The Tales of Beedle the Bard

I did it — I read J.K. Rowling’s TALES OF BEEDLE THE BARD. I knew it wouldn’t be another Harry Potter book. I knew it would just re-open the gaping hole left by the completion of the Harry Potter series. But I read it anyway, and it was predictably meh. I found the stories boring, although I’ve never been one for fairy tales of any kind, so others may have liked them more. The “commentaries” by Dumbledore were entirely predictable, didn’t say much, and were interpreting stories with pretty simple morals to begin with. BUT…it was Dumbledore again, a little slice of him brought back to life to say a few new things. His voice, his style, his funny, almost snide asides about the stupidity and silliness of certain historical wizards and the unkind accusations in Lucius Malfoy’s old letters. And so, while it’s a boring, predictable, not-quite-worth-it book, its also a reminder of the incredible characters J.K. Rowling gave us in Harry Potter — characters I love so much that it was a joy to have one of them back, alive and speaking, for a few more pages.