diegoofferni

It's a bit of a confession to say that I am not the biggest fan of the Harry Potter series. I've wanted to enjoy them as much as my friends seem to, but always found them to be such a pastiche of every fantasy and mythic character ever written that it wouldn't surprise me if a hobbit or an ewok showed up in the story. Still, I recognize that Rowling's epic tale has developed its own unique and fully realized characters in Harry, his friends, enemies and teachers. I also see great value in the series ability to draw new readers (young and old) into the joy of reading. Half-way through reading this, the sixth volume in the series, I became bogged down in both time and interest,(I also saw the movie--twice)and was seriously considering putting it aside, when a friend(thanks Kim)suggested I might enjoy listening to Jim Dale's unabridged reading on CD. With a road trip coming up it made perfect sense to give it a try, so off I drove with Mr. Dale picking up the story where I left off. Lo and behold, I my interest was immediately re-invigorated. Jim Dale's theatrical reading of the story, with his multi-character voices, expert cadence and inflections, gave the story a richness that neither my silent reading nor the perfunctory film series had been able to convey. I felt like a kid again, listening to my father read me a story at bedtime--not wanting him to stop, not wanting the story to end. Needless to say, I will be LISTENING to the final tome as well.

2022-10-29 03:53