Rowling, J.K.: The Tales of Beedle the Bard
The Tales of Beedle the Bard (2008)
Writer: J.K. Rowling
Genre: Children's Lit/Fantasy
Pages: 111
There's little to say in this review than to explain what this is and whether or not it's worth reading. Readers of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows might recognize the title of this particular book, and well they should: it's the textbook that Dumbledore gives Hermione, and the textbook that Harry, Hermione, and Ron use to figure out some of the mysteries of the story.
That J.K. Rowling has actually decided to write this text, with the translation of the ancient runes by Hermione Granger and the additional commentary by Albus Dumbledore, is rather cute. What we have is NOT another Harry Potter adventure, but rather a text book of fairy tales told to children with magical talents, much like the fairy tales of Hans Christian Anderson and Grimms's are told to Muggle children. The difference being, of course, that for Muggle children, magic in fairy tales is often a source of evil, whereas in these, magic is often a tool that can be put to good use but does not always solve the problem.
This very slim volume (which is really thicker than it needs to be) provides us with five tales, one of which will be very familiar to readers of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (which made me feel a bit cheated, since I'd read that particular tale in that book). The tales themselves are simple and entertaining in their own way, one in particular is more than a little disturbing while another is quite a clever piece of work. The "commentary" by Dumbledore is also entertaining, as it talks about the tale's place in history and how the tale has changed over the years to suit whatever political causes magic users support at the time, as well as suiting what parents want their children to learn (sound familiar?). And really, there's nothing more to say about this book than that. It's a piece of world-building, a little short on charm but still enjoyable, easily readable in one sitting (which is what I did).
My Rating
Worth the Cash: especially for Harry Potter fans who aren't obsessive collectors. This book can be found pretty cheap at Wal-Mart, and frankly, unless you are a said obsessive collector, there's no reason to splurge on Amazon's oh-so-beautiful-but-oh-so-pricey version of the same thing. Reading this makes you reminisce over the magic of the actual series, and for me, makes me wish that Rowling will get the chance, should she choose to, to step away from the Potter universe and write something totally new and totally fresh. That would be REALLY worth the money.
Next up:
Right now, nothing I'm reading is truly holding my attention, and nothing I've got is really nabbing my attention either, which is sad and says more about the state of my brain than anything. So while I'm in the middle of both Midnight Never Come by Marie Brennan and Thirteen by Richard K. Morgan, don't be surprised if you get reviews for other stuff before the Brennan and Morgan reviews go up.