as much better than I remembered it. I think significant points were more clear to me this time. And the end is powerful. Hang onto your hat for the next three books, because the thrill ride isn't over. :)
11. Linda GIlmore
- 01/29/2010 2:49 pm CST
Like Ally, The Goblet of Fire wasn't my favorite, though the end is incredible. But the first time I read it, I felt like it slowed down some in the middle. But when I was listening to the books again this fall, the GoF jumped out at me as much better than I remembered it. I think significant points were more clear to me this time. And the end is powerful. Hang onto your hat for the next three books, because the thrill ride isn't over. :)
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oddly enough, GoF was the only book I came close to having to push myself to finish - it wasn't so much that I didn't want to finish it, as it was "ok enough already I want to get to the next book" - I need to reread it and see if I feel differently the second time through...