I’m staying a couple of years behind everyone else in reading J. K. Rowling‘s Harry Potter series. I remember being at Sara’s wedding a couple of years ago just after this came out, and the kids there were hiding out in one room reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix whenever their parents didn’t want them posing for pictures or behaving child-like for the various grandparents and relatives floating around. At the time I thought, Good god that’s a thick book for children
. And indeed it is.
But other than being overly long, I enjoyed it very much. Ms. Rowling’s writing has improved. Harry Potter behaves more and more like a recognizable child with every book (so far). I think he was acting a bit too old in the earlier books but he fits his ostensible age much better now.
This entry in the series has Harry in his 5th year at Hogwarts. The Order of the Phoenix is the group Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts, has put together to oppose Voldemort. Rather than look bad, the Ministry of Magic pretends that Voldemort has not returned, and does everything in its power in a P.R. effort to hide the evidence. Including putting in place extra control over Hogwarts, in the person of Professor Umbridge, who delights in punishing Harry Potter even more than Professor Snape. Meanwhile, Voldemort uses a newly discovered connection with Harry Potter to inject his thoughts into Harry’s dreams.
Most of the book is sub-plot concerning Harry vs. Umbridge and the Ministry of Magic. It distracts us, and Harry, from his duel with Voldemort. A little less of that and it would be a 5 star book in my view. A big government ministry, even one in a fictional magical world, spending so much effort with running a school day to day seems kind of odd to me. The animosity was needed, but I think I would have done it with the Ministry being more removed, and perhaps having the Malfoys take a larger role as Harry’s foils.
Also, one other good thing is that Rowling seems to finally be advancing some of the other kids in the book. They are less of caricatures than in the past. Neville Longbottom and Ginny Weasley in particular stood out for me. Longbottom because he was less of an abject failure and Weasley because she stops being the mooning little sister. In previous books it was primarily Harry Potter doing the saving, with Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger taking supporting roles. This time around it was really all the other kids taking and equal or greater role than Harry.
All in all a good effort.
Author: J. K. Rowling
Illustrator: Mary GrandPré
Imprint / publisher: Scholastic
Format: Paperback
Publication date: September 2004 (Jul 2003 in hardback)
Length: xi, 870 p.
ISBN-10: 0-439-35807-8
Subject: Wizards — Fiction
Subject: Magic — Fiction
Subject: Schools — Fiction
Subject: Coming of age — Fiction
Subject: England — Fiction
LC classification: PZ7.R79835 Halm 2003
