Review: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Two books into the Harry Potter series, my husband and I am convinced that J.K. Rowling's books will take their place with C.S. Lewis' Narnia series and Laura Ingalls' Little House books, to name a few, as true classics of children's literature.

Judging from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, J.K. Rowling is a writer whose work gets better and better with each effort. With No. 3 on back order from amazon.com, we're facing a 3-5 week wait before we can continue reading the series, but it can't be helped, I suppose.

Book 2 chronicles the second year of boy wizard Harry Potter's stay at Hogwarts, the school for witchcraft and wizardry. At once mystery, thriller and human drama, the book is a multifaceted gem. Disparate and seemingly unconnected elements tie together neatly as the story unfolds.

After finishing the book, my husband and I were left with a burning question concerning the character Hagrid. As readers of Book 1 will recall, he was expelled from Hogwarts as a student, and now serves as its gamekeeper. I won't say exactly what the question is, because I do not want to give away a major plot development, but I will say that I hope the question is taken up in subsequent volumes.

Younger children may find elements of this book frightening, but what better way to introduce them to the world's harsher realities than in the company of young Harry? Parents may want to read Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets with their children, in order to discuss the more unsettling passages.

Having said that, I feel that I should address the "occult" controversy that has erupted over Rowling's series. I think that fanatical muggles who dismiss Rowling's books as promoting the occult miss the point entirely. Although they interact with very magical and fantastic circumstances, Harry and his friends possess very strong virtues of love, loyalty, bravery, dedication and cooperation -- all traits that are prized as the very best of humanity.

The Harry Potter books also are very moral ones, in which good ultimately triumphs over evil. The books also have a tremendous impact upon the imagination. This crucial part of the human personality needs to be encouraged, not suppressed. Today's children can be greatly enriched through an introduction to J.K. Rowling's creations.

The Harry Potter books offer much that is beneficial to adults, as well. Adults, perhaps even more than children, need a reminder of the wonders of imagination as presented in Rowling's books. I strongly recommend this book and its predecessor to people of all ages.

Posted Aug. 13, 2000 to amazon.com

Reading ‘Harry Potter’ series

Jonathan and I are reading the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling together. We’re about halfway through the first book, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, and have got the second book, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, to read next.

What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew

OK, so maybe you can live quite nicely without ever learning about the Order of Precedence, rules for being presented at Court or the difference between a Hogshead and a dram.

If you're like me, however, you love the novels of Regency and Victorian England.

I couldn't get enough of Jane Austin with her cool and witty observations on the marriage game, the passionate writings of Charlotte Brontë that seemed to reflect her own inner demons, the bucolic romances of George Eliot or Thomas Hardy's tragi-comic portrayals of men's and women's conflicts within an indifferent society.

These novelists' contemporaries understood the nuances of the society in which they placed their characters, but the modern American reader will not. For this reason, What Jane Austin Ate and Charles Dickens Knew is an indispensible reference book. The cultural literacy it provides can only enhance your reading of England's 19th Century literary greats.

Posted July 3, 2000 to amazon.com

‘You Got to Dance with Them What Brung You’

One of the most moving passages I've ever read was in a column by Molly Ivins a few months ago. "Get the damn mammogram!" I could almost hear her growling, after telling her readers she had breast cancer.

Think about having the power to save a person's life like that. Who knows how many women thought about their own health after reading Ms. Ivins' words?

The influence Ms. Ivins wields has always been benign. She tells it like it is, warts 'n' all (and in the Texas Lege, it appears, there are more than a few warts). I admire her greatly, and count her as a role model.

Read Molly Ivins' books. She is biting, sarcastic, downright rude at times. She is also insightful and compassionate. To say the least, she is one of my favorite "arthurs."

Posted June 11, 2000 to amazon.com

Writing book reviews

I’ve decided to write some more amazon.com reviews and have submitted one of Mary Doria Russell’s The Sparrow and one of Adair Lara’s collected newspaper columns. Writing, in whatever medium, is good experience for me.