We have all been waiting eagerly to see what projects J.K. Rowling will embark upon in the post-Harry Potter days. News that she has not only chosen a project, but completed it -- a volume of fairy tales entitled The Tales of Beedle the Bard -- is thrilling indeed. Except when you read further. Only seven copies will be While the proceeds are headed to charity (surely a laudable goal), something in this news makes me queasy. When J.K. Rowling burst to the scene with her first Harry Potter books, much was made of her struggling, lower-class background: the welfare mom made good. And many pundits have lauded her tales for making reading exciting again for children everywhere. She made literature relevant to even those who were, like she was once, just squeaking by.
So the concept of exclusive literature leaves me cold. If you're interested in the etymology, however, it's more than appropriate: a bard was a poet employed by the wealthy to tell tales of their great deeds. I always thought of J.K. Rowling as something far more free-spirited; but it this bard's tales will only be told to a few.
Update: A commenter pointed out that I was incorrect that these would be printed -- the books are handwritten. However, the commenter says these copies will be available to the public; that is not true according to this source.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 13)
11-01-2007 @ 8:32PM
NukeAssault said...
Itll hit the internet's soon enough....Right? =(
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11-02-2007 @ 6:22AM
Garin said...
This was the name of the fairy-tale book in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It isn't a real book by her just a collector's item.
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11-02-2007 @ 6:36AM
Darlene said...
To the author of this piece, Sarah Gilbert, you wrote, "She made literature relevant to even those who were, like she was once, just squeaking by." What an elitist comment. The love of reading has nothing to do with ones wealth or social status. The library is free.
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11-02-2007 @ 6:45AM
pat said...
ya know this woman is FINISHED! ! I FOUGHT AWAY PEOPLE ABOUT MY KIDS WATCHING SOMETHING WITH MYSTIC'S IN IT, THEN PUTS SEXUALITY INTO IT,, WHAT DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH CHILDERN ? SHE'S FINISHED IN MY HOME WITH MY CHILDREN AND MYSELF . HOW DARE HER TO PUT THE ISSUE OF SEUALITY IN FRONT OF CHILDREN
NEVER AGAIN NOT MY CHILDREN AND NOT IN MY HOME !
FINISHED !!!!BOYCOTT THIS TRASH SHE'S FINISHED ! !
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12-19-2007 @ 5:43PM
Charlie1983 said...
silly lady, she didnt put the "sexuality" into it till after.... when she admitted that dumbledore was in fact a queer. :-) sure, she talked about "teenagers" snogging in the hallways... but thats life! and if you dont think that teenagers kiss and hold hands and all that ewwey gooey stuff that comes along with being in a new relationship then you are just blind to the word. oh, and sheltering you children. these books were wonderful and depriving you children of them is just plain silly. so get off your damn high horse and let them enjoy themselves. you want you children to be smart right, (everyone does) well reading is very important in young lives. (and finding material that they enjoy makes is fun and easier for everyone...) if your so hell-bent on getting your point across about how these books are of a fake world and have evilness or whatever in them, have discussions with your children as they read the books. discuss what you think is right and wrong, good and evil and all that jazz. there are alot of admirable traits of the stars and costars of this book. so what i am really saying is... TALK TO YOUR CHILDREN!!! tell them what you thinks is wrong and why you feel this way. i guarentee it will have more affect on them than if you were to just ban things from them. telling them what they cant have will make them want it more!!! i would know, my parents tried to do this to me. but i still found ways around it. :-) best of reading to you.
~CharlieGirl
11-02-2007 @ 7:00AM
willowreed said...
Good Lord, this woman is milking it for all she's got isn't she. While on the one hand I can't blame her, on the other hand, give it up already.
The Potter books were wonderful, they caused so many people, both kids and elders, to have fun reading. Then to come out with that lameo news about characters being gay?
What the hell is that for?
While the whole 'give to charity' thing is great, doesn't this smack of a publicity stunt?
Good Grief!
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11-02-2007 @ 7:02AM
Fran said...
It's laughable to say that JKR is "finished" when tens of millions of grateful readers are hanging on her every word, waiting for more as fun to read as the Harry Potter series. We can only hope that an affordable facsimile edition of the Tales of Beedle the Bard will be published after the charity auction is all over. As for "How dare she put sexuality in the Harry Potter books," I didn't hear anyone complaining about finding out that Bill & Fleur were getting married or that Tonks was in love with Lupin. Why is that not sexuality, only because it's hetero-? We never saw Dumbledore & Grindelwald so much as hold hands; we only knew that Harry's wise old mentor had a very unwise obsession in his youth - unwise because his "friend" was a budding fascist, not because he was another male.
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11-02-2007 @ 7:02AM
diana001 said...
Gee, Pat -- you make me want to join YOUR church, where the love of Jesus just SHINES through you. Sheesh.
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11-02-2007 @ 7:10AM
Stephanie said...
Whats she doing? think of all the people that have been loyal to her and her books, why would she do something like this? I can understand her only signing 7, but this just isn't right.
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11-02-2007 @ 7:11AM
CFD443 said...
Well put, Diana001.
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11-02-2007 @ 7:12AM
CFD443 said...
Get a life! You think your children are not exposed to alternative lifestyles in the real world? No wonder children grow up to be homophobes!
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11-02-2007 @ 7:14AM
Pat said...
I'm with you, Fran
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11-02-2007 @ 7:16AM
Stacey said...
This message is to Pat:
First of all, the Harry Potter series was written to grow with the child. As all children go through stages, then obviously the content of the books will change to suit the age appropriateness of the characters. Wouldn't ya think a book that spans 7 years might touch different subjects according to the ages of the characters? Shame on you for not considering that your kids should be age appropriate before moving on with the series.
Secondly, you complain about the "mystics" well then I guess you should tell your kids not to read any classics such as Cinderalla and Snow White. You should also ban Santa, the Tooth Fairy, and the Easter Bunny. Oh yeah, you can get rid of the Disney channel too because they have magic as their theme. Youll have to nix religion too, because they takes imagination in order to think there's a higher power out there watching over the Universe.
When your kids grow up needing psychiatrists because you never let them dream and told them the sky was not the limit, just the ceiling of your house, remember this moment.
When you take away a child's imagination, you take away their hopes and dreams that anything can happen and they can be anything they want to. Hopefully you rethink this issue and try to look at it more rationally in the future.
btw, it was not a real book, just another additive to Harry Potter since the title mentioned was one of the children's books from Hogwarts.
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11-02-2007 @ 7:35AM
M. said...
Pat...
I can only hope that one of your children turns out to be gay. What are you going to do, disown them?
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11-02-2007 @ 7:36AM
jennifer said...
get a grip Pat. this author is not finished by a long shot. You're afraid of your children knowing about mystics and sexuality, what about what they learn in school from their friends? Do you shield them from that too! We should be afraid of your narroW-minded, right-wing staunch, NOT Harry Potter and J.K. Rowlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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11-02-2007 @ 7:37AM
mythosphere13x said...
Pat -
Your children are exposed to more sexuality watching Spongebob and Bugs Bunny. Remember all the times Bugs cross dressed to fool Elmer Fudd? Do you go to school with your kids too and watch their every move? Ten to one I bet they already know where a penis is supposed to go!
Mysticism is bad huh?? Funny how when it's socially acceptable (Christian Holy Communion - bread 'turning into' the body of Christ... wine 'turning into' the blood of Christ...baptism 'washing away original sin) that it is PERFECTLY okay for your chidren's minds to be SATURATED with mysticism. The only difference is it is not a mysticism you practice.
Sure, make your kids fearful of anything different. You're breeding a whole new generation of bigots, hate-preachers, and homophobes. You seem so concerned about what your children are exposed to - Gods help them for being exposed to your IGNORANCE. Teaching ignorance such as yours is a surefire way to lead them on the path to your so-called Hell and Damnation - by their own parent taking their hand and showing them that 'these people and things aren't LIKE us.'
What happened to the Christian ideals of love thy neighbor? I love the hypocrisy of Christianity - the 'whatever-hate-we-can-get-away-with-in-the-name-of-our-Lord-&-Savior-Jesus-Christ.' Hate and ignorance aren't the ideals of Christ's teachings. Perhaps you should spend more time READING your Bible rather than beating it or attemting to shove it down everyone else's throat.
Divine Blessings,
A Proud and Practicing Witch
Chicago, IL
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11-02-2007 @ 7:38AM
Brendan said...
To pat, Women get real, this is the real world. Sexuality is everywhere, not only in the schools, but also on TV and the innuendo that is spoken kids from the age of 7 and up can pick up on even in animated films.
What are you going to do if one of your kids decides to date someone on the same side of the fence? disown them? your no better than a demon of the underworld if you do that.
Your probably one of those so called Christian fanatics aren't you. Well guess what sister, people that say they are Christians aren't really Christians at all, if they don't walk the way of life to the letter of the bible in their everyday life then they have no right there as well.
Also as for your comments about Bill Clinton? why is his wife still with him? why does she still have the name Clinton as her last name? Bill Clinton was one of our better presidents as far as policy is concerned, sure he pissed alot of people off but he also made alot more friends with other nations and kept the peace.
JK Rowling has a daughter for Christs sake and your going off on something about sexuality.
Woman get off the boards and start paying more attention to your family and your kids.
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11-02-2007 @ 7:42AM
Stephanie said...
With all the books that JK Rowling has slaved out for fans in the past few years, how are you going to get upset at the fact that she writes a book and sells it for charity! And as for your concept of "exclusive literature", you know that by the end of the year it will be on the internet! Or some scumbag will buy a copy and make thousands of illegal copies. JK Rowling is an artist and has the right to sell 1 or sell millions of her books. Give her a break, for the past 10-15 years she has been slaving to get another Harry Potter book out so the fans don't go crazy. Writing that sort of novel in that short time span has got to be very taxing on an author. I'd like to see the "author" of this article do anything even remotely as amazing as JK Rowling has done.
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11-02-2007 @ 7:43AM
Donna said...
To cfd443; One question-why is it that gay life styles are pushed in everyone's face? I don't really care what a person does with their personnal life or behind closed doors. Just don't throw it in my face or the faces of the young. All they want to do is read and not know what the sexual life style of a person is. Was that the whole intent of this writer?
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11-02-2007 @ 7:45AM
Kristena said...
Sigh this is what happens when people become rich - they forget about us 'little' people.
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