Irvin Khaytman

Library Thing Early Reviewer
Dumbledore
I loved the Harry Potter series from their first release and have reread the books several times over the years discovering new things with each reading, but after reading The Life And Lies of … Dumbledore (and Lori Kim’s Book: Snape), I can barely wait to reread the series again. The authors of these two books don’t just accept the story as it rolls out—they ask why—they examine the motives and inner secrets of these two fascinating characters. And as much as I appreciated and marveled at their research and detective work, the real revelation was the depth of J. K. Rawlings’ vision. She may have started writing for children but the scope of her subjects force a maturity on her readership that very much mirrors the coming of age struggle her young audience will be passing through. She grew from inspired to genius.
I liked the way Khaytman decided to lay out his revelations devoting a chapter to each of the seven books in the series. It made his observations clear and cumulative and when he did dare to speculate toward the final chapters, it was easy to follow his argument. I was fascinated when the discussion turned to Machiavellian theory—I knew at that point that I wasn’t in Kansas any more. The way the author pondered Rawlings duplicity in wording and the red herrings she dropped along the way made my appreciation grow of her intricacy tremendously.
I would not recommend this book for a novice Harry Potter reader, but for anyone who has read the series and has loved it, this is a must read for the second, third or fourth time around! Well done.… (plus d'informations)