Goodreads | Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Book 2)

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5		38%
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harry potter	4	37	08/11/2008 11:06AM

Chris rated it:

(review of isbn 0439064872)

02/09/08

bookshelves: fantasy, harry-potter

Read in July, 2007

Since pretty much everyone I know has read these books, I figure reviewing them is pretty pointless. But with the new book coming out in a couple of weeks, I have to go through them beginning to end. To make the reviews more entertaining, I will be doing them in a variety of unexpected formats. For this review, I will be writing as someone who's just getting into Freudian theory.

From the very beginning, the true nature of this story is quite obvious - The Chamber of Secrets. There is ...more Since pretty much everyone I know has read these books, I figure reviewing them is pretty pointless. But with the new book coming out in a couple of weeks, I have to go through them beginning to end. To make the reviews more entertaining, I will be doing them in a variety of unexpected formats. For this review, I will be writing as someone who's just getting into Freudian theory.

From the very beginning, the true nature of this story is quite obvious - The Chamber of Secrets. There is only one "chamber of secrets" that is of any human concern, and it is no coincidence that the book of such a title was written by a woman.

By sending her young, immature male character, Harry (whose name, along with Tom and Dick, just happens to be one of the "universal" male names) into the mysterious Chamber, Rowling is exploring her memories of early childhood sexuality. The Chamber is filled not only with mystery, but danger and legend - its very existence is debated, which no doubt refers to the elusive female orgasm.

Ms. Rowling, whose sexual impulses have no doubt been unfulfilled over the years, is attempting to fulfill them by way of her own fiction. She has created a perfect sexual explorer in Harry Potter - a young, innocent and noble young man whose powers have not yet matured. Obviously a male that Rowling would feel comfortable with. This is especially interesting given the actual resident of the Chamber of Secrets - a huge, deadly serpent. And there's only one thing that a huge, terrible serpent can represent.

Rowling's sexual past is the fertile ground in which this book was grown. It is her cathartic attempt to win over the guilty feelings that she's repressed from her former sexual life, the one she regrets more than anything else, by manufacturing a hero. That hero, in Harry Potter, represents the type of man for whom she would "open" her "chamber - pure of heart and noble of intention and, most importantly, under her control. The vanquishing of the serpent-symbol is her victory, leaving her free to explore other aspects of her life, including the eventual resolution of the Electra complex that appears to have been built up around Professor Dumbledore......less

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Carmen rated it:

(review of isbn 0439064864)

10/22/07

Read in January, 2001

recommends it for: everyone

What stands out in book 2:

* The de-gnoming of the Weasleys' garden. Harry discovers that even wizards have chores--gnomes must be grabbed (ignoring angry protests "Gerroff me! Gerroff me!"), swung about (to make them too dizzy to come back), and tossed out of the garden--this delightful scene highlights Rowling's clever and witty genius.
* Harry's first experience with a Howler, sent to Ron by his mother.
* The Dueling Club battle between Harry and Malfoy. Gilderoy Lockhart sta...more What stands out in book 2:

* The de-gnoming of the Weasleys' garden. Harry discovers that even wizards have chores--gnomes must be grabbed (ignoring angry protests "Gerroff me! Gerroff me!"), swung about (to make them too dizzy to come back), and tossed out of the garden--this delightful scene highlights Rowling's clever and witty genius.
* Harry's first experience with a Howler, sent to Ron by his mother.
* The Dueling Club battle between Harry and Malfoy. Gilderoy Lockhart starts the Dueling Club to help students practice spells on each other, but he is not prepared for the intensity of the animosity between Harry and Draco. Since they are still young, their minibattle is innocent enough, including tickling and dancing charms.
* We learn more about Tom Riddle, aka Voldemort

Amazon Review
It's hard to fall in love with an earnest, appealing young hero like Harry Potter and then to watch helplessly as he steps into terrible danger! And in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the much anticipated sequel to the award-winning Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, he is in terrible danger indeed. As if it's not bad enough that after a long summer with the horrid Dursleys he is thwarted in his attempts to hop the train to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to begin his second year. But when his only transportation option is a magical flying car, it is just his luck to crash into a valuable (but clearly vexed) Whomping Willow. Still, all this seems like a day in the park compared to what happens that fall within the haunted halls of Hogwarts.
Chilling, malevolent voices whisper from the walls only to Harry, and it seems certain that his classmate Draco Malfoy is out to get him. Soon it's not just Harry who is worried about survival, as dreadful things begin to happen at Hogwarts. The mysteriously gleaming, foot-high words on the wall proclaim, "The Chamber of Secrets Has Been Opened. Enemies of the Heir, Beware." But what exactly does it mean? Harry, Hermione, and Ron do everything that is wizardly possible--including risking their own lives--to solve this 50-year-old, seemingly deadly mystery. This deliciously suspenseful novel is every bit as gripping, imaginative, and creepy as the first; familiar student concerns--fierce rivalry, blush-inducing crushes, pedantic professors--seamlessly intertwine with the bizarre, horrific, fantastical, or just plain funny. Once again, Rowling writes with a combination of wit, whimsy, and a touch of the macabre that will leave readers young and old desperate for the next installment.
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Ann rated it:

(review of isbn 0439064864)

07/06/08

bookshelves: absolute-favorites, actionadventure, character-stories, fantasy, jkrowling, katie-and-annie-bookclub, mysteries, re-read

Read in July, 2008

recommends it for: Anyone!

I'm not sure what more I can say about Harry Potter. It's obvious to anyone who knows me how much I love these books, and for anyone who doesn't I'm not sure that I can add any more praise than these books have already received (and, rightfully so, in my opinion). The books are full of heart, wit, mystery and fantasy, humor and sadness, each page bringing more plot or more characterization, and often times both.
And the books are just as delightful upon the second read!

**SPOILERS BELOW** ...more

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Silvercharmer rated it:

(review of isbn 0439064864)

08/16/07

bookshelves: harry-potter, scifi-fantasy

While the story fits neatly together and again, her imagination is fantastic, the flat characters that play to extreme stereotypes take a lot of the enjoymeny out of this story.

There is no excuse for Gilderoy Lockhart. Granted, his fame obsession and ludicrous self-absorption make for some amusing Rowling-esque moments that make the series good (such as a dozen Lockharts running for cover in the photo frames with rollers in their hair), but at the expense of the reader's patience. This degr...more While the story fits neatly together and again, her imagination is fantastic, the flat characters that play to extreme stereotypes take a lot of the enjoymeny out of this story.

There is no excuse for Gilderoy Lockhart. Granted, his fame obsession and ludicrous self-absorption make for some amusing Rowling-esque moments that make the series good (such as a dozen Lockharts running for cover in the photo frames with rollers in their hair), but at the expense of the reader's patience. This degree of narcissism, even if plausible in the real world, stretches my suspension of disbelief too far. Like every page with Malfoy on it, I'd rather flip past them than read them.

The greatest problem I have with this series is the two dimensional villains (or irritating Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers). Good villains should draw out some sort of sympathy in the reader, or reveal at some point their humanity. At the very least, you should be able to understand why they are the way they are, and that back story allows you to look at them from a different perspective. This moment never happens for Lockhart, and incidentally it never happens for Malfoy.

Rowling allowed the perfect opportunity to make Malfoy a good, three dimensional villain when Harry and Ron used the Polyjuice potion. For the first time, we had Malfoy out of the public eye and in private, where we could see the real him, and not the front everyone else sees. Here was the chance to see his humanity – that he’s such a prick because he’s afraid of disappointing his father, that he worries about his grades, that there’s a girl he likes and he’s secretly worried she doesn’t like him back, anything that humanizes him and draws out some sympathy, because thus far he’s gotten nothing more than eye rolls out of me. But we didn’t get that moment. Rowling wrote him no differently than she does when he is on parade in front of everyone, which was really a shame.

So, overall, the characters get tiring, but the writing style and imagination are extremely enjoyable.
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Kathryn rated it:

(review of isbn 0439064864)

07/06/08

bookshelves: fantasy---sci-fi, mystery, re-reading, very-favorites

Read in July, 2008

Simply splendid on the second read, too. I first read this in December of 2002. Charming, funny, mysterious, thoughtful, sweet, frightening--and Professor Lockheart, the cherry on top! One of my favorite of the HP books, despite the fact I found a few places where I thought perhaps JK was stretching a little bit (very rare for me to find anything like that in the HP books). Still, five stars all round.

It wouldn't be summer for me without an HP book to read. This is (I think) the only o...more

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Amber rated it:

(review of isbn 0439554896)

07/31/08

bookshelves: children-fantasy, series

Read in July, 2008

recommended to Amber by: a friend
recommends it for: readers of all ages who want a fantasy story with a twist of modern life

I was happy to begin the second Harry Potter book, which turned out to be filled with plenty of laughs, but still gives the sense of 'what will happen next?' to the reader. We begin with Harry Potter, who returned to the Dursleys, his uncle Vernon, aunt Petunia, and cousin Dudley, after the end of the school term. But the Dursleys despise Harry, especially now that he has become a wizard, and Harry feels like he's left his own home behind him at school.

This book was a little more serious tha...more I was happy to begin the second Harry Potter book, which turned out to be filled with plenty of laughs, but still gives the sense of 'what will happen next?' to the reader. We begin with Harry Potter, who returned to the Dursleys, his uncle Vernon, aunt Petunia, and cousin Dudley, after the end of the school term. But the Dursleys despise Harry, especially now that he has become a wizard, and Harry feels like he's left his own home behind him at school.

This book was a little more serious than the first one. Because, although you get plenty of laughs from the slightly ridiculous characters of Dobby the house elf and Gilderoy Lockhart, the new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher, there is danger in the school. In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Harry and his two friends, Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger, were the only two students who knew that something strange was afoot at Hogwarts. But in this book, all the students are exposed to the dangers that begin to reveal themselves in the school.

I liked the fact that Ron's wand is broken in the beginning of the book and how, though it caused Ron quite a bit of grief through most of the story, it ended up saving both Ron and Harry from a very sad fate.

In my opinion, Hermione was more of an open character in this book than she was in the first one. I was glad for this because Hermione is one of my favorite characters so far. Her quick thinking resourcefulness is a compete necessity, how on earth would Ron and Harry get through school without her?

And, of course, there was no less of the thoroughly hilarious twins, Fred and George Weasley. Nothing seems to dampen their spirits and simply reading about their mischievous nature makes you want to smile.

The main point to the story was loyalty. How, although Ron and Harry had a good chance of getting killed or, worse in Hermione's mind, expelled, they continued to search for any clues that might help them stop the attacks on the Hogwarts students. How Ron and Hermione stood by Harry when few others would. And even in the face of serious danger, Harry, Ron, and Hermione remained loyal to each other and to the headmaster, Albus Dumbledore.

I definitely thought it was well worth reading and very enjoyable, I am glad that this book was recommended for me to read....less

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Ryan T rated it:

(review of isbn 0439064864)

04/21/08

Read in April, 2008

recommended to Ryan T by: no1
recommends it for: ne1

This is the second book in the 7 book series by J.K Rowling and since the book is so much different from the movie and She is such a good author, i chose to re-read the book.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is a thrilling science fiction book about the adventures of Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger as they try to unravel the mysteries surrounding the rumored Chamber of Secrets.
The beginning of the book starts off with Harry at the Dursley house an...more This is the second book in the 7 book series by J.K Rowling and since the book is so much different from the movie and She is such a good author, i chose to re-read the book.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is a thrilling science fiction book about the adventures of Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger as they try to unravel the mysteries surrounding the rumored Chamber of Secrets.
The beginning of the book starts off with Harry at the Dursley house and how Ron comes to save him from their cruel ways and bring him to the burrows.(Ron's house)While there Harry travels to Diagon Alley by floo powder and accidently turns up in Knockturn alley only to find Draco Malfoy and his father there doing buisness with some very dark magic. Hagrid finds him and brings him back to meet with the Weasleys again and they finish their shopping. When the boys try to run through the wall to get on platform nine and three quarters they are flabberghasted when the barrier has seemed to closed itself. Being the smart kids Ron and Harry are, they decide to get to school by driving a car thet Arthur Weasley has charmed to make it fly. The kids make it to Hogwarts safely than almost get expelled.
Time passes in the book and as the time passes Harry hears mysterious voices every once in a while in the hallways saying "kill". Later the kids are in the wrong place at the wrong time and they find writing on the wall saying "the chamber of secrets has been opened, enemies of the heir beware". The kids find out what the Chamber of Secrets is and they proceed to make the Polyjuice Potion inorder to find out if their assumptions about Malfoy being the heir were right.At a dueling practice Harry finds out he can speak parseltongue (snake language) which is a sign of dark magic.
Near the end of the book Harry finds a diary which turns out to be a Horcrux (later in the series) amd he gets to see part of His life which tries to blame Hagrid for what happened last time the chamber of secrets was opened. Hagrid is being expelled and he tells Ron and Harry to follow the trail of spiders, which they do and they are lead to Hagrids old friend Aragog, who basically tells them that a Basilisk is what has been paralyzing everyone and what Harry has been hearing in the halls. Hermione is than paralyzed by the beast, but she uses a piece of paper to tell them how it moves around. Harry and Ron than learn that Ron's sister Ginny has been taken into the chamber by the beast.
This is all i can really say without giving away the whole ending of the book.( not that almost everyone hasn't already seen it...)

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Sue rated it:

(review of isbn 0439064864)

11/14/07

Read in November, 2007

It’s been another long summer at the Dursley’s for Harry Potter. He can’t wait to get back to Hogwarts and is counting down the days until he can return. He’s surprised when, on his birthday, a strange elfish creature named Dobby shows up with dire warnings for Harry: He must not return to Hogwarts!

When Harry refuses to stay home from school, Dobby lands him in heaps of trouble with the Dursley’s, who lock Harry up in his room and refuse to let him out. Before Harry can sink too f...more It’s been another long summer at the Dursley’s for Harry Potter. He can’t wait to get back to Hogwarts and is counting down the days until he can return. He’s surprised when, on his birthday, a strange elfish creature named Dobby shows up with dire warnings for Harry: He must not return to Hogwarts!

When Harry refuses to stay home from school, Dobby lands him in heaps of trouble with the Dursley’s, who lock Harry up in his room and refuse to let him out. Before Harry can sink too far into despair, however, Ron Weasley and his two brothers, twins Fred and George, come to his rescue in a flying car and spirit him back to their house, where Harry is thrilled to spend the remainder of the summer.

Thus starts an eventful second year for Harry Potter. Between having to cope with more homework than ever, a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor who is vain and convinced Harry is too, and a mysterious voice he keeps hearing in the walls, Harry’s days are nothing if not interesting.

As the school year progresses, however, the mysterious voice Harry keeps hearing is getting more and more menacing, and soon vicious attacks start happening to the students of Hogwarts. When Harry discovers, quite by accident, that he is a Parslemouth and can speak to snakes, he’s quickly singled out as Slytherin’s heir, the person who, according to legend, will open the mysterious “Chamber of Secrets” and release the monster within.

Of course Harry has no idea who is attacking the students, but he quickly resolves to find out who is responsible. He, Ron, and Hermione come up with an elaborate plan to disguise themselves as Slytherin students so they can question Draco Malfoy, whom they believe is the one setting the monster loose in the school. The plan goes perfectly, but they’re disappointed when they find out from Draco that he is not the one they’re looking for.

The quest gets personal when Hermione is attacked and petrified by the monster. Ron and Harry are devastated, and are left on their own to uncover the true identity of the person responsible. Events come to a head when Ron’s sister, Ginny, is kidnapped and taken down into the Chamber of Secrets, and Ron and Harry discover an important clue that Hermione left for them. They quickly head down into the Chamber of Secrets to rescue Ginny.

Harry and Ron get separated once they’re down there and Harry is left to pursue the monster on his own. He quickly finds Ginny, and thanks to some mysterious help from Dumbledore and his pet phoenix, Fawkes, Harry is able to destroy Slytherin’s heir, who turns out to be a younger version of Lord Voldemort. Voldemort had possessed Ginny through an enchanted diary and was using her to set the monster loose on the students.

Harry and Ron are both hailed as heroes when they make it back out with Ginny, and Harry can’t imagine a finer end to such an eventful year when Hermione and the rest of the victims are healed and they win Gryffindor loads of House points.
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Maddy rated it:

(review of isbn 0439064864)

08/08/07

bookshelves: harrypotter

"Seperti biasa, liburan musim panas Harry Potter dilalui dengan penderitaan. Selain dikurung tidak boleh keluar kamarnya, teman2 sekolahnya tidak ada yang mengirimkan kabar atau mengucapkan selamat ulang tahun untuk Harry. Ternyata, ini semua perbuatan peri-rumah bernama Dobby. Dobby berupaya menghalangi Harry kembali ke Hogwarts karena dianggap Hogwarts tidak aman baginya. Dobby bahkan sampai mengusili keluarga Dursley sehingga Harry yang dipersalahkan. Setelah diselamatkan sahabatnya Ron ...more

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Namz rated it:

(review of isbn 0747538484)

08/06/07

bookshelves: childrens-fantasy

Read in August, 2007

recommends it for: Shibani

In a bid to revive the Harry-related nostalgia, am re-reading the series. This is my third trip around Potter’s world, so the cynicism hasn’t crept in yet.I decided to start off with “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets”.

I always find the second in a long-running series the most-fulfilling. After the first, we know the character profiles down to a tee, have decided on our favourites and our pet-hates and can easily summon up the landscapes and surroundings. So now it’s just a ...more

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Stephanie rated it:

(review of isbn 0439064864)

08/01/08

Read in July, 2008

recommended to Stephanie by: a friend
recommends it for: Anyone who likes fantasy and action/adventure

Even though I had watched the movie before reading this book, I could not put it down, it was definitely entertaining and suspenseful. New dangers reveal themselves in this capturing story as Harry Potter comes back to Hogwarts in his second year and finds that a deadly mystery awaits him. I think that J.K Rowling added a certain depth of mystery and seriousness to this book yet kept it refreshingly humorous.

The whole school is faced with danger when a message is written on the wall saying t...more

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Skinnywhitedude19 rated it:

(review of isbn 0439064864)

02/25/08

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets begins when Harry is spending a miserable summer with his only remaining family, the Dursleys. During a dinner party hosted by his uncle and aunt, Harry is visited by Dobby, a house-elf. Dobby warns Harry not to return to Hogwarts, the magical school for wizards that Harry attended the previous year. Harry politely disregards the warning, and Dobby wreaks havoc in the kitchen, infuriating the Dursleys. The Dursleys angrily imprison Harry in his room for th...more Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets begins when Harry is spending a miserable summer with his only remaining family, the Dursleys. During a dinner party hosted by his uncle and aunt, Harry is visited by Dobby, a house-elf. Dobby warns Harry not to return to Hogwarts, the magical school for wizards that Harry attended the previous year. Harry politely disregards the warning, and Dobby wreaks havoc in the kitchen, infuriating the Dursleys. The Dursleys angrily imprison Harry in his room for the rest of the summer. Luckily, Harry's friend Ron Weasley steals Harry away in a flying car, and Harry happily spends the rest of the summer at the Weasley home.
While shopping for school supplies with the Weasleys, Harry has two unfortunate encounters. He first encounters Lockhart, one of his teachers, who demands to be in a photo shoot with Harry. Harry then encounters Lucius Malfoy, the evil father of one of Harry's enemies, who almost starts a fight with Mr. Weasley. As Harry prepares to return to Hogwarts, he finds that he and Ron are unable to enter the magically invisible train platform, so they fly the Weasley car to Hogwarts. They land messily, and both boys are given detentions. Lockhart, who believes Harry flew the car to get attention, lectures Harry.
Quidditch practices begin and Malfoy is the new Slytherin seeker. On the field, he calls Hermione a "mudblood," insulting her Muggle heritage. After taunting Hermione, Draco is the suspect when, on Halloween night, someone petrifies the school caretaker's cat and writes a threatening message. Before the cat is attacked, Harry twice hears an eerie voice. He hears it first during his detention and second during a party, moments before the cat is attacked. Everybody in the school is alarmed. By doing some research, Harry, Ron, and Hermione learn that fifty years ago a chamber at Hogwarts was opened and a student was killed.
Playing for Gryffindor, Harry wins the Quidditch match against Slytherin. During the game, an enchanted ball hits Harry and causes him to lose the bones in his arm. Dobby, a house elf, has enchanted the ball in an effort to have Harry injured and sent home. That night, Harry sees the body of a first-year who has been petrified arrive at the hospital. Soon after, Lockhart begins a dueling club. During the first meeting, Harry terrifies his fellow students by speaking in Parseltongue to a snake. Harry's ability frightens the others because only the heir of Slytherin, who is responsible for opening the chamber, would have the ability to converse with snakes. Harry comes under further suspicion when he stumbles upon the petrified bodies of Justin flinch flechyand nearly head less nickDetermined to catch the culprit, Ron, Harry and Hermione brew a potion called Polyjuice. The potion allows them to assume the bodies of Slytherins and question Malfoy on the Chamber of Secrets. They find out that Malfoy is not the heir of Slytherin. No more attacks occur for a while, and right before Valentine's Day, Harry finds a diary in the broken toilet. The diary belongs to a ghost named moaning myrle who haunts the girls' restroom. Harry writes in the diary, which responds by writing back. Through this dialogue, Harry meets tom riddle, a boy who many years before had accused hagrid of opening the Chamber of Secrets.
Hermione and a Ravenclaw girl are mysteriously petrified. Harry and Ron venture out of the castle to question Hagrid. Before they reach Hagrid, the Minister of Magic and Lucius Malfoy remove dumbledor and Hagrid from Hogwarts. As Hagrid is led away, he instructs the boys that by following the spiders, they can find out about the Chamber monster. Several nights later, Harry and Ron sneak into the Forbidden Forest to follow the spiders. They discover the monster who killed the girl fifty years before was not a spider, that the girl's body was found in a bathroom, and that Hagrid is innocent. The boys are almost killed by a colony of giant spiders. As they escape, Harry and Ron decide that Moaning Myrtle must have been the girl killed by the monster.
A few days later, Ron and Harry discover a piece of paper with a description of a basilisk on it in Hermione's frozen hand. They deduce the Chamber monster is a basilisk. Before the boys can act on their knowledge, the teachers announce that ginny has been taken into the chamber. Ron, Harry, and Lockhart slide down a secret passage in Myrtle's bathroom to underground tunnels. When Lockhart accidentally curses himself, Ron helps him and Harry leaves them behind. Harry enters the Chamber of Secrets and encounters Ginny's still body and Tom Riddle. Tom turns out to be a younger version of voldemort, who has been enchanting Ginny through his journal. Harry calls for help from Dumbledore. A phoenix and a magic hat arrive. Tom summons a basilisk, but the phoenix punctures its eyes. The hat produces a sword, which Harry uses to kill the giant snake. Harry sticks a basilisk fang through the diary, destroying Tom. Ginny wakes up.
Harry explains his adventure to Dumbledore. Lucius Malfoy storms into the office with his house-elf, Dobby, and Harry frees Dobby from by tricking Lucius into giving Dobby a sock. All is well in the castle as the students leave for their summer vacations.
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Nikki rated it:

(review of isbn 0439064864)

02/26/08

bookshelves: fiction-fantasy

Read in October, 2007

One of the things that has disappointed me most about the Harry Potter books (and I'm writing this having read only 4 of them at this point) is the smallness of the characters. (I ask that you forgive my nearly redundant use of some words in this review, but I can think of no better way to describe my feelings about these books.) When one reads books, one might expect "evil" characters to be petty, for their meanness to be somehow small and vindictive in nature. Malfoy's meanness is...more

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Jason rated it:

(review of isbn 0439064864)

02/08/08

Read in January, 2002

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

While home with the Dursleys (who had taken away all his school books, broom, and wand) for the summer, Harry Potter is upset he has not yet received any mail from his friends Ron, Hermione and Hagrid. On his twelfth birthday (July 31), Harry is visited by Dobby, a house-elf, who warns Harry that he will be in mortal danger if he returns to Hogwarts. Harry ignores Dobby's dire warning and is determined to return. Dobby reveals he has been collecting Harry's letters to make it seem as though his ...more While home with the Dursleys (who had taken away all his school books, broom, and wand) for the summer, Harry Potter is upset he has not yet received any mail from his friends Ron, Hermione and Hagrid. On his twelfth birthday (July 31), Harry is visited by Dobby, a house-elf, who warns Harry that he will be in mortal danger if he returns to Hogwarts. Harry ignores Dobby's dire warning and is determined to return. Dobby reveals he has been collecting Harry's letters to make it seem as though his friends had forgotten him, hoping Harry might then not want to return to Hogwarts. Since he will have to use force to change Harry's mind, Dobby decides to use a charm to destroy a pudding that Aunt Petunia has made for an important dinner party attended by Uncle Vernon's potential client and the client's wife. Harry is blamed by the Ministry of Magic for Dobby's charm and is told that if he does magic outside school again, he will be expelled. On learning that Harry cannot perform magic outside school, the Dursleys, previously fearful of his magic, locks Harry in his room as a prisoner, even fitting bars onto the bedroom window.

A few days later, Fred, George and Ron Weasley come to Harry's rescue in their father's enchanted Ford Anglia. After a few weeks at the Burrow, the Weasleys and Harry go to Diagon Alley, traveling by Floo Powder. Harry accidentally gets sent to Knockturn Alley in a store that Draco Malfoy (Harry's worst enemy) and his father, Lucius are visiting. Harry, (with the help of Hagrid) gets back to Diagon Alley and finds the Weasleys. While at Flourish and Blotts Harry yet again runs into Lucius Malfoy (who gets into a fight with Mr. Weasley). After a pleasant month together in the Weasley house, everyone heads to Platform 9¾ at King's Cross Station to take the Hogwarts Express back to school. To their shock, Harry and Ron are unable to enter the barrier between platforms 9 and 10. In desperation, they fly to Hogwarts in the car, crashing into the Whomping Willow and damaging Ron's wand. The semi-sentient car ejects them and their belongings and disappears into the Forbidden Forest.
Harry Potter soon finds he is the unwanted centre of attention of three people: the new Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor, Gilderoy Lockhart, Colin Creevey, a (rather annoying) first-year photographer, and Ron's sister, Ginny Weasley, who fancies Harry. Events take a turn for the worse when the legendary Chamber of Secrets is opened and a monster stalks the castle, with the power to leave people "petrified" - alive but frozen. To the horror of Hogwarts, the monster petrifies several students. According to legend, the Chamber was built by Salazar Slytherin and can only be opened by his heir, in order to purge Hogwarts of "all those who were unworthy to study magic" - Muggle-born wizards. Many suspect Harry is the heir of Slytherin, especially after he inadvertently speaks Parseltongue (the language of snakes), a rare ability that an infant Harry gained from Voldemort during the evil wizard's failed murderous attack. This is unknown to Harry at the time, who actually begins to suspect himself of being the heir of Slytherin, especially as the Sorting Hat attempted to put him in Slytherin last year, but put him in Gryffindor after Harry's pleading.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione attempt to discover the Heir of Slytherin's identity. Using Polyjuice Potion brewed by Hermione, Ron and Harry disguise themselves as Slytherin students, Crabbe and Goyle, hoping to learn whether Draco Malfoy is the Heir. Malfoy, they learn, does not know who the Heir of Slytherin is, but he inadvertently provides Harry and Ron with an important clue about the Chamber of Secrets. Later, Harry finds a blank diary belonging to Tom Riddle and decides to keep it.
The attacks increase throughout the year, petrifying more students, including Hermione. All activities, including Quidditch, are cancelled, and students are not allowed to leave their dormitories or classes without their teachers. Finally, a message written on a wall declares that Ginny Weasley has been taken into the Chamber, where "her skeleton will lie forever."

With the help of Ron and Moaning Myrtle, Harry discovers the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets. They force Gilderoy Lockhart, a fraud that wipes clean other wizards' memories and claims their achievements, to go with them. Once they find the entrance to the Chamber, Lockhart attempts to use Ron's broken wand to erase Harry and Ron's memories, but the spell backfires on to himself and brings the ceiling caving in, separating Harry from Ron and Lockhart. Lockhart revives, but has now lost his own memory.

Harry makes it to the Chamber where he finds an unconscious Ginny. He also meets a young man named Tom Riddle, who claims to be a "memory". Harry learns that Ginny, under the control of Lord Voldemort, opened the Chamber. Voldemort, whose real name is Tom Marvolo Riddle (the anagram of which is "I am Lord Voldemort"), imprinted his memory in an enchanted diary, in order to one day continue the work he began when he opened the Chamber fifty years ago — ridding Hogwarts of non-pureblood witches and wizards. It was later revealed in Half-Blood Prince that Riddle imprinted part of his soul into the diary, thus turning it into a Horcrux. Hagrid, a Hogwarts student at the time, was blamed for the attacks and expelled.

Tom Riddle's soul fragment grows more powerful as it steals life from Ginny's body, and it tries to kill Harry by setting loose a basilisk (the monster responsible for petrifying the students). But Dumbledore's phoenix, Fawkes, arrives carrying the Sorting Hat, from which Harry draws out the sword of Godric Gryffindor. Fawkes blinds the basilisk, destroying its fatal gaze, and Harry slays it with the sword. In attempting to slay the basilisk, Harry's arm has been pierced by the creature's poisonous fang, and Riddle is happy that he seems to have killed Harry. Fawkes returns to heal Harry with his tears (phoenix tears have healing power), and Harry stabs the diary with one of the basilisk's poisonous fangs, destroying the fragment of Riddle's soul. Ginny awakens from her near-death state and recovers fully, along with the other attacked students: Hermione, Justin Finch-Fletchley, Colin Creevey, and Penelope Clearwater; as well as Nearly Headless Nick (the ghost of Gryffindor Tower) and Filch's cat, the ever-watchful Mrs. Norris.
Dumbledore dispels Harry's fears that he should have been put into Slytherin rather than into Gryffindor when he tells Harry that it is his choices that define him and not his abilities, and that Harry could not have wielded the sword of Gryffindor if he did not truly belong to that house. With Ron and Harry granted two-hundred points each for their adventure, Gryffindor wins the House Cup for the second year in a row.

With Dobby's help, Harry realises Lucius Malfoy, Draco's father, slipped the diary into Ginny's cauldron when he encountered the Weasleys in a Diagon Alley bookshop. Dobby reveals he is the Malfoys' servant, and knowing their treachery, had been trying to protect Harry all year. In gratitude, Harry hides his sock, still covered with slime from the Chamber of Secrets, in the diary, and hands it to Lucius. Lucius throws the sock away, where it is caught by Dobby. This constitutes, in Dobby's eyes, a gift of clothing — the traditional manner in which a master frees a house-elf from servitude. Lucius Malfoy, irate over Harry having tricked him into freeing his servant, attempts to attack Harry. However, a grateful Dobby intervenes and blasts Lucius with a spell. A disheveled Lucius gathers himself and exits Hogwarts, declaring that Harry will soon meet the same end as his parents for his meddling
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Dan rated it:

(review of isbn 0439064864)

01/27/08

Read in February, 2006

recommends it for: everyone who can read!

More than a year and a half after reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, I finally picked up it’s immediate sequel in the series. No sooner than I’d turned the last page of the Sorcerer’s Stone, than my friend Amanda invited me to see the movie made from the third book in the series. I knew I’d missed a lot of content between book one and book three, but as it turns out, that wasn’t entirely the case. Nevertheless, as much as I enjoyed the first Harry Potter book, I didn’t...more More than a year and a half after reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, I finally picked up it’s immediate sequel in the series. No sooner than I’d turned the last page of the Sorcerer’s Stone, than my friend Amanda invited me to see the movie made from the third book in the series. I knew I’d missed a lot of content between book one and book three, but as it turns out, that wasn’t entirely the case. Nevertheless, as much as I enjoyed the first Harry Potter book, I didn’t imagine that that bolt of lightning would strike twice. In a way, it didn’t. I actually enjoyed the Chamber of Secrets even more than the first book!

J.K. Rowling’s ability to develop characters at the same time she is advancing the story line is matched only by her uncanny talent at crafting a smooth, fast-paced, readable tale in the first place. Really, the thing that hits home about this book is how friendly and accessible the writing is. Granted, I know that Ms. Rowling is writing Harry for kids, but she does nothing to insult her readers’ intelligence, regardless of age. I suspect that is why the book is so palatable for adults, as well!

The story picks up in the summer following Harry’s inaugural year at Hogwarts, the premiere academy for wizards in Great Britain. He is summering with his nightmarishly evil aunt, uncle, and cousin, who have been “caring”, if that’s the appropriate term, for Potter since he was left on their doorstep, as an infant. If by “caring”, one means that he’s been locked in a closet under the steps since he first appeared, then that would be the proper word. His extended family, with whom he is living, is villainously distrustful of Harry’s magical ancestry, and even after Harry knows he’s a celebrated young wizard, following his first year at Hogwarts, Harry is still reduced to sub-human treatment at the house of his family, the Dursley’s.

From there, we follow the adventures of Harry and his friends Ron and Hermione as an ominous warning given to Harry by a mysterious creature, begins to come to fruition. Hogwarts is being threatened by a strange legend and students, as well as ghosts and the custodian’s twisted cat are all turned into inanimate, barely living statues. No one evades suspicion, least of all, Potter, who learns his strange abilities time him to a dark legacy. It’s up to Harry, Ron, and Hermione to figure out what’s going on and how to stop the curse from closing the school!

If you pick this book up, I dare you to set it down! After taking a month and a half to read my last non-fiction book, all 341 pages of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets fell in three days! It really is that good.
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Jennifer rated it:

(review of isbn 0439064864)

01/11/08

Read in January, 2008

recommends it for: people who like kiddie lit and fantasy

I decided to tackle the second installment of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, and was very pleased with the read.
I found this book to have a pretty excellent plot line, and I certainly thought the climax was very good. I had seen the movie before, so I had an idea how it would work out, but I was still very pleased with it. It's easy to follow, and I found it to be a rather quick read.
I can't say that it is my favourite in the series, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. I find that Rowling ca...more I decided to tackle the second installment of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, and was very pleased with the read.
I found this book to have a pretty excellent plot line, and I certainly thought the climax was very good. I had seen the movie before, so I had an idea how it would work out, but I was still very pleased with it. It's easy to follow, and I found it to be a rather quick read.
I can't say that it is my favourite in the series, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. I find that Rowling can be abit methodical about it and I am beginning to "expect" some twist that will ultimately resolve the conflict for each book.
Her strength is in the character developments and their stories for sure, and I find that I learn more about them as the books go on. I am also impressed that she brings in characters early on and then uses them in later books. I am certain that "Tom Riddle" will come back in some form, and that I will learn more about him. See, I know that Rowling won't leave certain things alone. She will eventually answer my questions, but I just have to wait. Her pull is suspense, and she has managed to get me hooked because she is withholding information.
There are some details that I am getting hung up on. See, I assumed that Hogwarts was a fairly small school, contending on the basis that Harry's class has approx. 40 characters in it. I thought that maybe the school would have around 280-300 students. Rowling has stated though, that she envisioned that the school could have up to 600 students and that Harry's class is small. The problem I have is not with this number, but that it is not expressed in the books. I am a little disappointed in that Rowling has all this "extra" information that she is giving us but hasn't mentioned it in the books. I feel that I should be entitled as a reasder to my own interpretation of what is there in the text. I may even go as far to state that if it isn't in any of the books, then it shouldn't be "explained". The very fact that it is not there deems that it is open to interpretation.
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Atre rated it:

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01/14/08

ini tahun kedua Harry Potter bergelut dengan dunia sihir. tahun kedua Harry juga di sekolah sihir yang sudah menjadi seperti rumahnya, Hogwarts.

di musim libur sekolah, Harry tetap harus kembali ke rumah pamannya. rasanya liburan kali ini terasa lama sekali untuk Harry. ia tak sabar ingin kembali ke Hogwarts yang nyaman dan meninggalkan rumah pamannya itu.

di tahun kedua ini, Harry mulai terbiasa dengan kado2 yang da

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Book 2)

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