Ah. The Goblet of Fire. Before the last book came out, the 4th in the Harry Potter series was my favorite. It still is in a way. Especially after reading it again for the first time since it was released.
While the movie was fantastic, it was evident from early on in the book that there was quite a bit left out. Ludo Bagman, for instance. Fred and Georges little side-story that doesn't get resolved until the end of the book. Dobby, entirely, being left out. S.P.E.W. The animosity Hermione has for Rita Skeeter and what she does about it. The fact that Rita Skeeter was getting inside scoop stories when she wasn't aloud on the school campus at all (and how she was doing it, Hermione finally figuring it out). Harry finished the first task in the Tri-Wizard Tournament in a few short minutes, not in much danger. The Sphinx and her riddle is left out of the maze. Harry saves Cedric twice in the maze, once from Krum and once from a giant spider (not vines).
Quite a few things. But for the sake of a movie, I understand why so many things were cut.
Regardless of all that though, I really enjoyed rereading this book. It was nice to see all the little bits of foreshadowing, alluding to things that will happen and be discovered in later books. Voldemort has his death eaters believing a potion of Dark Magic returned him to his body. But that is not necessarily true. He leaves out the key bit of information that allowed him to survive his "downfall" at the hands of Harry Potter 13 years prior. Why did he only turn in to a shadow of his former self instead of die entirely? Something kept him corporeal at least.
And we'll see a hint of that at the end of the next book.
I was able to make some margin notes while reading the ebook on a computer in a web browser. Unfortunately the feature doesn't work (or is not available) on my tablet. I did the majority of my reading on my tablet, but definitely some on the browser allowed me to take some margin notes.
Two particular lines, one by Dumbledore and one from Harry, are particularly vivid and I remember quite well from my first read through when I was 14. Harry, Ron and Hermione are determined to visit Hagrid who they've not seen in a few weeks due to Rita Skeeter's article on him being a half-giant. They demand entry, banging on the door when Dumbledore answers.
Harry is explaining to Hagrid that nobody cares he's a half-giant. Why would anyone believe that Rita Skeeter cow --
Stopping short, he apologizes to Dumbledore for saying something so rude about another person in his presence. Dumbledore's response:
"I have gone temporarily deaf and haven't any idea what you said, Harry".
Love it.
The next line that I enjoyed was when Harry was trying to gain access to Dumbledore's office but didn't have the new password. Lemon drop was the old one from his first year of school, and when trying that again fails, he tries an assortment of other tasty wizard treats.
He manages to get it after kicking the statue once (and achieving nothing but a pain in his big toe) by using "Cockroach Cluster". The gargoyle springs to life and jumps aside.
Harry's response: "Cockroach Cluster?" he said, amazed. "I was only joking ..."
I'm not sure why it was funny, but I laughed.
A good one-liner from Ron: "Percy wouldn't recognize a joke if it danced naked in front of him wearing Dobby's tea cozy!"
Harry: "Big bones ... the only thing that's got bigger bones than her is a dinosaur."
I also enjoyed the twins, Fred and George, throughout the entire book even though it was little to get into until the end. The interaction they have with Harry upon his arrival at The Burrow is entertaining. Both Fred and George greet Harry and then Fred turns to his mother as seeing her for the first time and greets her too "Mum! ... How really corking to see you!" as he shakes her hand. Love those two.
I also remember a couple of the chapter headings had images of which I was very fond. Mad-Eye Moody for instance was great. The chapter in which Harry, Ron, and Hermione go to the kitchens (21, The House Elf Liberation Front) was also a good image (the three of them standing in front of the portrait of fruit, Hermione reaching up to tickle the pear).
It seems to me that this book, out of the first four, is the most well-written. Her writing style had improved even further than it had in the third book. An excellent read and I'm really pleased with how quickly I managed through it as I want to get to Order of the Phoenix and get through that ... pile of crud as quickly and painlessly as possible.
Can you tell I dislike Order of the Phoenix? Great movie, probably one of the best in the series, excluding the last one, but I thoroughly dislike the book. I'll explain why during that review when I'm done. Maybe I'll have a different opinion this time around.
No comments:
Post a Comment