Need a Harry Potter Universe fix?
From Amazon.com
Offering the trademark wit and imagination familiar to Rowling’s legions of readers–as well as Aesop’s wisdom and the occasional darkness of the Brothers Grimm–each of these five tales reveals a lesson befitting children and parents alike: the strength gained with a trusted friendship, the redemptive power of love, and the true magic that exists in the hearts of all of us. Rowling’s new introduction also comments on the personal lessons she has taken from the Tales, noting that the characters in Beedle’s collection “take their fates into their own hands, rather than taking a prolonged nap or waiting for someone to return a lost shoe,” and “that magic causes as much trouble as it cures.”
But the true jewel of this new edition is the enlightening and comprehensive commentary (including extensive footnotes!) by Professor Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, who brings his unique wizard’s-eye perspective to the collection. Discovered “among the many papers which Dumbledore left in his will to the Hogwarts Archives,” the venerable wizard’s ruminations on the Tales allow today’s readers to place them in the context of 16th century Muggle society, even allowing that “Beedle was somewhat out of step with his times in preaching a message of brotherly love for Muggles” during the era of witch hunts that would eventually drive the wizarding community into self-imposed exile. In fact, versions of the same stories told in wizarding households would shock many for their uncharitable treatment of their Muggle characters.
Professor Dumbledore also includes fascinating historical backstory, including tidbits such as the history and pursuit of magic wands, a brief comment on the Dark Arts and its practitioners, and the struggles with censorship that eventually led “a certain Beatrix Bloxam” to cleanse the Tales of “much of the darker themes that she found distasteful,” forever altering the meaning of the stories for their Muggle audience. Dumbledore also allows us a glimpse of his personal relationship to the Tales, remarking that it was through “Babbity Rabbity and Her Cackling Stump” that “many of us [wizards] first discovered that magic could not bring back the dead.”
Both a wise and delightful addition to the Harry Potter canon, this new translation of The Tales of Beedle the Bard is all that fans could hope for and more–and an essential volume for the libraries of Muggles, wizards, and witches, both young and old.
(All proceeds will benefit The Children’s High Level Group (CHLG), a charity founded by J. K. Rowling that helps children in institutions, providing education and emotional support.)
]]>
Just what I needed today – a good laugh about one of my favorite book series (Harry Potter) from one of my favorite cartoons (Non Sequitur)!
(What revelations/little bits of ‘backstory’ will come next I wonder? I’m almost afraid to ponder them…)
]]>With a book series like HARRY POTTER, I find I like to read it in hardcover first, then listen to the audiobook version afterwards. (Then, of course, see the movie…)
Back when the HARRY POTTER series first came out, audiobook versions weren’t as prevalent, so I had to do it the ‘hard way’ starting with HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER’S STONE: read it for myself. For me, that established a certain set of ‘voices’ in my head for each character (besides the other voices that are already in there! LOL). As each book in the series was released, I found I liked keeping my own set of rhythms, cadences and nuances ‘consistent’ for Harry, Hermione, Ron (and all the others) by continuing to read it for myself for the first time, taking as long as I wanted with each chapter or scene to make sure it ‘felt’ familiar. (There’s also just something about holding it in your hands, the heft and feel of a great hardcover, plus it doesn’t hurt that J K Rowling is such a consistently good writer…!)
However, just as the movies give additional layers to the characters and storylines that you just don’t get through reading, so do the unabridged HARRY POTTER audiobooks. They give me a 3rd way to ‘live’ the stories, through Jim Dale’s telling of them, with his as the ‘voice in my head’ that time around. (Not much room left in there, though. Glad he’s been the narrator for ALL of them!! =)
Listening to someone else read a book for you gives you a whole new perspective and sometimes a new take on scenes you might not have noticed before or skimmed very quickly or that had a different flavor in your own mind. And just as when I watch the HARRY POTTER movies over (and over and over) I catch things I missed the first (and second and sometimes fifteenth) time out, listening to the audiobook version can do that for me, too.
Of course, depending on the narrator, it can make or break the experience for you. In the case of the HARRY POTTER audiobooks, though, Jim Dale is one of the best. He can be a ‘voice in my head’ anytime… (For more on Jim Dale, click on the picture for his official website.)
To see the Official J. K. Rowling (Harry Potter) website go to: www.jkrowling.com
]]>