Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: Does It Live Up To The Hype?
Written: Jun 21 '03 (Updated Jun 22 '03)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Questions answered, secrets revealed, it's a new Harry Potter book!
Cons: I had more questions at the end of the book than at the beginning.
The Bottom Line: By far, the best (and longest) installment in the series.
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| GravityGirl's Full Review: J. K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Order of the ... |
Before I begin, I would like to point out that I do discuss the plot in my review but I have taken great pains to avoid giving spoilers.
After a three year wait, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the latest installment in the Harry Potter series is finally here. While I think having the books delivered in an armored car is a bit much, I can say with certainty that the book has lived up to the hype and been worth the wait. Clearly, I am not the only one who was waiting for the book- the midnight Barnes and Noble party I attended was packed. I saw a really nice costume parade with pint-sized Hogwarts students, I got a lightning bolt painted on my forehead and I had my picture taken with a cardboard cutout of Harry.
For those of who you are unfamiliar with the world of Harry Potter, allow me to give a brief explanation. Harry is a young man who grew up in the care of relatives the Dursleys under Dickensian conditions. He was abused, virtually ignored and forced to live in the closet under the stairs. But all that changed when Harry received his acceptance letter to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, a boarding school for young witches and wizards. Up to this point, Harry had not known that he was a wizard or that his parents died trying to save him from an evil wizard named Voldemort. While the Harry Potter books are one long saga, they are divided up into convenient one year chunks devoted to one year at Hogwarts. Over the years, Harry has faced many challenges but nothing has prepared him for the events in the Order of the Phoenix.
When we last left Harry at the end of Goblet of Fire (Book 4), some rather unsettling events had taken place, the most significant of which was that Lord Voldemort had returned and Cornelius Fudge (the Minister of Magic) refused to believe Harry's allegations. As the Order of the Phoenix opens, Harry is trying hard to find out anything he can about the effects of the return of Voldemort but this is a rather difficult task as he has had almost no contact with his Hogwarts friends. After narrowly escaping an attack on Privet Drive, Harry finds himself in trouble with the wizarding government and he also learns about the mysterious Order of the Phoenix very early in the book- a society originally formed to fight Voldemort that has been reformed in light of recent events.
Once Harry returns to Hogwarts, things go from bad to worse. The promotional literature for OOTP has described the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher as "having a personality like poisoned honey." While this description is apt, it is also quite an understatement. If you thought Snape was mean, then you are in for a real treat because Dolores Umbridge puts the W in witch. Yikes! Dolores is also an employee of the Ministry of Magic and she uses (or perhaps abuses) her position and imposes strict regulations on both the faculty and the students. In short, Harry and company have found themselves in a situation even more Dickensian than the Dursleys. While all this is going on, there is also a lot of tension between those who believe that Voldemort returned (i.e. Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix) and those who don't (i.e. the Ministry of Magic). This Cold War of the wizarding world divides the students themselves and families find themselves ripped apart by this conflict. Hermione provides conspiracy theories and Harry finds himself defying the new rules and putting himself and his friends in danger. There really doesn't appear to be any resolution in sight- throughout Goblet of Fire, the reader saw signs of Voldemort's return, but in OOTP, signs are few and far between. There is an inevitable showdown that gets built up as the book progresses (as a result of waiting for something to happen) and is one of the best scenes in the book.
As others have mentioned, this book is much darker than the other books in the series. While this is an obvious effect of the nature of the plot, I found the book to begin to have an effect on me. Since there are fewer "happy" moments, I began to feel the characters' frustrations and fears as I read. Also, since I knew there was a death coming, there were several points in the book when I thought that I knew who was going to die but found myself to be incorrect each time. I am inclined to think that Rowling did not do his intentionally after having read that she wept after writing the death scene. Of course, it wasn't who I thought it would be, but then again, I don't know why I didn't figure it out.
As I have mentioned before, the books are divided up into one year chunks, so fans of the series have been following Harry's adventures since he was eleven years old. Harry and his friends have certainly changed over the years, these changes are subtle. I found it rather disconcerting that Harry had experienced a very sudden change. Almost overnight, he had transformed into a petulant teenager full of angst and vinegar. I mean, he's been a teenager for almost two years and suddenly he seems to have developed a bad case of sass-mouth. In a word, Harry is FRESH for a bit too much of the book. Given the situations he faces, I understand the need for emotion, but it was a little overdone, in my opinion. Of course, being a sassy teen does have its advantages- despite the stringent new rules, there is even more potential romance afoot at Hogwarts. Will Harry's unrequited love for Cho Chang ever be fully realized? And will Ron and Hermione finally get together? What about Draco and Ginny? Of course, there is a myriad of potential romantic pairings (thanks to the creative minds of fan fiction writers) but my lips are sealed as to who actually ends up together. Of course, since teenage relationships can be rather fickle, no one can say whether these pairings will last.
This book is very addictive, which is to be expected. I found myself only able to put the book down to sleep, to buy breakfast at McDonald's (try their McGriddle breakfast sandwiches!) and to prepare lunch. I spent the rest of the time constantly reading. I would try to put the book down but found myself returning within minutes. I knew this would happen and found myself avoiding books I planned to read because I didn't want to have to abandon them halfway through.
I certainly appreciated the numerous reappearances of characters we had not seen for several books. It appears that Rowling never does anything unintentionally and even a casual reference to a person can lead to a larger role later on in the series. For example, fans of the series will remember in book one that Hagrid says that he borrowed the flying motorcar from Sirius Black and then we didn't hear anything more about Black until his lead role in book 3. I found myself wondering if every new character introduced in OOTP had the potential for greatness in later books. There were a lot of new characters introduced so this made speculation rather difficult.
As promised, many secrets are revealed and plotlines left dangling in Goblet of Fire are resolved but I found myself left with more questions than when I started. I found myself to be very confused when the book finally ended. I certainly hope that it doesn't take three more years for the sixth book because I don't think I can wait that long!
Harry Potter is not a picture book, but I must admit that I enjoy the little illustrations that accompany the beginning of each chapter. Mary GrandPre has illustrated all the American editions of Harry books but she has really outdone herself this time. I will be the first to admit that some of the American covers look downright goofy, but I am very impressed with both the cover illustration and the beginning of chapter illustrations. This is, by far, the best Harry cover yet. Of course, one should not judge a book by its cover but aesthetics do play a role.
While this book is written in a very easy-to-read manner, it is certainly not for children per se. Children of all ages might be frightened by the vivid imagery. I am not a fan of snakes and found myself cringing at several moments during the book. The book also deals with some serious themes. I don't necessarily think that children should be prevented from reading this book, but parents should also read the book so that they are prepared to have a discussion with their children should the need arise. Also, the book contains many Briticisms that some people might not understand. I do believe that in previous Harry books, some text was changed to make the books easier for American audiences to digest. Not that I'm complaining- I'm still irked that the title of the first book was changed from Philosopher's Stone to Sorcerer's Stone for American audiences, but I digress.
I highly recommend Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. The journey might be bittersweet, but it is certainly a journey worth taking. Of course, if you are a fan of the books, you probably don't need me to convince you to get the book, but if you need some reassurance I can confidently say that this is the best book in the series. It takes a while for things to get going, but this slow start only helps the reader empathize with the characters, who are equally as frustrated. If you have not yet read a Harry Potter book but are interested after a result of all the hype, I recommend that you read the books in order. Theoretically, the books are mostly self-contained and could stand on their own, but they function better as one long saga. Also, you will only ruin key plot points by reading the books out of order.
Once again, I highly recommend Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. If you have already read the first four books, buy this one today!
Recommended:
Yes
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