352 pages
English language
Published May 24, 2016
The Eighth Story. Nineteen Years Later. Based on an original new story by J.K. Rowling, John Tiffany, and Jack Thorne, a new play by Jack Thorne, "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" is the eighth story in the Harry Potter series and the first official Harry Potter story to be presented on stage. The play will receive its world premiere in London's West End on July 30, 2016. It was always difficult being Harry Potter and it isn't much easier now that he is an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic, a husband and father of three school-age children. While Harry grapples with a past that refuses to stay where it belongs, his youngest son Albus must struggle with the weight of a family legacy he never wanted. As past and present fuse ominously, both father and son learn the uncomfortable truth: sometimes, darkness comes from unexpected places.
God that was absolutely horrible. I loved it. Damn this franchise to hell lol.
Слушал в исполнении Даниэля Шлейфмана. Читает выразительно, по ролям, имеются соответствующие происходящему музыка и звуковые эффекты.
Продолжение органично вписывается в канон, новая история увязывается со старой.
This wasn't as bad as I feared. I can actually get behind the story, at least mostly.
Harry is a grown-up now and struggles with his teenage son Albus. Who in turn struggles with being put into Slytherin and not being like his dad at all.
I'm not entirely sure how Albus got so isolated from his family, I'm certain Hermione would have raised Rose better than this, and I didn't really get Harry and Albus' initial conflict. I'm also not sure why Scorpius was put in Slytherin, he's a Ravenpuff if I've ever seen one.
Overall I liked the story and the whole time travelling aspect despite these minor flaws. I would have liked some more background on a few details, like how Bellatrix hid the pregnancy when she had Hermione in her power and why Albus could see the Potter's home when there was a Fidelius-Charm definitely still …
This wasn't as bad as I feared. I can actually get behind the story, at least mostly.
Harry is a grown-up now and struggles with his teenage son Albus. Who in turn struggles with being put into Slytherin and not being like his dad at all.
I'm not entirely sure how Albus got so isolated from his family, I'm certain Hermione would have raised Rose better than this, and I didn't really get Harry and Albus' initial conflict. I'm also not sure why Scorpius was put in Slytherin, he's a Ravenpuff if I've ever seen one.
Overall I liked the story and the whole time travelling aspect despite these minor flaws. I would have liked some more background on a few details, like how Bellatrix hid the pregnancy when she had Hermione in her power and why Albus could see the Potter's home when there was a Fidelius-Charm definitely still in place at that time and how on earth did they get hold of the baby blanket and why would Lily even leave the house when she was threatened by the most dangerous wizard alive? Like come on, she wasn't stupid.
I never realised, while watching the play, that it's so much about Draco's redemption.
Great read. I hadn't expected this.
Also interesting to read a play.
I stopped ~75% of the way through. ugh.
I'm an avid Harry Potter fan, but if I'm being completely honest this play read more like fan-fiction than anything else. By using time travel and alternate timelines it felt like it was trying to force in answer to the age old "what if?" questions of the Harry Potter universe. Mix that in with the general cheesiness of the writing itself and it was quite a burdensome read.
Z jednej strony ogromną przyjemność sprawił mi powrót do Świata Magii wykreowanego przez panią J. K. Rowling. Szczególnie, że Harry jest teraz w prawie moim wieku...
Ale ogólnie rzecz biorąc, nowy Harry Potter specjalnie porywający nie jest. Być może to wina formy książki – jako scenariusza, sztuki teatralnej, gdzie wszystko dzieje się błyskawicznie, w dialogach i monologach, a didaskalia niewiele dają czytelnikowi. Jak każdy utwór sceniczny, Przeklęte Dziecko najlepsze wrażenie na nas zrobi, gdy je obejrzymy w teatrze – to raczej rzecz oczywista.
Co do treści – cóż, wszystko to już gdzieś było. Bardzo mocno wyczuwam – chyba nie zamierzone, choć nie wiem, czym się twórcy inspirowali – podobieństwo fabuły do "20 lat później" Aleksandra Dumasa.
Cztery gwiazdki daję głównie przez sentyment. Do potterowskiego kanonu jednak ta książka mi nijak nie pasuje.
Not bad. Didn't care for some things and the end felt too rushed. Would've benefitted from being a fleshed out book, instead of a playbook...
Sometimes costs are made to be borne.
Continuing Harry Potter is a double edged sword. Nothing could compare to the original series, but there is so much world left to explore that it is almost wrong not to continue writing. I imagine Rowling considered heavily the consequences of carrying on with the story, and right or wrong, the story now has eight books so let's move on.
I haven't read a script before but that didn't detract from how I read the story. After a few Scenes you are comfortable with who is talking and the minimal stage directions help convey any emotions or facial expressions of the characters. Otherwise everything is dialogue driven and each character has their unique voice, even if I felt like they were caricatures of their former self. Seeing this performed in a play would be interesting, especially with the numerous locations that appear.
I …
Sometimes costs are made to be borne.
Continuing Harry Potter is a double edged sword. Nothing could compare to the original series, but there is so much world left to explore that it is almost wrong not to continue writing. I imagine Rowling considered heavily the consequences of carrying on with the story, and right or wrong, the story now has eight books so let's move on.
I haven't read a script before but that didn't detract from how I read the story. After a few Scenes you are comfortable with who is talking and the minimal stage directions help convey any emotions or facial expressions of the characters. Otherwise everything is dialogue driven and each character has their unique voice, even if I felt like they were caricatures of their former self. Seeing this performed in a play would be interesting, especially with the numerous locations that appear.
I like that the Cursed Child can apply to a few characters, and that the darkness referenced in the story can be interpreted a few ways too. The story has more family focus, and that's a good choice, but I felt that the magic was important to the story but a little under developed. I see why this could be considered strong fan fiction because while it's a good story it is missing the charm of the original series.
Regarding the characters in the book...It felt like fan favorites were brought back as fan service. I expected a "McGonagall enters the room...pauses for applause" with how some favorites were rolled out. They served no purpose other than to show the connection to the original series. Perhaps it is easier to bring back known characters instead of building new ones, but seeing as this is part of the Harry Potter series maybe it's justified. It will be interested to see how Fantastic Beasts plays out because there are no familiar characters to leverage.
Regarding a significant plot device in the story...seriously, a Time-Turner? Cherry picking on characters is one thing, but to go back and revisit events from previous books felt shallow and too similar to what happened in Prisoner of Azkaban. I'm grateful nothing was severely impacted from Goblet of Fire because of the actions in Cursed Child but the fact they were even messing around with the original story line put me off. Seeing alternate realities was nice but this made the story felt unoriginal and appear more fan fiction instead of it being canon.
While reading Cursed Child I would have flashbacks to moments from the original seven and get an urge to start another re-read of the series, but I won't include Cursed Child in that re-read. In the end I'd consider this more of an appendix, there is some history after Deathly Hallows but it's not essential reading for the Harry Potter universe.
Oh I read this book from start to finish without stopping. What can I say? I was anxious to start and it was a awesome page turner.
In comparison to the other HP books it lacked the narrative style and I wish it had 500 pages more with descriptions of the events and that we could know more about Albus, Scorpius and the other children but for a fan of the world I was glad I could enter it once more.
I loved all the kids and the plot was good... I just felt so sorry that it ended so quickly, I miss everything already.
Script of the new Harry Potter play, set several years after the original books ended, when Harry's sons are starting Hogwarts. Long story short, some time-turner misadventures give us some more insights into the past and allow some of the events of Harry's time to be revisited as well as giving us a closer look at what happens to our favourite characters in the future. Enjoyed it, though necessarily super short compared to the books. Took me 2 hrs 45 minutes to read, exactly the length of my plane flight.
it was shorter and more condensed and obviously a different medium than the other Harry Potter books, but this was so much better than I hoped!
I was worried that the play style would get in the way of the readability, but the stage directions are so great (and sometimes funny) that it wasn't much different from reading a novel for me. Sure it's shorter, and there are elements in it that are surely better on stage than on the page, but I loved this book. I loved the new taste of the Wizarding world, a peek into the Trio's lives years down the line, and the look at some of the original gang's children.
It's a condensed nostalgia hit with substance of its own, and I'm so happy JK allowed us to visit that world again. I'd love to see the stage production, and I also can't wait for …
it was shorter and more condensed and obviously a different medium than the other Harry Potter books, but this was so much better than I hoped!
I was worried that the play style would get in the way of the readability, but the stage directions are so great (and sometimes funny) that it wasn't much different from reading a novel for me. Sure it's shorter, and there are elements in it that are surely better on stage than on the page, but I loved this book. I loved the new taste of the Wizarding world, a peek into the Trio's lives years down the line, and the look at some of the original gang's children.
It's a condensed nostalgia hit with substance of its own, and I'm so happy JK allowed us to visit that world again. I'd love to see the stage production, and I also can't wait for even more in Fantastic Beasts!
Though undoubtedly better on stage, J.K. Rowling's latest venture to expand the Wizarding World is still a fabulous fan letter to a generation now facing the challenges of adulthood after growing up with Harry.
No, it's not Harry Potter, Book 8. No, it's not J.K. Rowling's familiar, wonderful writing. It's a tad derivative, somewhat difficult to connect to, and only gives a taste of that world that we grew up loving. But you know what? I could see it. I could feel it. Despite all of the weight this play has to carry, this was that same world: time-worn and viewed through the smallest of looking glasses, but it was "home" nonetheless. I'm thankful I got to experience it one more time.
Now bring the play Stateside!
