It took about eight evenings to do it, but I just finished the fourth book in the series - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. All 734 pages - whew! Given that it usually takes me about that amount of time to read your average sized paperback, that was a pretty good clip.I must say that if anyone has just seen the fourth movie but has never read the book that there is a world of difference between the two. Yes, the second film was 2 hours and 37 minutes long but it had to cut a lot of stuff out. Unlike the first three film adaptions that were pretty thorough, the fourth one couldn't possibly keep it all unless it was multiple films. I knew this was going to be the case before I even started the novel.
It was like reading a different, richer story. The subplots in the story really add a lot to both primary characters (Hermoine, Hagrid, the Weasley brothers) as well as the newer ones introduced. The book gives much more clearer details to the past histories of Voldemort, his organization the Death Eaters and more.
I also have to say that you can see the evolution of J.K. Rowling's writing as the series continues. Any problems I had with her initial efforts seem to be vanishing in the distances and the pages mount. That's a good thing. It makes me look forward more to the last three books - the first of which I'll start later today.
I just recently finished this book myself. It took me a long time to read as well! I also believe that Rowling's writing technique is improving with each book.
ReplyDeleteI'm working on Order of the Phoenix now, which is even longer. Not that that's a bad thing! :)