Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - at least it's politically correct
Written: Jun 24 '03
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Product Rating:
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Pros: The magical spirit is still there.
Cons: Too long, plot not tight enough, inconsistent in tone, some loose ends.
The Bottom Line: You would want to read this even if only to have something to discuss with your kids. Personally, I liked the previous volumes much more then this one.
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| mtarasev's Full Review: J. K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Order of the ... |
We've been waiting for a long for the new installment in the Harry Potter series. Finally, it's here, it's thick and, hopefully, full of exciting and magical adventures. Well, let's read...
Plot
(you can read this even if you have not read the book)
The plot line in HP5 is definitely baroque in style: fairly straightforward development with a lot of frills and decorations on the side. Mostly, this ornamental "sub-plots" have only superficial relevance to the mail line. As you, probably remember, Lord Voldemort is back, unfortunately most people do not want to believe in the story. Minister of Magic thinks it all a plot by Dumbledore to undermine his authority and seize "the power" for himself. Thus a campaign in Daily Prophet to discredit both the headmaster of Hogwarts and the only witness of the Dark Lord's return Harry Potter. Next, the Ministry is taking over Hogwarts using a lot of new laws and regulations implemented by a nasty Dolores Umbridge, senior undersecretary to the Minister of Magic and now a new teacher of Defense against the Dark Arts). Meanwhile, Voldemort is trying to get his hands on a Prophesy telling something about his fate. As the Prophesy is too well guarded, he can not do it himself and must use Harry. After a big battle in the Ministry of Magic halls, his minions (including Malfoy's father) are defeated and the cat is out of the bag. Now wait for the next volume.
There are some nice diversions along the way (i.e. Harry's father at fifteen turns out to be a bully at that time hated by his future wife), but unfortunately they are downplayed. Even Harry's romance - an important part of fifteen-year-olds life somehow is ended in the last quarter of the book without mush explanation or reason. (I understand the desire to leave the main character free for future activity, but you do not have to be so abrupt, do you...). Some sidelines (i.e. Hagrid and the giants - what was it all for in the first place?) I feel only detract from the story.
Readability
As mentioned previously, the book is very long. Personally, I think it would gain a lot were it compressed by about 25-20%. As it is, it feels a bit loose. As my daughter put it, "I've read a third of it, and Harry's not even in Hogwarts yet...". She thought the beginning is very slow. Events wise I would say it's fine, but... too many words. Reading wise it's a book for older kids then the previous ones. There is a huge difference in style even when comparing "The Order..." with, say, "the Prisoner...". I can understand that, after all the audience matures, sort of, and Harry is also older, but still, I liked the previous stile better.
Politically correct.
After the first Harry Porter movie was out, there was a review posted on this site taking the film apart for it "political incorrectness". Not enough females among the teachers, the girls do not score enough in Quidditch, not enough black students, the roles for minorities are not important enough... I then posted a reply saying that it's a discrimination in itself to demand that everybody in the world must conform to your own arbitrary standards. Why should a British author worry about the "proper" racial mix relevant for an American society? Should we start rewriting all the foreign books and re-filming the movies to make then conform? Well, good or bad, HP5 is much more politically correct (American way) then any of the others. Black girl leading the Quidditch team, Harry's girlfriend is Chinese etc. My kids, probably, would not even notice it, but to me it had an artificial flavor. To much emphasis, if you see what I mean. I understand, American market is bigger then British and you want to make American publishers happy, but please, do not be THAT obvious. As it is, I kept expecting some handicapped kids to join the classes (and why not?) or to have a "Special Ed" group (with Snipe as a substitute Special Ed teacher?). Also, we still low on student of Indian or Pakistani ancestry and Native Americans are definitely underrepresented... (Who cares that it's Britain, we are reading this in the US, right?).
General Comments
One of the things I did not like about this book is that it's inconsistent in its tone. For better or worse, the style of the book is more grown up then that of the previous volumes. Still, some resolutions of the problems remain on a kid's level. Operative word here is "some". I will accept any approach as long as it is used all the time. Sometimes the problem and the solution ate "on the level" others, HP5 mixes some at least PG13 problems with "Teletubbis"- type solutions. Ridicule and a slap on the hand can be an appropriate punishment for a petty villain in a kid's book. It's hardly a suitable one for torture, assault and attempted murder in a more "grown up" literature. (i.e. the "punishment" of the bad Umbridge, the "issue of the mistakes" made by the minister of Magic). Thus some conflict resolutions are far from satisfying.
Some tuns and twists I would consider incomprehensible (to me at least, but my daughter did not get them either) - it's mostly "why's" and "why not's". Why would people in the Ministry of Magic want to kill Harry Potter, especially if they are not in league with You-Know-Who? What was the story with Snape and his special lessons? (Explanations at the end of the book, probably, made sense to Harry, but, alas, not to me). Why was Harry kept in the dark? (Again, the reasons given are far from convincing and are rather disappointing; it's like a mountain giving birth to a mouse, you know).
Conclusion:
All said, the book is not bad, even through, in my opinion, it did not live up to the expectations. A shorter version with a tighter plot line and less sidetracking would have been much better, but I'm not an editor in Scholastic.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
mtarasev
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Reviews written: 47
Trusted by: 4 members
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