- Hardcover: 870 pages
- Publisher: Arthur a Levine (2003)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 043935806X
- ISBN-13: 978-0439358064
- Product Dimensions: 23.7 x 16.2 x 5.3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 1.2 Kg
- Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1,069 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
#238,749 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #48 in Books > Children's Books > Ages 9-12 > Series > Fantasy & Adventure > Harry Potter Books > Hardcover
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Product Details |
Product Description
From School Library Journal
Grade 4 Up-Harry has just returned to Hogwarts after a lonely summer. Dumbledore is uncommunicative and most of the students seem to think Harry is either conceited or crazy for insisting that Voldemort is back and as evil as ever. Angry, scared, and unable to confide in his godfather, Sirius, the teen wizard lashes out at his friends and enemies alike. The head of the Ministry of Magic is determined to discredit Dumbledore and undermine his leadership of Hogwarts, and he appoints nasty, pink-cardigan-clad Professor Umbridge as the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher and High Inquisitor of the school, bringing misery upon staff and students alike. This bureaucratic nightmare, added to Harry's certain knowledge that Voldemort is becoming more powerful, creates a desperate, Kafkaesque feeling during Harry's fifth year at Hogwarts. The adults all seem evil, misguided, or simply powerless, so the students must take matters into their own hands. Harry's confusion about his godfather and father, and his apparent rejection by Dumbledore make him question his own motives and the condition of his soul. Also, Harry is now 15, and the hormones are beginning to kick in. There are a lot of secret doings, a little romance, and very little Quidditch or Hagrid (more reasons for Harry's gloom), but the power of this book comes from the young magician's struggles with his emotions and identity. Particularly moving is the unveiling, after a final devastating tragedy, of Dumbledore's very strong feelings of attachment and responsibility toward Harry. Children will enjoy the magic and the Hogwarts mystique, and young adult readers will find a rich and compelling coming-of-age story as well.
Eva Mitnick, Los Angeles Public Library
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Eva Mitnick, Los Angeles Public Library
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
*Starred Review* No, you can't put it down, but believe me, you'll wish you could. This is not an easy book to lug around. Its worldwide hype aside, the fifth installment in Harry Potter's saga should be judged on the usual factors: plot, characters, and the quality of the writing. So how does it fare? One thing emerges quickly: Rowling has not lost her flair as a storyteller or her ability to keep coming up with new gimcracks to astound her readers. But her true skills lie in the way she ages Harry, successfully evolving him from the once downtrodden yet hopeful young boy to this new, gangly teenager showing all the symptoms of adolescence--he is sullen, rude, and contemptuous of adult behavior, especially hypocrisy. This last symptom of the maturing Harry fits especially well into the plot, which finds almost all of the grown-ups in the young wizard's life saying one thing and doing another, especially those at the Ministry of Magic, who discredit Harry in the media to convince the citizenry that Voldemort is not alive. Rowling effectively uses this plot strand as a way of introducing a kind of subtext in which she takes on such issues as governmental lying and the politics of personal destruction, but she makes her points in ways that will be clearly understood by young readers. To fight for truth and justice--and to protect Harry--the Order of the Phoenix has been reconstituted, but young Potter finds squabbling and hypocrisy among even this august group. And in a stunning and bold move, Rowling also allows Harry (and readers) to view an incident from the life of a teenage James Potter that shows him to be an insensitive bully, smashing the iconic view Harry has always had of his father. Are there problems with the book? Sure. Even though children, especially, won't protest, it could be shorter, particularly since Rowling is repetitious with descriptions (Harry is always "angry"; ultimate bureaucrat Doris Umbridge always looks like a toad). But these are quibbles about a rich, worthy effort that meets the very high expectations of a world of readers. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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Most helpful customer reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not as great as I had hoped,
By Aaron Boatwright (Duluth, MN United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Book 5) (Hardcover)
After a long, highly anticipted wait for the fifth installment in the Harry Potter Series, I finally laid hands on my copy at just past midnight last night. I promptly began to read, and I have to say....I am somewhat disappointed in it. Though I believe J K Rowling to be an excellent writer in general, I found the fifth book not nearly as engrossing as the last three. In fact, throughout the entire first half I was left wondering, "when is something going to HAPPEN?!". I found Harry to be more irritating than anything else, what with his constant outbursts, lack of judgement, and incessant whining. Hermione seems to be the only character that is maturing at all. The plot was not as well developed as I thought it could have been (c'mon, there are like nine hundred pages here!), and frankly the resolution (if you can call it that) took an absurdly long time to arrive. [...] Don't get me wrong, it was nice to hear what Harry has been up to, and I genuinely adore this series as a whole. I just felt that JK Rowling's talent is seriously under-utilized here. There is a persistent lack of focus, a rambling, largely unexciting plot, and for the most part the characters become lost in the jumble. This could've been better!! I rate it 3 out of 5.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Worst of the Series By Far,
By Carmyn (Alberta) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Book 5) (Paperback)
OotP was definitely a dissapointment compared to the rest of this wonderful series. Although it began to piece together some of the many questions the previous books introduced, the many chapters it took to get to those answers was a little painful. Harry's new teenage attitude is hard to deal with, the romance is fairly shallow, Hagrid is dumber than he usually is, and the new teacher at Hogwarts is more annoying than anything. Do read it to fill in the blank pieces of information regarding Harry, but chances are you won't find it as enjoyable as the other books.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Rowling was straining...,
By
This review is from: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Book 5) (Hardcover)
And it shows. The pacing at points is very good, but too often there are long boring stretches; I don't mean the expositions of the previous books, either; I mean info-dumps that are not as well structured, and therefore, less enteraining. Harry has become quite whiny, even a little manic depressive, as puberty begins to take hold. This can deepen his character, but it is also bound to annoy. Much of Harry's charm has always been his easy-going attitude. The lessening of that aspect will no doubt bother some, as it bothered me, because Harry was slightly less sympathetic, and maybe a bit asympathetic. The smoothness of the previous books has also diminished somewhat; you can almost hear Rowling's labored breathing as struggled trying to add suspense to the scene when the big lummox gets whacked. The dialogue is often very stilted, and this was alarming to me. You'll notice it too, particuarly when Hermione is speaking. I hope Rowling didn't think she was writing a film script. Maybe the biggest problem is the lack of focus. The story goes off on several tangents, as usual, but unlike in the past, the "side-quests" as it were, are not integral to the story. This accounts for the bloated page-count. There was a lot of extraneous stuff going on. Maybe the most interesting thing is the new role of the house elves and how they will affect the fight with ole Voldie. Overall, OotP just isn't smooth. The thing about the series is that the writing has been so clean, so unfettered, that the reader became entire immersed. Now, too must of the story is throwaway tripe, stuff that should have been edited out or saved for the next book; God knows Rowling will need some ideas. There is some new stuff, but none of it is terribly interesting, barely enough to justify forcing 900-odd pages on readers. The only reason you should read this is if you've read the others books or plan to. In fact, if you even plan to read the others, don't even pick up this book. Don't even read the jacket. You'll be turned off from the series. This is easily the weakest book, style and content-wise. That shouldn't be surprising. Rowling did show signs of weakness when she repeatedly delayed the release date. The desperation shows in this book all too clearly. I only hope she can recover.
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