Customer Reviews

Fact, Fiction, and Folklore in Harry Potter's World: An Unofficial Guide

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4 star:		(7)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

Author George Beahm has done a nice job with this book. Discussions of folklore and creatures are entertaining, although it must be noted that the book only covers the first 5 books in the series. Author George Beahm presents the information in a well-organized and easy approach. As a big HP fan, I personally consider Breahm along with author Daniel Lawrence of the new HARRY POTTER BOOK 6 TRIVIA BOOK as the two best experts on HP insights. I found it fun to read this book for an early Books 1-5 refresher and then read author Daniel Lawrence's ULTIMATE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE TRIVIA BOOK to fully see how much information I still didn't know about HP. Great companion pieces to your HP collection. An avid adult HP fan, I recommend the above.

Much like his previous book, Muggles and Magic, this newest work by George Beahm is packed with interesting information and insights. Most of us, having general knowledge about mythology and folklore (and therefore understanding some of the clever connections and allusions Rowling makes in the naming of characters and items), sense that there are likely many references we don't quite get. Fortunately for us, Beahm has done all of the work required to make reading Harry Potter a far richer, more complex experience. From his exploration of the significance of names to his thorough catalog of the various attributes of the fantastic creatures that appear both in Harry Potter and world mythology, Beahm gets it all down in an extremely comprehensive and easy-to-read way.

One of the best things about this book is its layout. For example: this Guide has one of the best tables of contents that I've seen in a reference book of this sort, and the index is equally wonderful. If it's mentioned in a Harry Potter book and Beahm's explored its deeper meaning and connections to our world, a reader will easily find any creature, item, term, or character she's looking for. In Beahm's last book, I found myself somewhat distracted by the numerous sidebars and inserts. In Fact, Fiction, and Folklore in Harry Potter's World: An Unofficial Guide, the sidebars and inserts are perfectly placed--they are unobtrusive but won't get overlooked, which is all to the good: they're wonderful asides to the main text and only help to enhance the reader's understanding of the connections between Rowling's world and the more fanstastic aspects of our own. The illustrations are also wonderful, offering the eye a place to rest and setting off the main text in a whimsical manner.

Finally, Beahm again demonstrates his ability to write informational prose in a thoroughly engaging manner. We learn a good deal about a great number of things in this Guide--without feeling like we're sitting in on a World Mythology or Mythology in Literature seminar conducted by someone like Professor Binns. Although it may seem that it would be difficult to make anything connected with Rowling and Harry Potter boring, such is definitely not the case. Large chunks of information, no matter how interesting their original source, are difficult for me to take in unless the writer can balance the perfect style and tone with the content. Beahm is a natural at this.

In reading Fact, Fiction, and Folklore in Harry Potter's World: An Unofficial Guide, I learned all sorts of things I'd never even guessed at without realizing that I'd learned them. And that alone is the best reason to recommend this book: I have a far greater appreciation for the care that Rowling has taken in creating Harry Potter's world--a world that invites the sort of exploration that Beahm does so well.

George Breahm has written a very concise book on the fiction and folklore that encompasses Harry Potter. This book does not cover any new aspects of the HBP Book 6, but Breahm gives a very easy-to-read and detailed review of the first 5 books in the series.

For even more INSIGHTS, CLUES and MYSTERIES, I also recommend to serious HP fans to read the newly released ULTIMATE UNOFFICIAL HALF-BLOOD PRINCE BOOK 6 TRIVIA BOOK by author Daniel Lawrence as it is a great guide to the HBP Book 6, Movie 4 and the new mysteries leading into Book 7. Authors Breahm and Lawrence are to be applauded for their works.

If you want an unofficial guide to Harry Potter's characters and commentary on their roots in other fantasy classics, use George Beahm's Fact, Fiction And Folklore In Harry Potter's World, an intriguing survey of over 300 entries to locate the myths, legends, literature and history in the Potter novels. From beasts and wizards to zombies, owls and amulets, this visual Harry Potter companion is much more than whimsy: it traces the literary roots - and often, the origins- of Potter's creations in traditional mythic literature.

When I picked up George Beahm's new book, Fact, Fiction, and Folklore in Harry Potter's World, I had just finished reading the first five books in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series in preparation for the publication of book six. This was perfect timing.

This is not a book to read start to finish in one sitting, as it is necessarily repetitive in the four sections (Fabulous Beasts, Wizards through the Ages, All Things in the Magical World, and Enchanting Places). It's better sampled in pieces at will, or used as a reference guide by clueless relatives or friends of rabid Harry Potter fans. Sometimes the explanations wander off topic a bit, but this does not prove to be too distracting, especially if one browses through the book instead of reading it in order.

Fact, Fiction, and Folklore might just as well be called Fact, Fiction, Folklore and Fantasy Literature. Beahm frequently refers to the works of J.R.R. Tolkien and to other fantasy works as well. If a Harry Potter fan is seeking suggestions of other books to read while awaiting book seven, this book could be mined for titles.

The artwork is delightful. I find Tim Kirk's whimsical drawings alone worth the price of the book.

I had made some of the real world connections to folklore and language that Beahm makes, but I learned many new things as well. I learned, for instance, that Nicholas Flamel was a real historical alchemist who lived six hundred years ago.

It is sometimes difficult to tell when the text about Rowling's fantasy world ends and the description of real world parallels begins, and my one real issue with the book is that it can't decide who its audience is. Devoted fan? Someone who hasn't read the books but might? Clueless friends and family of fans? Beahm's misguided efforts to avoid spoilers for people who have not read the books can leave information incomplete for those who have. This leads, for example, to an entry on Werewolves that does not mention Professor Remus Lupin. It would have been a better book if Beahm had stuck to the devoted fan as his audience. Still, this should not prevent fans from enjoying having this book in their collection.

It's going to be a long wait for the fourth movie and the seventh book. Harry Potter fans will find Fact, Fiction, and Folklore a good book to have on hand to provide a Harry fix during the interim.

I haven't finished reading the book, but it's very detailed. I recommend it for anyone trying to understand the world of harry Potter better. As a writer and avid HP reader, I find it very interesting.

I bought this book for my children, and myself. I expected it to be a bit more, but my children found it to be informative. We found it to be a fun read, and the facts interesting. It made it fun to figure out where some of the characters and creatures were from.
I recommend this book to everyone.

After publishing MUGGLES AND MAGIC, my other unofficial book about Harry Potter, I had no plans to write a second book about J.K. Rowling or Harry Potter, but then a funny thing happened: Because I majored in English Language and Literature in college, I found myself taking notes on all the historical references, the myths and legends, and the facts that had real-world counterparts to Rowling's fictional universe. That notebook grew in length until, finally, I decided to expand upon it at greater length, with the result that I had -- to my great surprise and delight -- another book about Harry Potter on my hands. At that time I began writing it, Rowling's plans for the publication of her 6th novel was (of course) known only to herself; it was mere coincidence that at the time I committed to writing this book that the publication date would be timed the month the 6th novel would be out.

In any event, what I wanted to do with this book is show the direct connections between Rowling's fictional references and the real-world references. The results surprised me, since I found relationships that tapped into biology, chemistry, botany, and physics. (Did you know, for instance, that Rowling's notion of instant teleportation is a reality? Scientists have actually successfully transported atomic particles!) Life IS stranger than fiction . . . sometimes.

For this book, I called (once again) on Tim Kirk to illustrate it. He has a light, whimsical touch that I think captures the spirit of Harry Potter and the wizarding world perfectly. I also asked Britton McDaniel, a relatively recent college grad with an art degree, to draw specific items peculiar to the wizarding world. As a result, this book doesn't have the usual generic clip-art found in books of this kind.

By the time I finished with this book, I had 300 separate entries on things in the wizarding world that had a real-world connection to the Muggle world. I learned a lot and had a lot of fun, and I hope you do, too.

-- George Beahm, author

FF&F is an informative guide to just about everything in the Harry Potter world. It is also a fun, delightful read. The book is divided into four sections covering the creatures, wizards & witches, magical objects & spells, and enchanting places that spilled out from the creative, fertile mind of J. K. Rowling. Within each section, words are listed alphabetically. There is also a comprehensive index in the back which makes it easy to find things. Some of the descriptions are concise while others are more elaborate. I always love reading J.K.R. quotes and there are plenty of them in this book as well as side notes which offer tantalizing tidbits of information.

Beahm's thoroughness impressed me. I remember how, when I read my first HP book, I also considered taking notes on all the characters, spells, and locations since I knew there would be an abundance of them. I decided against this, but I'm sure glad the author did not. As I read, I was continually raising my eyebrows in happy surprise each time I learned something new.

In the first section, I read about the "fabulous beasts and ferocious critters, ghoulies and ghosties, and long-leggety beasties" that flow through Harry's world. I often found myself happily forced to think back to where and when these creatures were alluded to in the novels, which proved to be a fun and worthwhile endeavor. I also enjoyed the section on Wizards and Witches. Even though Beahm explains that "a comprehensive list...would necessarily be exhaustive", I was still pleased with the number that are described in the book. I particularly liked learning about the names and their possible origins. Although I've usually been able to guess at this with some success (they often coming from Latin or Greek) I did come upon a few surprises. For example, Argus Filch. I didn't know that "Argus" is the Greek word for "all seeing" and that there is a myth about Argus the giant who had 100 eyes. (I'd better brush up on my Greek mythology). This is a fitting description for Filch and his obsessive watchfulness of the students at Hogwarts. The meticulousness with which J.K.R. did her research never ceases to amaze me. The chapter on Enchanting Places, although shorter than the others, was a pleasant romp through many of the places that Harry and his friends experienced. As I read, I found that my mind toggled back and forth between the scenes in the movies and the images of the places I had created in my own mind when I first read the books. It was also fun seeing the artists' unique conception of these places. My favorite section was "All Things in the Magical World". Everything from "Amulet" to "Wizard's Wireless" is covered. The most interesting and entertaining part of this section is how Beahm correlates these magical items to things in the Muggle world with descriptions that sometimes border on the technical, yet are always easily understandable and amusing.

One final thing must be said about the sketches in FF&F. We are treated to a good number of them by artists Tim Kirk and Britton McDaniel. They each did a fine job of creating the fantastical images in J.K.R.'s world. Illustrations of elves, trolls, dementors, and boggarts adorn the pages and delight the eyes. After having read the book, I know I will return to it time and again, not only for information but to delight in these wonderful images again.

After his previous foray into the world of Harry Potter - a helpful, interesting book entitled Muggles and Magic - I had to read George Beahm's new work, Fact, Fiction, and Folklore in Harry Potter's World. The latest Harry Potter novel, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, is coming soon, and this book has put me in a mood so anticipatory that I am not sure if I will last the wait!

Fact, Fiction, and Folklore in Harry Potter's World (abbreviated FF&F from this point on) focuses on - as the title suggests - the history of each element of the Harry Potter novels. Questions such as "Where did the Hippogriff originate?" and "What are the names of all the wizards mentioned in the Harry Potter series" are answered in painstaking detail. Initially, even though I was pleased with Beahm's earlier work, I was still concerned that a book such as this would be difficult to read. I likened the thought of reading it to reading an encyclopedia. In other words, I imagined reading one boring fact after another. But this was not the case! Once I got into FF&F, I could not put it down. Though I had already vaguely known where J.K. Rowling got many of her basic ideas for the series, I had no idea what rich origins so many aspects of her novels contain.

If I could name one thing I came away with after reading this book, it would be a sense of awe I feel for J.K. Rowling for being able to incorporate so many different elements into a coherent series of novels. I'm pleased that author George Beahm so accurately and fully covered this daunting topic. My favorite part of this book was the section that covers the history of names of each of the characters. Each one, from Harry Potter to Professor Snape, has a name full of history that, although possibly coincidental, may hide clues as to what is to come.

This is an informative, fun, fact-filled book that I can gladly recommend to all Harry Potter fans. I did not go into this with high hopes but, after having read it, I can honestly say that it was not only worth my time but worth a second read in the future, perhaps once the series has ended. FF&F is a book that no Harry Potter guru should be without!