Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

I first read this novel several years ago, but had not reviewed it until now. Since I own a copy of "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child", I decided I needed to revisit the series. This second reading was just as delightful as the first! This series just has a freshness, an amazing originality, that I know I'll NEVER get tired of! Poor Harry Potter has not had an easy life....after all, he's been targeted for bullying and attempted murder. In the first book, not only was he nearly killed by Voldemort, but then grew up being constantly bullied by his nearest relatives, the Dursleys, who are Muggles (non-magical people). Then he started attending the magical boarding school -- Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry -- and found two new enemies: Draco Malfoy, and Professor Snape. All of these characters continue to harass him in this second installment, too. Amazingly, Harry manages to deal with it all, including the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Gilderoy Lockhart, who is ridiculously narcissistic. And in the end, as always, Harry emerges as hero! In this book, there's a new mystery to be solved, as several students, and one cat, are Petrified. This means they're literally turned into statues. At the same time, Harry is hearing something very unusual, that no one else can hear. And a certain villain makes a very unexpected appearance.... The three main characters are GREAT, as usual. Harry remains resolute in solving any and all strange mysteries that may arise, and he has two incredible allies in Hermione and Ron, who back him up in all of his adventures! I love how Hermione constantly turns to books as the answer to every problem that crops up. When in doubt, head for the library! As for Ron, I really admire his loyalty to Harry. He's given Harry some very great help along the way, as well. All the secondary characters are also wonderful, which is a Rowling trademark. This is very important, as I do feel that secondary characters can either make or break a novel. Professor McGonagall, although very strict, is also very fair, as well as compassionate. Professor Snape is his usual nasty, detestable self, constantly directing his unpleasant remarks to Harry. The Weasleys -- especially Fred and George -- are very comical. I love how the whole family accepts and loves Harry, who is an orphan. And Hagrid is his usual sweet, adorable self! In this novel, we find out more about his rather shadowy past. Three new minor characters are introduced here -- the house elf, Dobby, Draco's vicious father, Lucius Malfoy, and Professor Gilderoy Lockhart. Poor Dobby leads a miserable existence, but, in spite of that, he attempts to warn Harry away from Hogwarts. Unfortunately, for some reason, he's not able to tell Harry exactly why it would be dangerous for him to return to the school. My heart went out to him! I thought it was great that Rowling also threaded in some social commentary through this character. But then, she's been doing that since the first book. It's very obvious that she's against abuse of all types, as this is a recurrent theme in the books. Dobby is mistreated by Lucius on a constant basis. Harry is mistreated by the Dursleys, and abused by Draco and Snape. This is one of the elements of the books that, I'm sure, has contributed to their appeal. Rowling definitely sticks up for the underdog! The portrayal of Lucius is very well done. He's cruel, despotic, and evil. He might come across as very stereotypical, as Harry's Muggle relative, Uncle Vernon, does, but again, I think Rowling is using some of her characters to speak out against abuse. Unfortunately, children in particular do suffer a lot of abuse worldwide, and so do other groups who have no access to power of any type. Through these two characters, Rowling also makes a very important statement regarding bigotry. Lucius (as well as his son, Draco) detests "Mudbloods", which is the name given to magical people whose parents happen to be Muggles. Lucius also loathes elves, as they are powerless to change their own status unless someone helps them out. As for Uncle Vernon, he detests magical people. Both characters are constantly judging and stereotyping those who belong to other, "different" groups. Both are, of course, insensitive to the suffering of those they unfairly mistreat. Gilderoy Lockhart provides a lot of the comic relief in this novel. He is incredibly FOND of himself! He's constantly telling people about his supposed magical exploits, as well as pushing his own books, making these a requirement for the subject he's teaching. It turns out that he's just a ridiculous windbag, but, along the way, he provided a lot of laughs at tense points in the narrative. I also loved the character of "Moaning Myrtle", even though she was constantly complaining and whining. I do feel sorry for her. She had self-esteem issues while alive, and these continued to plague her even as a ghost. She just had a very raw deal. Even her death was totally unfair. She does help out our heroes, though. Without the clues she provided, they would not have been able to solve the mystery so easily, and lives would not have been saved. The novel ended in a very satisfactory manner, as the first book did. Rowling is obviously not a fan of cliffhangers, which is something I really appreciate! Of course, it was Harry who saved the day. In fact, in this particular installment, I was very strongly reminded of Greek mythology. Harry could have been one of the famous Greek heroes, in that he battled some very great obstacles, and used his intelligence and resourcefulness in doing so. I'm sure this was intentional on Rowling's part. She certainly excels at bringing in all kinds of literary allusions to these books! Rowling's imagination is amazingly fertile, as she brings in more plot twists, more incredible events, and makes her readers wish even more that they studied and lived at Hogwarts! I find it hard to believe that these books should have met with some negative criticism. After all, they fall squarely into the tradition of the hero who triumphs against all odds! And they do so in an entirely unique and very entertaining way, too!

I'm so glad that I decided to re-read these books right now. Because oh, how I am loving them. Reading this book again was a lot of fun. And I loved it so much. Harry is amazing. The Weasleys are so adorable. I love Ron and Hermione. I love the school. I love Hagrid. Just, I have so much love for this book. I like how every book in this series is about one year at Hogwarts. Harry must spend every summer with the Dursleys. And oh my god. I can't stand them. I really can't. They are so awful towards him. They never get him anything. And they are cruel, in a way. Did not like the small part of them in this book. There is so much to love about Chamber of Secrets. The writing is gorgeous. I liked it more in this than I did in the first one. This book is special to me. I loved reading about Harry and all his problems. Things aren't going very well for him. He is getting blamed for just about everything, and I must admit to loving that, hah. There was this new teacher in this one. And oh, how he annoyed me. How he annoyed Harry. And it was so much fun to read about. This book is awesome. And not nearly as dark as the books that are coming up.. sigh. Yet still a bit heartbreaking, even so. The writing is lovely. The characters are all perfection to read about. The plot is awesome. All of it is so. I'm so happy that I loved re-reading this gorgeous book. So much is happening in this one. I don't think I will describe much of it. But I have some thoughts to share. I adore the friendship between Harry and Ron and Hermione. It is stunning to read about. Though I also feel like we don't get to see nearly enough of it, and that makes me a bit sad. Hmph. But I'm okay. Probably. Because there is so much amazing happening at all times. I like reading about Harry's sort of hate relationship with Draco. It's awesome. I don't fully hate this boy. He's a bully, but not the worst one. I also liked reading about the sport in this book. How awesome Harry is at it. How great he is at flying. I'm all kinds of jealous, though, as I have always wanted to fly. I still adore reading about the different classes in these books. Though not too much about it, so I didn't get tired of it. I keep thinking that I don't see how people could love Snape after book seven, but so far I don't hate him at all. He just seems a bit grumpy, maybe. But yeah. Not liking him much either, to tell the truth. He is interesting, though. The plot in this book is all kinds of exciting. I loved the mystery about the Chamber of Secrets. About who was turning so many people almost into stone. About the whispering that only Harry could hear. About that annoying Dobby, and all the awful but meant in a good way things he did. I loved reading about the different creatures in this one. Huge spiders. Shudders. Those were awesome. And huge snake. And just, yeah. It was a lot of fun to read about and I can't seem to say much more than that :) I wish there were tons of things I could say about Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. But my mind seems empty. Probably because this book is so awesome that I have no negative things to talk about, hah :) So my review is a lot shorter than usual. But that's okay. I just wanted to share about how much I adored re-reading this book. And how happy I am that I did this right now. You all need to read the Harry Potter books. If you have only read book one, you should know that this one is even better. It's so good.

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Super lektura dla fanów Harrego

I watched all the movies and the books really expand the world

... Is how many stars we'd like to give this book! (Giacomo and Alba and daddy). As good as the first book!

Absolutely loved the Chamber of Secrets. As a big fan of the movies, I have enjoyed reading the books so much and learning more about Hogwarts, Tom Riddle and the curious gifts Harry seems to have. Book two we get to meet Moaning Myrtle, see Harry go up against Slytherins new Seeker, and the mystery’s of Hogwarts and the wizarding world expand by going back in time to events that happened in the past. My heart goes out to Hagrid, who is literally a BFG and is most often, always to blame or the scapegoat. He’s had a hard life but nothing has stopped him from being the kindest caretaker of Hogwarts.