Book Review: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

 

The Goblet of Fire is the fourth book in the Harry Potter franchise. It is, by far, the longest up to that point, and overall, the second-longest of the series. So, for those who have only seen the movies, the novel has a lot more content and has a much different pace than the movie adaptation. The main storyline that was removed to make the movie was Hermonie's quest to liberate the house elves that work in Hogwart's kitchen. Also, there is a lot more backstory about the death eaters and about the events revealed at the end of the movie. Also, as I said, the pacing of the events in the book is a lot different than the movie. In the book, there is a lot more time devoted to the quidditch world cup and a pretty hilarious beginning in which the Weasleys come to Privet Drive to fetch Harry. The selection of the champions does not start until about 1/3 of the way into the book, and the tournament takes place with months between the tasks. There are also some things from the book (like how Harry gets the Gillyweed) that are changed from the novels, and things that were dropped altogether from earlier films (like Hermonie's teeth) are resolved in this book. And, there are a lot more to Rita Seeker and Hagrid's story arcs in the book than were shown in the movie. 

The book is a lot darker than the previous three novels. Of course, Rowling wrote them with the intention that the kids reading the books would age with the characters, so this one is more suitable for those in the 13-14-year-old range than those who are 10 years old. While the book is long, about 750 pages, it still reads fairly quickly like the other novels do. If you have good reading comprehension skills and read fairly quickly, you should be able to get through it in a week, give or take, depending on how much time you have to devote to reading. If you can devote a couple of days to it without stopping, you can probably finish it in that amount of time. 

Overall, the book is very good, and while technically a kid's book, can be enjoyed by kids, teens, and adults. Even those who were adults when the books first were published. The themes about good vs. evil, friendship, loyalty, and heroism are timeless and certainly have wide appeal. If you have only seen the movie and love it, you will probably love the book too, and get a much fuller version of the story. It is definitely worth the read.