Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

The last Harry Potter book is all that everyone imagined it would be and much more. After seeing the characters develop and gaining magical powers, now we see them taking their own path in fighting Voldermort. In the magical world, being 17 allows zoung witches and wizards to use their power to the best of their abilities. Achieving this age also means that the magical enchantment which protected Harry from Voldermort will end. In order to protect Harry, Mad Eye Moody, the Weasleys, Ron, Hermione, Lupin, Thonks all come to assure that Harry goes into a secret hiding place. Unfortunately the Death Eaters attack them on the night when Harry turns 17 and kill Mad Eye Moody and injure George.

Hermione, Ron, and Harry reach the safe house, which in the first stage is the Weasley residence. There they attend Fleur and Bill’s wedding, a last opportunity to enjoy a pleasant company. On the same night with the wedding, the Ministry of Magic is overthrown and Death Eaters attack the Weasley’s.

Barely managing to escape alive, Ron, Hermione and Harry flee to London, and hide into 12 Grimauld Place.  There, with the help of Kreacher find out that the Slytherin Locket is under the possession of Dolores Umbridge. Using a polijuice potion and concocting a plan to infiltrate the Ministry of Magic, they manage to retrieve the locket, but are unable to go back into the house, because one of their attackers saw the location of their hiding. As a consequence, they chose to go into hiding, never staying in one place too long. Unable to destroy the locket, they must carry it on them in turns, and under the dark influence of the locket, Ron starts believing that Harry and Hermione are laughing about him and in a fit of fury decides to abandon them. Both Harry and Hermione are devastated, but they continue the quest for the remaining Horcruxes.

During their quest to find the Horcruxes, they also discover more about Dumbledore’s personal life. Along with new findings, Harry is tormented by thoughts of being used by Dumbledore, but is aware that he must trust Dumbledore’s decision of how and with whom he shared information. Also with the help of Hermione they uncover that Voldermort is after the Deathly Hallows- three magical objects that have the power to make one invincible. The Elder Wand- which was in Dumbledore’s possession, the Resurection Stone- that has the ability to bring back the memory of the dead ones and the Invisibility Cloak. Harry realizes that the Hallows must be real and that he is the happy possessor of the Cloak. He chooses to continue the quest set by Dumbledore: find and destroy the Horcruxes.

Ron returns to his friends, just in time to save Harry from drowning. One night, a Patronus, a silver doe appears and leads Harry to discover the Sword of Griffindor on the bottom of a frozen lake. As he dives to recover the sword, the ice starts forming above and he is trapped. Ron appears, saves him, and also destroys the locket with the Sword. United, the three friends resume their quest. Together the friends piece together the information that one of the remaining Horcruxes is the cup of the House of Huffelpuf, the other one must have something to do with the House of Ravenclaw and one of them is Nagini, Voldermort’s precious snake.

One night, as they attempt to set up camp they are captured and taken to Malfoy residence. Hermione manages to put a transforming charm on Harry’s face, making it unrecognizable. They are imprisoned in the Malfoy’s cellar and Hermione is being tortured. Among the prisoners Harry and Ron find their friends Luna Lovegood and Dean Thomas, Olivander - the wand maker, and Griphook - a goblin working at Gringotts. From Griphook they found out that the cup is held in the Lestranges Vault at Gringotts. With the help of Dobby- the former Malfoy house elf, now a free elf, the group manages a close escape to Fleur and Bill’s Cottage. Unfortunately Bellatrix manages to mortally attack Dobby with a knife. After they arrive at the cottage the little elf dies. Harry is full of sadness as he loses one more friend and after providing Dobby with a proper funeral, he negotiates with Griphook the price to break into Gringotts. Griphook asks for the Sword of Griphindor, and helps the trio get into the vault. After they manage to take the cup, Griphook gets the sword, and they manage to escape using the trapped dragon. Flying on the back of the dragon they exit London and return into hiding. Realizing that the Ravenclaw Diadem might be one of the Horcruxes they plan to return to Hogwarts.

Under the new dark regime, Hogwarts is managed by Snape and is heavily defended by Death Eaters. They manage to get inside Hogwarts through a passage that connects Leaky Cauldron, a place in Hogsmead managed by Aberforth Dumbledore, Albus’s brother, to the secret chamber in Hogwarts. As they enter Hogwarts they find out a couple of Dumbledor´s Army fellows are there in hiding and more return as they prepare to destroy Voldermort. Memebers of the Order of the Phoenix also come and a battle ensues. Trying to find the diadem is hard work, and with the help of the ghost in the Ravenclaw tower Harry manages to find the diadem. Unfortunately he is surrounded by Draco, Crabbe and Goyle, and one of them uses a dark spell sending a consuming fire. The fire destroys the diadem and kills Crabbe. Draco and Goyle are saved by Harry and Ron and Hermione return after destroying the cup using the basilik fang located in the Chambers of Secret. Voldermort puts a siege on Hogwarts, and Harry is called to face him in a face to face duel. Before he goes into the Forbidden Forrest, Harry tells Neville to kill Nagini, and he sets of alone, under the cover of his invisibility cloak.

Harry realizes that he must die in order to defeat Voldermort, and being at peace with this decision uses the Resurrection Stone to see his family and dead friends one last time. Faced with Voldermort, Harry refuses to use any killing curse, and although Voldermort holds the Elder Wand, and casts a killing curse, Harry is not entirely dead; he only visits a temporary link between the dead and the living. In this temporary voyage he encounters Dumbledore, who lets Harry know the secret of the Elder Wand and the fact that Voldermort has simply destroyed the Horcrux that resided in Harry. Harry returns to the living, and resumes the fight against Voldermort. He is the true owner of the wand, and although Snape killed Dumbledore, Draco disarmed him first. Voldermort kills Snape, but Snape manages to give Harry a last memory that forever changed the way in which he sees Snape (he was his protector, due to the deep feelings of love felt towards his mother).  Due to the fact that Harry disarmed Draco he had in turn become the master of the Wand. A consequence of wand’s alliance to a true master is that any spells cast won’t hurt the rightful owner, and so the curse sent by Voldermort backfires and kills him. Neville manages to kill Nagini, and the other members of the Order of the Phoenix and Dumbledore’s Army defeat the remaining Death Eaters. Unfortunately in the battle Fred, Nymphadora, Lupin and other students are killed, but the world returns to a peaceful state.

In the prologue we find Harry having a happy family with Ginny, together having three children: James Sirius, Albus Severus and Lily Luna, and setting his middle child to Hogwarts with words of comfort regarding the allocation of a particular house by the Sorting Hat. Ron and Hermione also have a lovely family with two chidren: Rose and Hugo. All friends meet on the platform of 9^3/4 to see their children off to Hogwarts. So end the book.

The last book of the series is a complex book that deals with the issue of trust, love, death, while managing your emotions. One of my favourite scenes is when Ron rescues Harry. For me this is the embodiment of friendship and it shows the necessary path Ron had to take in order to redeem his moment of weakness. After he chooses to abandon them in a fit of fury, he had to find them again by trying to predict where they will end up. It was an arduous task, but with the help of Snape’s Patronus he manages to find them just in time.  Also the epilogue is beautiful and leaves you with a sense that all is good in the world.

I can only advise you all to read the books for yourself and discover the magic of J.K. Rowling’s writing and the fascination of reading about the transformation of the main characters.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

In this book, Harry and his friends are almost grown-up while their fight against Voldermort intensifies. 

After receiving their results on the examinations following their 6^th year at Hogwarts, they choose their own subjects according to the path that they want to pursue after graduation. Harry further take Potions, but on the directional instruction of Horace Slughorn, a professor obsessed with tutoring bright students and creating a web of connection with the most powerful wizards. During his first Potions lesson, Harry is given and old book to practice the day’s lesson and it turns out to be a highly commented book, which belonged to the Half Blood Prince. Following the directions in the book allowed Harry to create a wonderful potion and win a bottle of Felix Felicis- a potion designed to give luck to the one that consumes it. Too much of Hermione’s anger, Harry follows the comments on the book and outshines her in Potions, in the following lessons. Another development of the year is that finally Snape receives the post of Professor of the Dark Arts, alongside with Harry receiving regular lessons with Dumbledore.

Dumbledore gives Harry private lessons in the hope of finding out more about Voldermort’s past and understand how he became obsessed with power. They also find out that in Voldermort’s pursuit of eternal life he had split his soul in seven Horcruxes (objects designed to encapsulate one’s piece of soul). Two of the Horcruxes were destroyed – the Riddle Diary, which allowed the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets, and a ring, of the heirloom of Slythering House. The ring was destroyed by Dumbledore and left him with a slowly progressing dark spell that will ultimately kill him.

The quest to discover the past and understand how Voldermort can be destroyed progresses with the help of Dumbledore’s memories of young Riddle. Harry finds out more about the boy and young man that will become the greatest dark wizard of all time. He is both amazed and shock to find out some similarities between him and the Dark Lord, while also finding out the one important thing that distinguishes him from Voldermort: his power to love and maintain a true friendship with Ron and Hermione. Ron and Hermione help him make sense of all that Harry finds out during the private discussions with Dumbledore, though they don’t agree with Harry’s intensive use of the Half Blood Prince’s Potion Book. Furthermore, Ron and Hermione develop feelings for each other, but Ron is jealous of the friendship between Hermione and Krum and he ends up dating Lavander Brown, which totally impedes the friendship between him and Hermione. Luckily Harry maintains contact with both and somehow manages to go through the year and his own love life, mostly in one piece. Harry starts fancying Ginny, but fears Ron’s disapproval, so he keeps it a secret.

Upon following Draco Malfoy into the Dark Alley, Harry is convinced that Draco plans to kill Dumbledore, and after couple of attempts to smuggle dark art objects into the school, he starts using his Marauder’s Map and Invisibility Cloak to follow him through the school. Unfortunately this disturbs his ability to recollect a last piece of information vital to finding out how Voldermort can be destroyed. Pressed by time and Dumbledore, one night Harry drinks a portion of his Felix potion and manages to retrieve a vital memory from Slughorn. With this piece of information he and Dumbledore manage to deduce the number and the identity of the last Horcruxes.

In one night, almost at the end of term, Dumbledore asks Harry to accompany him in the journey to destroy one of the Horcruxes (the Slytherin locket). They go to one remote place where the young Riddle was on holiday and there they manage to pass all the charms, only to find out that the locket was a replica, the real one being in the possession of R.A.B.  When they return to Hogwarts, they find the school being attacked by Death Eaters, and in the feath of the Battle, they go up in the Astronomy Tower, where cornered by Draco, Bellatrix, and other Death Eathers, Dumbledore is being attacked. Harry cannot defend his mentor, being immobilized by a spell under his Invisibility Cloak. Then his worst fears come to life: Draco tries to kill Dumbledore, revealing a pact made with Voldermort, but is unable to kill and so Snape kills Dumbledore. Paralysed with pain, Harry tries to scream and fight back, but only when Dumbledore dies the spell is lifted and he can pursue the attackers. The whole school is fighting the Death Eaters, and after Snape and the others escape the premises the whole school turns to Dumbledore’s dead body and mourns the loss of one of the greatest wizards of their time.

In the aftermath of the fight, Ron and Hermione forget their dispute and rekindle their friendship and also Harry enters a relationship with Ginny, having Ron’s blessing. Without major events, the school-year ends. The friends decide to continue Dumbledore’s quest, to find and destroy the remaining Horcruxes.  

What I enjoyed the most in this book is finding the characters developing insights into their own personal life and personal development. You can feel that the characters are growing-up, as they become more aware of others and their feelings alongside with discovering a purpose for their own abilities, and how to use them in their fight against evil.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

The fifth book in the Harry Potter series begins with Harry being attacked by Dementors as Dudley and he return home one late summer evening. Forced to use magic in order to ward off the attack, Harry receives a letter from the Ministry of Magic and is accused of underage magic and expulsion from Hogwarts. He is even subjected to a hearing at the Ministry of Magic and only after a witness testifies in his favour he is free to attend to Hogwarts and continue his schooling. At the Hearing, Harry meets the under-secretary, Dolores Umbridge, which will play an important negative role in the new school year.

As a consequence of the dark activity and the Dementor attack, Harry goes to a safe hiding place, the house of his godfather - Sirius Black. There, he meets his friends and is introduced to members of the Order of the Phoenix, a group of witches and wizards led by Dumbledore in attempt to fight Voldermort. At the headquarter, Harry finds out about the extensive campaign to discredit his name and claim that Voldermort is back. His emotions intensify as he experiences more dreams and scar pains related to Dark Lord’s activity. He demands more information from Dumbledore, but is denied in an uncharacteristically cold fashion by the Headmaster. Feeling more and more misunderstood and left out from the Order, Harry’s emotions grow and he finds himself experiencing more and more scar pains, dreams and also Voldermort’s emotions. Sirius becomes his confident and friend and helps Harry to understand the importance of training his mind and restraining from acting impulsively. Sirius is also bound to remain into hiding after Malfoy recognizes him, when disguised as a black dog. On this note of secrecy, Hermione, Ron and Harry begin their fifth year at Hogwarts.

The magical world seems oblivious to Voldermort’s return, and the Ministry of Magic interferes with Hogwarts educational politics, by instating Umbridge as Defence against the Dark Arts teacher. Umbridge is an avid power seeker and doesn’t miss any opportunity to gain power in Hogwarts, by forcing stupid decrees and laws. She even bans the use of courses in her class and uses barbaric methods on students that receive detention. Needless to say, she hates Harry and tries to force him to remain silent by having him in a long detention period and ultimately banning him from Quidditch and locking away his broom. As a reaction to all the restrictions set by Umbridge, Hermione, Ron and Harry create a secret group, Dumbledore’s Army, in order to practice Defence against Dark Arts. The group has members from different houses, and they meet in secrecy.

After Harry experiences a dream in which he sees Voldermort attacking Mr. Weasley, Dumbledore urges him to start training Oclumency with Professor Snape in order to close his mind from Voldermort’s influence. Harry ignores the practice of closing his mind and is constantly haunted by nightmares in which he goes in the Department of Mysteries and searches for a weapon. In one of the meetings with Snape he breaks into one of Snape’s early memories, and sees the young professor being tormented by James Potter (Harry’s father) and his group of friends. Feeling the urge to better understand his father’s behaviour he contacts Sirius in order to hear the story from him. Slowly he realises that everyone makes mistakes and nobody is perfect, and he too must try to contain his anger, frustration and negative emotions.

Without the practice of controlling his mind and emotions, Harry believes one nightmare in which he sees Sirius being held captive in the Department of Mysteries. Unable to contact Sirius he decides to go and save him. He is accompanied by Hermione, Ron, Ginny Weasley, Luna Lovegood and Neville Longbottom in their attempt to break into the Ministry of Magic and rescue Sirius. Only after the group succeeds in retrieving a prophecy concerning Voldermort and Harry, did they realize that they have been lured into a trap. Death Eaters appear and try to steal the prophecy and in the fight Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Neville and Luna are injured, and the prophecy is destroyed. Coming to Harry’s help Sirius, Lupin and Mad Eye Moody alongside a group of Aurors appear. Unfortunately, by the time Dumbledore appears Sirius is killed, but he is successful in withholding Voldermort and catching the group of Death Eaters.  Following this battle in the Ministry of Magic, the officials, led by the Minister – Cornelius Fudge, are forced to recognize the return of the Dark Lord and take action.

Losing the closest person he had to a father is proving very painful to Harry and he feels like he needs to avenge him and also to punish Dumbledore for not helping him earlier. Dumbledore finally tells Harry the truth about why he was left in the custody of his aunt and why he wanted Harry to learn Occlumency. Apparently the great spell that enabled Harry to live after his parents were killed is due to the immense love that his mother had for him. This tie of blood must be renewed constantly, thus the need to return and live with his aunt and uncle every summer. Understanding this, but reluctant to the idea of a fun less summer, he goes on to spend his summer holiday in the company of the Dursleys.

In this book, we see the maturation process of emotions and also the need to contain impulses whilst listening to the advice of other. We are forced to trust our loved ones even when they don’t share the full information. Without this trust we are bound to make mistakes, possibly costing us more than just our pride. In Harry’s case his mistake of failing to listen to the advice of his mentor and friends led to Sirius’s death. This left him with a feeling of emptiness and the realisation that he contributed to his godfather’s demise.

A moral idea of the book is that we need to contain our impulses and also listen to the advice of others even if we think we are misunderstood or nobody feels the way we feel about a particular experience. We are not alone and the greatest power that we have in overcoming any challenge is to love, trust and listen wholeheartedly to our friends and mentors. I believe everyone (myself included) needs to remind her/himself that s/he is not alone and that we can ask for help or receive advice even if we think we don’t need it. Extra knowledge and advice from others are signs that people care about us and our well-being.   

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

In the fourth Harry Potter book, as Harry grows he attends the Quidditch World Cup and is a participant of the Triwizard Cup, which is held at Hogwarts. Both events are deemed to foster cooperation between wizards and witches from around the world. Even though in the magical world the returning of Voldermort is kept secret, signs of his return appear.

At the Quidditch World Cup, at which Hermione, Ron, Harry and the Weasley Family are all present, the Dark Mark of Voldermort appears after a group of Death Eaters start killing half-blood wizards and witches. The resulting wave of panic is blamed upon a house-elf belonging to Barty Crouch’s family (an official of the Ministry of Magic) and an unofficial investigation concerning the identity of the Death Eaters begins.

Harry is convinced of the importance of this dark activity, as he experiences pains in his scar and strange dreams about Voldermort’s activity. Dumbledore sets put extra precautions, and he even bans students under the age of 18 years to compete in Triwizard challenge. In order to compete at Triwizard Tournament, participats from two other prestigious schools: Durmstrang and Beauxbatons arrive at Hogwarts, alongside Ministry of Magic officials. The guests are received with curiosity and enthusiasm. As a mean of selecting suitable champions from the schools the Goblet of Fire (an ancient magical sorting device) is used. It comes as a surprise that after the election of Cedric Diggory, from Huffelpuff House – Hogwarts, Viktor Krum from Durmstrang and Fleur Delacour from Beauxbatons, Harry´s name is also selected, without him entering in the competition. With suspicions over the person which entered Harry´s name is trying to kill him, his friends and close professors seem to help him figure out clues on how to overcome the three challenges. As he finds out the nature of the first task he also shares information with Cedric, managing thus to get the golden egg protected by a fierce dragon. In the second task, Cedric repays the help by giving Harry a clue on how to open the egg and understand what the second task will be. Between the first and the second task a great Yule Ball is given, and Hermione attends it with Viktor, leaving Ron to feel for the first time a surge of jealousy and to notice that he has certain feelings for Hermione. Harry and Ron attend the party with the Patil sisters (Padma and Parvati), but end up talking to each other the whole time, as neither really fancies the girls. In the second task they must recue the loved ones from the lake, where they are guarded by Meerpeople. Harry’s need to be assured that all the captives are rescued almost cost him the points, but in the end the judges decide he showed moral fibre and award him points nonetheless, sending him in the second place for the Cup. The last task is a Maze completion and as he and Cedric decide to reach the cup at the same moment they are transported to Voldermort´s whereabouts. The cup was a portkey, bewitched to bring Harry to the Dark Lord.

In the fight to save their lives, Cedric is killed and Harry manages to escape. Harry shows incredible strength when duelling with Voldermort and realizes that his wand and Voldermort’s are sister wands, having been made with magical feathers from the same phoenix bird (Fawks - Dumbledor´s phoenix). After Harry returns with Cedric’s dead body, nobody believes him that he had to duel Voldermort, and the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, goes to great lengths to publicly discredit this claim. Only Dumbledore makes the information known to students in the end of the year feast and sends cautionary messages to all witches and wizards who believe him. In this note, the school year finishes and Harry is left to return once again to his uncle and aunt at Privet Drive.

The book follows the same themes such as death, friendship and bravery as the previous ones. It is enchantingly well-written and makes you think twice about the important decisions and trials in one’s life. I am reading it from an adult perspective and I am always amazed at the meanings which appear in the book. For example, how to deal with challenges set ahead of you and also how we tend to regard everything that has come to pass as something that was bound to happen. It seems he have a certain need to think that once we overcome something we were always meant to live it, and how we tend to forget the anxiety and stress that accompanies our struggles. 

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

The third book in the series opens with the story of a dangerous criminal wizard (Sirius Black) escaping the maximum security prison called Azkaban and going after Harry Potter. The action thickens with the arrival of new security measures at Hogwarts, Dementors -creatures that thrive on any sad and traumatic memory. Dementors are the keepers of Azkaban, ferocious creatures that can kill by sucking the soul out of a person.

Harry enters his third year at Hogwarts and finds himself highly protected against the threat of the escaping criminal, rumoured to be after him. Unfortunately he is very sensitive to the presence of Dementors that keep making him re-experience the night in which his parents were killed by Voldermort. Due to an accident when playing Quidditch (the most popular sport played in wizard world, and one at which Harry is extremely good) theyr professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts, Pr. Lupin, decides to help Harry conjure a Patronus, a charm that works against Dementors. Everyone in the school seems to have their watchful eyes on him, as he is considered Sirius target. Because the students are allowed to visit a nearby town of witches and wizards, Hogsmead,  Harry resorts to his Invisibility Cloak and a gift from the Weasley twin, a Marauders Map, to join his friends there. Using this Map unveils to him the story of how his father was a close friend of Sirius, and how betrayal leads to the death of Harrys parents. With a surge of revenge, he wants to avenge his parent’s death.

The theme of this book seems to be overcoming the sadness of losing your loved ones and also finding resources to go through the sorrow and become optimistic about the present and the future. The lesson for me was that one should never let him/herself be stuck in the past, because only remembering the suffering and negative experiences will send you to your own personal prison. It is a powerful analogy that is spot on with how depression evolves and is maintained. Whenever we find ourselves stuck on our failures we are doomed to relive them and in doing so we experience the same level of sorrow and negative effect. Only when we focus on a positive experience we escape the sorrow of the past and live the present in peace, without any shadow of regret lurking upon us.

With the obvious help and courage of his friends, Hermione and Ron, Harry discovers the truth about Sirius Black, how he was his father’s best friend, and in fact didn’t betray them. He found out that his father, Black, Lupin, and Wormtail have created the Marauders Map, because they wanted to be all the time with their friend. Lupin is a werewolf and when studying at Hogwarts he had to go every month in a safe place to transform, and be secluded for the safety of other students. The other three friends wanting to show support for their friend decided that they would transform into animals and continue they adventure into different forms. So they became illegal Animagus, and roamed the school grounds in peace. But as they grew older, it was obvious that while James Potter, Sirius and Lupin were much more gifted at witchcraft than Wormtail, and the latter joined forces with Voldermort in order to achieve power and influence. It was him who had betrayed Harry’s parents, and upon killing about 20 wizards and framing Sirius for the murders he continued to live as Ron’s pet rat. Discovering this and seeing Wormtail transform into human form allows Harry to see his godfather in a new light and hopes of visiting him and living with him, instead of the Dursleys bright up his future.  Unfortunately, even if they discover Sirius innocence they cannot prove it to the Ministry of Magic and Sirius is forced to flee into exile. Harry manages to conjure a beautiful powerful Patronus Charm that saves Sirius life and allows Harry to realize that he can be happy again and that he can indeed experience great happiness, not only sorrow.

As with the previous books, this one is superbly written and it is a pleasure to read it and reflect upon the fantastic adventures that the characters go through. I have presented a very short summary of the action, deciding to focus on only those aspects that I find important. One of which was the constant training on beeing aware of positive experiences when you are faced with recollections of bad events. This is an important ability to master, as it protects you from being enslaved in your own prison of sorrow and despair. 

Harry Potter and the Chambers of Secrets

In the second book, the action grows as the characters grow older. I like the book and how it’s written. Prior to starting the Harry Potter series I haven’t read any books that follow the character as s/he grows older. This type of "Bildungsroman" is really enjoyable. Along the narrative lines of the novel you can almost feel some parts which are suitable for any stage in life. For example, I find myself now on the edge of learning German, building my life in Germany and all these seems to take me in a stage where I did attend school and did have some nice adventures with friends. Of course, for me right now it is much more similar since I do have to go every morning to school and learn German and afterwards do my homework and practice speaking. But, I should return to the novel and present a bit of my opinion on it.

The theme of the second book seems to be overcoming fear. Fear of not being good enough and finding courage through the unconditional acceptance given in a friendship relationship. Treating the problem of lineage, from which background the characters come, Rowling beautifully discusses the issue of friendship and how this can overcome any superficial and semantic barriers put by the society. Harry is a pure wizard, descending from both wizard parents; Ron comes also from a long line of wizards with only Hermione being of Muggle (non-wizard parentage). This mixture of background isn’t a problem for the trio, but in the face of Dark Magic it becomes problematic, as Voldermort and his followers try to exterminate all non-wizards. With Hogwarts being attacked from inside by a dark magical creature, the time is ticking for Harry, Ron and Hermione. They must find remedies to stop this creature from killing students. Following their attempts to discover who and what lurks inside the school, Hermione gets petrified and the two boys discover an important clue about the identity of the monster. It is a Basilisk and can kill only with a stare. This strange and powerful monster was summoned through a manipulation of Ron’s sister Ginny, which used an old diary of Voldermort, and in doing so transferred her energy to the Dark Lord. By this strange mixture of events, the identity of the Dark Lord is revealed as the young-bright Muggle born wizard Tom Riddle.

Of course Ron and Harry manage to find the entrance to the secret chamber, by using logic and the clues put together by their brilliant, but petrified, friend Hermione. Killing the Basilisk with its own venom and destroying the diary in the process, Harry rids the school of danger and can enjoy the rest of the school year with his friends.

It was an enjoyable second book, and I am glad that I could start right away to read the third book. 

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

Finally, I have read the first book in the Harry Potter series. I have fallen in love with the way in which it is written. It is simply captivating. You would think that after seeing the movie series one wouldn’t be so captivated about reading the actual book, but this is one example of those cases in which the book is so entertaining that you simply cannot stop reading it. A wonderful adventure of Harry Potter and his friends Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger is unveiled before your eyes. I have to admit that all the faces of the characters for me where those of the actors in the movies. I just couldn’t imagine any other face to the name.  

This is one piece of literary craftsmanship that you have to read for yourself. I am now bewitched by it and will continue to read through the series. It is just beautiful! more delightful than I have imagined it to be. The way in which Rowling presents the characters and their reactions to the events is just simply natural and it seems to come with an ease that makes you wonder at points whether she has seen the persons in action. I particularly liked the way in which she described Prof. McGonogall’s stern look and her reactions.

There are many other examples in which the book is astonishing but that is left for other readers to discover.

Even though this is not exactly a book review and it is my opinion on it, I still though it is worth mentioning. There are other great reviews of the book and one must not invent the wheel in order to enjoy the movement (a bit of artificial paraphrasing ;)).

Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space

The book is a beautiful philosophical introduction to planetary astronomy. I like the way in which Sagan presents the arguments for the necessity of exploring the space. We  live in a limited environment. Our confined planet is a pale blue dot in space. This is all that we have and all that we are accustomed to. It gives you a perspective on our struggles as a species in the vast incommensurable Universe.

Humans have come a long way since believing that the Universe was all that we saw and it was created to suit our purposes. Science provided us an objective way of seeing ourselves for who we are: an intelligent life form that is evolving. Our evolution was formerly confined to the exploration of our planet, but as we grow in numbers we are jeopardizing our future. We must find new ways to colonize the space if we are to evolve.

Before reading the book I was aware of the limited resources that we have on the planet. I was also aware of the struggles that scientists had to overcome in order to broadcast their findings and the negative role that religious institutions had on stopping the progress of science and technology. After reading it, I feel like we [the human species] are foolishly thinking that we could circumnavigate the problems that we have created: global warming, the thinning of ozone layer, the overpopulation and the modification of life-threatening viruses. These problems are already taking a toll on how we live. We are more prone to climatic changes and the scarce food resources already determine a struggle for survival. These are important points to consider and problems that Sagan has foreseen more than 20 years ago.

For me, it is  refreshingly encouraging when I see the human species for what it is. It is a species with vast potential for evolution, creation and destruction. The perspective given by the planetary exploration probes Cassini, Voyager I and II, and the Apollo missions, are crude, objective status of what we are. We are a fragile species. We have evolved more in the last 100.000 years than before, and our evolution has pushed other species into extinction.

The search to find new inhabitable places brings hope and sense of purpose into our evolution. Scientists are finding new planets, satellites, asteroids with a chemical composition that would put our ingenuity to the test if we want to make them inhabitable. The terraforming, as Sagan calls it, would create suitable living condition and creation of human outposts on the Moon, large asteroids, and Mars. It would be a new kind of migration and would need the concerted support and involvement of all the nations. We must find solutions and find them fast if we want to secure our place in the universe.

I am optimistic about the future when I see the progress made with colonizing Mars and also the research into safely landing and taking off from asteroids. Maybe there is hope for the human species. Maybe I will see it in my lifetime. Carl Sagan’s book is a beautiful exposition of the reasons which motivate the search for intelligent life and also for places were humans could continue living after Earth has exhausted it resources and the environment in no longer suited for life. 

Scotland's Stories of Home

This November as I went to Edinburgh for the Graduation Ceremony of my MSc studies I was offered this book with short stories from Scotland. Offered by the Scottish Book Trust as part of the Book Week Scotland it provides a great opportunity to come in contact with beautiful stories about places in Scotland. I am proud and happy to be able to call Edinburgh my home for the last year, and even though I am not Scottish I feel like the magic of the place will forever live in me and also guide my path to going back there.

Scotland reveals itself as a welcoming place, full of international people that bring flavour to the place and also place their dreams in the service of their adoptive country. It distinguishes itself through its rich history, an amazing place to live and learn and also for offering you a sense of community. Reading the short stories you are transported in place you wish to go, to feel joys and share the sorrows of the Scottish people. This small book achieved a great mission as Scotland’s emissary.  

The Sleepwalkers - How Europe went to war in 1914

I am always amazed at how decisions taken by a handful of powerful figures can alter the course of humanity. The story of how the First World War started in 1914 fits perfectly in the setting of the early 20^th century Europe, when great monarchies struggle to manage vast empires. The Austro-Hungary Empire appears as the main character in the story, with the murder of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie on the 28^th June 1914 igniting a diplomatic and military mobilization. Another important role is played by Serbia, which foster the terrorist movement for the unification of all Serbs and was responsible for the assassination.

Christopher Clark brilliantly presents the course of events that lead to the murder of Franz Ferdinand and Sophie Chotek, while detailing the background conflict between alliances forged in the pre-war wars. Great Britain’s alliance with both France and Russia allowed her to maintain vast colonies in Asia and Africa, while not endangering its North African stronghold from France and Germany military advances. On the other hand, the Russian Empire wanted to obtain control in the Bosporus straight and also suzerainty over the newly formed Balkan states: Bulgaria and the Kingdom of Serbia. Germany was advancing both technologically and economically in the world stage and this enabled the empire to provide assistance for African States in the independence struggle against France and Great Britain. The Austro-Hungarian Empire was ethnically too vast to be united and also employed a slow bureaucratic system that would prove to be a premise of its demise.

When you read about these economic and political subtleties, you cannot stop and be amazed with the way in which the emperor and kings played such an important role in both maintain peace and also engaging in war. Austrian-Hungarian Empire was portrayed by the international press as an oppressor of the newly independent Balkan states and as a dying empire, with Germany as the main supporter for its external policies.

The book is a monumental work on how the First World War broke in the summer of 1914, and after reading it I gained more knowledge about the intricate political work of empires and states. The external affair cabinets were powerful in dictating directions for alliances and the influence with which the ministers exerted this is astounding. Even though I cannot claim to understand all the reasons for which Europe engaged in a global war, it is clear that all the key decisional figures were ready and anticipating the war as necessary for the establishment of new order. Looking back through the lenses offered by knowing past events it is hard to imagine how such a war was necessary. Sadly it happened and was the deadliest conflict in human history. 100 years later it is necessary to understand how WW1 started, in the hope of preventing such catastrophes from ever happening again. 

Wine: A Cultural History

Having a little more time after finishing my dissertation studies I decided to start cultivating my love of wine and what better way to start than reading about its history? And what a history wine has! It starts sometime between 8500 BC at the earliest and 4000 BC at the latest (p.11). The book is perfect for afternoon readings, especially if you have a glass of nice wine to accompany it.

John Varriano carefully selects historical sources to carry you through the journey of wine making and consumption, from ancient times to modern day times. It is beautifully illustrated with works of art: sculpture, pottery, paintings and lithographs, all thoughtfully inserted to make the reading more enjoyable. It made me aware of the importance of wine in all rituals and aspects of life, in ancient Greece, where the drank wine mixed with water, than in ancient Rome, where members of high class used to feast on wine taking it as a reminder of momento mori and carpe diem, whilst also encouraging the people to drink it for medicinal purposes. Often time throughout the history wine was used to cure various ailments both topically and internally.

Galen’s account of wine usage for treating wounds is one of the most vast and attentively constructed medical books of those times, widely used until late 17^th century, describes mixes of herbs with wine and even usage of wine as a disinfectant for open wounds. It really made me think twice about what natural medicine can do in order to cure diseases, especially those linked to mineral deficiencies.

The story of wine and how it became widely enjoyed by all people also describes the first wine with controlled denomination, Château Haut-Brion – founded by Jean de Pontac- 1550, to be named by the region where it was made. Wine continued to be enjoyed by members of high class, royalties and popes (Châteauneuf “Vin du Pape” – 1316-1334) (p. 103). The pleasure and rituals associated with wine are depicted beautifully in art. Works of art: painting of Michellangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Bellini and Titian, Rubens, Poussins, Vermeer, and sculptures and lithographs embroider the story and make you wish you could see them all first hand.

Modern time abounds with pictures, descriptions and studies all hailing the benefits of moderate wine consumption. Starting with wine’s effect as a means of aiding people suffering from minor social inhibition and continuing with recent studies suggesting that by drinking wine we attain longevity and better health, the list is vast. It makes you wonder why with every meal you don’t appreciate the curative and pleasurable effects of moderate wine consumption. It definitely makes me want to know more about wine and cultivate my taste so I can enjoy both the health benefits and also the small pleasures of life.  

Confessions of an English Opium-Eater

Since ancient times the nature and behaviour of people taking psychic altering drugs has been surrounded by a lot of preconceptions. When reading Tomas de Quincey’s book you are transported into the 19^th century English society and discover the stereotypes and preconceptions regarding drug use.  de Quincey starts in a more descriptive and apologetic note just to make sure that he appeals to his readers. At first this style seems a little too contrived in 21^st century biographic writing, but one must keep in mind that when this book appeared it stirred the high circles of society and created a new awareness regarding the use of opium.

It seems a courageous move to describe and expose publicly a private behaviour, such as drug usage. Whether the reason was to make the public aware of this or simply the book emerged as a result of de Quincey’s belief that preconceptions must be changed is a matter of historical hypothesising. Needless to say, you come into first contact with the exhilaration of the drugs effect but also with the negative effects that it can have on the consumer and his family.

I enjoyed reading this book simply because it was a way to gain access into a world of sealed doors and social stigma. I applaud his heroic act of describing his behaviour and by doing so exposing himself to public criticism. A lot has changed since that time, but the stigma surrounding the drug consumption still remains. Even the author warns against opium usage and argues that better medical care or better living conditions should be a necessary condition for all those who wish not to take the drug or be tempted by other psychedelic drugs. At one point de Quincey presents his hypothesis stating that opium might alleviate the symptoms of Consumptions or other grave medical condition that affected British Society at that time, but tones down his tone to include a cautionary message that the drugs early positive effects should not be abused and care must be taken when measuring the dosage. Another noteworthy hypothesis is that a life that includes regular exercise and a balanced diet could provide more positive effects on overall health rather than subsiding to drug use.

Taken together the messages that de Quincey sends to his readers are worthy of consideration and admirable, especially when thinking that this is the first biographic book to expose opium usage.

Too Far

Robbie, a small boy of six-seven years moves to Alaska with his family. There he discovers a world of great and incommensurable meaning. Shapero describes this transformation by following his main character through the journey of growing up and letting go of small boys mystical fantasies. Robbie learns to explore the surrounding forest, befriends Fristeen and together they form a bond that helps them both overlook the dramas unfolding in the adult world. Robbie’s parents are emotionally crippled by relationship issues: his father is enmeshed in his studies and his mother is battling depression. Fighting often, they neglect Robbie and this constant bickering pushes their son in to the arms of an imaginary world, ruled by the Dream Man and Shawn, under constant threat of being captured by Shivers.


Fristeen’s world is even less structured than Robbie’s. Without knowing her father and with no involvement from her mother, a drug addict, she is often left to herself, and sometimes the only food that she gets is Robbie’s sandwiches. Together the children set forward in an adventure through the woods and try to make sense of the world around them. They are very careful when exploring, and also are under constant threat by the imminence of Shivers power. (Apparently living in Alaska means that one must always be prepared to face a sudden freeze.)

Throughout the brief Alaskan summer the drama in their houses unfolds, to the point that at the start of the autumn Robbie’s parents decide to separate and Fristeen’s mom decide to get back with an abusive partner. The children decide to run in the forest and hide, thinking they will manage to survive independent, but a sudden freeze, Shivers, puts them in grave danger. The rescue team finds them in time. This last adventure concludes their initiation into a different stage of existence, marked by an absence of magic and fantastical beings.

Too Far is an enjoyable book, one that emphasizes the human power to search for meaning in the surroundings and also pinpoints to the mental characteristics that led early humans to construct gods endorsed with magical powers.  

“De ce este Romania altfel?” (Why is Romania different?)

Lucian Boia’s historical account on the causes and political context that influenced current day Romania is insightful and well-written. Browsing through topics, this essay is definitely a piece of history that especially Romanians must be aware. 

It starts with the Dacians - an ancient tribe that was attested here before the Roman Empire expansion in the first and second century, continues with the Great Migration of the Huns and the political and economic reign of the Otoman Empire. Throughout his discourse one can feel that the great things that make up the Romanians: adaptability, cunning determination to stick to their land, and industrious spirit were exactly the key pieces which together kept Romanians on a different route than its neighbouring countries. Boia refutes the claims that only the Communist Regime had a detrimental effect on the modernization of Romania, or that the socialist administration is solely to blame for a lack of political reorganization following the 1989 Revolution. One stringent need that was never prioritized by any Administration, ancient or current, is Education. This is precisely the reason why so many good ideas felt short of achieving success due to a chronic deficit in middle and long term vision of development. Without a vision for a country or without a healthy class a country can never escape some ancient frustration or achieve to stand at the same table with other European countries. Even though Romania joined the European Union in 2007, only this year were the bans of free access to labour market lifted. This is in striking contrast with other countries that have previously joined EU, namely Hungary and Poland. What makes Romania’s case different?

In Lucian Boia’s opinion a key element rises to prominence: the lack of intellectual elite that could question tyrannical decision and set an example for the lower working classes. But where and how could Romania forge an intellectual class when across all time only the powerful minorities (Hungarians, Germans, Jews, and Italians) had access to schools? It is paradoxical to think that under the Socialist Regime there were more Schools and Universities built than previously and yet after the Regime fell they valued little to the majority of people. What is even more baffling is the fact that nowadays there is an inflation of university degrees on the job markets in Romania, yet the Education is not valued. We have come to be a nation of poorly educated university degree holders. Most of the talented young people, bright individuals, choose to study abroad and never come back, as to come back and work in a university lab resembles sometimes the titanic work done by the scientist in medieval times. This is a powerful example of wasted potential and a condemnation to an export of intellectual power. Moreover the curse of Romania’s wasted potential doesn’t stop with the small percentage of the elite. On the contrary, the majority of those that lack education are deemed to work as unskilled workers and migrate to countries with better minimum wage (Spain, Italy, France, Germany, Great Britain, just to name a few), leaving in the country those that could not go (children and elders) or those that chose to stay for various other reasons.

The picture is grim: a country lacking long-term political/ administrative vision, which is readily opened to emulate the Western Societies, but deemed to be seen as an exploitable country for both its people and resources. Until Romanian Government prioritizes Education, Health and Agricultural Economy things are only bound to become worse.

In the eve of a new electoral mandate I am left with a century old question: “And me, whom shall I cast my vote?!?” (Paraphrasing I.L. Caragiale, 1884).

Think by Simon Blackburn

Think is a great introductory book into some of the most important problems in philosophy. Blackburn introduced his essay with a powerful paragraph: “In the end, it is ideas for which people kill each other. It is because of ideas about what the others are like, or who we are, or what our interests or rights require, that we go to war, or oppress others with a good conscience, or even sometimes acquiesce in our own oppression by others. When these beliefs involve the sleep of reason, critical awakening is the antidote.”(p. 11)

Throughout the book he deals with important issues that define our human nature: the problem of knowledge, mind, free will, the self, god, reasoning, the world, and what to do in the future. I enjoyed this introduction through the ideas that shaped our knowledge: Descartes dualism about mind and nature, its shortcomings and often misinterpretation of the example that he used: about the doubt being the evil in deceiving us. Wittgenstein remark of how our personal knowledge and mind deceives us into thinking about states and things as immutable needs to be addressed. “Always get rid of the idea of the private object in this way: assume that it constantly changes, but that you do not notice the change because your memory constantly deceives you.” (Wittgenstein(1953) in Blackburn, 1999, p. 74). Blackburn brings into attention also the assumption of future being fixed: “Which events unfold from time’s womb depends on what we decide to do- this is what the inside control of a person or a thermostat means. Our choosing models are implicated in the process, unlike those of a mere spectator.” (p.113)

The essay about important thoughts that shaped human thinking continues with the presentation of how we reason about the possibility of things happening in the future or when trying to predict the outcomes of certain decisions. In all do respects any particular musings that our minds might entail in trying to make sense of past events in order to foresee the future can be summed up by the phrase: “The future will be what it will be. Its events are already in time’s womb. So get cracking.” (p. 112)

Indeed with this thought my appetite for philosophy grows even bigger and my wish to comprehend deeper and fundamental problems is expanding by the day. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in having a taste of the problems and concepts dealt in philosophy. 

Hindsight - The Promise and Peril of Looking Backward by Mark Freeman

Freeman’s book attracted me from the first sight of it. It was a mixture of curiosity with a sense that this book, implicitly its contents, is something that I need in this stage of my life. It proved out to be just that!

Hindsight is rather an essay on the problem of human reconstruction of the self through incorporating and giving meaning to past experiences. Written in a clear concise and yet philosophical style it transports you into a world of thought and guides you through the stories of other real life humans that have sought some peace with the past in order to look at the future in a more positive way. Some of the protagonists in the examples chosen, found their peace and strength to recreate themselves and to embrace the future selves in a more powerful and creative way, whilst others have become prisoners of their own past: regrets and failed expectation leaving them scarred and unable to progress.  

Human beings need to have a feeling of narrative self, the integrative part of us that is unique but as a whole represents us, becomes a part of our identity. In light of present knowledge we tend to evaluate past experiences and seek to amend them in order to create an acceptable image of ourselves. It made me think a lot about the power of our understanding and the frailties of our expectations about the future when anchored in the present and also the disappointment of the realization that, what we thought will be a sure course of our developmental trajectory did not happen. Stopping to re-evaluate our personal history can be a source of immense growth and also the crossing-point to new avenues for future enterprises. It can also be a source of regret and resentment when we realise that what we set up to do was never achieved or we perceive as failing to meet our hopes and expectations. No matter what the result will be, it is important for us to reconsider from time to time our values, our expectations, our past decisions, just to be aware of the direction I which we are heading.

I loved the book and especially the way in which I found the opportunity to think of my own journey of growth and to reconsider the expectations that I hold and how to let go of regret and of un-necessary worries about the future. 

The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared

Allan Karlsson, a hundred-year-old man sets on another adventure.

The book is a fascinating account of adventures and happenings in Allan’s life. It all fits with the perfect twists of occurrences, fate, whatever you want to call it. Reading the book, I had a feeling that Allan’s life is magnificent, but I guess every life in which you have no expectations other than: nice food, a place above your head, and something to drink is the dream. Given the strange context in which Allan live, it appears that only by constantly wanting to live he sets himself yet on another adventure.

During his 100 year life he has become a bomb specialist, helped create the most deadly bomb, be-friended presidents, and also spend a nice long vacation on the beach (more than a decade), and during the whole time he was an honest, open-minded and completely apolitical person. On the celebration of his 100 year birthday he decides to do something new, other than spending his day in the senior house, so he climbs out the window and just goes off to another place/ adventure.

In a fantastic twist of randomly circumstances, just as anyone would know to expect from an ordinary life, he comes in the possession of a troller full of money, than pursued by the rightful Swedish mafia proprietors, and by the police, suspected of kidnap and manslaughter. While taking part in this exciting adventure the author carefully portrays Allan’s previous history, just to make the reader clear that when we come to know this person we will see how all the things make sense, and culminate in this adventure that started on his 100^th birthday.  It is really a beautifully written account of the story of a man who is true to himself, his morals, his beliefs, and constructs his sense of self-coherence by reflecting on the issues bigger than himself, thus being genuinely open to people, to happenings, to revise his actions and construct his life in accordance to his beliefs. Although the author or the main character doesn’t state the beliefs plainly, by the end of the book I had the feeling that Allan’s main belief is in the power of people accepting themselves and others as they are, without imposing external morals, ideas, or political agendas.

This fantastic story made me reflect on the ways in which I too construct the story of my life. The way in which I can revise what I am living and what I am experiencing, to make sure I spot the difference between unrealistic expectation of events going the way I want them to go, or happening in the putative way that I can imagine them to take place. It is indeed a liberating feeling to know that I will not come to understand all the potential outcome of a decision, situation, and my best action is just to act the way that my morals and beliefs dictate me. Keeping in mind that I cannot envisage all the potential situations is the best feeling, but that doesn’t mean I should be paralysed by inaction; on the contrary that means I am more responsible for how I act and react to everything that comes in my life, thus I will take a step closer to having and behaving in accordance to my free will – because, you see, whenever I know there are multiple course of action, what I choose to do becomes my decision, even is the setting is not in my control, the decision, reaction, action Is.

A Short History of Nearly Everything

Ever wonder how great scientific minds had their insights? How history was shaped by events ignited by great ideas? Have you ever wonder how we, as human tend to still be here, on the planet? Or how the planet in itself exists? This and many other questions are the foundation for one of the most enjoyable popular science books out there.

Bill Bryson gives you a tour of the most fundamental ideas, which change our thinking and understanding of life, evolution and our place in all this. Due to his meticulously combination of scientific facts with murky historical events it is a great pleasure to read the book. Although at some point you might feel overwhelm by all the facts presented you begin to see science at what it is, a build-up of knowledge, with credit for discoveries, being most often given to the few who were lucky enough to speak and international language (read as English), lucky to have the material means to pursue their interest in their own time, and lucky to have the connections that could help popularize their findings. All of these are extremely similar to how science is made today. Wherever  the money goes, some discoveries in that field are bound to take place. This is not to say that great minds are not born every decade and are not capable of great insights, merely the fact that most often being a genius and not having the right connections or luck, means that your genius might be acknowledge well past your lifetime.

One of my personal favorite past time book, I enjoyed taking the tour through the history of many great discoveries, and must confess that at the end of it I was left with a taste of wanting to find out more about scientific discoveries in all fields of knowledge. As it turns out, this is the effect of great books and wonderful writers, they keep you hooked, wanting and longing for more.

The Hobbit

This one is one of the hottest books in the last century. The creation of feature movies made it more desirable as a book. I am lucky to have received it as a gift from my boyfriend, as a sign of appreciation and surprise.  Though it is a children’s book is by no means childish.

The Hobbit is one of those books that really spark your imagination. One of those books that lead you into a world full of magic, where you feel as if you were always a part of, then you can be a member of a party set to have amazing adventures. Of course if I were to have read it as a kid I would have imagined it differently, but know I can appreciate it for what it is. A wonderfully written book, where the author is both a confident and all knowing, letting you wonder through his imaginary world, but keeping you on track, by not letting you go astray and forget the main purpose of the book.

Being a part of Bilbo Baggins adventure is great, watching unfold some great feats of courage as part of one’s development, makes you realize that you have more courage in you and only by going in adventures you unlock it and use it. It really made me think more about my life, taking it as a quest into the unknown. Because I really believe that our own lives are just journeys to save our world, to reclaim our title, to reclaim some fortune and in turn to find our home. When I realized that sometimes journeys are not set from the beginning, that the end result is just a probable consequence of all the decisions taken during the journey, it made me anxious and yet at peace with my own journey.

Like most people I have dragons to slay, friends to help me through that, building trust along the way and never forgetting where I am from. Although my home might not be as magical as under the hill, it is still the place that made me what I am today, and set the foundations for the greatest adventure of my existence, living my life.

The Hobbit is, to me, the journey and tale of a fragment of life, when you have the courage to step outside your comfort zone into the unknown and never lose fate in your abilities. It is magical, and a must read in everyone’s development, at no matter the time in life.

Working Memory, Thought and Action by Alan Baddeley

As it is with the interesting things, it started with a desire to find out more about this human ability of ours to manipulate knowledge, concepts and information in the present, to integrate them and to retrieved them in order to do all our mental processes. All this is amazing when you ponder on it, especially when you realize that even pondering and planning your future lies on this ability.

Upon reading the book I realized I was drawn to the field and that it is something that might taunt me for life. I deeply enjoyed the history of research that sustained the conclusions and made me think about new ways to improve the current knowledge on the topic. Having prof. Robert Logie explaining misunderstandings in a working memory course at the university really helped me grasp the concepts and clarify my mind. It was this co-occurrence of fortunate events that I credit for the spark and development of my interest in the field.

Anyone interested in psychology or memory would love to read a short scientific history about the development of one of the most fruitful and influential theory and models on working memory. 

Working memory is viewed as consisting of specialized systems: the visuo-spatial sketchpad (deals with visual and spatial information), the phonological loop (deals with auditory material, and it helps with the rehearsal of material), the episodic buffer (integrates and stores in the short term memory all the information from multisensory systems), the central executive (an attentional controller of resources, and monitors the implementation and continuous adaptation of  plan); all of which are in continuous communication with long term memory , the depositary of information and knowledge. This active construction and reconstruction of knowledge through use is one of the most astonishing abilities we possess. Only when it goes wrong, as in the case of neurodegenerative disorders ( Alzheimer’s disease, some form of frontotemporal dementias) we begin to realize what a great ability we have.

I strongly recommend this book to anyone practicing psychology and to all of those who want to find out more about how human mind is being unraveled through scientific inquiry and continuous research. Even though the field of working memory has distinctive theories and it will evolve as a result of research it is useful to know the process by which this multimodal model of working memory has guided research for more than three decades.