Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Book 2

By: J.K. Rowling

Narrated by: Jim Dale

Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's Summary

"There is a plot, Harry Potter. A plot to make most terrible things happen at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry this year."

Harry Potter's summer has included the worst birthday ever, doomy warnings from a house-elf called Dobby, and rescue from the Dursleys by his friend Ron Weasley in a magical flying car! Back at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for his second year, Harry hears strange whispers echo through empty corridors - and then the attacks start. Students are found as though turned to stone.... Dobby's sinister predictions seem to be coming true.

Having now become classics of our time, the Harry Potter audiobooks never fail to bring comfort and escapism to listeners of all ages. With its message of hope, belonging, and the enduring power of truth and love, the story of the Boy Who Lived continues to delight generations of new listeners. 

©1998 J.K. Rowling (P)1999 Listening Library, an imprint of Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group

Critic Reviews

"To call Dale a 'reader' of books is like saying Monet was a Sunday painter." (Los Angeles Times)

10/10. Like watching a movie in your head.

Jim Dale can read the most boring book in the world and make it seem alive and interesting. Needless to say though, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is far from a boring book. Greatly enjoyed it from start to finish.

Excellent

The book gets better every time I read it. Great story, great narration. A classic.

Of all the trees, we get one that hits back!

Story: The characters continue to develop, the story continues to unfold and the world that J.K. Rowling created continues to captivate the reader/listener. You'll find everything that you enjoyed about the first book and more in this one.

Performance: Jim Dale does it again! The voices he gives to the characters fit so well and I believe really capture the characters. The list of characters is quite lengthy in this book as well and so being able to give a voice to each and every individual is great! He does a great job of bringing the story to life.

That said, I found audio issues in this book as well. The audio would stop for a few seconds in both Standard and High Quality - which made me think perhaps my phone lost battery or the book had an error and crashed completely. The audio would then pick up after a little gap. This didn't take away from the story or the performance by the narrator, but I felt was worth mentioning.

Overall: This is yet another great book by J.K. Rowling and a fantastic follow up. It's no wonder the series is so popular.

The Narrator

Fantastic story but WOW the narrator! My wife and I listen to the book like we watch a movie! Fantastic performance!

CANT STOP LISTENING TO THIS SERIES

This book wa so good I have listened to it so many times. My family is a big fan of Harry Potter and can listen to this over and over. We love the reader for this story. He create different voices for each character, and it is amusing, and also really good. Thanks for this book! YOU MUST LISTEN TO IT

WE LOVE YOU JIM DALE!!!

Jim Dale brings JK Rowling's amazing series to life! This is absolutely amazing!!! I've read the entire series, and my two.oldest read the eitnre series, but my youngest, even at 11 years, even though I've read to him his whole life and he LOVES reading at bedtime, was extremely intimated by "big chapter books". I couldn't get him to read anything beyond easy read chapter books, or even listen to me read, without him panicking. That is until I tried the audio books for Harry Potter. Being we are huge Harry potter fans in the house, and he loves the first 3 movies (we never watched the rest in front of him, too young and spoilers since he hadn't read them yet) I gave this a shot... and omg!!! I'm soo thankful for Jim Dale!!! his talent stretches beyond anything you can imagine. And my son who just turned 13, is hooked. Hooked on Jim Dale, hooked on Potter, and hooked on to Literature!!!! His fear of a big book is completely gone!!! besides rereading Harry Potter, he has read 11 great books last school and has read 4 this summer (Deathly Hallows will be the 5th). He did the audio first and then reread them over and over on his own for 2 years, we've lost count but I think he read the first 3 about a ten times each, the 4th he read twice with audio and once silently. His brother and sister are getting anxious for him to finish the series so for the summer are plowing through. I allowed him to take it slow bc I wasnt sure how he'd like the dark stuff and the deaths of beloved characters. but he is 13 now and he wants to keep going!!! He handled the deaths very well and understands the structure and plot wonderfully! My son LOVES to read amazing literature now, goodbye stick dog and bad kitty!!! He doesn't even remember when just 2 years ago he refused to pick up a "big chapter book!". Happy Mom!!! Thank you Jim Dale!!!!

Enchanting

We all need fantasy to turn to when reality closes in. The Chronicles of Narnia, Lord of the Rings, Peter Pan and now Harry Potter lead the way.

Delightful!

Do you really need another review to convince you to try this? Ok. Try this! It’s wonderful!!!

Magical in every pronouncement

Jim Dale is marvelous! He brings every character to life with distinct voices. It really does sound like multiple voice actors taking the stage! and oh! His Lockhart is perfect. There is absolutely no better fit I have ever heard or seen for that character, every self-absorbed sentence inflated with charisma, naive narcissism and maniacal haberdashery.

J.K. herself did a marvelous job on the book, regardless of what she says. The mystery is familiar in feeling to the Philosopher's Stone, but with even more magic, twist and magnificent discoveries. The Heir of Slytherin goes down as one of my favorite Harry Potter pieces of all time. Detail, character, plot and just plain magic make this work an experience. A little mobile Hogwarts we can take wherever we go. And in the end, what could be more magical than that?

Story A+ reader C-

The reader makes everyone sounds so whiney. The story is excellent still. I wish it was a better match.