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- Title: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter #2)
- Author: J.K. Rowling
- Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books
- Publication Date: June 2, 1999 (1998)
- Pages: 341
- Genre: Fantasy
- Recommended Age: 9+
- First Read: 2006
- Source: Gift
- Rating: 5.0 / 5.0 stars
The magic of Harry's world continues as we are more familiar with his world than in the first book. Of course, there are still more secrets to be revealed, including seeing where the Weasleys live for the first time. I quite enjoyed this book (as I did for the entire series of course!) because just when you think there are no more surprises-bam-you get hit with one harder than Harry and Ron get hit by that Whomping Willow.
I seriously love this book because this is where I got to meet Dobby for the first time and where we learn so much more about all the characters. I admit that I did like this better than the Philosopher's Stone simply because I was more entrenched in Harry's world. This book had a darker tone to it than its predecessor and contained a mystery that I was trying to solve as well when I first read it. And now since I have read it so many times, I am able to pick up on clues that J.K. had left earlier in the book. Every single time I read this book I pick up another subtle hint that relates not only to the ending of this book, but connects to all the other books as well, and it just blows my mind, every single time.
My favorite part, weirdly, was Ron's backstory on why he hated spiders so much. There is something in Ron's childhood fear that speaks to everyone. And though Rowling portrays it as a funny anecdote, (the story goes that Fred and George turned Ron's teddy bear into a giant spider) she instills in us something much deeper, and it is this recurring motif of fear and the ability to overcome it that appears in every single one of the books that I love so much. She teaches us to be unafraid without preaching, and she does it so subtly that it's as if we came up with it on our own. And we did. She simply planted the seed of it in our mind.
This book also contains one of my (many) favorite quotes that Dumbledore tells Harry after Harry finds out that he and Voldemort have a lot of things in common:
And just for the record, this was my favorite movie of the entire series; I love the part where Mrs. Weasley yells at her sons for sneaking off and bringing Harry back with them. It's the one part that I liked better in the movie than in the book. It's a classic.
I seriously love this book because this is where I got to meet Dobby for the first time and where we learn so much more about all the characters. I admit that I did like this better than the Philosopher's Stone simply because I was more entrenched in Harry's world. This book had a darker tone to it than its predecessor and contained a mystery that I was trying to solve as well when I first read it. And now since I have read it so many times, I am able to pick up on clues that J.K. had left earlier in the book. Every single time I read this book I pick up another subtle hint that relates not only to the ending of this book, but connects to all the other books as well, and it just blows my mind, every single time.
My favorite part, weirdly, was Ron's backstory on why he hated spiders so much. There is something in Ron's childhood fear that speaks to everyone. And though Rowling portrays it as a funny anecdote, (the story goes that Fred and George turned Ron's teddy bear into a giant spider) she instills in us something much deeper, and it is this recurring motif of fear and the ability to overcome it that appears in every single one of the books that I love so much. She teaches us to be unafraid without preaching, and she does it so subtly that it's as if we came up with it on our own. And we did. She simply planted the seed of it in our mind.
This book also contains one of my (many) favorite quotes that Dumbledore tells Harry after Harry finds out that he and Voldemort have a lot of things in common:
"It is our choices, Harry, who make us what we truly are, far more than our abilities"Isn't it magical what a an orphaned boy with an owl and a broomstick and two amazing best friends can teach us about life?
And just for the record, this was my favorite movie of the entire series; I love the part where Mrs. Weasley yells at her sons for sneaking off and bringing Harry back with them. It's the one part that I liked better in the movie than in the book. It's a classic.
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Where have you been? Beds empty! No note! Car gone! You could have died! You could have been seen!I just love everything about this book. So shoo and go read it (or better yet, re-read it) until you can quote both the movie and book versions word per word!
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