Title: Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix
Series: Harry Potter, book 5
Author: J K Rowling
Publisher: Listening Library
Narrator: Jim Dale
Duration: 26 hours, 10 minutes
Copyright: 2003
Genres: fantasy, adventure, mystery,
Filed in Audiobook reviews
Review copy provided by Carrollton Public Library.
THE GIST: Albus Dumbledore and the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, have had a parting of the ways. Dumbledore has dedicated himself to fighting Voldemort, and Fudge simply refuses to believe that the dark lord has really regained his former power. After all, no one witnessed Voldemort’s return, except that attention-seeking, show-off Harry Potter. So instead of banding together against Voldemort and the death-eaters, the wizarding world must now choose sides; those who believe Dumbledore and Potter, and those who don’t.
If that’s not bad enough, Harry is having weird dreams. Dreams of dark corridors and locked doors. Eventually, Harry realizes that he is catching glimpses into Voldemort’s mind, and the corridors are at the Ministry of Magic, the Department of Mysteries to be exact, where there lies a secret weapon that Voldemort would desperately like to get his reptilian hands on. Naturally, Harry decides that the best way to stop Voldemort, is to get to the weapon first, and naturally, his friends all volunteer to help him. What Harry doesn’t know, is that Voldemort is leading him right into a trap, and when he, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom, Ginny Weasley, and Luna Lovegood arrive at the Ministry, the death-eaters are waiting for them.
What follows, is a terrific battle between Harry’s group, the death-eaters, and members of the Order of thePhoenix, who arrive just in time to balance the odds. The good guys win this time, but In the process, Harry will lose someone he cares for a great deal.
MY THOUGHTS: In “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix”, things really begin to heat up, and things are bound to get worse before they get better. As Voldemort gets stronger and more powerful, Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix will have to work harder to keep him in check. And Harry and his friends have come along way from levitating spells, and turning matchsticks into needles. Also, the death toll is beginning to add up. Does anyone remember when these books were for kids?
FAVORITE ROWLING CREATION: The room of requirement. Wouldn’t you just love to have one of these in your house. Walk past the door thre times, thinking hard about what kind of room you want, and when you open the door you’ll have it. Need a bathroom? It will be a bathroom! Need a hide-out for your secret Defense Against the Dark Arts club to meet in? The room of requirement will provide everything you need: cushions to fall on when you get stunned, rows of spell books, and tables full of dark detectors. No one really knows how this room came to be in Hogwarts Castle, even Dumbledore finds it a mystery.
NARRATOR: Did you know that Jim Dale is over 70 years old? Yeah, he was born in 1935. For “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix”, Dale did 134 different voices, earning him a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records. Not bad for a septuagenarian! I wonder what he does for an encore.
FAVORITE JIM DALE VOICE: As much as I hate Dolores Umbrage, I love Jim Dale's voice for her. Rowling describes her voice as simpering and girlish, and that’s exactly how Dale delivers it, right down to the ridiculous little cough she utters when she wants to interrupt someone. I would love to watch Dale perform one of these audio books, I’ll bet he looks funny doing the voices.
FAVORITE SCENE: Wow, I love the battle at the Ministry of Magic between Harry and his friends, and the death-eaters. And then the Order of the Phoenix join in. Spells flying everywhere! And, of course, Rowling caps it off with that amazing duel between Dumbledore and Voldemort. I’ve been waiting for these two to go head-to-head since the very beginning, and I wasn’t disappointed. Actually, this is one of the few scenes from the movie that I enjoyed as well. The visual effects of this clash of titans were very well done.
MOST SHOCKING REVELATION: The curse that failed to kill Harry fifteen years ago, actually forged a link between his mind and Voldemorte’s. That means Harry can get glimpses of Voldemorte’s thoughts, but it works the other way too. Which one will be able to take advantage of this unique side-effect of the killing curse?
FAVORITE CHARACTER: Luna "Looney" Lovegood. This girl does not give blondes a good name. Luna wears a necklace made of butter beer corks, and earrings that look like large, orange radishes. Also, she’s always on the lookout for blibbering humdingers and crumple-horned snorcaks, whatever those are. But I love Luna’s honesty and candor; she’s not afraid to say what's on her mind. And she knows what friendship means. She only just met Harry, Ron, and Hermione this year, but already she’s willing to go to the Ministry with them to fight the death-eaters. That’s more than enough to earn Luna Lovegood my favorite character award for “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.”
FAVORITE QUOTE: Professor Grubblyplank, teaching her Care of Magical Creatures class about bowtruckles: “They may not look dangerous, but if angered they may gouge out human eyes with their fingers which, as you can see, are very sharp, and not at all desireable near the eyeballs.”
FINAL WORD: J K Rowling really knows how to turn up the tension! She also knows how to tug at the old heart strings. Harry’s devastating loss in the battle at the Ministry, followed by two beautifully written scenes with Nearly-headless Nick, and Luna Lovegood, bring “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” to a heart breaking conclusion, and leave the reader desperate to see what happens next.
FILM ADAPTATION: Like I mentioned earlier, “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” has that awesome duel between Dumbledore and Voldemorte. Of the Harry Potter movies, this one is the highest grossing; number nine on the all-time list.
CHECK OUT THESE OTHER AUDIOBOOK REVIEWS::
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J K Rowling (Audiobook Review)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J K Rowling (Audiobook Review)
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J K Rowling (Audiobook Review)
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J K Rowling (Audiobook Review)
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J K Rowling (Audiobook Review)
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J K Rowling (Audiobook Review)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J K Rowling (Audiobook review)
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Get “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” by J K Rowling (Unabridged Audiobook) from Amazon.com.
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This audiobook review is based on the unabridged audiobook.
Audiobook review by Steven Brandt
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I just finished this one too. For the first time reading it, I didn't cry during the death. I guess since it's like the 5th time I've read it, maybe my emotions have leveled out haha!
ReplyDeleteThe other day I was at the grocery store and B was doing that self check out and I thought, wow, the voice on this thing sounds like Umbridge.
I had no idea that Jim Dale is in his seventies. Wow. He is just so talented. I love Luna. When you're done reviewing all the books, I'll have to tell you what a Borders clert told me about his opinion of Luna ;)
One of my favorite creations in this book is the thestrals. Those took some incredible imagination. And what about Grawp? There is just so much in this book!
Yes, there are so many fascinating characters and ideas in these books that it's hard to pick and choose which ones I want to mention. I wish I could put them all in! Grawp was too funny, "Hermeee, where Hagarrr?"
ReplyDeleteHehe yeah I love Grawp. Where Hagger? Where Hagger? Dale did a great job with Grawp, but that's no surprise.
ReplyDeleteI think Luna Lovegood grew up to be a...nevermind. Just the name alone elicits the imagery. ;-)
ReplyDeleteHaving read the series - more than once! - and enjoyed it, I find your reviews very good!
ReplyDeleteWhat impressed me about the Harry Potter series, as well as the Lord of the Rings series, was the way the authors had their characters do something that is extremely dangerous, as well as unpopular.
In both series, and in other novels, too, Evil was seen, recognized, named. And the majority of the populace refused to believe. The characters, undaunted, continued to dig into the activities and aims of the Evil, and continued to be vilified for their efforts. But they refused to be cowed by the timid and fearful, the willfully blind.
Tolkein may have been referrring to the Nazis/Communists as a basis for his world-spanning Evil; Rowling, who can say, but does this not look a lot like the Islamists? Death Eaters=Death Cult? Anyway, that's how I see it. Both authors warn of complacency and the danger of ignoring Evil.
Each time I re-read any of these works the same gestalt rises in me. They are warning of Evil, and we are shrugging the warnings off, unwilling to see the reality, preferring to dream blithely on, rolling over and trying to go back to sleep.
Those are some interesting points Benning, I never really looked at it that way. And I thought the books were just fun! ;)
ReplyDelete