If I’ve done my math right, I should be able to listen to all of the Harry Potter book on audio before the last one is released in July; so I started with the first two, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
Listening to these was an interesting and revealing experience. I was glad to be reacquainted with the charm of Rowling’s prose, the humor and the small touches that get lost for me in the big picture. And I got a better sense of the major characters’ personalities than I had before, again because of the slower nature of audiobooks. So those were definite benefits.
Of course, the slower nature also gives more time for flaws to become apparent. With the first book, this is mostly limited to a realization that the mythic nature of the ending doesn’t quite come together; some of it fails to resonate (ROT-13 spoilers (decrypt at a webpage or via a browser bookmarklet): jul dhveery pbhyqa’g gbhpu uneel). The second book, however, I just found more work to listen to. It takes a long time to get started, and tying the books to the school year does odd things to the pacing and tension; the “woe is Harry” sections are a slog; and the structure of the book is neither fish nor fowl (a spoiler-filled post on this is over at my LiveJournal). Also, small plot holes are more apparent, like the contortions required to get a teacher-free confrontation at the end, or (more ROT-13 spoilers) jul yhpvhf oebhtug qbool gb ubtjnegf jvgu uvz va gur svefg cynpr. At any rate, I didn’t enjoy it as much, though I will say that Lockhart is so much more fun when performed (as the movie already showed).
I intend to listen to at least the third book, but I may permit myself to just read the fourth and fifth, as they are monstrously long and seem very likely to suffer in the audio format. (Not sure about the sixth.) I continue to be anxious about the final book: I think there are a number of things being set up by existing books, that I’m not sure if there’s going to be enough room to satisfactorily resolve. These two books, for instance, are built around the fact that things often aren’t as black and white as they first appear: but there are still a lot of received truths in the universe that I’m not sure have been thoroughly debunked. (The one that immediately comes to mind is “all Slytherins are nasty”; somehow this seems implausible to me, and yet all I recall getting so far is “there are bad people in other houses,” which you’ll note does not, actually, negate the prior sentence.) I’ll leave the rest for another time, since they become more explicit in later books.
This is the dorkiest comment ever and totally OT, but that rot13 bookmarklet is awesome!
Also, I think your link is broken, but I managed to find it here.
To be more on topic, I do think Rowling is moving more toward a “not all Slytherins are nasty,” particularly with (book 6 spoilers) qenpb naq fancr va obbx fvk. gung fnvq, gurl arire fgbc orvat anfgl, ohg ng yrnfg gurer’f fbzrguvat oruvaq vg orfvqrf “gurl ner whfg gung jnl.” But I hope she does more with it in book 7 than she has been, as it’s one of the things about the universe that has really been bugging me. Ditto with the assorted status of various races (elves, giants, etc.).
Two things I forgot.
Re: Slytherins: the end of book 1 doesn’t help this any, as (ROT-13) sbe nyy gung fancr vfa’g gur guvrs, gur punatr va gur ubhfr phc vf qbar jvgubhg gur fyvtugrfg uvag sebz nalbar gung gur znaare bs gur njneqvat jnf arrqyrffyl fgvpxvat vg gb gur fylgurevaf.
Re: flaws with book 2: (ROT-13): “Tvaal Jrnfyrl jnf cresrpgyl unccl ntnva”, evtug nsgre fur’f qrcbffrffrq? Yeah, right. I’d like to think that this is Harry being unobservant, but there’s no “seemed” in there, so I think we’re supposed to take it as true, which I just don’t buy.
Oyceter: sorry you got tossed in the spam folder; I forgot to check it this morning. And, what link is broken?
Glad you like the bookmarklet; I found it somewhere, couldn’t find it again, and so have put it up to refer to on my own.
I agree about the Slytherins, and also about the non-human species, which comes up more later: the books are doing some with this, but I’m not sure I think it’s enough, or will be enough when the series is done. Oh well–just a few months, now . . .
Oops, sorry! I always forget to check back for blog comments!
Originally, the rot13 link hosted on Steely Pips was broken, but it looks like it’s working now.
Oyceter: thanks. Also, there’s a handy-dandy RSS feed for new comments (link below the new-comment form) just so people won’t have to remember to check back!