BOOK REVIEW 13: HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN: JK ROWLING

 

GENERAL OVERVIEW:

RATINGS: 4.5/5

GENRE: FANTASY, ADVENTURE, SUSPENSE, THRILLER, DRAMA

AUTHOR: JK ROWLING

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Joanne Rowling is her original name. JK Rowling is her pen name. She also writes as  Robert  Galbraith.She was born on 31 July 1965 in Yate, Gloucestershire, England.

J. K. Rowling is a British author and philanthropist. She is best known for writing the Harry Potter fantasy series.
She started working as a researcher and bilingual secretary for Amnesty International when she conceived the idea for the Harry Potter series. She was striked with the idea while on a delayed train from Manchester to London in 1990.

She has earned a BA in French and Classics at the University of Exeter.
She was married to Neil Murray in 1992 and got divorced in1995. She has three children.

HER OTHER NOTABLE WORKS ARE:

Harry Potter series

Corman Strike series 

Fantastic Beasts series

Politics of JK ROWLING

 The Ickabog

The Casual Vacancy and many more.

INTRODUCTION:

HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN is the third book of the seven Harry Potter series. It depicts the story of Harry's third year at Hogwarts: School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The story starts where the second book ends.

Harry Potter has been spending another unhappy summer with the Dursleys which forces Harry to use Magic outside school. He is pardoned by Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge for using magic outside of Hogwarts. 

He reunites  with his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger.Harry learns that Sirius Black is a convicted supporter of the dark wizard Lord Voldemort. He has escaped Azkaban prison and intends to kill Harry.

On the train they are inspected by Dementors. They are supposed to be the guards of Azkaban.

At Hogwarts dementors are  guarding the school until Sirius is captured. Harry learns a lot of secrets about Sirius Black at Hogsmead which shocks him a lot. 

This book is mainly about Sirius secrets to be true. And the book ends with the revelation of truths along with lots of surprises.

NEW CHARACTERS:

PROFESSOR LUPIN:

Lupin is supposed to be a Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher for third year at Hogwarts.Lupin is a  father figure to Harry as he progresses throughout the year. Harry is taught how to ward off Dementors by Lupin with a magical charm. Lupin is a friend of Harry's father and really takes care of him.
But as the story progresses and the truths are unveiled its interesting enough to know the secrets behind Lupin.

SIRIUS BLACK:

He is the fugitive prisoner of Azkaban. But why and how does he escapes the tight prison; you must go through the book. He is the one accused of hideous crimes  and there is more why he is in prison.

ANALYSIS:

This is my favourite Harry Potter book of the seven series. It is so engrossing with strong and unique plots, you never know when you finish reading it. At first I really had difficulty in pronouncing the title ;especially Azkaban. But as I got used to it, this is my favourite word. 

Though it is the longest of all the seven books I am really really impressed with the plot. The characters complexity,the scene arrangements, the vieled mystery and enigmas definitely is a butter and bread. You would never get bored for sure.

The connection history and association of one character with the another character that too so close really furrows your brows maybe even lift your eyebrows. But it is very interesting to know how one plot is deeply related with the other plot.

To know history of the Hogwarts through the eyes of four group of friends is so exciting. The revelation of those four characters as friends turned foes is definitely a scene to read.

Magical creatures taught by Hagrid is fascinating enough. Though they seem to be harmful and dangerous they are actually tamed with love and care by Hagrid. Buckbeak, Hippogriff are some of the magical creatures that took a major role in lengthing the novel. 

And after Harry knows the real betrayal he is too stunned to move.Harry learns a lot more intriguing and intimidating sinister forces that are attacking the wizarding world. He learns a lot about his birth, his parents, his reasons to be the sole enemy of Voldemort. He too learns about fugitive Sirius Black that he is supposed to be the one associated with him after all.

 Readers are not very surprised when they come to know the real reasons at the end. The tiny details that readers definitely miss while reading the novel is so interesting that those details happens to be the major plot   turnover. You are sure to remain with your mouth full opened. How could that possibly be???

The other thing that I really liked is Time Travel where Hermione and Harry truly faces a lot more Adventure with lot more risks. You never know you were holding on to your breath throughout the time travel. You seriously pray for their safety and that they are not seen or disturbed by any other characters until they finish for what they came for.

CRITICISM:

The escape of Sirius Black from Azkaban is not so supporting enough. People will not easily believe that Sirius and only Sirius could escape the prison in presence of Dementors. While most of the prisoners lost their lives in attempt of the escape Sirius remains unharmed. It's unbelievable.

The revelation of who the real betrayal is not suspense after all. Readers who are actually a major Potter Head can easily find out in the previous chapters. They find it boring when they are correct and true after all. It would be better if the suspense would be more dramatic, adventurous and of course fictional.

It is to be included that this novel is solely roamed around Hogwarts classes at the most. The Transfiguration, the Defence Against the Dark Arts, the Potions,
The Magical Creatures cover most part of the novel that too in detail. Where some of the classes were explained in detail in the first two books.

Some of the character development are fantastic while some of them are confusing to the readers. This book is so full of character complexity. If you supposed a character to carry a particular personality you are to be surprised to find that those personality indeed belonged to the other characters.

MY CLOSING THOUGHTS:

I thoroughly enjoyed reading the novel. I liked a lot of many different things from the book. The plots, the climax, the revelation is exciting as well as worth read. If you are a major Potter Head you will definitely complete this book within a week. You are always captured with the thoughts of what next is going to happen to my favourite character in the novel. So you likely to finish the novel early that your prediction.

So that's all. If you people have read the novel or watched the movie please feel free to comment your favourite characters from the Harry Potter series. Happy Reading 🙂👍

BY SANJITA NAPIT

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