OOP (No real spoiler, random thoughts on style, etc.) A Review

[marephraim]

No: HPFGUIDX 61986

Having received my copies and read the first twelve chapters on 
Saturday I feel an off the cuff review is already in order. I 
confess that I have been startled by "Order of the Phoenix." We've 
all spent so much time speculating, and reading fan fiction, that to 
actually read OoP is almost a surreal experience. It is at once 
exactly what we've been expecting ("She'll surprise us!") and so 
totally exceptional that the monumental achievement JKR has produced 
has, I think, for many yet to sink in. 

Several things have become obvious. 

Firstly, yes 'darker' is definitely the adjective to apply to this 
book. Also, I had joked that the length of the book would probably 
be due to JKR's penchant for summarizing the previous books along 
the way in introducing a new story. Not so this time. She has us 
jump straight in and start swimming. 

I've read comments that some are concerned that the innocent tone of 
the previous four books is missing. This is true. However, we should 
all take a moment to realise what we are experiencing here. JKR has 
brought us to the kind of moment that happens once in a genre. 
People who had read the Hobbit could not have expected the Lord of 
the Rings. Similarly, Beatlemaniacs who thought "Revolver" was okay, 
if a bit weird (I remember some people saying "Yellow Submarine" was 
the best track on the LP) were unprepared for the release of "Sgt 
Peppper's Lonely Heart Club Band." In both cases, with the artist
(s)'s release the world was changed, the standards inexorably 
altered, the expectations overwealmed with a work of art that was at 
once familiar and yet so unlike anything previous to it that 
comparisons became moot.

The release of 'Order of the Phoenix' has brought us all to such an 
epochal moment. We have moved so solidly beyond the simple 
expectations of traditional children's literature that the world can 
never go back. The story is tense, complex, and driving. The 
emotional intensity is palpable. And yes, there /is/ humour. In not 
a single chapter so far -- I'm taking my time enjoying this one! -- 
in not a single chapter is there not comments and statements that 
bring out a smile. From the exchanges with the Dursleys, to comments 
from one of the newer characters in the second and third chapter, to 
general descriptions along the way, there is much wit in the text 
and the clear sign of a master artist at work.

My friends, we are part of and witnesses to an historical moment in 
the world of the written page. JKR has proven herself to be the 
genius we've all said she is. Order of the Phoenix, along with the 
subsequent final two volumes to come, has revealed a powerful and 
talented story teller at work on immortal themes, writing about 
young people with a precision of understanding of the developmental 
levels of the characters involved that rings true to the young 
readers who are the ostensive audience, and who raises the benchmark 
of quality and respect for those readers and all others who read her 
work. If some find themselves temporarily flummoxed at the 
quantitative leap in quality and style, they need only give it a bit 
of time -- the complexity and texture of Oop will prove itself once 
they have removed their lesser expectations. 

Let us celebrate this glorious day! JK Rowling has changed the world 
forever. Every child knows Harry Potter, and we are priviledged to 
share in the moment. Great art takes a moment to have the majesty of 
its achievement sink in. Take a moment, Order of the Phoenix will go 
down in history as the defining publication of the twentieth/twenty-
first century's contributions to "children's literature."

MarEphraim