Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

As I've mentioned before, I'm older than the Harry Potter generation and have only read these books as an adult, never as a child. I think that greatly changes my opinion and I can't shake the idea that Harry's adventurous nature is really just thinly-veiled arrogance and dickishness. Especially in this book, Harry is an absolute idiot. As several characters point out, nearly everyone is going to significant lengths and expense to keep him safe, and he's gallivanting around and completely undoing everyone's efforts to protect him. From an adult's viewpoint, it's maddening.

This book has also soured me a bit on James & Co. They were also jerks in their own right, and the idea that James would've expected Haqary to follow in his footsteps show more is...come on, James. Be an adult and hope your child turns out better than you did rather than hoping he spores to be even more of a pain of everyone's collective behind. "Boys will be boys" is not a sound philosophy for child-rearing.
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However, I think Harry is overall a great illustration of privilege. There are several aspects of his life where he's clearly not at the top of the heap: no one wants to be an orphan, live with an abusive family, grow up poor and neglected, and have an evil wizard constantly trying to kill them. But there are also places where he benefits immensely through no effort of his own: he's independently wealthy, all the adults at school are charmed by him, he gets to buck the rules and play Quidditch as a first year, and Dumbledore gives him every possible leg up. That's privilege in a nutshell, and it's a wonderfully accessible example for a lot of people.

I'm going to continue with my reread because I need something that isn't serious or heavy, but I do have one that Aunt Hermione steps in and lays down the law with Harry's kids. They need someone around with more need than their dad or Uncles Weasley. show less

It's fair enough to say that I like this book too much to review it objectively. I *am* puzzled by how nothing very much happens in the middle - Harry is not actively pursuing any mysteries, just receiving fun infodumps, playing Quidditch, worrying about dementors, and being in the center of Ron and Hermione's fight - but it's still extremely entertaining. By contrast, Chamber of Secrets is very focused on the central plot, and as a result we spend less time just enjoying Hogwarts as a setting.

I did notice the THEMES this time. Pretty much every subplot is about deciding who or what to trust or fear, with animals representing the threat of the unknown. The Grim/Sirius, Lupin, Buckbeak, and Crookshanks are all falsely accused of show more violence. Conversely, Peter the rat actually is the traitor that his form connotes, and even Lupin lives up to his werewolf reputation by not telling Dumbledore about Sirius's Animagus form.

Additionally, I noticed that the questions of causality and responsibility surrounding the Potters' death are neatly paralleled by the causality tricks with the Time-Turner at the end (and of course, by the Animagi themselves - not all is as it appears). JKR really is a clever writer, even if she does use way too many ellipses.

Finally, Snape's scenes near the end are so much more fun to read knowing that he believes Sirius is responsible for Lily's death.

Rereading August 2014: The themes of vengeance and forgiveness are more obvious but also really strong. The Trio have just left the scene of Buckbeak's (apparent) wrongful death when they're presented with the moral quandaries of Sirius Black's innocence and Peter Pettigrew's betrayal. Like Snape, Harry's first impulse is revenge, but the moral horror of Buckbeak's death is very much the backdrop of his decision to listen to Sirius and then prevent Pettigrew's death. (The implication being that all human beings have a kind of animal vulnerability that should be respected?)

In the seventh book, Snape's love of Lily is presented as redemptive, but here's the other side of that coin: his obsessive hatred of James, Harry, and Sirius, whom he associates with her death. Snape's passion is so compelling, in a Victorian novel kind of way. show less

"You think the dead we have loved ever truly leave us? You think that we don't recall them more clearly than ever in times of trouble? Your father is alive in you, Harry, and shows himself most plainly when you have need of him. How else could you produce that particular patronus? Prongs rode again last night".

The way Harry mistakes himself for his father is so affecting this will always be one of my favorite scenes in all the Harry Potter books. And what dumbledore says is so true and so wise. I think this third book is one of the best paced and plotted of them all, and the time travel just makes it that much more delicious and moving.

Book 3 is my favorite in the series. It has something to do with Harry finally having a “familial” tie to the magical world in Sirius. Even though he’s not able to leave the Dursleys and live with Sirius at the end, knowing that Sirius is free, didn’t kill his parents, and WANTS to be Harry’s guardian gives him a firmer footing in the world and confidence in himself. Harry is building his own family, and isn’t that what we all do?

I like that in this book we’re starting to see hints about Ron and Hermione’s relationship. They’re fighting a lot, and yet Ron is protective and admiring of her at times.

Regardless of what we learn about Snape in future books, this book convinces me that he is a mean-spirited, arrogant, petty show more bastard. He takes his own misery and anger out on children, which is never appropriate for an adult to do (even though it happens too often). People can be both heroic for their own reasons and jerks at the same time. Snape definitely is that.

I love that Hermione tells Trelawney to kiss off, basically. I’ve had some teachers and bosses like that, who are so fake it’s criminal. That Hermione recognizes her for what she is (most of the time) and quits the class shows that she can think for herself and doesn’t have time for stupidity. It’s ironic, then, that Trelawney is for real, but only on rare occasions. show less

i think this is my favorite so far, this time around. which is a little of a surprise to me, because the elements introduced in this book have a heavier fantasy component than in the previous books. (i know, it's all fantasy, but there was more in this one, and that's not usually stuff that i like.) i love lupin and the introduction of sirius black, giving harry something of his parents back. if there's anything in the world that i would want (other than things like an end to oppression and actual peace, kindness, and equality) it would 100% be a time-turner, and i would absolutely have used it just as hermione did when i was younger. now i'd read more books, actually turn the tv on, clean the house, go to a museum or take a hike, sleep show more (omg sleep!). to have more hours in the day, when others didn't, i don't care the risks; i want a time-turner.

this is the book where it starts to seem to me that she had every detail mapped out before the first book went to print, and while there are a few holes in the general story (to an adult anyway), i'm super impressed with the details that she'd lined up from the get-go. this one was fun, and the tension was largely trickery this time. (big lead up but no real danger this time, compared to the earlier books.) although sirius wouldn't have acted the way he did, letting us continue to think he was still dangerous and evil for a while, before the truth came out.

(3.25 stars)

from jan 2009:
still having fun with these...
(2 stars) show less

Easily my favorite of the series thus far during my reread. This book is the one that really makes me want to make a Harry Potter TV series. Just think of the way you can entangle flashbacks with the Marauders into the ongoing main plot. Two dual stories about friendships being tested, all crashing together in the climax of the story where a traitor is discovered.

Harry Potter is off again, this time he's on the run when he blows up Uncle Vernon's sister but he gets whisked away by the magical Knight Bus. He fully expects to be expelled, but as it turns out the Minister of Magic is much more interested in making sure he's safe, as the mass murderer Sirius Black has escaped from wizard prison and is apparently after Harry.

The series really hits its stride with this one, which remains one of my favorite of the books AND movies. The characters are a little older, the magical world a little darker, and details start to really be worn into the fabric of the larger narrative, both in terms of hearkening back to earlier titles and laying the foundation for the next. Even knowing the ending, the book show more holds up to rereading, because you can see the careful planning of each facet and detail in this story and future titles. 5 nostalgic stars. show less