Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Book 4) by J.K. Rowling
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Book Reviews of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Book 4)
Book Review: Delightful- the hype was mostly justified
Summary: 5 Stars
This 30-something mom felt it was well worth the time and almost totally lived up to the hype. The sense of fun and place, full and interesting characters, quirky details, and interlocking mysteries (large and small) are still there. Added are new characters, dimensions and adventures for Harry and others, a sense of the larger wizarding world, and hints of struggles to come. I read it at one stretch and it didn't seem long. It's age appropriate but with much to offer grups as well. The only caveats are a wish for less artificiality in the way Harry gets historical information, and a little more first-person sharing of what's going on in Ron's and Hermione's heads when they're undergoing struggles and life changes.
The Dursleys are a challenge but Harry gets around them with his growing understanding, and soon Harry is off to the Weasley's. No Diagon Alley this time (Mom does the shopping <sigh>): he gets World Cup quidditch and the mysterious aftermath. The quidditch match at the beginning was very detailed.
Once school starts there are many familiar elements but also twists. I laughed out loud several times during the early sections but after that it was somewhat less prankish than past books. The Triwizard Tournament soon begins and Harry is included though he is underage and another champion from Hogwarts is already chosen. Though wondering about motives he is bound by the rules to participate. The competition include lots of exciting and suspenseful activities, so the quidditch wasn't missed.
Harry's relationship with Ron goes up and down but Hermione remains steadfast. In the end they are a team, but there are times of doubt and pain. There's a continuing sense of Harry feeling separate from the rest of the world that's sometimes due to events and sometimes regular pre-teen stuff kids will likely identify with. The mysteries grow and we learn more about characters and relationships, deepening understanding of previous events and foreshadowing the future. For example, his patience toward the hapless Neville seems in books 1&2 merely nearness or decency, but in book 3 we see parallels in his father's friendship with Pettigrew (aka Wormtail and Scabbers). Then in book 4 we and Harry learn more about Neville's family tragedy and begin to see him differently. Though little is done with it here I expect more top come. These bits are not always separated out so you have to pay attention- the suspenseful action is sometimes a little distracting, so a second read-through helps more background and clues stick.
The much ballyhooed romance is just dawning, and I was glad. He is still a little young for more than a crush. It and many other events give us hints of the man Harry is shaping up to be, and for the most part he is something to be proud of- though patches of stubbornness remain to grow out of.
There are several deaths but mostly "off screen." None are gory. One is a known but not central student, and though Harry's reaction was delayed it was proportional. The ending had unanticipated elements, but logical once explained. My advice- remember things are seldom entirely what they seem in the magical world.
Book Review: Delightful- the hype was mostly justified
Summary: 5 Stars
This 30-something mom felt it was well worth the time and almost totally lived up to the hype. The sense of fun and place, full and interesting characters, quirky details, and interlocking mysteries (large and small) are still there. Added are new characters, dimensions and adventures for Harry and others, a sense of the larger wizarding world, and hints of struggles to come. I read it at one stretch and it didn't seem long. It's age appropriate but with much to offer grups as well. The only caveats are a wish for less artificiality in the way Harry gets historical information, and a little more first-person sharing of what's going on in Ron's and Hermione's heads when they're undergoing struggles and life changes.
The Dursleys are a challenge but Harry gets around them with his growing understanding, and soon Harry is off to the Weasley's. No Diagon Alley this time (Mom does the shopping <sigh>): he gets World Cup quidditch and the mysterious aftermath. The quidditch match at the beginning was very detailed.
Once school starts there are many familiar elements but also twists. I laughed out loud several times during the early sections but after that it was somewhat less prankish than past books. The Triwizard Tournament soon begins and Harry is included though he is underage and another champion from Hogwarts is already chosen. Though wondering about motives he is bound by the rules to participate. The competition include lots of exciting and suspenseful activities, so the quidditch wasn't missed.
Harry's relationship with Ron goes up and down but Hermione remains steadfast. In the end they are a team, but there are times of doubt and pain. There's a continuing sense of Harry feeling separate from the rest of the world that's sometimes due to events and sometimes regular pre-teen stuff kids will likely identify with. The mysteries grow and we learn more about characters and relationships, deepening understanding of previous events and foreshadowing the future. For example, his patience toward the hapless Neville seems in books 1&2 merely nearness or decency, but in book 3 we see parallels in his father's friendship with Pettigrew (aka Wormtail and Scabbers). Then in book 4 we and Harry learn more about Neville's family tragedy and begin to see him differently. Though little is done with it here I expect more top come. These bits are not always separated out so you have to pay attention- the suspenseful action is sometimes a little distracting, so a second read-through helps more background and clues stick.
The much ballyhooed romance is just dawning, and I was glad. He is still a little young for more than a crush. It and many other events give us hints of the man Harry is shaping up to be, and for the most part he is something to be proud of- though patches of stubbornness remain to grow out of.
There are several deaths but mostly "off screen." None are gory. One is a known but not central student, and though Harry's reaction was delayed it was proportional. The ending had unanticipated elements, but logical once explained. My advice- remember things are seldom entirely what they seem in the magical world.
Book Review: Rite of Passage
Summary: 5 Stars
Children's literature tends to be the great equalizer: if a book is good, really good, when you're a kid, it will stand up to repeated readings throughout your life. J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series has managed to captivate adults and children alike, so much so that the advance publicity for the fourth volume--HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE--has achieved epic proportions. Could ANY book live up to all the hype? In this case, the answer is: Yes. The story begins as the now 14-year-old Harry weathers another summer with his hated and hateful relations, the Dursleys, and eagerly looks forward to the Quidditch World Cup, to which he has been invited by his best friend, Ron Weasley. But Harry and the Weasleys soon have more on their minds than wizard sports: a series of bizarre and frightening events unfold at the match that prove to have lasting repercussions for all who attended. Back at Hogwarts for his fourth year, Harry soon learns of another surprise--namely, the Triwizard Tournament, a magical contest that is to take place between Hogwarts and two more wizarding schools. Three champions, one chosen from each school by the Goblet of Fire, compete against each other in feats of magical skill and daring. Owing to the high risk factor involved, however, Headmaster Dumbledore has decreed that only students 17 and older may submit their names for contention as school champion. An intrigued Harry looks forward to watching the excitement from the sidelines, along with pals Ron and Hermione. But on the day that the champions are to be chosen, the Goblet of Fire spits out the name of an unprecedented fourth champion: Harry Potter. Shocked and more than a little alarmed by this surprise development, Harry now finds himself competing against much older students, who regard him with scorn and hostility, facing the jealousy of his peers (including Ron), and ultimately, fighting not only for school honor but for his very life. HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE has rightly been referred to as a pivotal installment in the series, for it is in this volume that Harry makes the transition from child to adolescent. Besides the Triwizard Tournament and the complications it brings to his life, Harry is also contending with the problems of any normal teenage boy, such as the onset of puberty and unrequited first love. School continues to present its own challenges--the animosity between Harry and Potions Professor Severus Snape remains undiminished--and, as rumored, the death of a major character casts a shadow over Harry's life, even as it clarifies the ordeal that awaits him in the future: a final confrontation with the evil wizard, Lord Voldemort. A darker book than its predecessors (though still possesing its trademark humor), GOBLET OF FIRE tackles weightier themes adroitly and with sensitivity. J. K. Rowling's writing seems to have matured, along with her young hero. Put this volume (after a satisfactory number of re-readings) on the shelf beside its precursors and wait in eager expectation for the fulfillment that is to come.Book Review: I had to submit a review to Amazon.com for a school project
Summary: 5 Stars
A Book Review of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, by J. K. Rowling, is a fantasy book because Harry Potter is a 14 year old wizard. As a baby, Harry was the only wizard who survived a curse from Voldemort, the dark wizard, so he was famous among witches and wizards. Harrys best friend is Ron Weasley, who is poor, but very nice. There are two main settings in the book, the Dursleys house and Hogwarts School. The book starts at the home of his Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon and cousin Dudley Dursley. At their house they treat Harry Potter horribly because they are Muggles, which means they arent magical, and they hate all wizards and witches. Harrys parents were killed by Voldemort, so he had to live with the Dursleys where every day was a bad day for Harry. Harry and his friend Ron attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Hogwarts is a boarding school in a castle on a lake surrounded by a forbidden forest. Starting at age ten, young wizards and witches attend Hogwarts to learn how to use their power. The plot of this book is about the Triwizard Tournament. In this tournament three champions from three different wizard schools competed in three dangerous tasks. The prizes were a big trophy and a thousand galleons, which is wizard money. Only people older than 16 could enter the contest, but somehow Harry got in, so there were four champions-two from Hogwarts, one from Beauxbatons and one from Durmstrang. The first task began where Harry had to retrieve an egg that a dragon was guarding it. The egg would tell him a clue to the second task, but all the egg did was screech horribly. Cedric Diggory, the other Hogwarts competitor, told him to take a bath with the egg. When he was underwater it told him they would take his best thing from him and he had to retrieve it in an hour. The second task was to retrieve his best thing from the lake. When the day came he dived into the lake and got to his best thing, which was Ron, his best friend, but Harry ended up taking two people out of the lake, Ron and the sister of the Beauxbaton champion. The third task, which was my favorite scene, was a maze filled with obstacles. When the day arrived Harry started through the maze and broke his leg because of a gigantic spider. He touched the cup at the same time as Cedric and it turned out the cup was a portkey, which means it was a transportation device. Harry and Cedric went far away from Hogwarts where ****** died from a curse. Harry found himself dueling a dark wizard, but he miraculously escaped. In the end, Harry realized that he was guided to win the Triwizard Tournament so that Voldemort, the dark wizard, could be revived stronger than before. This was a great book because of all the details about Hogwarts School. It is so interesting that the kids study magic and magical things happen to the characters everyday. I liked that in the Triwizard contest the Hogwarts champions compete against students from other wizard schools. Also, this book really touched me when ****** died. I would recommend Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire to my friends because once you get into it, you cant put this book down.I really liked this book.Book Review: A journey to another world, or is it?
Summary: 5 Stars
During the first week of my first grade, I fell sick. I had to remain at home for over three weeks. I was very sad, because I didn't want to be left alone while all the other kids were making their first contact with the school and its numerous secrets I had heard so much about (teachers, homework- yes, I was a very naive young boy). Wishing to cheer me up, my mother decided to read me The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, the first of the Narnia series. This was one of my first contacts with fairy tales. Each morning, I woke up, looking forward to hearing the adventures of Lucy, Peter, Susan and Edmund in the magical land of Narnia. I still remember the introduction of the book written by C.S. Lewis. It said: "Dear Lucy, I wrote this story for you, but when I began it I had not realized that girls grow quicker than books. As a result, you are already too old for fairy tales, and by the time it is printed and bound you will be older still. But some day, you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again. You can then take it down from some upper shelf, dust it and tell me what you think of it". I didn't understand it then, but it seems so crystal clear to me today.When I first heard about the huge "wave" caused by Harry Potter series, I didn't pay much attention to it. True, I heard that children and adults all over the world were crazy about the little nerdish like boy and his friends, but I remained too deaf to hear. I couldn't understand how older people could be so fond of this Harry Potter guy? Although I'm an avid reader myself, I decided to ignore the critics and to stick to my "serious" reading, which usually revolves around historical books, biographies or mystery novels. Then, during my recent trip to New York, as I was walking along the snowy streets, I came by a second-hand bookshop. I entered (I couldn't resist such a temptation). I was perusing various books when I came by Harry Potter's fourth year at Hogwarts, "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire". Let's give it a shot, I told to myself. I bought it, and I ADORED IT! Indeed, to my surprise, it turned out to be one of the best books I've read this year. It has it all: adventure, mystery, friendship, courage and betray. J.K Rowling managed to bring the fairy tale to our own world. While C.S. Lewis introduced us to the magical land of Narnia, Rowling enables us to examine our familiar surroundings through a magical gaze. All the matters that we have to cope with in our everyday life, as children and later as adults, can be found in Rowling's books: on the one hand, love, friendship, hope and courage, and on the other, hatred, racism, discrimination and death. Rowling has got a tremendous gift for combining human emotions, fears and triumphs with supernatural, flying brooms and wands. "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" is a funny, imaginative, impressive and a moving story. You definitely don't have to be a kid to enjoy this book (I'm almost 23 years old, an adult according to some, a child according to others- yes, I'm referring to you, mum). It brings out the good within each one of us. I look forward to reading the rest of Rowling's books. Keep on the good job!