Tag: Harry Potter

Top 5 books to read at least once in your life. 

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Reading is an immersive experience that often rewards you with a great story and good vocabulary. There are books across several genres one can choose from to indulge in a wonderful reading experience. But there are some books that fall under the category of ‘classics’ as their themes, characters, and plot lines become relevant for ages to come. These are written by some of the brilliant literary minds that became popular and they went on to influence many modern works of literature. 

Animal Farm- a satirical allegory

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The story begins with a typical farm being run by a human with a variety of animals living in it. The farm animals are often mistreated, overworked and ignored by the human which agitates them. Hoping to overthrow the human race and reaping all the benefits of their work, they drive the human out of the farm. What follows is a satirical allegory to the events that happened during and after the Russian Revolution of 1917. 

Although the story revolves around farm animals, its  themes of corruption, slavery, dicatorship, class distinction, and characters, makes the readers draw parallels with the current political scenario. It is a must-read for a better understanding of the Russian revolution and an engaging experience. 

The Great Gatsby- The Jazz age novel

The Great Gatsby is a 1925 novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. It follows the life of a self-made millionaire named Jay Gatsby who is in pursuit of his long lost lover named Daisy Buchanan. The novel however, has little scope for romance and represents America in the 1920s. It highlights the era of unrivalled wealth and materialistic access. 

The novel upon its release didn’t gain commercial success. Critics believed that it did not amount to Fitzgerald’s earlier novels. However, it began to gain popularity during World War II as free copies were distributed among American soldiers who were serving overseas. The Great Gatsby went on to become an important part of America’s educational curriculum and pop culture. 

The novel continues to attract scholarly attention and is a contender for the title of ‘The Great American Novel’. 

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s stone- You Know Who

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This book can be considered as J.K Rowlings’ stepping stone to success. After being rejected by 11 publications and finally being published by Bloomsbury publication, upon the request of the chief executive’s 8 year old daughter. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s stone went on to be translated into 73 languages and sold 120 million copies. Becoming the second best-selling novel of all time. 

The story follows Harry Potter and the readers’ introduction to the world of magic, following Harry’s discovery of his magical heritage and acceptance into the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As the readers alongside Harry manage to grasp the  revelation of a whole new world of possibilities, worthy opponents and dangers show up on whom magic must be used to defeat and protect. 

The Book Thief- Narrated by death.

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Reading is an immersive experience that often rewards you with a great story and good vocabulary. There are books across several genres one can choose from to indulge in a wonderful reading experience. But there are some books that fall under the category of ‘classics’ as their themes, characters, and plot lines become relevant for ages to come. These are written by some of the brilliant literary minds that became popular and they went on to influence many modern works of literature. 

The book thief is a 21st century novel that uses the Nazi regime in Germany as its background. Although it has its fair share of horror and despair. The Book Thief delivers hope to its readers through love and tranquility among family and friends. 

The novel follows the life of Liesel, who moves into her new foster parents’ home following her brother’s death. As she goes on to witness the dangers posed by the Nazi regime, Liesel adopts her newly found passion for reading by stealing books from the rubbles and also the Mayor’s house. One of the pivotal characters in the novel is death itself as it narrates the entire story. 

The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe- A world of fantasy

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Open the book to a whole new world of fantasy, mythical creatures and magic. When 4 siblings are relocated to a large house in the countryside due to wartime evacuation. They discover a wardrobe in the house which had more than just clothes hanging inside. The 4 siblings venture into the world of dreams upon entering the wardrobe. They go on to encounter the witch and the lion, and participate in an impending war to end the evil’s oppression over the good. 

This fantasy novel was the first to be published among the 7 volumes known as The Chronicles of Narnia. C.S Lewis wrote this novel as a dedication to his goddaughter named Lucy Barfield. 

Here are some of the classic novels from the 20th century across different genres to enhance your reading pleasure. 

Happy Reading.

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References

Anna Chui, 26th  January 2021, lifehack.org

goodreads.com

wikipedia.org

J. K Rowling

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, I’m sure you’ve heard of the Harry Potter series. However, I’m guessing that the most of you haven’t heard of J.K Rowling. If you’re wondering who she is, she’s the woman behind the world’s most successful bestseller series. This remarkable woman is motivating and extraordinary in every way. Rowling’s triumph is one of the most exhilarating, but it wasn’t always smooth sailing. Few people know what happened to her before she became famous.

Rowling, a master storyteller, has struggled with personal issues ranging from financial difficulties to melancholy on her path to literary achievement.

J.K. Rowling, the author whose Harry Potter book series has been translated into 73 languages, sold millions of copies, and earned over $20 billion in movie adaptations and sponsorships, said as much. So, why is it that she admits to being a failure? It wasn’t as simple as scribbling notes on a couple dinner napkins to come up with her book series. It wasn’t a simple one-step, two-step, or even three-step procedure. Years of dedication would be required to achieve the level of success she now enjoys.

It is stated that true success follows a series of setbacks. This is precisely what happened to Rowling. Her personal life was in disarray, making each day difficult for her. On a train voyage from Manchester to London one fine morning in 1990, she created the complete plot from an idea and began building the story of Harry Potter on that route. Unfortunately, her mother died later that year, putting a stop to her writing for a while. Rowling began writing soon after developing the concept for Harry Potter, but was abruptly distracted by the tragic death of her mother. Rowling stopped working on the novel and went into a deep, depressed state. When she moved to Portugal in 1992 to teach English as a foreign language, her life had other intentions. She met, married, and had a daughter with him. A year later, she divorced her then-husband and filed for divorce.

This was the turning point in her life, when she relocated to Edinburgh, Scotland, with her infant daughter to be closer to her sister, with three chapters of Harry Potter in her suitcase. Rowling was divorced, jobless, and a single mother of a child at the time, and it was the most trying time of her life. She struggled with acute depression, yet she persisted. She discovered the light at the end of the tunnel when life was dark and dreary, always pushing through the trials and tribulations life threw at her.

Rowling’s life was defined in so many ways by the year 1995. The Harry Potter script was rejected by roughly 12 prominent publications, not one, two, or five. She had been shattered, but she had not been vanquished. She continued to pursue more newspapers, and her efforts were rewarded.The book was accepted for publication by a small publishing house, and only 1000 copies were printed. Things changed quickly after the book won several accolades, including the Nestle Smarties Book Prize and the British Book Award for Children’s Book of the Year.

J.K Rowling’s most important lesson is to keep trying, believing, and acting on your dreams. Whether it’s to become a great business or to publish a novel, there’s something for everyone.

Harry potter – A must read

Harry Potter is a story of a young wizard who fought against the Dark Lord, Voldemort and defeated hs penned down by J.K Rowling. As we are growing up, we are accustomed with choosing to watch series over going through the main Novel. The Novel depicts the characters Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Wealsey played by Daniel Radcliff, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint respectively showing the pure bond of friendship between the three. They stood strong, in spite of all the odds. The Genre for Harry Potter isn’t much specified, as it portrays Horror, Thriller, Drama, Romance, Friendship also Fantasy. While the series influenced the minds of youngsters a lot, this is for Good. There were 7 novels written Part by Part, starting with the Philosopher’s Stone (1997), Harry meets Hagrid, who came to take him away to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, as ordered by Albus Dumbeldore, the Professor. He learns that his parents were killed by Lord Voldemort, but he somehow survived. Harry met his friends here and recognized his talents for Quiditch Game. He met Snape, the Potions master who disliked Harry a lot. the second novel was Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (1998), Ginny, Ron’s sister finds out the Tom Riddle’s Diary, through which Voldemort possessed her, she opened the chamber of Secrets. Harry learns that he can speak Parseltongue, snake’s language, with help of which he entered in Chamber to kill Basilisk, the ancient monster. The third novel was Prisoner of Azkaban (1999), Here Harry meets with Sirius Black, his father’s best friend who was a mass murderer, as stated by the Wizarding World, also Remus Lupin, a Defence of Dark Arts teacher, who was a warewolf by nature. Lupin taught harry a few Defences. The forth one was Goblet of Fire (2000), this is basically a tournament which was dangerous, for wining Triwizard’s Cup. He was mentored by Mad-eye-moody. Here, Voldemort tried to kill him by kills Cedric Diggory instead, another student of Hogwarts. The fifth book was Order of the Pheonix (2003), Ministry of Magic refuses to believe that Voldemort has returned, Harry and his friends form Dumbledore’s Army. Ministry appoints Dolores Umbridge, who turns the school into dictatorial regime. Harry had a face off against Voldemort’s followers, Series black dies in the conflict. The fifth novel was The Half Blood Prince (2005), Harry finds out, through a device that Voldemort has split his soul into pieces, and created a series of Horcruxes, hidden in various locations. Draco Malfoy, who was his classmate joined with the Death Eaters and attempted to kill the Professor, who was killed by Prof. Snape instead. The last novel Deathly Hollows (2007) was the final climax. These novels had attracted children a lot due to absurd creatures and magic elements present on, through there was a lot more to understand. How much positivity is incurred in Harry Potter, in spite of being such a young boy. The Wizarding world was related to the Fantasy world, having no practicality as such on its own and mostly based on imagination. According to Rowling, main was death, other than that there was Prejudice, Corruption and Madness. Novel also shows the angle of Harry’s cleverness and focus to remove all evils, whereas without his friends, he was nothing. He was all alone on his childhood, before he came to know his wizarding skills, and no one loved him as such, he was tortured by his Aunt’ Family. Harry potter has been one of the greatest Media Franchise of all times. Harry Potter became widely popular, for all age groups due to relativity. Like something we all face in our teenage, heartbreaks, betrayal, respect, loneliness and such feelings. Though, it is a fact that Positive energy conquers all sorts of negativity, how much powerful it is.

As for many, Prof. Snape was the real Hero of the series because he was exceptionally skilled, Wizard, who was extremely mocking and aloof was initially threat for the Wizards, Snape loved Harry’s mother, as shown later on through, was deeply attracted to Voldemort’s theories, who hated Muggles.