Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

[MBNorris]

New Potter Book Coming Out June 21
29 minutes ago Add Entertainment - AP to My Yahoo!


After months of feverish anticipation, author J.K. Rowling (news - web sites) has completed the fifth book about young wizard Harry Potter (news - web sites), and it will be published in the United States, Canada, Britain and several other countries on June 21, her publishers said Wednesday.


At 768 pages, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" is more than one-third longer than its predecessor, "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," Britain's Bloomsbury Publishers said.


"We are thrilled to announce the publication date," chief executive Nigel Newton said in a joint statement with Barbara Marcus, president of Scholastic Children's Books, Rowling's U.S. publisher.


'"Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" is absolutely superb and will delight all J.K. Rowling's fans. She has written a brilliant and utterly compelling new adventure," Newton said.


When the book failed to make it into print last year, as expected, there was speculation that Rowling — now one of Britain's richest women — was suffering from writer's block. She denied it, but the book has had a far longer gestation period than its predecessors, published every year from 1997.


Fans will have to wait, because no details of the latest story have been revealed. But the publishers did let slip that the book begins, "The hottest day of the summer so far was drawing to a close and a drowsy silence lay over the large, square houses of Privet Drive. ...The only person left outside was a teenage boy who was lying flat on his back in a flowerbed outside number four."


"Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" is more than 255,000 words compared to more than 191,000 words in "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire." Released in July 2000, that sold more copies on the first weekend after publication than any other book, according to Bloomsbury Publishers.


Rowling's four published titles have sold an estimated 192 million copies worldwide in hard and soft cover, and the books have been published in at least 55 languages and distributed in more than 200 countries.

[Film Hobbit]

Harry Potter books are generally pretty short right?

[MBNorris]

God no, hobbit. Goblet of Fire is near 600...the others are in the 300-500 range.

[Film Hobbit]

Medium sized then. I thought someone told me they were a quick read. *shrug*

[MBNorris]

well...you get really into them quick..I read several of them in just one day. Not Goblet though.

[Tink70]

The books are easy reads, but they are not short. Rowling doesn't weigh the book down with excessive setting description or exposition (Thomas Hardyitis). The most detailed descriptive passage I've seen in any of the Harry Potter books was the Quidditch World Cup description in Goblet of Fire.

I read of each of the first three books in one night. It took me two nights to read Goblet of Fire (which was almost twice as long as the preceding books).

[TheReelCritic]

I like the Potter books. They're okay. And it's impossible to point out the flaws to a fan, which can be frusturating. How does one facillitate conversation when most everybody who reads them is so f**king diehard?

[Film Hobbit]

You can always talk to those of us who do not read them, hehe. <img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/smile.gif ALT=":)">

[MBNorris]

Reel, it is kinda like if I told you I think Buffy the Vampire Slayer sucks major ass (um...for real). You wouldn't want to hear it either. SO...with that being said..why would you want to argue with them? It is a children's series that you can enjoy if you are adults.

[Film Hobbit]

For the record, if anyone wants to slam Harry Potter or talk about how Buffy sucks major ass, my e-mail address is available.

For complaints about LOTR, see someone else! :p heh.

[MBNorris]

lol I just ignore the Buffy threads in Boob Tube..because I shouldn't go in there ragging it if I don't like it. No point.

[drdoom2099]

Goblet of Fire was 750 almost. Boox five and six will be like a Bible.

[masterthes]

And these books are aimed at children right? Tell me honestly, do you think a child has the patience to read an 800 paged book? I don't think so.

[MBNorris]

Hey Masterhes... I am a teacher and they do read them. Maybe you didn't have the patience but the middle school kids do. <img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/smile.gif ALT=":)">

[masterthes]

Oh, I did have the patience, believe you me. I was just suggesting maybe some kids might be turned off by the length of the book is all.

[Film Hobbit]

Hey, I think it is awesome that these are getting kids to read. If she can get them to read long books, go for it. Apparently it is working. For that, I totally LOVE Harry Potter.

[drdoom2099]

Harry Potter has a lot of long things, that bastard.

[TheReelCritic]

I'm not looking to rag on Harry Potter. "To rag" (as I understand it) is to tear something apart without a full understanding of it. I think it says something that I've read 3 of the 4 available Potter books.

They're very entertaining, engaging books - and I'd like to discuss with my family and friends their relative pros & cons (even I can admit to many of Buffy's faults...nothing perfect is interesting - ask me about my favorite movie theory sometime). Get into Rowling's head. Obviously she has some interesting things to say about adolescence as an institution, but she has a few literary hang-ups that I believe prevent her from fully attaining her goal.

Of course, I can't put forth any of my ideas without getting shot down, with the standard "They're just kids books" or "It's entertainment, Nate. Can't you just leave it as entertainment." Alas, I cannot. I was cursed with a need to break things apart and analyze them. Hence, being a critic.

I totally understand the appeal of Potter, and I'm actually eager to find out what happens in Order of the Phoenix. I'm just frusturated that for a book series that is lauded for creating a resurgence in reading, the doors to intellectual discussion are barred.

[crappertay]

**Meekly raises hand**

I've only just started <em>Prisoner Of Azkaban</em>. While not a die-hard fan, so far the books have proved easy to get into, easy to read (good for kids and dumb adults like myself) and more entertaining than their big screen counterparts.

So what if it flawed from a literary point of view, they're not;

a) The Bible
b) Lord Of The Rings
c) Deep meaningful books by authors I cannot name as I do not read deep and meaningful books.

Having an intellectual discussion about Harry Potter is like picking apart the paradoxes in <em>Back To The Future</em> - all your doing is tearing apart what is otherwise great entertainment for the sake of tearing it apart and therefore loosing the essense of what makes them good/entertaining. Not everything has to be intellectualised for the sake of it.
I for one am looking forward to book 5 and I would never have said that a year ago.

And like Hobbit said, if it's encouraging kids to read books, especially long books, in this DVD-boom/education-by-television era, then all the better ...

[legna]

When I was in school (wait I still am in school) I got almost straight A's in English. I can write.
What really prevented me from getting straight A's is that I had a really hard time pulling a book apart and analyzing it. I could give a shit weather the author meant this or that by what he wrote. Read the damn thing for the enjoyment value.
That said I do like to critique the books I read (ie review) and say weather they were good or bad and why- but don't ask me to analize the book.

[TheReelCritic]

But my point is that I cannot do that. I simply cannot. It's against my nature - especially when something is as popular as Harry Potter, I think it bears a certain amount of critical discussion that people are not willing to have.

[Film Hobbit]

There's something to be said though for not destroying something good for the sake of inellectualization Nate.

On the other hand, it's fun to talk in depth about things you like in a frank manner.

P.S. - You just DEFINED what it means "to rag" on something. You are officially the board's biggest dork. I have been supplanted. Thank you. ;) ha!

[legna]

Oh I never said no to discusssing a book. However, I am not one to sit there and say well when the author wrote this she meant that by it.
For example, when Tolkien wrote that Sam and Frodo are close, he means they are gay. I mean really- we are not the author- how the hell do we know???

[Film Hobbit]

Yes, I hate that sort of thing too. I think Nate just means talking about her writing techinically, for example when people talk about how Tolkie over-describes things to the point of minutiae.

Which by the way I think is an interesting discussion. <img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/smile.gif ALT=":)">

[I Am MikeyP]

I've just re-read LOTR (from the Hobit right through including the apendix).

I have to tell you that Goblet of fire is in many ways better - I find more visual (I can 'see' whats happening more clearly) , I think the charactors are better developed, the plot is less fragmented, it provides better entertainment, its definately more moving near the end, and its more accessable to those who are not into reading.

I know Tolkin wasn't trying to relate his charictors or plots to modern issues - and in many ways J.K.R. is. I think this alone make Potter a better read.

<putting on flame proof clothing & ducking undr table>

[MattUGA]

you have big ones my friend.. lol

I see what you are saying though. LOTR was hard for me to get into the first time. It took me multiple readings to fully enjoy it. You can look at that as a plus and a minus I would garner.

Matt

[TheReelCritic]

Mind you, Tolkien's work is also 50 YEARS OLD. But hey.

[Film Hobbit]

Not sure what age has to do with it, except that some modern people are incapable of reading anything that wasn't written yesterday.

But if it is really so much better, then it is particularly sad that the movies have not been better than they are :p ha!

[crappertay]

I have faith in Prisoner of Azkaban...

Just started reading Goblet of Fire today, it's gonna be a doozy...

[MattUGA]

LOTR and HP, while both in the Fantasy realm..are written with terribly different styles. Yet both are excellent. I think that LOTR has more of an adult style while HP is easy reading for an adult..and pretty advanced for a kid.

Apples and Oranges..

[I Am MikeyP]

Actually, I agree with you about the translation to film - Potter is not as good but LOTR works really well. I actually found the films helped me to read the books. The film picks out key events and central themes & charactors from the book, which means that when you read the book you can follow the whole plot more easily and spend time enjoying the language and detail.

Potter reads like a film already - but its just too long for a film - cutting anything out doesn't work, so the films are doomed to being a let down.

Note - several attempts at making a LOTR film have been made in the past and no one would dispute that they are far short of the Potter films. The LOTR films are the work of a dedicated genius. I am sure that in 50 years someone who has grown up dreaming of making Harry Potter into a film could kick the arses off the ones that are out now.

[Fahad Al Qurashi]

I think the issue here is one of imagination. JRRT described things so well that it was hard for me to imagine it in a living scene. The movies helped this alot. JKR leaves all those little things on the edges left up to you and your imagination. THis makes it play far better in your head than it could ever be in a movie.

Fahad

[Marty Rotten]

I remember hearing that Lord of the Rings was supposedly an analogy to Hitler and World War 2. Tolkien had always denied this. <img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/smile.gif ALT=":)">

Harry Potter is just good story telling and nothing more. If kids get into it they won't mind the length at all. I went through GOBLET OF FIRE pretty quickly (yeah I know I'm, physically, not a kid) and I didn't feel it was long ENOUGH! That's the sign of good writing.

SO have they started taking advance orders for ORDER OF THE PHOENIX yet?