“And he would have to meet it when it did.”
I’ve talked about Harry’s battle with Voldemort, the Death Eaters, the introduction of violence, the Mr. Crouch/Moody plot twist, and Cedric Diggory’s death (which I then revisited). Goblet of Fire is becoming a dead horse, and I the blogger with the beating stick. It’s time to move on.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is the longest of the series, clocking in at a whopping 876 pages and 2.2 lbs. (an important fact for those of us who will be lugging it around). According to the most reliable source around (the internet), I’ve read approximately 2,005 pages of the Harry Potter series, with 2,352 to go. Note: Those numbers differ depending on which versions you have, so I may be off on my own borrowed collection by a few hundred pages. Either way, while I’ve completed 4 books, I’m still somehow not quite halfway through. So I look at Order of the Phoenix with a feeling of excited anticipation and complete intimidation. I’m ridiculously curious where things are going, but I’m staring down the neck of a 876 page book. You don’t just casually start reading a book of that length. If you cut out Deathly Hollows, the series still beats War and Peace by over 135,000 words (Deathly Hollows adds another 204,786 to the count). Go ahead, count them (I’ll wait here…)
That said, I will be starting Order of the Phoenix tomorrow, so a few things before that crazy read-fest kicks off.
The feedback I’ve received on Order of the Phoenix has been “It’s the best book of the series!” I call foul, because mysteriously, the same thing was said for Goblet of Fire and by a small minority, for Half-Blood Prince. There were even a few souls who claimed Prisoner of Azkaban was the best out there. Listen, they can’t all be the best. Let’s face it, not everyone deserves that trophy at the end of the tee ball season. In order for there to be winners, there has to be losers. So with that in mind…
It’s time for a Reader Poll, located on the side bar! (Please let me know if you cannot see the poll. I’m still new in the ways of WordPress).
Check back in for the results!
Now back to your regularly scheduled programming…
In the spirit of full disclosure, I’m going to tell you upfront what I already know about Order of the Phoenix. Don’t worry, it’s limited. Ahem! Something magical (and bad) appears on Pivet Drive (don’t you love my attention to detail?) Harry gets expelled. Some awful woman from the Ministry comes to teach a class and it’s not good news. I think Professor Trelawny gets the boot, and Dumbledore is fired (but in a less permanent sort of way). Harry forms this nifty little group he calls Dumbledore’s Army and I believe they train themselves against Dark Magic. He also plants a big ol’ kiss on Cho. If I’m not mistaken, the prisoners escape from Azkaban and I’m going to put money on the fact that Sirius dies in this book (I know he dies, and I know it happens before the sixth book, so process of elimination).
Did I just completely ruin the book?
Obviously, I’m armed with a number of spoilers this time around. Maybe some of them are wrong. But I’ll be honest, that’s all I’m working with. I saw this movie, and clearly I remember some of it, but I’m kind of missing the “plot” of the book. An awful professor and a mini wizard army are interesting plot points, but they don’t tell much of a story. I’m sure something else happens over the course of 876 pages.
So I guess it’s time for some of my beloved predictions. They’re always so spot on!
(((cricket))) (((cricket)))
I honestly don’t know. Let me get a few chapters in before I start making amazing guesses that somehow end up horribly wrong.
876 pages. Ah, god!
Here’s what I think about books 5-7 and why you get so many differing opinions…
OoTP – The darkest book and I think the best written. People who like dark movies and such tend to like this one best
HBP – Until the end this book is probably the lightest book since PoA or CoS and I think folks who like happier books tend to like this the best
DH – This book has the most action and has the payoff of wrapping up all the mysteries in a neat little bow, which attracts another set of folks. Full disclosure, it’s my favorite book.
Just my fiddy cent…
I thought it was Privet Drive…
Valerie, my in-house proofreader, everybody. Say hello!
Harry is a prat in Order of the Phoenix. I got tired of rolling my eyes over his mutinous, “everybody hates me” behavior. Was glad when things started to pick up at the end.
Order of the Phoenix replaced Chamber of Secrets as my least favorite. I definitely agree with Laura, I got quite sick of Harry. I do love Luna Lovegood, though. My opinion hasn’t changed, but I do respect the importance of and how JKR advanced the story in them.
Hi, I’m reading this blog due to the prompting of a friend. So far, I’m really enjoying it! really awesome reading your opinions and *giggle* theories…which, by the way, are really quite good!
the thing is, all the books CAN be the best…
They are all the best, just in different ways!
When you finish the entire series and someone asks you to choose your favourite, you’ll realise this (hopefully).
On another note, I’d just like to note, that while Harry is not only a volatile, moody teen who has had someone die right before his eyes (and blames himself for it), and has been brooding for an entire month about it, he also has Voldemort influencing his emotions – don’t you think that a psychopath (a boy who just went down the wrong path – I pity him a little, but I don’t excuse his behaviour at all.) who isn’t getting what he wants would be angry?
So, just to finish off my little rant =), I think that Harry is justified in his behaviour, and I like that Rowling hasn’t toned it down and made him all happy and unbelievable.
Hey Lily! I thought I was the only one reading this blog in September 2011.
I wasn’t going to make any comments, but you have inspired me. I think Order of the Phoenix is my favorite because it advances the essence of the story so much. In some ways, I felt that Goblet of Fire was a detour in the series with the Quidditch World Cup and Tri-Wizard Tournament. Also, I have to disagree with those who get sick of the ‘angry’ Harry. While reading OOTP, I was so impressed with how JKR ages the characters.
Verenice – I thought so too at the very start, because at first I thought it was a bit unrealistic to be SO moody, but then I realised that he has so much more to deal with than an average teenager, and so many more worries, and he tends to stuff everything in until it explodes, and plus he is being influenced by Voldy, so it kind of makes much more sense if you look at it that way. Also, I think that the death of Cedric (obviously) influenced him a lot, ans also, he’d had an entire month to brood…but I think that Rowling kind of wants you to dislike Harry a bit in the 5th book, because, you know, up until then, he was kind of quite an innocent hero, who always did what was right and good, but in the fifth, you get more of a perspective and it’s quite in-your-face that Harry is human. He’s not some supernatural being who survives everything and is still cheerful about it.
Jeff, I quite liked the change actually – it was very refreshing not to go straight from the Dursley’s to Hogwarts, and in the fourth book you get to meet so many new characters and concepts which reappear later in the series.
Thank you so much for replying – I thought I was the only one reading this! I just went through the entire three years, trying not to post too much like I was tempted to, and get up to date so I knew what was going on.
I’ve found Jess’s opinions really interesting!
The first time I read OOTP I was annoyed at how angry Harry was. It seemed like his anger appeared out of nowhere, but after I read it again (and a discussion with friends) I felt like I understood him better. For one thing, Harry was now a teenager, complete with raging hormones and a less than normal life. Put yourself in his shoes (not exactly possible, I know) and you can understand a lot of his anger.
I’m also glad that I am not the only one reading this blog so late.