Harry Potter 1-7 Audio Book CDs Review

by J. K. Rowling

Overall 4.71 of 5 view all 7 reviews

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Publisher's Circle

Nicole
Austin, TX

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A stellar set of audio books for the die-hard Harry Potter fan!

avid reader, character-lover, a fan of clever plots, fiction reader, not a huge fan of audio books, a Harry Potter fanatic

Pros

Unabridged, Great Narration, Distinct Voices

Cons

Read Slowly, Pronunciation

OCT

2007

The Case

I’ve never been a big fan of audio books – they’ve always seemed like a type of cheating to me. I mean, can you really claim that you’ve read a book if you only listened to it? I was always proud to say that I’d never listened to an audio book and I never would. Of course, that was back when I was a book snob. I’ve since learned the error of my ways, and it’s the Harry Potter audio books that educated me.

After the seventh Harry Potter book was released, I went through a mini-Harry Potter withdrawal. In a desperate attempt for more Harry Potter in my life, I decided to purchase the entire audio book series, despite my better judgement. Thank goodness for that!

The Good

The HP audio books are offered in both abridged and unabridged versions. I think abridged books are a blasphemous invention, so I’m pleased that I was able to get these extremely long books in their complete form.

The books are narrated by Jim Dale, who does a phenomenal job. His accent, tone, and inflection combine for a truly delightful rendition of our beloved Potter stories, and his character voices are absolutely amazing. Throughout the entire series, there are more than 200 separate characters, and each one has a distinctive voice thanks to Dale. He did an exceptional job.

The Bad

Obviously I love the stories that are told in these audio books, but considering the length of the later Potter novels, I wish that Jim Dale read just a little faster. His narration flows smoothly, but not speedily. In the time it took me to listen to the first book on CD, I probably could have read the actual novel cover to cover two or three times.

And, this is just a pet peeve, but his pronunciation of certain names, spells, and incantations does NOT match the movies. It’s a small thing, but for some reason, it annoys the heck out of me. I mean, Rowling has a say in the movies, and she has a say in the audio books. Shouldn’t the pronunciations match?

In the grand scheme of things, I guess it’s not really that important, but still…

The Verdict

Four stars! The Harry Potter 1-7 Audio Book CDs are a great addition to any Harry Potter collection!

Last edited on Oct 29, 2007