2023 EDIT: Part of my 2023 clear-up, of books I no longer like, or am no longer interested in, or remember well as standing out, or find as special anymore, or I otherwise will not miss.
[I think I have finally outgrown this series and fandom, and I can no longer in good conscience support it, thanks to She-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named. My once-love of the franchise has turned sour; I am disenchanted, disinterested, and I can't look at it fondly anymore. I will always have the memories, but not the books.]
Final Score: 4/5
2020 EDIT: A fun reread. What great mysteries (with the Hogwarts schoolwork and exams and Quidditch matches never forgotten about) and character work. Harry has always been valiant, and Ron was never a coward, thank you very much, film adaptations. I can see so many things - hints and foreshadowing - leading up to the future books in the series. And I think I'm going to say more and more, with each reread of the 'Harry Potter' books, just how awful Draco Malfoy and Severus Snape truly are.
Final Score: 5/5
Original Review:
Harry Potter Reviews
Book 2: 'The Chamber of Secrets'
The adventure continues, starting with a whole different meaning to the phrase, "What's the magic word?", a house elf, and a flying car.
In 'The Chamber of Secrets', the bizarre, the wonderful and the exciting are written with more conviction and strength than ever before. This time around, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, at twelve-years-old, come up against great dangers at the Hogwarts School. Dangers such as a giant spider named Aragog, a very secret diary belonging to the heir of the House of Slytherin, a petrifying presence, a Basilisk, and social prejudices...as well as sillier yet still relevant things; such as the bumbling new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor Gilderoy Lockhart, cupids, the eager first year student Colin Creevey, and Moaning Myrtle, the ghost of a student who haunts the girls' toilets. Also cast by Ms Rowling's writing wand into the magic potion of the narrative is the sword of Gryffindor, and Professor Dumbledore's trusted phoenix Fawkes (also known as "a cool deux-ex-machina").
What a follow-up to 'The Philosopher's Stone'! And the mysteries that Harry comes across in his second year at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry are more prevalent to finding out his destiny.
I should add that it was this book, 'The Chamber of Secrets', which truly got me hooked on 'Harry Potter', hence its five solid gold stars. It was in the summer of 2007, when I challenged myself to read all seven books, and it was one of the best experiences of my life. The closest I'd ever been to feeling like a real witch. The film adaptations cannot hold a candle to Ms Rowling's superb writing and worldbuilding. 'The Chamber of Secrets' made me fully appreciate the writing and plot twists of the series, and how they are woven into such a complex magical world populated with hundreds of story threads and unforgettable characters who I wish are real. Mix that in with pure fun and enjoyment and you get one of the best stories-said-to-only-be-for-children ever conceived.
In 'Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets', we get the first glimpse of Lord Voldemort's background, specifically when he was a young wizard and a student at Hogwarts. This incorporates some humanity into the series' ominous antagonist.
It also shows Harry's growth as he becomes a fully-fledged wizard in training, and how he sees first year Hogwarts students like Colin Creevey, who is one of his biggest fans. Ginny Weasley, Ron's sister, has also started Hogwarts. Aside from her crush on Harry, the innocent and naive girl already faces a grim and dangerous ordeal. Harry himself had started only a year ago, when he first found out he was a wizard, and in his second year he learns a lot more about the wizarding world - about its darker layers underneath the sprightly surface.
For human nature sets its ugly teeth even in magical worlds. Harry will realise that the Muggle Dursleys are not the only bigoted people he'll come to know in life. In the world of witchcraft and wizardry, for example, there is discrimination against Muggle-born magic users like Hermione; the slur being "Mudblood", used proudly and persistently by Draco Malfoy. (And people ship Draco and Hermione? Really? Why?). Witches and wizards who are not from pure-blooded magic families are in danger of a ghost - or of a memory of past times and prejudices - that's lurking in the supposedly safe Hogwarts castle. Low class creatures, such as house elves like Dobby, are treated like slaves by high-class fascist wizards, such as Lucius Malfoy, Draco's father. We also learn about Squibs, people born into wizard families but who possess no magical powers themselves.
Hermione has a smaller role compared to Harry and Ron in this instalment, and she has terrible things happen to her, not least getting turned into a cat girl via a polyjuice potion. There is the damsel-in-distress plot device at play here as well. However, Hermione is as quick and resourceful as ever, even when she isn't in on the action or in the climactic battle.
We see Ron's whole family and their home, the Burrow, for the first time. They treat Harry like one of their own, and this signifies his need for loving human contact, which is never given to him by the awful Dursleys, regardless of the boy wizard's fame and fortune, of which the Weasleys have none.
Obsession with power and immortality, and finding one's own identity, are major themes in 'The Chamber of Secrets', and in the overall series. Harry is seen as "The Boy Who Lived" by wizards both young and old, but in reality he is an ordinary boy who also happens to be a wizard. He may have supposedly defeated Lord Voldemort when he was a baby, but he has much to learn. Harry will have to rely on his own courage and the teachings of others if he's to overcome adversity and battle oppressive evils. Even when he realises he can talk to snakes - in parseltongue - something that only the heir of Slytherin has been known to do, he refuses to accept it as his defining personality trait. With the help of his friends and the enlightened elders - and even his rivals and enemies - Harry Potter works hard to achieve his objectives, to set up a self-made identity, and grow up to be a hero in his own right.
After all:
"It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities." - Albus Dumbledore, page 245.
Nature Versus Nurture is one of my favourite themes in fiction, and it adds much to my love of 'The Chamber of Secrets'.
Voldemort's selfishness and power-hungry nature are what separate him from Harry: the hero and the villain, two sides of the same coin. They are both half-bloods (Harry's mother Lily was Muggle-born) raised by Muggles who discover their magical heritage before attending Hogwarts under Albus Dumbledore. The Dark Lord is an example of high-class supremacy and bigotry gone to the very worst extremes.
Even Gilderoy Lockhart has a role in the external-and-internal identity theme of 'Harry Potter'. He is discovered to be a hollow and empty man who lives off the successes and hard work of others in order to achieve his own ends. He lies about who he is, and when the mask falls off he is left with nothing but a weakling's heart and mind. No love, no kindness, just lies and deceit; and in that way he is rather similar to Voldemort, only not as clever or bloodthirsty.
This review isn't as long as my previous one, but I have said all I needed to say about 'Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets'. Read the second instalment and discover the magic at its best and most passionate glory.
Now for a quick word regarding the film version. It's as faithful as the last attempt, although the film series' disposition of telling as opposed to showing becomes painfully more apparent. For example, Moaning Myrtle is shrieking and crying; let's have Hermione say, "She's a little sensitive". Well, no %^%&&**, Sherlock! And Myrtle's a poor, misunderstood Hogwarts student who was killed before her time! So no wonder she's "a little sensitive".
Another thing, I do not care for the Quidditch chapters of the books - fun though they may be - for they are the least important elements in the entire series. The only thing to note about the sport in this book is that it leads to Lockhart accidentally hexing the bones out of Harry's arm. The Quidditch match is a traditional feature in the books, which I find to be a bit ironic because J.K. Rowling has said that she dislikes sports. I do not bother following the World Cup myself. Jo wanted the wizard sport in the 'Harry Potter' world to be as exciting as possible, and I think she achieved that. I mean, who wouldn't want to knock some balls around whilst riding on broomsticks?
That last sentence did not come out the way I originally intended.
Harry Potter Book 2:
Final Score: 5/5 (
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