MAIN TITLE Book Reviews
Article Title The Beedle and The Bard - JK Rowling
This book is yet another testament to J. K. Rowling's astounding imagination. There
are five tales altogether and after each one, Dumbledore writes his own analysis
of the tale, and his personal experience of it ('The Fountain of Fair Fortune' has
the funniest commentary). An introduction is penned by Rowling, and the original
story is translated by Hermione Granger from the ancient runes they were originally
written in (she is given credit, but she does not appear anywhere in the book writing
as herself). At the end of the book are a few pages from the charity representative,
explaining what the charity does.
The tales themselves are beautifully imaginative
and the style is that of simple fairytales you would find in real folklore but subtlety
eludes Rowling. The stories are obviously teaching the reader a lesson and there
is no escaping Rowling's highly hammered in morals. If you did not catch it the first
time in the story (which I think may be impossible), Dumbledore is there afterwards
to make sure you do, very much like he did in the original series. Having said that,
the tales are really enjoyable, and Rowling's wit serves her yet again.
Unfortunately
Rowling is no more subtle in her introduction. She writes that these fairy tales
have strong and active females rather 'than taking a prolonged nap or waiting for
someone to return a lost shoe'. There is one exception who acts like a normal fairytale
princess 'but there is no "happily ever after" at the end of her tale'. I am not
sure why Rowling feels the need to insult the intelligence of her readers in this
way. The activism of the females would have resonated a lot more powerfully if she
just let the stories speak for themselves. She continues on about kindness, tolerance
and intelligence as the most desired characteristics and it is characters with these
that obtain their happy ending. To be perfectly honest, this book could have done
without Rowling's introduction.
Dumbledore's analysis of each tale is sometimes a
bit lacking. When he is actually analysing the story he does nothing but repeat the
obvious moral that springs out of the tale. It is far better when he proceeds into
one of his anecdotes or describing society's reaction to the tale. We are even introduced
to one Brutus Malfoy, as far back as 1675 writing for an anti-muggle periodical.
It is little touches such as that that makes Dumbledore's contributions a real treat.
I would have expected more illustrations from a fairytale book, but they are quite
sparse. They are simple penciled drawings with no colour but do have some detail.
Her last sketch in 'The Warlock's Hairy Heart' is particularly impressive, as is
her depiction of the three brothers meeting death upon the bridge.
Overall, it is
a lovely edition to any collection; it is cheap and it is for charity, and they are
actually really lovely stories to read to children! I am not sure whether these tales
could ever stand the testament of time due to the imperative tone, but they are here
now, and I would recommend them.
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