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 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. 

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.  

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.  

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.

The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

One of the few writers that can convey such moments of pure transcendental awareness that you are left feeling utterly amazed. It has helped me realize that some problems are bigger than others (mainly how I would feel about the subject of Earth being what it is and therefore here, not demolished).

I read the entire trilogy and found it refreshing and delightful. The first book is about discovery and the rest of them are about being completely and continuously perplexed at the things that are in the Galaxy. Ford Prefect (one of my literary models) acts so nonchalantly in just about everything and manages to get Arthur Dent in all sorts of adventures throughout the Galaxy. Trillian and Zaphod only add to the rich context of stories that engulfs your imagination whilst at the same time enhancing your creativity.

Threading through the book, big questions like “how”, “why” and “where” receive different answers which fail to provide a sense of knowing, let alone comfort or cognitive stability. The only way to take the book and its characters is just to read it and enjoy it for what it is. I did that and at the end of the last book, “Mostly Harmless” I felt that something beautiful was laid in front of me and now it was fully unraveled and that I’m not capable of thinking like that on daily basis. I sure know I’ll try. The book has helped through some serious life events and provided me the opportunity to change perspectives and therefore to grow in an exponential manner in which I did not think I was capable of.

The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy had become one of my favorite books so far and the style of the author, Douglas Adams, charmed me and made me longing for more.

I warmly recommend it to anyone who feels at time life is just too much. Take a ride in the Total Perspective Vortex, imagine a multitude of parallel universes in which Earth and its inhabitants live and you will end up feeling a lot more at ease with whatever you have to deal with.

The Satanic Verses

There are a lot of things which can be said of a novel that has caused religious debates

I found the novel interesting, and to sum it in a word, brilliant. I must confess, reading about the fact that a death sentence was issued to the author for writing it, made me curious and willing to pay great attention to every metaphor or other stylistic approaches to literature. I found the book to be a clear account of the lives of two main characters, Gibreel Farishta and Saladin (Salahudin) Chamcha. I couldn’t find any remarks or any passage that could indicate any mockery towards any religion.

The story seems very awry and is filled with mythological references and historical facts that could be attributed to the period in which the Prophet made the revelation. The main characters are the only survivors of a plane hijack and both are trapped in Britain trying to rebuild their life after the plain crash. Because they are listed as dead by the official statement of the aviation company they seem to have a period in which they must prove to themselves and other that they are in fact alive. Gibreel Farishta finds this to be much easier than Saladin Chamcha because he was a great Bollywood superstar and apparently is recognized be many. Saladin Chamcha goes through a series of transformations in order to regain his identity. The characters are presented in an antithetic fashion, Gibreel, for whom any mistakes are forgivable, and Saladin a man who is seen as threatening and must prove himself as a British citizen through times of abuse and maltreatment.

Due to the way in which Rushdie builds his novel, the plot and its tension seem to gradually arch and bend in each episode, as the characters go through metamorphosis and transformation. The author constructs the novel be creating narrations in narrations, using the metaphor of revelation to provide continuity. Gibreel assumes the role of the Archangel Gabriel and Saladin is sometimes perceived as Shaitan (the devil) especially through his ordeal in London in order to regain his old life and identity. Both characters seem to have problems with identity, Gibreel presenting episodes of recurring schizophrenia and Saladin having problems with British authorities. Although the characters are Indian they seemed to me to be universal, because I could relate to them and the problems which they sought to solve are universal. Both seek love and a way of living it with the person they love. Each of them seems to have a distorted view of love (one due to mental illness and the other due to an illusion regarding the British way of life and his wife’s morality). In fact their ethics about love and morality are tested and in the end one of them manages to construct himself and live accordingly while the other succumbs to his misinterpretation and distortions of reality due to mental illness.

The book made me think about my own struggle with my identity and made me realize that part of the resolution lies in the persons you manage to have around you, because if you have people around you which can offer support when you need it, you can grow and become stronger and therefore a step closer to living your life in a full and enjoyable manner.

The lottery ticket / The Lighthouse at the end of the world

Jules Verne account of two different fictional stories was a delightful way to take a journey into different times and places.

The first, The lottery ticket is set in Norway and it has as characters a family who owns a bed and breakfast and is struck by a tragedy: their beloved cousin Ole Kamp has delayed his return from a fishing expedition in Newfoundland, America. His cousins, Joel and Hulda(future bride) are deeply saddened by this and with the help of Sylvius Hog, whom they rescued from falling into a waterfall, they manage to reunite with Ole. Sylvius Hog manages to help the family in many ways, as he offers material and spiritual support and guidance. In the end all turns out fine and the joys of life seem to enter into the story like the ending of a fairy tale.

The lighthouse at the end of the world is more adventurous as it has pirates and brave shipmen as main characters. The tale is entrapping and provides good reading and entertainment and of course is set to have a somehow happy, or should I say, morally and socially correct ending: the evil is being punished for its bad deeds.

I really enjoyed reading these stories and I believe that many more will follow. I haven’t read Jules Verne when I was little or when growing up so in a way I’m helping with the formation of my fictional sense of traveling.

The Anomalies

A novel about some characters which seek to conquer acceptance from the world that rejects them for being original. Although the characters are trying to stick to their true nature it seems that in the end society manages to make them fall into some stereotypes.
The black philosopher, Luster seems to be the one that suffers the most, as he is the victim of a racist stereotype and because his brothers had a bad reputation as drug dealers. The other characters seem to find their calm way in society, being in one way or another trapped in their own shel of human thought and desires.

I liked the connection between the five characters: Luster, Opal, Ember, Aurora and Ray. They seem to have a synergy together and once that is broken none can be the same as they were before. They have lost the piece of the puzzle that made them unique in their time and period of existence.

It seems that you don't have to be black, Iraqi-an, a pyromanic child, a nymphomaniac old woman or an teenager blessed with good looks to feel out of place in society. As a matter of fact you can be that just by wanting to express yourself freely. You are put to you place if you try to much to make others accept you just the way you are. in the end, or at lest in Joey Goebel's book end, everyone is nicely put in their stereotype and it seems that none of them will ever get a chance to express the way they did when they sang on stage.