Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix(J.K.Rowling/Bloomsbury Publishing PLC)
ハリーポッターシリーズの5巻目。
描写がとにかく細かいし、本編と絡めて、様々なサブストーリーが織り交ぜられている。過剰なまでに周辺の情報を詰め込んでいる感じで、この濃さこそが、この小説の味であるということが、ようやくわかってきた。
突然ハリーの性格がかなりひねくれていて、今までと同一人物か？と思ってしまうぐらいの違いだった。でも、考えてみれば、これまでずっと、少年にとっては耐えられないほどの試練の連続だったわけで、それが精神的に暗い影を落とさないというほうが不自然であるかもしれない。
その葛藤が、ほぼ全編にわたって様々な形であらわれるあたり、かなり重い。この試練は、一人の少年が背負うにはあまりにも過酷だと思う。でも、そのことで、主人公であるハリーにはより一層のシンパシーを感じるようになった。
シリーズの最初のほうの巻は、エンターテイメント色がかなり強かったけれど、この巻ではそういう色はまったく姿を消して、シリアスムード一辺倒に傾いている。
ファンタジーというものについての先入観を持って読んでいるためか、ことごとくその予想を裏切られる展開が続いて、「ここまでやるか！」と思わせるところが多々ある。
とりわけ強烈だと思ったのは、単純な善対悪の構図から外れて、味方と思われているキャラクターについての欠点や弱さについても、躊躇なく表現しているところだ。しかも、その描写が、主人公に対して最も辛辣というところもスゴし、絶対的な存在と思われていたダンブルドアについてすら例外ではない。この点は、単なる勧善懲悪の物語にはない、複雑な奥行きを与えていると思う。
全766ページというボリュームにも圧倒されたけど、内容的にもかなりの密度だった。
【名言】
For a split second, Harry considered telling Ron that he wouldn’t tell him a single word, that he could try a taste of being kept in the dark and see how he liked it. But the nasty impulse vanished as they looked each other.(p.86)
He could not lie to himself; if he had known the prefect badge was on its way, he would have expected it to come to him, not Ron. Did this make him as arrogant as Draco Malfoy? Did he think himself superior to everyone else? Did he really believe he was better than Ron?(p.151)
They’ll know we’re right in the end, thought Harry miserably, as Ron got into bed and extinguished the last candle in the dormitory. But he wondered how many more attacks like Seamus’s he would have to endure before that time came.(p.199)
‘Well,’ said Harmione, smiling slightly, ‘she just couldn’t keep her eyes off you, could she?’
Harry had never before appreciated just how beautiful the village of Hogsmeade was.(p.311)
Harry didn’t answer. He was in a state of shock. Half of him wanted to tell Ron and Hermione what had just happened, but the other half wanted to take the secret with him to the grave.(p.404)
‘The Ministory has the right to appoint a suitable candidate if – and only if – the Headmaster is unable to find one,’ said Dumbledore.
‘And I am happy to say that on this occasion I have succeeded. May I introduce you?'(p.526)
For nearly five years the thought of his father had been a source of comfort, of inspiration. Whenever someone had told him he was like James, he had glowed with pride inside. And now… now he felt cold and miserable at the thought of him.(p.576)
‘James and Snape hated each other from the moment they set eyes on each other, it was just one of those things, you can understand that, can’t you? I think James was everything Snape wanted to be – he was popular, he was good at Quidditch – good at pretty much everything. And Snape was just this little oddball who was up to his eyes in the Dark Arts.'(p.590)
Harry turned to look where Neville was staring. Directly above them, framed in the doorway from the Brain Room, stood Albus Dumbledore, his wand aloft, his face white and furious. Harry felt a kind of electric charge surge through every particle of his body – they were saved.(p.710)
‘What don’t I know?’ asked Dumbledore calmly.
It was too much. Harry turned around, shaking with rage.
‘I don’t want to talk about how I feel, all right?’
‘Harry, suffering like this proves you are still a man! This pain is part of being human-‘
‘THEN – I – DON’T – WANT – TO – BE – HUMAN!’ Harry roared, and he seized the delicate silver instrument from the spindle-legged table beside him and flung it across the room.(p.726)
‘YOU DON’T KNOW HOW I FEEL!’ Harry roared. ‘YOU – STANDING THERE – YOU -‘
But words were no longer enough, smashing things was no more help; he wanted to run, he wanted to keep running and never look back, he wanted to be somewhere he could not see the clear blue eyes staring at him, that hatefully calm old face.(p.727)
ソーシャルブックシェルフ「リーブル」の読書日記
