Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire(J.K.Rowling/Bloomsbury Publishing PLC)
シリーズの4巻目。この巻に入ってから、いきなりページ数が増えて、分厚くなった。
ページ数が増えて、かなり一つ一つのシーンの描写が細かくなって、それで前よりも面白くなった部分も多いのだけれど、あまり本筋と関係ない内容も多くなって、これならもっとシェイプアップ出来たのでは？という気もする。
内容的には、この巻が今までで一番面白かった。ダンスパーティーがあったり、他の学校の生徒との交流があったり、友情あり仲たがいあり、で学園物っぽい物語になっていたところも、これまでと雰囲気が変わっていて良い。
主要人物が以前までの巻で出揃って、それぞれのキャラクター描写を省いていきなり本編に入れるというテンポの良さもあったし、最初の頃にはあまり強くは押し出されていなかったダークな雰囲気が、今巻ではかなり濃厚に出ている。
ハリー自身も、主人公というイメージからはかけ離れた、かなり屈折した暗い面を見せるし、これはもはや、子供向けの物語という域を超えたダークさになっている気がする。日本ではこういう種類の作品は見かけないと思うので、イギリス特有のテイストなのかもしれない。
どの巻も、ミステリー的要素があって、毎回その結末には驚かされるのだけれど、今巻もそのあたりはかなりよく練られていた。本格的な推理小説と、ファンタジー小説の両方の醍醐味を持ち合わせている感じがする。
【名言】
‘Oh, Harry, isn’t it obvious?’ Hermione said despairingly. ‘He’s jealous!’
‘Jealous?’ Harry said incredulously. ‘Jealous for what? He wants to make a prat of himself in front of the whole school, does he?’
‘Look,’ said Hermione patiently, ‘it’s always you who gets all the attention, you know it is. I know it’s not your fault,’ she added quickly, seeing Harry open his mouth furiously.
‘Great,’ said Harry bitterly. ‘Really great. Tell him from me he’s welcome to it… people gawping at my forehead everywhere I go…'(p.254)
Hermione stood nervously between them, looking from one to the other. Ron opened his mouth uncertainly. Harry Knew Ron was about to apologise and, suddenly, he found he didn’t need to hear it.
‘It’s OK,’ he said, before Ron could get the words out. ‘Forget it.’
‘No,’ said Ron, ‘I shouldn’t’ve -‘
‘Forget it,’ Harry said.
Ron grinned nervously at him, and Harry grinned back.
Hermione burst into tears.
‘There’s nothing to cry about!’ Harry told her, bewildered.
‘You two are so stupid!’ she shouted, stamping her foot on the ground, tears splashing down her front. ‘Then, before either of them could stop her, she had given both of them a hug, and dashed away, now positively howling.(p.313)
‘And now,’ he said, ‘it is time for two of our number to recognise each other for what they are. Sirius… if you could resume your usual form.'(p.618)
His eyes fell instead in the girl next to Krum. His jaw dropped.
It was Hermione.
But she didn’t look like Hermione at all. She had done something with her hair; it was no longer bushy, but sleek and shiny, and twisted up into an elegant knot at the back of her head. She was also smiling – rather nervously, it was true – but the reduction in the size of her front teeth was more noticeable than ever. Harry couldn’t understand how he hadn’t spotted it before.(p.360)
‘You might be labouring under the delusion that the entire wizarding world is impressed with you,’ Snape went on, so quietly that no one else could hear him, ‘but I don’t care how many times your picture appears in the papers. To me, Potter, you are nothing but a nasty little boy who considers rules to be beneath him.'(p.447)
‘Poor old snuffles,’ said Ron, breathing deeply. ‘He must really like you, Harry… imagine having to live off rats.'(p.464)
For a second that contained an eternity, Harry stared into Cedric’s face, at his open grey eyes, blank and expressionless as the windows of a deserted house, at his half-open mouth, which looked slightly surprised.(p.553)
