It took a while but yesterday I finished Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Book 5 of the series. I honestly can't remember the last time I was so into a book that I couldn't put it down. Crucial secrets are revealed, and there's the constant question of which character is toast this time. There is a satisfying complexity in this book, an intricacy that is really amazing. I finished the book thinking that J.K. Rowling is a genius. It's a daring book in the way Rowling completely dismantles the world of Hogwarts and takes on more mature subjects. In the Order of the Phoenix, the takeover of Hogwarts is an obvious metaphor for how a government turns into a dictatorship. Another theme is mind control and the clearing of the mind, which I found spooky and fascinating.
One thing that's interesting about these books is that on the one hand, they are about an epic struggle between good and evil, and on the other, they are about some friends going through school together, dealing with mundane things like homework and tests and relationship issues. Somehow Rowling manages to have both storylines without it seeming absurd. OK, it does seem a little weird sometimes, but it's really a feat that she's able integrate the two storylines so well most of the time.
One more book to go, then I'm caught up to read Deathly Hallows.
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