For week twelve it was 'a collection of short stories'. I've got a few options for this one, but next up on my bookshelf was The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling.
If you're not familiar with this one, it's a tie-in book for the
Harry Potter series. In the final book, Harry Potter and the
Deathly Hallows, we hear the story of 'The Three Brothers' as well as get a
mention of a couple of other wizarding fairy tales; the sort of thing that
magical children would listen to instead of Snow White or Rapunzel.
I chose this one partly because I knew it would be a quick read. I
have a few other books which are a lot longer and I wanted to get through all my
challenge reads alongside my non-challenge reads, so my decision was more than a
little based on the number of pages in the book. I managed it in an hour before
work which meant it was perfect.
I like the way that it's written. Each story includes an analysis
of it by Dumbledore. To be honest, for some of the stories I think that
Dumbledore's comments on them are more entertaining than the actual stories
themselves.
The thing I love about The Tales of Beedle the Bard is
probably the same thing I love about Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find
Them and Quidditch Through The Ages; the fact that it makes the
magical world feel just a little bit more real. It does feel like you are
reading the sorts of fairy tales magical kids would read. As I'm fairly certain
that my owl just got lost on the way to me and in 1997 there would have been a
spare bed in the Ravenclaw dormitory waiting for me, so it's nice to get extra
information into the world I wish I could inhabit.
Of all the stories in the book, my favourites were probably 'The
Warlock's Hairy Heart' and 'The Three Brothers'; though when I'm reading the
latter, I can't help but hear Hermione narrating it and picture the animation
from the movie. If you've only seen the films and not read the books, I think
this book might be a neat way to introduce yourself to the wider world of Harry
Potter.
When I finished up with The Tales of Beedle the Bard I
moved straight onto The Valley of the Horses by Jean M. Auel. This is
the second book in the Earth's Children series and picks up where the
first left off; Ayla has found a safe place to live and sets up a little cave to
live in. She adopts a foal and later an injured baby cave lion but misses the
interaction of other people.
Luckily for her she finds Jondalar; a fellow Cro Magnon, who is
embarking on a great journey with his brother. Unfortunately for Jondalar the
pair of them are attacked by a cave lion; his brother is killed and his is left
near death, until Ayla finds him.
I have to admit, Ayla is a bit of a Mary Sue in this book. I mean,
she was a bit of Mary Sue in the first book, but by this one her Mary Sue-ish
habits have grown to new heights. This book sees her invent pretty much
everything from domesticated horses to methods for transporting bulky items to
new weapons.
I found this book a little slow at first. I'd forgotten about the
way that it's basically two separate stories until the the final third. It felt
like it sped up a lot once Ayla and Jondalar met. The way I remembered it, they
met a lot earlier in the story so I was surprised that it came so late in the
book. Even now I don't really remember what happened that took so long to get
through before that point. My guess is that there was a lot of describing the
scenery, the fauna and floral, the things that they cook, the weapons they make,
and all the other stuff that Auel likes to dwell on in these books.
All the same, I did enjoy Ayla and Jondalar's interactions. It was
nice to see how they expected one another to act and how their expectations
changed as they got to know one another. I also liked the glimpses into the
other 'Caves' during Jondalar's journey. It was interesting to see the contrast
between them and the Neanderthal clan of the previous book.
I did read most of the Earth's Children books last year;
you'll see the reviews for those later in the year. I've still not reached the
end of the them all. The last one is so big and it just goes on forever. I will
get to it, eventually, but it's taken me a month to read The Lord of the
Rings and I suspect The Plains of Passage will take me at least
that long, if not more!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Let me know what you think. :-)