Pottering at National

I wrote this review more than 6 months ago. Might as well post it here:

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22 June 2003
Sunday

POTTERING AT NATIONAL


I was at National Bookstore at 10 minutes before 7 o'clock yesterday morning just to get my copy of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I questioned my sanity for being there that early (National opened some of their shops at 7 am just to release
the new book) when I'm not even a Harry Potter fanatic. Sure I liked the books but not to the point of trying to get the first copy AND finish it in one sitting (or lying)—which I did. I started on the book at 1130 pm and put it down at 5 am.

I like the book. I like the story. The story is a bit mature in content too. Honestly though, I don't know how I feel about Harry Potter the character right now. All the previous books started off light and there were lots of things to look forward to throughout the book. In this installment, Harry started off as being angry and stayed angry throughout the whole story. I thought it was Voldemort
giving him a serum which "changed" his personality but I realized soon enough that Harry is growing up. If you were 15 and you grew up in a household such as the Dursley's where they treat you like dirt, and then you find out that you're a wizard and that your parents did not die in an accident but was actually murdered and then you find out that their murderer is still alive and tried to kill you, and then you encounter your would-be murderer and tried to finish off the deed but ended up killing other people you know. These things will definitely change you. It's as if the past 14 years of his life finally caught up with him and he's only dealing with the trauma now.

Throughout the book, I could feel the frustration, hurt, anger and sadness that Harry was going through (and it's not just the ALL CAPS FONT). The whole book also felt different. It's not wholesome. Not wholesome at all.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is 870 pages long. Longer than the Goblet of Fire by oh maybe 50 pages or so. The first 200 pages is devoted to the summer holidays and introduced Harry's negative emotions. The book also introduced LOTS of new characters. I had a difficult time trying to remember them and the characters from previous installments.

There are also a LOT of answered questions in this book. Some of them are quite obvious but some are also surprising. Expect more action sequences from unsuspecting characters. Oh and Harry's first censored kiss. That is so teenger-ish.

The reason why I could not put the book down even if I almost hated Harry was I wanted to get some answers. Maybe that's where Rowling succeeded. For the past four books, she kept us on tenterhooks on why somebody was and is trying to kill Harry. On why he has his scar. On why he defeated Voldemort etc. etc. I could taste
Harry's frustration of being kept in the dark and his curiousity eating him up inside. I know I could always read the last chapter but she has this way of revealing small things somewhere in the book.

Overall, it's a definitely good book. I'm not very happy about it because the book has affected me more than I thought it would. I know it's just fantasy but Rowling managed to portray Harry in such a way that made him more alive and real than before. It made his character more believable. It made him human.