Hope you all have a great week.
Time spent reading:
6/16: 8:02am-8:11am; 10:00am-10:53am
Total time: 1hr 2min
107 pages
Children's High Level Group Books
Published in 2008
When Beedle the Bard came out last year, everyone was beyond excited, "Oh my goodness! Another Harry Potter book! One written by Rowling! Oh wow..." I can still remember the day when I trekked into Borders at 10am to fight off the large crowds to purchase the book. No one was there. The books displayed directly in front of the door upon entering, I grabbed one, turned, and paid; I didn't even look around the store. The poor cashier behind the counter, who had obviously been practicing this one line, said, "Tonight at 7 there will be a reading from The Tales of Beedle the Bard if you would like to attend." So funny. It was story time. And I, being a 26 year old "professional" teacher, was invited. I stifled a giggle, thanked him, and left.
With that being said, the book sat pleasantly on a shelf since last December, awaiting a reading. I opted numerous times to pick it up and give it a quick once through; I had flipped through it a few times and noticed the format was slightly different and decided not to read it as of yet. (I'll explain the differing format in a bit.) When I finally waited for any remnant of interior hype to leave me, I acted. Even better? I was highly surprised.
Rowling did a wonderful job in this short compilation of wizarding fairy tales. While some people might feel gipped due to the surprisingly short number of stories (only 5 in all), Rowling adds in her own twists and textures to truly enrich the reading. So here goes the format of Beedle the Bard's tales:
1) The introduction is written by Rowling, but not your high-class, exceptionally famous, richest person in England Rowling, but a Rowling who has spoken with Hermione Granger and Albus Dumbledore on, seemingly, more than one occasion. The introduction explains just who Beedle the Bard is, or was considering he was alive in the 15th century, and just why and how his tales differ from the Grimms' or Disney films of our time.
Before continuing, I would like to interject that if you have not read any of the Harry Potter books and are simply waiting for the next movie to come out, you might not want to read these until all of the movies have been released. This is meant as an addendum to the Harry Potter library, not a fun, quick read by some unknowing individual. There are numerous terms that a non-Potter reader will have trouble understanding, or even saying. So you might even want to continue cautiously through the rest of this post. Though, as you should know, I'm not going to tell any endings or important surprises!
2) The Bard's tales have been translated by the one and only, supergenius of the time Hermione Granger. And these have even been translated from the Ancient Runes, not just a crappy English version. It's like how people keep re-translating the bible based on older English versions of it. If you REALLY want to translate it, you need to learn Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic. Jump on it! When Seamus Heaney translated Beowulf (Oh what a marvelous work he did too!), the man did not take the poorly-done version by random person in the early 20th century to base his own translation. He learned Anglo-Saxon, studied it in depth, and then decided to translate! So this shows a unique perspective by Rowling that Hermione didn't just reword the old tales, but actually took them from their original sources.
3) Found at the end of each translated tale is a commentary from the most well-known headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore. Occasionally, like most modern scholars absolutely LOVE to do, the commentary is longer than the text itself. Dumbledore rewords parts of the fairy tales, adds meaning to certain words, analyzes why the Bard used specific wizards, gives historical background, and as always makes the reader laugh by his constant wit. I found myself quite often tearing through the tales to get to the commentary.
4) Maybe this is the literary nerd in me, but I highly applaud Rowling's use of multiple narrators, voices, and authors. First there is the author Rowling, then the introduction (I'm part of the magical world still) Rowling, the original untranslated text, the Granger text, and Dumbledore's commentary. Each one has its own distinct language, style, and diction. I hate using these terms freely, but Rowling truly is a master of the craft. The introduction writer Rowling even has to dissect some of Dumbledore's commentaries since Dumbledore,
"appears to have been writing for a Wizarding audience, so I have occasionally inserted an explanation of a term or fact that might need clarification for Muggle readers."I love it! This is the translation nerd in me jumping for joy.
All in all, I found this small book to be such a quick, sweet escape from typical fantasy and even the Potter series. I would definitely suggest read the books first, otherwise you might be in for a pleasant, or rather unpleasant, surprise by the way of some principle characters.
Happy reading.
Recent books I have read that exceeded my expectations:
-The Pagan series (all 4 of them) by Catherine Junks. This is a series about Pagan Kidrouk, a poor lad who happened to live in Jerusalem during the Crusades. Very funny. Very Monty Python-esque. Those of you who know me know I don't give the Python blessing often.
-Heroes of the Valley by Jonathan Stroud. Eventually I will get around to reading his Bartimaeus Trilogy, but I settled for this standalone novel, which is a story of how tradition, fantastical tales, and determination can change even the darkest of children.
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