Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (US) (Paper) (3) [Import] [ペーパーバック]

   たいていの子どもにとって夏休みは待ちどおしいものなのに、13歳の我らがヒーローにはちっとも待ちどおしくない。夏は、自分をひどく嫌っているおば、おじ、いとこと共に過ごさなければならないからだ。

   第3話のすべての騒動は、ハリー・ポッターがダーズリー家にやってきた意地の悪い客、マージおばさんを「間違って」おばけ風船のようにふくらませ、天井まで舞い上がらせてしまったことから始まる。ペチュニアおばさんとバーノンおじさんのお仕置きが怖くて、ハリーは重いトランクとフクロウのヘドウィグのカゴを抱えて暗闇へ飛び出してゆく。

   けっきょく、ハリーは魔法を乱用した罰をまったく受けずにすむばかりか、不思議な力でマグルの住む世界から救い出され、3階建てのどぎつい紫色のバスに拾われて、残りの夏の数週間を居心地のよい居酒屋「漏れ鍋」で過ごすことになるのだ。ホグワーツでの3年目の生活がスタートすると同時に出くわしたことから、なぜ役人たちがハリーの罰を簡単に免除したかが明らかになる。

   アズカバン刑務所を脱獄した囚人、シリウス・ブラックが逃走中で、しかもハリー・ポッターを狙っているらしい。いったいなぜ？ それに、ハリーを守るために雇われたディメンターと呼ばれる看守たちはどうしてハリーだけを震えあがらせるの？ 今度もまたローリングは大人も子どもも楽しませてくれる。次回作の準備も整っているという。うれしいことに、このシリーズはあと4作続くそうだ。 --このテキストは、 ハードカバー 版に関連付けられています。

Fantastic audio book edition of the third title in the Harry Potter series, a spellbinding drama read by Stephen Fry. Includes a bonus CD featuring an exclusive interview between Stephen Fry and J. K. Rowling. --このテキストは、 カセット 版に関連付けられています。

During his third year at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, Harry Potter must confront the devious and dangerous wizard responsible for his parents' deaths.

For most children, summer vacation is something to look forward to. But not for our 13-year-old hero, who's forced to spend his summers with an aunt, uncle, and cousin who detest him. The third book in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series catapults into action when the young wizard "accidentally" causes the Dursleys' dreadful visitor Aunt Marge to inflate like a monstrous balloon and drift up to the ceiling. Fearing punishment from Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon (and from officials at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry who strictly forbid students to cast spells in the nonmagic world of Muggles), Harry lunges out into the darkness with his heavy trunk and his owl Hedwig.

As it turns out, Harry isn't punished at all for his errant wizardry. Instead he is mysteriously rescued from his Muggle neighborhood and whisked off in a triple-decker, violently purple bus to spend the remaining weeks of summer in a friendly inn called the Leaky Cauldron. What Harry has to face as he begins his third year at Hogwarts explains why the officials let him off easily. It seems that Sirius Black--an escaped convict from the prison of Azkaban--is on the loose. Not only that, but he's after Harry Potter. But why? And why do the Dementors, the guards hired to protect him, chill Harry's very heart when others are unaffected? Once again, Rowling has created a mystery that will have children and adults cheering, not to mention standing in line for her next book. Fortunately, there are four more in the works. (Ages 9 and older) --Karin Snelson

The worry, when faced with the follow-up to books as good as Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (both winners of the Nestlé Smarties Prize Gold Award), is that it won't be as good. With J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban any concerns are banished from page one. This, the third in the series, continues where the previous two left off and is a fantastic adventure of mystery, magic and mayhem combined with liberal doses of humour and plenty of suspense.

Forced to do his homework in the dead of night and forbidden to refer to his magic skills or his life at Hogwarts school, Harry Potter is forced to endure the summer holidays with the dreaded Dursleys. The arrival of Aunt Marge is the final straw and, in a fit of anger, Harry breaks all the rules and casts a spell on her, causing her to blow up like a balloon. Running away from his dreaded relatives, Harry expects to be expelled from Hogwarts for his blatant flaunting of the rule not to use magic outside term time. However, the arrival of the mysterious Knight Bus and a meeting with Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic, result in Harry enjoying the rest of the holidays in the wonderful surroundings of the Leaky Cauldron.

The escape of Sirius Black--one time friend of Harry's parents, implicated in their murder and follower of "You- Know-Who"--from Azkaban, has serious implications for Harry for it would appear that Black is bent on revenge against Harry for thwarting "You-Know-Who". Back at Hogwarts, Harry's movements are restricted by the presence of the Dementors--guards from Azkaban on the look out for Black--however, this doesn't stop him throwing himself into the new Quidditch season and going about his normal business--or at least attempting to. Despite warnings Harry is determined to get to the bottom of the mystery surrounding Sirius Black--how could this one-time close friend of his parents become the cause of their deaths?

And why does the presence of the Dementors have such a devastating effect on him, causing him to hear the last moments of his mother's life?

With another four Harry Potter novels planned, Jo Rowling is creating a series of books which will become classics to rival C.S. Lewis'Chronicles of Narnia--books written for children but loved by adults too. (Ages 9 and up) --Philippa Reece --このテキストは、 CD 版に関連付けられています。

In this third installment in the projected seven-volume series, Sirius Black, imprisoned for killing 13 people with one curse, escapes from Azkaban. As he heads for Hogwarts, the chilling Dementors who trail him quickly descend upon the school. "Each successive volume expands upon its predecessor with dizzyingly well-planned plots and inventive surprises," said PW in a Best Books of 2001 citation. Ages 8-up.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Running time: 11 hrs., 48 mins. 10 CDs.

For twelve long years, the dread fortress of Azkaban held an infamous prisoner named Sirius Black. Convicted of killing thirteen people with a single curse, he was said to be the heir apparent to the Dark Lord, Voldemort.

Now he has escaped, leaving only two clues as to where he might be headed: Harry Potter's defeat of You-Know-Who was Black's downfall as well. And the Azkban guards heard Black muttering in his sleep, "He's at Hogwarts...he's at Hogwarts."

Harry Potter isn't safe, not even within the walls of his magical school, surrounded by his friends. Because on top of it all, there may well be a traitor in their midst.

comments on the Harry Potter Cassettes and CDs
This release is complete and unabridged with not a word added nor a word taken out.

As with

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

this third instalment of the Harry Potter adventures is available on both cassette and CD with Stephen Fry as the narrator.

A review from The Times said that "Stephen Fry is your Potter-perfect narrator" and The Guardian considers that "Fry's reading is sublime".

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone made history when it was broadcast in its entirety on Boxing Day 2000 on Radio 4. --このテキストは、 CD 版に関連付けられています。

J.K. Rowling was a struggling single mother when she wrote the beginning of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, on scraps of paper at a local cafe. But her efforts soon paid off, as she received an unprecedented award from the Scottish Arts Council enabling her to finish the book. Since then, the debut novel has become an international phenomenon, garnering rave reviews and major awards, including the British Book Awards Chidren's Book of the Year and the Smarties Prize. Ms. Rowling lives in Edinburgh with her daughter.

Performer Bio: The New York Times hailed Jim Dale as "The Toast of Broadway" in his title role in the musical Barnum. He has a long list of credits on the stage and in film and was nominated for an Oscar for writing the lyrics for Georgy Girl.