Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is the seventh and final novel in the Harry Potter series children's books written by Joanne Kathleen Rowling, series starting in 1997 with "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone".

Harry Potter's novels let J.K. Rowling win the "British Book Award" as the Author of the Year in 2000: the British Book Award is as much important for literature as Oscar is for movies.

The chronicles of this last book ("We now present the seventh and final installment in the epic tale of Harry Potter." as stated on the inside of the front cover) follow the previous one, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2005), and takes readers to the final epic fight between Harry Potter and his enemy, the mighty and evil Lord Voldemort and his servants.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was released globally in 93 countries.

The book sold more than eleven million copies in the first twenty-four hours following its issue. The previous record, nine million in its first day, had been held by Half-Blood Prince.

Appreciated by children and beloved by adults, Harry Potter is one of the most successfull series ever.

You may get all information you need about the author, you may visit J.K. Rowling official site.

Burning Bright, by Tracy Chevalier

Tracy Chevalier, the same author of Girl With A Pearl Earring, reveals herself once again an excellent "drawer" of the Georgian age of Great Britain.

Burning Bright is the story of a family moving from the quiet, neat and reassuring Dorsetshire to the huge, noisy, dirty and foggy London of that time.
Friendship, love, politics and the passage of Jem, Maggie and Maisie (the three youngest characters of this novel) to the adulthood, through their adventures and misadventures down the street.

All this happens within an interesting and detailed picture of London of the late 18th century, with all its hystorical and social aspects: people daily life and challenges, businesses and misery on the background of the French revolution threatening King George who fears this will affect the quiet of his kingdom.
William Blake, a printer, radical and poet will be inserted in this "burnign bright" and colourful picture.

Very pleasant, smooth and useful for those who love learning while reading, without being bored.

Do you wish to know more about Tracy Chevalier? Please, check the Tracy Chevalier's site.

USA 2007: New York Monument Valley Bryce Canyon Grand Canyon Las Vegas

New York, The Brooklyn Bridge: first contact with the States

New York, Manhattan skyscrapers...

The Monument Valley off-road...

The Bryce Canyon...

The Grand Canyon

Las Vegas

A Thousand Splendid Suns - review

A Thousand Splendid Suns describes the amazing story of Afghanistan in the last 30 yers and is a moving drama about family, friendship and faith.
The author, Khaled Husseini, after his first book (The Kite Runner) and 27 years after he left his country to move to the States, promised his next book would have been about and for women.
Infact this novel is about 2 women, Laila and Mariam, hidden under their burqa, who will meet in the middle of their tormented lives: the book describes infact their difficult life in Kabul full of fear for their tyrant fathers and husbands, isolation, resignation, but the novel is also about love, pride and bravery, showing how the strength of love of a woman for her family may push her to heroic acts and unbelievable sacrifices.
Once again, Khaled Husseini, immerses us into this troubled and misterious country, dating back to the age of the King, when music, western movies, birght colours were still allowed and you could see the face of women walking down the street, though the ruling mentality was the chauvinist Pashtun one, obliging most women to wear burqa.
For more information, have a look on the site of Khaled Hosseini.

The Lives of Others (Das Leben der Anderen)

East Berlin, 1984.

Captain Gerd Wiesler is one of the most efficient and trusty officers of Stasi, the State Police monitoring private life of DDR citizens.

He is in charge of keeping tabs on a well known playwright, Georg Dreyman, who has always attained to the Party directions. Actually the Minister of Culture is fond of Dreyman’s girlfriend, Christa-Maria Sieland, and would be very keen to find any evidence against him to be able to have “full scope” in flirting with her.

However, Gerd Wiesler will soon become a discreet witness and party to their life: thanks to the writer sensitiveness and principles, that will touch Wiesler and will let him change his point of view, by the time, and let him choose for humanity, friendship and mercy rather than the major scope of his official governmental role.

The director, Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, was just a child in 1984, when the Berlin Wall was 46 km long and splitted the city in two. That’s why the movie is so rich in details and memories from that time and make it so moving and delicate.

For further information, I suggest you check on The Lives of Others official website.

The Netherlands

Mills



The Erasmus Bridge

Lust for life

Lust for life

It is raining on my heart.
Dirty water in my soul,
The grey huge sky over my brain.

A cold, silent breeze hugs me.
I can hear remote words
Coming from far away.
This is not the rain falling down,
This is not the wind blowing through the branches
Of the tree on the hill…
This is a voice!

And I keep on feeling blue,
I keep on hearing the presence of sadness
In my whole being.

I could fly,
I could die.
I can’t see the line between hearth and sky.

The tree on the hill
Dancing slowly
And looking through me,
Is a lonely witness of my fight.

Rossana