Book Review – J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban”
Recently I finished reading the third installment in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
This latest adventure begins with Harry on his summer break (a.k.a holiday) and suffering from the usual torment from the Dursleys. When Uncle Vernon’s sister, Marge, comes to visit, her nasty attitude towards Harry’s murdered parents pushes Harry past the breaking point, causing him to cast a charm and make her swell to an incredible size, making her float away into the night sky. Not wanting anything else to do with the Dursleys, Harry grabs his suitcase and leaves their residence.
A Knight Bus soon arrives and gives Harry a lift to the Leaky Cauldron, a pub and inn for witches and wizards, in London. There, Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic, cuts Harry some slack for using magic outside of Hogwarts and also warns him about Sirius Black, a convicted murderer, escaping from the legendary Azkaban Prison. While staying at the Leaky Cauldron, Harry meets up with Hermione, Ron, and the rest of the Weasleys.
While riding the Hogwarts Express train to the castle, Harry has his first experience with a Dementor, a soulless creature that guards prisoners in Azkaban. Their compartment companion, Remus Lupin, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, repels the Dementor with a charm, saving Harry from its attack. The train resumes its operation and after finally arriving at Hogwarts, Professor Dumbledore involves the students that with Sirius Black on the loose, Dementors would be guarding Hogwarts and the students, Harry in particular, would be facing certain restrictions.
Year Three at Hogwarts involves Hagrid taking over the position of Care of Magical Creatures, a flying Hippogriff named Buckbeak, the magical town of Hogsmeade, the Marauder’s Map with all of its secrets, Quidditch matches, a werewolf, and the secret of Ron’s rat, Scabbers.
All in all, the book was an outstanding read and gave a tremendous amount of new content to the already magical world of Harry Potter. It’s easily the best of the first three books. Perhaps the biggest mystery though is why the movie is so different from the book.
After seeing the movie a couple of times, reading the book, and then watching the movie one more time, I can safely say that the book and movie are nearly two completely different experiences. If you just watch the movies without reading the books (as I first did), the movie itself isn’t bad. You have to see it a couple of times to pick up all the dialog and try to catch all of the references, but as a whole the movie is okay despite its plot holes and a few somewhat confusing elements.
But once you read the book, before or after watching the movie, it’s easy to see that the book goes into significantly greater detail will ALL elements in the story. For example, Hermione’s cat, Crookshanks, plays a large part in the book and causes a major relationship issue between Hermione and Ron, but we rarely see it in the movie. The same is true for the special Marauder’s Map and its history with Lupin, Black, Potter and Pettigrew.
Throw in the movie’s lack of interest in Harry being banned from Hogsmeade;
- barely any detail about the Shrieking Shack;
- no mention at all about a major, MAJOR event in the annual Quidditch tournament;
- Dumbledore and Snape knowing about Lupin’s condition before he started teaching;
- an alternate painting guarding the entrance to the Gryffindor after Black attacks the Fat Lady, and you have to wonder if the movie really had any intention of following the plots in the book.
However, all is not lost in the Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban movie!
The Knight Bus was significantly better in the movie (the shrunken head was awesome!), Professor Lupin’s class having fun with the boggart was a blast, and Harry’s experience with Buckbeak the Hippogriff seemed to be more entertaining in the movie. The rest of the movie wasn’t bad, but you’ll get the most out of the story by also reading the book which ironically makes the movie a worse experience.
But when it comes to the story as a whole and the final encounter in the Shrieking Shack along with Harry and Hermione’s adventure back through time, the book was far superior when compared to the movie.
Fans of the Harry Potter series will love the Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban book with a passion.
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These reviews and much more are available at my other website, Chamber of Reviews!