the chamber of secrets

By the end of the first chapter of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets I was already pleased with the upgrade in Rowling's writing over the first book - I greatly appreciated stumbling upon a Kafka reference in the narration of Harry's struggles with the Dursleys. I'm not quite ready to start referring to the second book as a novel, but it's a lot closer than the first one. It was another pleasant read and a bit more memorable this time.

Again, the intensity of the rivalry between Harry and Draco Malfoy is far greater in the written than film version of the tale. However, I did feel that the movie created a stronger sense of drama and suspense in my favorite scene - Harry speaking Parselmouth during his duel with Draco - than the book. It's interesting how the book and the movie coincide almost uniformally in the plot elements, but do contrast quite a bit in the plot timeline. I think I prefer the way the story unfolds within the book - it builds better towards the climactic moments than the movie.

Tom Riddle is an intriguing character in the Chamber of Secrets and a very creative way of introducing Voldemort into this volume's story. I would have liked there to be more about Tom throughout the book - he was really only introduced in the final chapters. I find the making of either a hero or a villain fascinating and felt that an explanation of how and why Tom went bad was lacking from the book. Though, having seen previews for the Half-Blood Prince, I know that more insight into Tom's story is on its way.

Ok, time to start book 3. It took me longer than expected to read book 2 - I went out the last couple nights to hang out with friends instead of getting reading done - so I'm a little behind schedule. I still feel confident that I can work through books 3 and 4 prior to seeing the Half-Blood Prince, and maybe finish book 5 before I see it for a second time.