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Makund Padmanabhan (review date 24 July 2000)

SOURCE: “Growing Up with Harry,” in Hindu, July 24, 2000.

[In the following review, Padmanabhan states that Rowling has shifted fictional gears in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and that the series appears to have arrived at a pivotal stage.]

It is exquisitely fat and meaty and children all over the world are said to marvel at its plump comeliness. Even so, the very size of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (640 pages dressed in handsome hardback) is the least significant characteristic that sets it apart from its three relatively anorexic predecessors.

The first three novels in the planned seven-part series do have their distinctive features but, on the whole, you might be forgiven for thinking that each is a little more of the same. HP4 is something else. And J. K. Rowling loses no time in demonstrating that she has firmly shifted fictional gear.

Gone...

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1. Introduction
2. Criticism
   1. Shannon Maughan (review date 15 February 1999)
   2. Shannon Maughan (review date 19 July 1999)
   3. J. K. Rowling with Roxanne Feldman (interview date September 1999)
   4. Roger Sutton (review date September–October 1999)
   5. Judith Rosen (essay date 4 October 1999)
   6. Andrew Stuttaford (review date 11 October 1999)
   7. Francine Fialkoff (review date 15 October 1999)
   8. Shannon Maughan (review date 1 November 1999)
   9. Andrew Stephen (review date 1 November 1999)
   10. Brooke Allen (review date 1–15 November 1999)
   11. Lee Siegel (review date 22 November 1999)
   12. Christian Century (review date 1 December 1999)
   13. Alison Lurie (review date 16 December 1999)
   14. Charles De Lint (review date January 2000)
   15. Julia Eccleshare (review date 3 January 2000)
   16. J. K. Rowling with Brad Crawford (interview date February 2000)
   17. Cathi Dunn MacRae (review date March 2000)
   18. Michael Rogers (essay date 1 March 2000)
   19. Dot Wordsworth (review date 8 April 2000)
   20. Shannon Maughan (review date 17 April 2000)
   21. School Library Journal (essay date May 2000)
   22. Bobbie Combs (review date 10 July 2000)
   23. Chauncey Mabe (review date 10 July 2000)
   24. Kathleen Merryman (essay date 10 July 2000)
   25. Robert Munsch (review date 10 July 2000)
   26. Nancy Pate (review date 10 July 2000)
   27. Susan Perren (review date 10 July 2000)
   28. Andrea Sachs (review date 17 July 2000)
   29. Stefan Kanfer (essay date 19 July 2000)
   30. Makund Padmanabhan (review date 24 July 2000)
3. Further Reading
4. Copyright