Beedle the Bard - First Impressions

[ConnieAnnKirk]

So, what do you think of the book?  We have threads set up for each of the stories, so this thread is for first impressions of the book overall.

[ConnieAnnKirk]

I noticed that the tales seemed to get darker as they went along, just like the novels.  I seem to remember somewhere that each tale has to do with a major theme of the series. 

Dumbledore's "commentaries" were more humorous than the tales themselves, overall, I thought, though some of the tales certainly contained humor.  It was nice to "hear" his "voice" again, poor guy!

I noticed at the top of the cover (I'd noticed this in the posters for the book, too) that it says "A Wizarding Classic from the World of Harry Potter."  Do you know how many books JKR mentions in the series?  She could write samplings from those titles for the rest of her career and never run out of Harry-related books to publish for herself or for various charities she would like to help.

[ConnieAnnKirk]

Another first impression I have from the book is that these tales are meant to be "moralistic," in that they are tales that teach a lesson or moral.  In that way they stand in contrast to the Potter novels.  I like the novels because they do not "preach" the way this genre of story does, you know?  The bits from Dumbledore kind of soften this aspect of this kind of story by telling us about whether the 'lessons' were received well or kept by the wizards and witches, etc., sometimes to humorous results.  So, while JKR uses the genre of the fairy tale, she also has fun with it through her headmaster's comments.  We came to enjoy Dumbledore first for his humor, so it's nice to see him at that again--he's so serious in the later novels!

Message Edited by ConnieK on 12-04-2008 11:56 PM

[delmerchic72]

I thought the introduction was quite funny, and I am constantly amazed at Rowling's ability to completely submerse herself in her story. There is no doubt whatsoever that she sees herself as a character in it, and that, to me, is very admirable. Also, the cover page really blew me away. That was MY first impression. I've only read through the first story so far, but I enjoyed Dumbledore's commentary on it. It's quite humorous, especially when he says "A simple and heartwarming fable, one might think -- in which case, one would reveal oneself to be an innocent nincompoop," and where he mentions that some of the world's most brilliant wizards were pro-muggle, then he sites himself in the footnote! HA! I'm already loving it! 

 Where's everyone else, though? Have they just not logged on yet?

 -The Visionary-

[Psychee]

I can't recall ever seeing the word "nincompoop" in print before!   It's almost as good as "codswallop".

[EdWaRd_JaCoB]

Well, I finished it in an hour and a half and it was pretty good!

[WizardWeasley]

I have a question. Who is beedle the bard?

                                               Wizard Weasly

[Psychee]

Hi, Wizard!

"beedle the bard" refers to the new book that JKR wrote for charity called "The Tales Of Beedle The Bard" which was just published.

Remember when Dumbledore bequeathed his ancient book of Beedle The Bard fairy tales to Hermione Granger in Deathly Hallows? 

This new book is supposed to be a translation by Hermione Granger of five of those tales, along with comments by Dumbledore about each tale. 

In the fictional world, Beedle was something like a Mother Goose to wizardkind.

[GFBellissima]

I loved the Tales, especially "The Fountain of Fair Fortune." I can't wait to read them together with my son (WizardWeazly). They are sure to be classic as Mother Goose.  I did not like "The Warlock's Hairy Heart," though. Too Dark to want to read with my child. Dumbledore's commentary is fun to read as an adult. But who, exactly, is the fictional Beedle the Bard?

[ConnieAnnKirk]

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GFBellissima wrote:
I loved the Tales, especially "The Fountain of Fair Fortune." I can't wait to read them together with my son (WizardWeazly). They are sure to be classic as Mother Goose.  I did not like "The Warlock's Hairy Heart," though. Too Dark to want to read with my child. Dumbledore's commentary is fun to read as an adult. But who, exactly, is the fictional Beedle the Bard?

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GFB:  Welcome!  Read the post by Psychee right above yours for a good answer to your question! 

[Mollywobbles]

Well, the nitpicker in me wonders how Albus Dumbledore was able to comment on Hermione's new translation.  Hermione had never heard of the Tales of Beedle until she was bequeathed the copy in Albus' will.  Of course, Dumbledore's commentaries could have been on a previous translation and merely inserted into Hermione's new version.

That aside.  I especially loved the footnotes. Interesting to hear a little bit more about NH Nick's death, and the mysterious Prof. Kettleburn-poor guy only had 1 1/2 limbs left when he retired!

I also loved the names, something Rowling has always been especially good at.  Brutus Malfoy-perfect. Lizette Lapin-why not in a tale about Babbitty Rabbity. Also great was Bertrand de Pensees-Profondes and his exhortation to "give it up, it's never going to happen!"

I was a little less enamoured of Dumbledore's commentaries (which will no doubt surprise many of you!).  His whole debunking of the magical cloak, wand and stone in the Tale of the Three Brothers kind of makes a mockery of the whole Horcruxes not Hallows thing in Deathly Hallows.  The whole new subplot that was introduced in DH dealt with the hallows, and they were an integral part of Harry's quest.They weren't the object of the quest, but they sure came in handy.  Dumbledore's commentary goes on to suggest that they (the hallows) were inconsequential-yet  Dumbledore went to some lengths to leave clues to their existence.  Strange.

I admit I laughed out loud when I read that Aberforth's favourite story was "Grumbly the grubby goat".  I still want to know where his fascination with goats came from.

The Tale I liked least was the "the Warlock's Hairy Heart".  I liked "the Wizard and the Hopping Pot" the best. Dumbledore's moralising left me a bit cold, but I did enjoy the tidbits of information.

[TiggerBear]

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Mollywobbles wrote:

Well, the nitpicker in me wonders how Albus Dumbledore was able to comment on Hermione's new translation.  Hermione had never heard of the Tales of Beedle until she was bequeathed the copy in Albus' will.  Of course, Dumbledore's commentaries could have been on a previous translation and merely inserted into Hermione's new version.

That aside.  I especially loved the footnotes. Interesting to hear a little bit more about NH Nick's death, and the mysterious Prof. Kettleburn-poor guy only had 1 1/2 limbs left when he retired!

I also loved the names, something Rowling has always been especially good at.  Brutus Malfoy-perfect. Lizette Lapin-why not in a tale about Babbitty Rabbity. Also great was Bertrand de Pensees-Profondes and his exhortation to "give it up, it's never going to happen!"

I was a little less enamoured of Dumbledore's commentaries (which will no doubt surprise many of you!).  His whole debunking of the magical cloak, wand and stone in the Tale of the Three Brothers kind of makes a mockery of the whole Horcruxes not Hallows thing in Deathly Hallows.  The whole new subplot that was introduced in DH dealt with the hallows, and they were an integral part of Harry's quest.They weren't the object of the quest, but they sure came in handy.  Dumbledore's commentary goes on to suggest that they (the hallows) were inconsequential-yet  Dumbledore went to some lengths to leave clues to their existence.  Strange.

I admit I laughed out loud when I read that Aberforth's favourite story was "Grumbly the grubby goat".  I still want to know where his fascination with goats came from.

The Tale I liked least was the "the Warlock's Hairy Heart".  I liked "the Wizard and the Hopping Pot" the best. Dumbledore's moralising left me a bit cold, but I did enjoy the tidbits of information.

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There was the bit about the versions she was given having written in side bar notes and postits all over them. Suposidly D comments were in them.

[wicked3]

i love harry potter. i wish theyd go on forever, so when the tales of beedle the bard came out i was so excited. maybe the deathly hallows is not the last

[tchr66]

It was so wonderful. As I read Dumbledore's musings, it was like being with an old friend. I am only reading one of the tales a week so as to really enjoy each one. So often I read through the novels to quickly and then they were done. I know that it will be a while until the next work comes out and I do so like Harry's world.

[ConnieAnnKirk]

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tchr66 wrote:
It was so wonderful. As I read Dumbledore's musings, it was like being with an old friend. I am only reading one of the tales a week so as to really enjoy each one. So often I read through the novels to quickly and then they were done. I know that it will be a while until the next work comes out and I do so like Harry's world.

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Oh, I know what you mean about the old friend!  It was so nice to hear Dumbledore 'talking' again! 

[wicked3]

i will put the stories in order of my favorite to worst favorite

1.Babbity Rabbity and her Cackling stump

2.The Fountain of Fair Fortune

3.The Wizard and the Hopping Pot

4.The tale of the 3 brothers

5. warlocks hairy heart.(not recomended)

P.S.please answer some of my posts PLEASE!!!

[dolor.glauf]

Yes, I did see the explanation that the commentary is intended as a transcription of notes found in the margins, but I couldn't help wondering how there was room to read the original text, much less translate it, what with the evident quantity of copious accompanying notes. Ah, the power of magic, eh?

[wicked3]

i really love this book.

1. it lets us see the stories wizarding children would read instead of cinderella

[Sammah]

I thought they were great supplements to the last book. My personal favorite was The Warlocks Hairy Heart, though it seems to be low on everyone else's list. I also liked getting to read the Tale of the Three Brother's for myself. It was interesting, in my opinion.

[ConnieAnnKirk]

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Sammah wrote:
I thought they were great supplements to the last book. My personal favorite was The Warlocks Hairy Heart, though it seems to be low on everyone else's list. I also liked getting to read the Tale of the Three Brother's for myself. It was interesting, in my opinion.

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Welcome, Sammah!