By JK Rowling
Read by Stephen Fry
Reviewed by Gabby
Harry Potter & The Order of the Phoenix (Book 5)
Get the Stephen Fry Audible version here
Order of the Phoenix Overview:
“‘You are sharing the Dark Lord’s thoughts and emotions. The Headmaster thinks it inadvisable for this to continue. He wishes me to teach you how to close your mind to the Dark Lord.'”
Dark times have come to Hogwarts. After the Dementors’ attack on his cousin Dudley, Harry Potter knows that Voldemort will stop at nothing to find him. There are many who deny the Dark Lord’s return, but Harry is not alone: a secret order gathers at Grimmauld Place to fight against the Dark forces. Harry must allow Professor Snape to teach him how to protect himself from Voldemort’s savage assaults on his mind. But they are growing stronger by the day and Harry is running out of time….
Order of the Phoenix Audiobook Review:
STORY
The Good:
The story of Harry and his misadventures reaches new levels of complexity and darkness in this book. The novel introduces the Order of the Phoenix, a group committed to fighting against Voldemort and all he stands for. We also get to meet a whole load of new and loveable characters. Standouts for me would have to be Dolores Umbridge, Nymphadora Tonks and the mischievous Mundungus Fletcher. Not only do we get to meet new characters, but we get to spend a little more time outside of Harry’s usual haunts (Hogwarts, the Dursleys, Ron’s) which is nice because we get more than a glimpse into the magical world. St Mungo’s hospital for magical maladies and injuries is innovative and original, it is also where one of the many very humorous scenes between Arthur and Molly Weasley takes place. Grimauld Place, the home of Sirius and headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix gives us an understanding of wizarding homes- particularly those of dark wizards. With a filthy, old, grumpy House Elf, a vile painting of Mrs Black which- when opened, will scream insults at anyone in the near vicinity. Without a doubt, the Order of the Phoenix has some of the most exciting, humorous, uplifting and heart wrenching scenes of the series. One of my all time favourite parts has to be when Dumbledores Army decides to wreak havoc with the High Inquisitor (with even some of the teachers joining in with the fun) and Fred and George’s spectacular desertion. I still smile thinking about it! This audiobook really is a gem of a story and brilliantly told.
The Bad:
One thing that stands out for me with this audiobook, is that we become quite alienated from Hogwarts. This is a great change from the previous books, where Hogwarts is associated with care and comfort and love. In the Order of the Phoenix, Hogwarts mostly seems to turn on Harry. He can’t really catch a break and as a result, he’s the moodiest 15 year old boy I’ve ever listened to. His beloved Defence against the Dark Arts has been reduced to study of ‘theories’, Dumbledore is being unusually distant and Hagrid is missing for most of the book! The only real consistency is Snape’s cruelty to Harry (although in a fabulous plot twist we find out why). Even though this book is a lot more serious than the others, it is still a fantastically crafted novel. I would even go so far as to say that the alienation from Hogwarts was a bad thing- it was part of the story. I think it just lowered the tone a bit.
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CHARACTERS
The Good
UMBRIDGE. Umbridge, Umbridge, Dolores f***ing Umbridge. The character everyone loves to hate. She’s arguably the best character written by Rowling, with her simpering and her sickly sweet cruelty. Umbridge is interesting because she is a clear demonstration that you don’t have to be a dark wizard to be incredibly evil. Umbridge might not even have been in Slytherin! She’s just rotten to the core and loves to abuse any kind of power she’s given. In fact, I tend to think of her as a bit of a psychopath. She doesn’t seem to feel any real empathy, she becomes obsessive over Harry and Dumbledore to the point that she starts to intercept Harry’s letters and she clearly enjoys watching Harry cut himself. I don’t know what the situation with mental illness is in the wizarding world, mental illness that is not magically induced anyway, but it does raise a few questions. Are there magical therapists? Potions for depression? Someone should ask JK Rowling. It always seemed like a bit of a hole in Harry’s story that after all he’s gone through, he doesn’t at least have to talk to a therapist at least once a week!
I also really loved Mundungus Fletcher. He was sort of a black market wizard. Not evil, but just a bit dodgy. He always reeked of butter beer so perhaps he was an alcoholic? As an old member of the Order of the Phoenix, this makes sense to me. He was there when so many of the Order were killed by Voldemorts forces. He probably used to drink himself into oblivion back in the day. I always imagined him as a ‘homeless wizard’ just from the way he was described. I liked that Mundungus was different, not so much his character though. It was just interesting to see a sort of very low class wizard.
The Bad:
Harry gets angry in this book. VERY ANGRY. It was good to see him letting his emotions out, but his little temper tantrum in Dumbledore’s office is a combination of hilarious, cringe-worthy and incredibly sad. Harry is clearly going through a very tough time, not only is his scar hurting all the time but he has a huge crush on Cho Chang, Dumbledore is snubbing him and Umbridge is forcing him to cut words into his skin. Not a good year for Harry. Nevertheless, his moodiness and his bad temper was irritating. Everything must always go Harry’s way and if it doesn’t he’ll have a tantrum. Like I mentioned before, I think Harry would have benefitted greatly from a session with a magical therapist.
NARRATOR
The Good:
There are two versions of the Order of the Phoenix one is narrated by Stephen Fry, the other Jim Dale. Below is our outline, and a video for comparison.
Stephen Fry does a fabulous voice for Dolores Umbridge. He nails her stupid little cough and girlish little voice. You get the impression from her voice that everything she says is sickly sweet poison. When she starts to lose it a bit towards the novel Fry still manages to maintain that girlish voice, but with a good does of hysteria added in. Another standout is Phineus Nigellus, one of the old headmasters paintings. He has this smooth, drawling voice that simply drips with sarcasm and is a brilliant ending to Dumbledore’s arrest scene. That scene is a great example of why Fry is so good at Harry Potter. He’s got Cornelius Fudge’s voice down packed, he manages to make Cornelius fail at sounding authoritative when ordering Dumbledore around. He injects a good dose of nervousness into the voice and it fits well with the fidgety character. The scene is pretty exciting because Dumbledore is defying the ministry and takes on all of the wizards who have come to take him on. Fry creates a great sense of tension in this scene which is perfect.
Jim Dale i’ve never listened to the Jim Dale version of the Order of the Phoenix, but many people really love his work. I’ve discussed his strengths and weaknesses a bit more in the Deathly Hallows review and the Half Blood Prince. I don’t have much more to say about him because I haven’t been able to form my own opinion. The other reviews are linked below.
Check out a side by side comparison here! (**SPOILERS**)
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More Harry Potter Reviews
- Harry Potter and Philosopher’s Stone
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
I hope you enjoyed our ‘Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix’ Audiobook Review, come back soon!
Abdellah
that…personally i think it cut short a lot of content.. ya.. can’t help. the book was so thick and the movie was just 2 hours plus. got ppl slept in the cienma and snored somemore. walao. i think ppl who didn’t read the book will find this movie boring…