Jun 24, 2003 05:55 PM
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(Updated Jun 28, 2003 12:35 PM)
The hugely-anticipated fifth Harry Potter book was released yesterday to worldwide excitement. That fact must be known to everyone, everywhere in the world thanks to the hype surrounding its release. As is our custom, we bought the book on the day itself, having booked in advance and all. The sheer size of the book was intimidating - it's a whopping 766 pages long, but we thought, what the heck it must be worth it. After all the first 4 books were very good, especially ''Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban''. So, a long sleepless night was spent in ploughing through Harry's adventures. At the outset let me say that I will not reveal the plot in great detail here, but maybe you could skip this paragraph if you do not want to know a single word about the book. Basically the Order of the Phoenix is a coterie of talented witches and wizards who unite to fight the renewed threat of Lord Voldemort, villain extraordinaire. Harry Potter, a 15-year-old wizard prodigy is of course one of them, and their main aim is in fact to protect Harry since Voldemort sees him as his main threat.
Confusing? I suggest you go back and read the other books first. As compared to the other books, Harry is bang in the middle of adolescence in this period, with all its traumas. What with wondering whether Cho Chang likes him, worrying about his friend Hagrid's strange new friend in the Forbidden Forest, hoping that his guardian Sirius Black is not caught and thrown back in Azkaban, puzzling as to why headmaster Dumbledore is not talking to him; Harry is almost too busy to deal with the looming spectre of Lord Voldemort. To top it all, he realizes that he is able to run Voldemort's thoughts through his head. And the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher cannot stand him, and Ron and Hermione are made prefects while he is not. Everything seems to go against him in this book. It becomes really depressing after a point because it doesn't seem fair to heap so many problems on a single person. The book is definitely darker when compared to the others. Even in ''Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire'' the series took a serious turn when Cedric Diggory was killed by Lord Voldemort. It is even worse in this book because someone much more important dies. I won't spoil the surprise by telling you who it is but suffice to say it really casts a damper on your next couple of hours. In fact, my sister cried buckets after reading about it. With so many really young children all over the world loving the series, one wonders if J. K. Rowling is going overboard with the serious part and reducing all the fun stuff. Very cool new magical creatures have been introduced in this book (such as Thestrals, horses which can only be seen by people who have faced death). Quidditch again is very thrilling, but having Harry banned after playing his first match of the season leaves a bitter aftertaste. (Oops, maybe I shouldn't have given that away) All in all, a very well-written book but definitely not worth the long wait and the hoopla surrounding its release. Considering that J. K. Rowling hinted that Harry may not survive the seventh book, one wonders if it is worth reading the series any more. Oh well, next time I'll just borrow the book from a library.
