Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Inhoud

Harry Potter, along with his best friends, Ron and Hermione, is about to start his third year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry can't wait to get back to school after the summer holidays. (Who wouldn't if they lived with the horrible Dursleys?) But when Harry gets to Hogwarts, the atmosphere is tense. There's an escaped mass murderer on the loose, and the sinister prison guards of Azkaban have been called in to guard the school...

Bespreking

The grimmest installment so far

For Harry Potter the beginning of a new year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry cannot come too soon. Particularly this year when the Dursleys are acting extremely vicious as they have invited Aunt Marge to stay for one whole, complete, entire, full week. As much as Aunt Marge hates that little wizard apprentice, Harry hates her twice as much. Maybe it is time to leave the Dursleys for good? But is it safe outside, now that Sirius Black -a maniac just escaped from the prison of Azkaban- is on the loose. Even more: it seems that Black is an accomplice of You-Know-Who and has a special interest in Harry Potter. When Harry gets to Hogwarts, the atmosphere is tense and not without a reason.

This third installment of the immense popular Harry Potter series differs in more than one way from its predecessors. At first the pace of the narrative is much slower and more descriptive. Whereas in the Chamber of Secrets the reader is hauled through a tightly packed storyline at an incredible pace, in the Prisoner of Azkaban there is enough time too look around and let the environment and characters work upon the reader. This contrast of pace is even more evident when finally the conclusion -a masterpiece of plotting- unfolds at the speed of light.

Secondly, the atmosphere is much darker that in the predecessors. Everything in this book is covered with the breath of the grim reaper. It is remarkable how Rowling dances with death throughout every chapter. Whereas we already know Harry Potter to be surrounded by funny character, they now all seem to suffer under an unbearable weight and are scarcely showing their funny side. This switch certainly adds to the authenticity of the main characters. Stating that by reading this third book you really get to know Harry and his friends is not far from the truth.

Whereas the overemphasis of the fantastic -Dementors, Hippogriffs and Animagi- might be a let-down for a born pragmatist, these new additions will make Harry's world an even more exiting place to dream about.