It’s no sign of my blogging prowess that roughly eight out of 10 of my posts concern J.K. Rowling, but here goes another one. The creator of gay icon Dumbledore has finished her first work since closing out the Potter series: The Tales of Beedle the Bard. It’s about the failure of the U.S. intelligence apparatus in the run-up to the Iraq War.
No, really it’s a collection of fairy stories, and the title comes from a book mentioned in Deathly Hallows as a gift from Dumbledore to Hermione. Yes, somebody could have fun with the book description, but it won’t be me.
In case you’re thinking of being first in line at Barnes & Noble, you’ll be waiting a long time. Only seven copies of Beedle the Bard will be in print. It’s ironic that the pinnacle of success puts Rowling on the same level as me, when it comes to readership. Seven turns out to be the same number of people who read my latest short story. Maybe we can do lunch sometime.
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Dave, that link to EQMM takes you through to the December issue which maybe explains why so few people have read your short story. Anyway, it’s quality not quantity that matters. I hope.
Oops. Thanks for the heads up. Time to remove that link.
Remind me, Dave, have you read the HP books, or just seen the movies? I recommend reserving judgement on JKR if you haven’t read the books, until/unless you read them. In the meantime, her own website is a good one, a direct dialogue between her and her (many) readers.
The seven HP books only get better with time, as Harry ages so the books mature and become darker. And the whole Greek tragedy of the thing is only fully apparent in the last book. I am no fan of children’s literature, but JKR’s books are I think quite exceptional — and her own persona refreshingly unaffected by spin. As you can tell, I admire her greatly. I pick up that you don’t all that much, but maybe I am wrong. If she is guilty of anything, it is that a heck of a lot of people read her books.
Maxine, I’ve only read the first of the books and seen the first three of the movies. I have nothing against JKR (apart from bitter jealousy at her royalty checks), and I completely trust your judgment about her integrity and the quality of her later work.
My snide remarks derive mostly from the fact that she’s such a dominant figure in world of books these days. It’s fun to satirize the successful, even if it isn’t entirely fair.
Yes, I wouldn’t mind a bit of that royalty cheque. I’ll have to write a book first, though!
BTW, the movies don’t do the books justice. In most cases they are fine to adequate precis, but even the better ones miss out almost totally on the emotion and depth of detail of the books.