The Order Of The Phoenix

[poliphilo]

When has there ever been a best-selling children's fantasy quite so long or quite so grim?

Harry Potter's schooldays are turning into a via crucis. 

Rowling's universe expands. The Ministry of Magic and Grimmauld House are wonderful. The Ministry makes me think of the Circumlocution Office in little Dorrit. Grimmauld House (inspired name) makes me think of Arthur Clennam's house- also in little Dorrit.

 In fact all the way through I was thinking of Little Dorrit. (Little Dorrit is my favourite novel). Mature Rowling is a lot like mature Dickens- lots of jokes but an unremittingly sombre vision of life.

Dolores Umbridge is so New Labour.

This is a very ambitious book. As inventive as ever, but with a deepening moral complexity.  

Will the movie be able to deal with the moral complexity? I doubt it.

Invention+moral complexity=literary greatness: discuss.

Oh, it's not perfect. Nothing so big could possibly be perfect. I didn't care as much about Sirius as I think I was supposed to. But I do care about Harry's anger. Harry's anger is wonderful. Rowling remembers what it  feels like to be 15.

And Luna Lovegood. Now there's a truly Dickensian creation. 

Comments

[four-thorns.livejournal.com]

dolores umbridge reminds me of a teacher i had in college, or any number of the media-types i worked with. i suppose we've all known people like this. what i like about OotP is that the nature of evil is changing; up until now, things have been fairly straightforward. hogwarts and its authorities are good; voldemort and his supporters are bad. they may hide, sure, but eventually they reveal themselves, and there's a face on the back of the head, or a snake, or something tangible. but now, evil is becoming less about the characters and more about attitudes-- fudge and umbridge aren't voldemort supporters, but their willful ignorance is evil. the perils of indifference, and all that. things are becoming less black and white, and more like the real world. we are shifting from a child's perspective of good and evil to an adult's.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Dolores is a second-rater who makes up for her inadequacy by exercising ever more and more control. She's typical of people who've been promoted beyond their capability. She's not fundamentally evil- or at least, not consciously evil; she sincerely believes she's doing the right thing.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Dolores is a second rater. She's typical of people who have been promoted beyond their capability. She defers to authority and is incapable of thinking for herself. She's not fundamentally evil- at least not consciously evil; she sincerely believes that she's acting for the best.