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HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX By J.K. Rowling
My father once said to me that people are compensated in this life in direct correlation to the amount of life they give the world. I believe he made that observation after I had complained about how much money Michael Jackson had earned from the Thriller album. Well – if my father was right – then J.K. Rowling earned her $50 million compensation from the 5th installment in the Harry Potter series.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is remarkable on so many levels. The fact that the author creates such allegiance and love in her audience for Harry and Ron and Hermione is remarkable. The fact that millions of people from age 6 to 66 are reading this book all over the world is remarkable. The language J.K. Rowling uses to describe everything from the rooms inside the Ministry of Magic to the signs directing traffic in the wizard hospital hidden behind an abandoned department store is remarkable. The dialogue, the description, the plot, the tenderness of the ending – all remarkable.
OK – I know you’ll think I’m dumb – but I cried at the end of Harry Potter. I won’t say a word about who dies or does not die or about whether Harry ends up back at the despicable Dursley's at the end of Book Five, but I will tell you you’ll feel good – better than good –when it’s over. And after working for nearly 900 pages you deserve to feel good, don’t you think?
Please read, enjoy, roll around in the magic of Harry Potter. If you’ve not read him before, begin with Book One and move through each adventure savoring the moment – because when you finish Book Five you will realize, as I just have, that you will not meet these beloved characters again for two years or more. It’s a delight to be on the Book Beat this week – to read the best-selling e-commerce book (or item or any kind) in a single day in the history of the Internet. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I’m Amanda Dickson wishing you lots of chocolate frogs and a good summer away from Hogwarts.
