Monday, February 12, 2007
Order of the Phoenix - book review
It is no discredit to Rowling to say that she "is no Tolkien." For Tolkien's books were thick, hard to read, highly detailed, and had in them characters as real to me as the very trees and air. So it is with not lightly that I say to you, while Rowling is "no Tolkien," she is, in her own right, one of the greatest writers of her genera, in my opinion. To be sure, she has a formula that's been easy to follow since the first book. Many of the same places and events are so set in the readers minds that simply glancing over them here and there in the book with a brief mention fills us with the images she wishes to convey. This is why my last book review of a Harry Potter book was called Harry Potter and the Latest Magic and Snacks!! It's formulaic, easy to follow. This makes it a very quick read, even for me. We know there's going to be the obligatory scene with Harry's Aunt and Uncle, to heighten our disdain of them, then the mad rush to somehow get back to Hogwarts, then Halloween, Christmas, Valentines day (new one in the latest book because of the new love interest...but still, I suspect there will be more Valentines days to come.), Easter Holidays, end of term tests, and finally, the going back to the dreaded Dursley household. What Rowling makes interesting, is all the stuff that happens in-between. These details flesh out our year at Hogwarts nicely, giving us a glimps in to Harry's past, and indeed, future.
I was told by some that this book was darker than the others. It seemed to me obvious, since the ending of Goblet of Fire has the nemesis of these books returning to bodily form, and drawing his supporters to him, and a terrified Harry narrowly avoiding death, once again. Throughout the whole of the book Order of the Phoenix, the tension was much higher than in the former books. Voldemort's return being overlooked by most of the world was, without a doubt, one of the things that drove me to keep reading, and keep thinking "when are these dorks going to finally catch on?" Then, I stopped talking to myself and remembered that this was a book, and that in real life, people don't actually act like this, right?
Anyway, without giving away too many plot points, I enjoyed the book even more than I did the others. I liked the talk that Dumbldoor had with Harry toward the end of the book, but am really unsure about where Rowling can take this story, now that everyone is back to Harry and Dumbldoor being a hero. She almost revealed too many mysteries at the end of this one, for there to possibly be too many more, though I suppose she could introduce more. I look forward to reading the next one, and then, of course, the last one. I also look forward to getting this on DVD, though the loss of Gary Oldman at the end, will be tragic on screen, to say the least. I've enjoyed him in this role.
These books are not evil. These books are not bad. These books are really just fun. They let your imagination swim in the possibility that there is a parallel world right here among us where dragons, giants, fairies, and wizards and witches, actually exist. It's escapism at it's finest. Good work J.K. Keep it up.Labels: book reviews
