Amazon Contest Offers A Chance To Spend Some Time With One Of The Seven-Of-A-Kind Book The Tales of Beedle the Bard

It caused quite a stir (http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19133) around here when Amazon bought it for not one, but two big boxes of galleons. Now Amazon is offering a chance to spend some quality time (http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=amb_link_6577562_1?ie=UTF8&docId=1000207461&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=right-1&pf_rd_r=07B235YQRQNWEJPG6PGT&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=383801901&pf_rd_i=507846) with its copy of the artificially rare The Tales of Beedle the Bard.

Here's the nutshell version: They're offering a trip to London for you and your very closest friend (win it and see just how many of those you never knew you had!) to spend "a weekend" with the book and its personal security retinue. Oh, yeah, and a nice pair of white gloves each.

The contest is open to residents of twenty-four countries (dunno which ones), aged thirteen and up. It's an essay contest, and the specified topics are: What songs do wizards use to celebrate birthdays?
What sports do wizards play besides Quidditch?
What have you learned from the Harry Potter series that you use in everyday life?

Full details are available here (http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=amb_link_6577562_1?ie=UTF8&docId=1000207461&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=right-1&pf_rd_r=07B235YQRQNWEJPG6PGT&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=383801901&pf_rd_i=507846), along with a list of FAQs (http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=amb_link_6501192_2?ie=UTF8&docId=1000209741&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-1&pf_rd_r=039A8VGBJ97ZCWTRVW04&pf_rd_t=1401&pf_rd_p=383001701&pf_rd_i=1000207461) and the official rules (http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=amb_link_6501192_3?ie=UTF8&docId=1000212141&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-1&pf_rd_r=039A8VGBJ97ZCWTRVW04&pf_rd_t=1401&pf_rd_p=383001701&pf_rd_i=1000207461).

If anyone here wins it, we will be expecting a full report. :nice:

No word at this time on whether you get to keep the gloves.

Now why would I do that? :)

Derek

Do what? Keep the gloves? :inquisiti

No, sing wizard birthday songs.

I don't get all the fuss over her or her books. ???

We all have different tastes. I think the books are wonderful stories, personally, and anything that gets teenagers to READ (as her books have, without question, done) has GOT to be a Good Thing.

We all have different tastes. I think the books are wonderful stories, personally, and anything that gets teenagers to READ (as her books have, without question, done) has GOT to be a Good Thing.

That I understand. What I don't understand is why adults go ga-ga over her stuff.

Case in point - in the office where I work there is a 30 year old woman, the last HP book that was released she stayed up until midnight or whenever it was released and then proceeded to read it immediatley right through to the end.
The same day.
Without sleeping.

HP is one of the best series I have ever read in my life.

However....all this fuss about a book written by a mere mortal woman just like my neighbour next door? :shrug:
Then again, I have never understood any type of fuss risen about so called celebrities or famous people while they are just the same or maybe worse than anyone around me...

Now after she finished the line there is a lot of HP sidekicks? HP and the search for yet more money?

Whatever "the beetle and the bard" is supposed to do, this venture is *NOT* to get kids reading.

BTW: Why do people go ga-ga on the books? Becaues they offer a nice little closed universe thats different to us, one you can escape into if you get enough of our universe.

I don't get all the fuss over her or her books. ???

Me neither. I thought the first book was ok, but the series declined as it went on.
The stories are fine, but the writing is nothing special.
I wonder if they're the type of books that suit faster readers :chinscratch:. I'm a slow reader, and don't find HP books very immersive (if I'm honest, they seem rather boring at my plodding pace).

Also, I do think that J. K. Rowling (like Richmal Crompton before her) demonstrates that women writers can't often write convincing young boy characters.

Me neither. I thought the first book was ok, but the series declined as it went on.
The stories are fine, but the writing is nothing special.


To offer a contrary opinion, I thought that the series got better and better as it went on; the last book I thought was superb. I queued up at midnight at the local book shop for the last THREE books in the series. Great fun :).

Also, I do think that J. K. Rowling (like Richmal Crompton before her) demonstrates that women writers can't often write convincing young boy characters.

What did you find "unconvincing" about it? Seemed OK to me!

What did you find "unconvincing" about it? Seemed OK to me!

Very much a female view of what boyhood is like imho - boys are silly, ineffectual and immature (e.g. Weasleys, Hagrid, Nigel), they just can't cope without strong female guidance (Hermione, Mrs. W).
As an ex-boy, I couldn't relate to them (and HP is just a bore - no wonder they kept him under the stairs! ;)).

I'd enter just for the free trip to London. Forget the book.

Very much a female view of what boyhood is like imho - boys are silly, ineffectual and immature (e.g. Weasleys, Hagrid, Nigel), they just can't cope without strong female guidance (Hermione, Mrs. W).
As an ex-boy, I couldn't relate to them (and HP is just a bore - no wonder they kept him under the stairs! ;)).

Seems reasonably realistic to me. Looking back to my teenage years, I think that boys generally ARE a lot less mature than girls at that age.

Very much a female view of what boyhood is like imho - boys are silly, ineffectual and immature (e.g. Weasleys, Hagrid, Nigel), they just can't cope without strong female guidance (Hermione, Mrs. W).
As an ex-boy, I couldn't relate to them (and HP is just a bore - no wonder they kept him under the stairs! ;)).

i'm not a boy myself so obviously i'm probably only going to add water to your mill by saying this, but a lot of the boys i knew when i was that age were pretty silly ineffectual and immature...

in fact, a lot of the "boys" i know *now* are still pretty immature ! ;) (not all of them, luckily !!!)

i'm not a boy myself so obviously i'm probably only going to add water to your mill by saying this, but a lot of the boys i knew when i was that age were pretty silly ineffectual and immature...

in fact, a lot of the "boys" i know *now* are still pretty immature ! ;) (not all of them, luckily !!!)

I'm near 38, and I'm still pretty silly, ineffectual and immature (and still scared of girls ;) ).

Cheers,
Marc

I'm near 38, and I'm still pretty silly, ineffectual and immature (and still scared of girls ;) ).

Cheers,
Marc

so you see my point then ;)

so you see my point then ;)

Don't talk to me! You'll give me girl germs!

Cheers,
Marc

Well the fuzz they make about this one book seems to exceed the lost Aristoteles in the name of the rose..

So a woman wrote a book, about fantasy, to make her more interesting so sells only 1 copy. Oh my, how about offering it as an e-book for a few dollars instead? :unafraid:

Well the fuzz they make about this one book seems to exceed the lost Aristoteles in the name of the rose..

So a woman wrote a book, about fantasy, to make her more interesting so sells only 1 copy. Oh my, how about offering it as an e-book for a few dollars instead? :unafraid:

Sooner or later it will be on the darknet :D

So a woman wrote a book, about fantasy, to make her more interesting so sells only 1 copy. Oh my, how about offering it as an e-book for a few dollars instead? :unafraid:

To be more correct, she wrote and illustrated a book by hand, and then auctioned it off to raise a lot of money for a very worthwhile charity. I certainly have no problems with that.

Okay, touching on several points:
I found the portrayal of Harry's mentality, particularly in books 5, 6 & 7 to be almost painfully accurate considered against my recollections of my own teenage years.
Young boys are silly, immature and ineffectual. And they do benefit greatly from guidance ... though they rarely enjoy it. Some do grow out of it, I've stabilized at ~13 myself, with fluctuations of about +- 2 years.
"Girl germs" are properly known as "cooties (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooties)"
If a story doesn't engage a person's interest, it doesn't really matter how well it is or isn't written, nor how good the story is or isn't. There are a large number of extremely well written stories with great plots that I have absolutely zero interest in. Those I've read that fit that description were pure torture to get through (well, mostly through :wink2:). That isn't so much a comment on the books, as it is a comment on my own interests and personality.
Well, that's my 2¢. :nice:

I enjoyed the series, it wasn't the best I've ever read but it was quick and an easy escapist read. My 14yo son has some fairly serious learning disabilities and he's now reading his way through the series. It's taken him a good five years to develop his reading skills to the point where he can read them without too much trouble. If he hadn't seen the movies first he would've never been all that interested in reading the series.

Another series that seems to go over well with pre-adolescent and teenage girls is the "Sisters Grimm". Interestingly, the series is written by a man. My 10yo daughter loves these books and I have the sixth on preorder for her at Amazon.

I think there's potentially a lot of value in cross-gender authorships (a man writing female characters and a woman writing male characters) when the author in question isn't just a complete goober about it, and actually puts some thought, research and analysis into it.

For one thing, a male character written by a female author gives me, as a male, some insight as to how women view the male animal. I assume that the opposite would be true, because I can't really test that directly. :smile:

For another, I think there's something of a barrier in any person's own self-perceptions, things we accept as true and unyielding but never actually think about. It's part of being human: we can't think about everything without going bughouse nuts, so there are many things we just don't think about, and some of those we really should think about. When a woman takes a serious, sensitive, considered look at a male character, with the aim of giving that character a fair and honest portrayal, I think she will often times bring out those sorts of unconsidered assumptions into the light where they can be looked at freshly. Again, I assume that this is likely the case for the reverse circumstance. That sort of examination can be very good for those who want to understand themselves better.

Case in point, when I was reading Goblet of Fire and Order of the Phoenix I was very bothered by Harry's seething, unthinking anger, and the stupid, self-destructive ways he dealt with others because of his anger. I finally spent some thought on why it bothered me so much, and realized that it was because it was so very like the anger I felt myself at that age, and that I could see how, out of that anger, he was doing things that he would regret later. Added to that, from the perspective of having lived through those years myself (and quite a few more besides), I also could see just how trivial many of the things he was angry about really were, while at the same time remembering all too clearly how vital they would feel from the inside.

Case in point, when I was reading Goblet of Fire and Order of the Phoenix I was very bothered by Harry's seething, unthinking anger, and the stupid, self-destructive ways he dealt with others because of his anger. I finally spent some thought on why it bothered me so much, and realized that it was because it was so very like the anger I felt myself at that age, and that I could see how, out of that anger, he was doing things that he would regret later.

The old "raging hormones" stage, when most teenage boys revert to Neandertals for a couple of years, lose the power of speech, and only communicate with grunts and facial expressions. Happened to most of us :).

To be more correct, she wrote and illustrated a book by hand, and then auctioned it off to raise a lot of money for a very worthwhile charity. I certainly have no problems with that.

To be even more correct, she hand-wrote and illustrated seven copies of a book, six of which went to friends who had particularly helped her while she was writing the series. The seventh copy was auctioned for charity. I see no problem with any of this.

But I'd be interested in reading the stories. :)

Okay, touching on several points:
I found the portrayal of Harry's mentality, particularly in books 5, 6 & 7 to be almost painfully accurate considered against my recollections of my own teenage years.
I agree. Books 4 and 5 were hard for me to read because of this.

Not everyone needs to like these books, obviously, but I always find it strange how many people feel the need to attack them. If they're not to your taste, why not move on to something else you do like? If you read them and have a particular critical point to make that you think might help others understand or appreciate them more, I can see it, but sometimes the reactions I see seem to be... well... rather petty.

From my own point of view, there are books I've read that I thought were much better written, but I thought these were good, and the characterizations particularly strong. In addition, I enjoyed being part of an online community that discussed (and dissected) the books. Usually when I read books I can discuss them with one or two friends with similar tastes, and that's it. So many people read these, that there was never a shortage of people to discuss them with. There haven't been too many other things I've been involved in that have been so widespread. Perhaps that was part of the appeal for many of us introverted loners. ;)

Don't talk to me! You'll give me girl germs!

Cheers,
Marc

They have Girl germs down under too eh? Have you had an outbreak of cooties too?

BOb

They have Girl germs down under too eh? Have you had an outbreak of cooties too?

BOb

you know, i looked on the wikipedia page, it says you can get vaccinated for that. you should look into it. i'm pretty sure once you get it it's incurable.

"Circle circle, dot dot. Now you've had your cootie shot."

Works every time. :D

"Circle circle, dot dot. Now you've had your cootie shot."

Works every time. :D

Wow, my rash is clearing up already!

BOb

I don't have a problem with the books, but the audio books wow are annoying I can't read an HP book without thinking about that whiny voice the narrator made for Harmonie.

"Circle circle, dot dot. Now you've had your cootie shot."

Works every time. :D
A proper cootie shot has to be administered in person. It is a shot to the upper arm. Make a fist and stick up your middle finger. Then using the knuckle of that middle finger that is sticking up, hit the upper are of the person you want to inoculate. That's the only way it works.

I don't have a problem with the books, but the audio books wow are annoying I can't read an HP book without thinking about that whiny voice the narrator made for Harmonie.

The British audiobooks (narrated by Stephen Fry) are (IMHO) much better than the American ones, narrated by Jim Dale.

The British audiobooks (narrated by Stephen Fry) are (IMHO) much better than the American ones, narrated by Jim Dale.
Stephen Fry is a genius. ANYTHING that man does is brilliant.

I'm glad to know that, if I ever get the HP books in audio, I'll go for the British ones. I've been thinking about buying a full, matched set of the British version anyway, I'd like to see how they compare to the "American" version. Maybe I'll go for the audio version, that'll require me to do some more looking into solving the MP3 Pause issue I have on my Sansa Express -- it doesn't hold it's place, you see, but jumps back to the beginning of the track when you turn it off. I've been meaning to experiment with chopping longer files up into small ones to see what that does for me. :nice:

I'm glad to know that, if I ever get the HP books in audio, I'll go for the British ones. I've been thinking about buying a full, matched set of the British version anyway, I'd like to see how they compare to the "American" version. Maybe I'll go for the audio version, that'll require me to do some more looking into solving the MP3 Pause issue I have on my Sansa Express -- it doesn't hold it's place, you see, but jumps back to the beginning of the track when you turn it off. I've been meaning to experiment with chopping longer files up into small ones to see what that does for me. :nice:

I actually like the Jim Dale versions myself. It think he did an excellent job. To each their own. My mp3 versions use the technique of dividing into files every 3 to 4 minutes so you don't lose much. It also helps if you accidentally hit the jump to next button on my nano.

Dale

I was thinking 5 minute jumps, but smaller might be better ... somewhere around the average length of a song, I s'pose.

What do you use to chop them up? And how does it handle the breaks? Does it just cut in the middle of words? And how disruptive is it if it does?

Hi Nat,

I use a freeware program called "MP3 Splitter" available from here (http://www.codevisions.de/). It works very well indeed.

It splits files in the middle of words, etc, but if you're using something like an iPod which plays tracks seamlessly one to the next, you don't hear the break.

I'm on a Sansa Express, I dunno what it does for seams -- one of the things I'll have to play with. :)

Thanks for the link!

I use MP3 DirectCut
http://mpesch3.de1.cc/mp3dc.html

Thanks for the link, Sparrow. I take it this one works well for you?

Thanks for the link, Sparrow. I take it this one works well for you?

Yep, I find it pretty simple to use - does everything I need in the way I'd expect; but I don't do anything very advanced with it.

Cool, I'll add it to my list of things to check out. Thanks. :nice:

Stephen Fry is a genius. ANYTHING that man does is brilliant.

...except for "coming aboard (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Fry#Health)".

Cheers,
Marc

Hi Nat,

I use a freeware program called "MP3 Splitter" available from here (http://www.codevisions.de/). It works very well indeed.

It splits files in the middle of words, etc, but if you're using something like an iPod which plays tracks seamlessly one to the next, you don't hear the break.Hmm interesting. Is it possible to choose where to place a cut?

...except for "coming aboard (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Fry#Health)".

Cheers,
Marc

well all right, except for that. although i suppose you could view it from the alternate perspective of his brilliantly preventing himself from drowning, at the small price of a snapped humerus, and then neatly avoiding the loss of the use of his arm. (tch, don't spoil it for me !)

well all right, except for that. although i suppose you could view it from the alternate perspective of his brilliantly preventing himself from drowning, at the small price of a snapped humerus, and then neatly avoiding the loss of the use of his arm. (tch, don't spoil it for me !)

I wouldn't dream of it. Your logic is too brilliant in itself. ;)

Cheers,
Marc (who has, therefore, been "brilliant" twice in his life)

Hmm interesting. Is it possible to choose where to place a cut?Even if it were, I wouldn't want to do it manually, by the time you chop up 10 hours of stuff into 3 minute segments, you'll have made 200 individual cuts. (shudder)

Hmm interesting. Is it possible to choose where to place a cut?

MP3 DirectCut lets you choose (I use it to top and tail radio progs for example); or you can automatically slice an mp3 into particular length segments.

I imagine MP3 Splitter has similar functionality; but I've not used it personally.

MP3 DirectCut lets you choose (I use it to top and tail radio progs for example); or you can automatically slice an mp3 into particular length segments.

I imagine MP3 Splitter has similar functionality; but I've not used it personally.

Yes, I too use MP3DirectCut (also freeware) for manually editing MP3 - removing unwanted material from the start of end of a recording. MP3Splitter is a much simpler tool which comes in handy when you have a long file and you simply want to quickly split it into 5 minute chunks, for example.

If it's any help, the method for splitting a file in MP3 DirectCut is:

Open file
Edit / Select All
Special /Auto Cue - set time increment (e.g. 5 minutes)
File / Save Split - choose folder and naming method for the mp3 chunks

I tried both MP3Splitter and MP3 DirectCut. I found that MP3 DirectCut seemed to give me cleaner files -- MP3Splitter left some minor "skipping" artifacts for some reason. :shrug:

Three minute files seem to work well for my Sansa Express, and the transitions from file to file are mostly unnoticeable. I also figured out how to get the Sansa's playlist function to work for me (not the most intuitive process, I'm afraid), so it will actually play the book files in the order I specify rather than shuffled (that was a pain).

The bottom line is, it looks like you two have put me onto a method that will, indeed, work for me for non-Audible.com audio books. Thanks!

The British audiobooks (narrated by Stephen Fry) are (IMHO) much better than the American ones, narrated by Jim Dale.

Yeah Jim Dale's narration has imprinted on my audial memory, so I literally can't read the Harry Potter books without thinking of that guy's voice.