Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Tales of Beedle the Sushi Chef

I’m a big reader of comic books (obviously). I’ve seen a fair amount of anime. But for some reason I never really have delved into the world of manga. It’s not because they’re “backwards”; I think that’s kind of fun. I honestly don’t know why. But then I found out that a friend of mine was working on the English adaptation of one and I decided I needed to read it. Mixed Vegetables was fantastic! I really liked it. OK, frankly it took me a little while to really get into it. Damn I forgot how hyper it can be! But then I found myself thoroughly caught up in the story of Hana’s quest to be a female sushi chef via dating the extremely dreamy (seriously, he’s drawn sooooo dreamy) Hayato and I was hooked. My library only has the first volume but I need to read more. I’ll have to put in a purchase request or do an inter-library loan.

I got The Tales of Beedle the Bard for Christmas and read it extremely slowly. It was as though I was purposely trying to make the Potterverse last, knowing this was it. I’m a fan of folk tales anyway, especially those from cultures I didn’t grow up within, so I was predisposed to love these. But I think I liked Dumbledore’s commentary even more than the stories themselves! It gave just the briefest glimpses into Wizarding politics, particularly around Hogwarts, with a sprinkling of history. The best part was when he would discuss the attempts to sanitize the often descriptive tales, to make them more palatable for children. Hilarious! And all too prevalent in the Muggle world as well. We’ve got a lame toddler version of Goldilocks and the Three Bears which Mr. b just loathes. We both change it when reading it to Kirk so that it’s apparent that Goldilocks is a) breaking and entering and b) gets eaten in the end for being naughty.

8 comments:

Stephanie V.W. Lucianovic said...

Aw, yay! I'm so glad you like Mixed Vegetables! I think there's several volumes out now. I'm expecting the vol 6 to come to me any day now for rewriting.

Check out my specially added food glossary -- that was all my idea in order to preserve the actual Japanese terms.

belsum said...

Oh I'm so glad you found this! I had meant to email you and let you know how much I enjoyed it. Thoroughly engrossing. And the glossary was fabulous so I'm impressed that was your own invention. Brava!

(I also noticed your visit to the Trek forum this afternoon and thought perhaps you were going to Make An Announcement...)

Mummy Grabill said...

Bel - that reminds me, I was drawn to purchase a compilation of Hans Christian Anderson tales that I've truly truly enjoyed! Reading some of the *real* stories has been quite a treat. I always knew the real story of Little Mermaid, but it was fun to read it and really see just HOW different it is from the Disney version everyone teaches their kids!

Stephanie V.W. Lucianovic said...

Well, I just announced.

belsum said...

I was simply appalled the first time I heard the original Little Mermaid story! All the Grimm tales are way more gory, too. It's pretty astounding what we take for granted as the *real* versions.

Mummy Grabill said...

Disney has us very well trained. :-) A large majority of the Hans Christian Anderson tales are pretty horrific as well.

Anne C. said...

Damn, I miss Keckler. I've lost track of the Trek forum. Good to know she's doing well.

belsum said...

Yeah, you haven't stopped by in ages. Good thing I can keep up with you via blogs!