Review
HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX
J.K. Rowling
Raincoast, 766 pp.
"Oh, cripes. Not again."
Don’t panic, dear reader. This is just a gentle reminder that you need to read this book.
"Why? Because J.K.’s retirement fund is running low?"
No. Because it’s real.
"Uh, yeah...."
Don’t back away like that. I haven’t seen dragons in my driveway or giants in the grocery store – unfortunately. I just think that in an era when television shows about buxom singles romping around on privately owned islands are considered "reality programming," it’s strangely fitting that the truest reflection of our lives is found in a children’s fantasy novel.
"Oh, puh-lease. Gimme a break."
Aha. See, Harry’s saying exactly the same thing. On top of having a major set of exams to write at the end of the school year, getting detention for weeks on end and regularly acting like an ass in front of the girl he likes, he’s seen people he knows die. He’s nearly been killed himself. The maniac who killed his parents is trying to take over the world – again. And the people in charge think he’s insane.
"No kidding."
So Harry becomes moody and resentful, snaps at his best friends on a regular basis, tries to hide his talents and doesn’t do his homework – just like any teenager. He’s destined to save the world (a lot) but he can’t even deal with his own tumultuous emotions. His friends, still just children themselves, can only watch his suffering.
"Bummer."
And really, the adults around him aren’t much better off – in the face of an inevitable war, they’re as frightened and confused as the kids are. They deny the truth, abandon their families and do the wrong things for all the right reasons. As Harry’s beloved headmaster Dumbledore tells him, explaining why he chose a disastrous course of action, "What did I care if numbers of nameless and faceless people and creatures were slaughtered in the vague future, if in the here and now you were alive, and well, and happy?"
"Y’know, that kinda makes sense."
Harry, Ron, Hermione, even slimy Professor Snape – they’re just like us, even if they can turn toads into turntables. They pick on each other and fight with their co-workers. They play practical jokes and long to be famous. And they try to make this crazy world livable because they love it, and because they love each other.
Muggle or wizard, child or grown-up, we’re all just plugging along as best we can, together, on this journey called life. And if that’s not something you should be reading to your kids, and to yourself, I don’t know what is.
"OK… but can I do it after Paradise Hotel?"
Sure. A little fantasy never hurt anyone.
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