“World Religions” by Robert Pollock

I am a curious lass. I always want to know things. What’s funny though is that sometimes as soon as I read or learn something, if I don’t reinforce the lesson, I tend to forget what I learned. The exception, though, is when the lesson or reading is accompanied by an emotion or if it’s so weird that it sticks out in my mind. This is why I love stories, especially those of fantasy. Stories are always emotionally charged and those of fantasy are always accompanied by the unusual so I am sure to remember them. What does this have to do with World Religions by Robert Pollock? Well, I read the book a couple weeks ago and I’ve already forgotten what I read. 😦

I didn’t mean for this to happen. There are slight tendrils of memories lingering around in my mind, trying to remind me of what I read but it’s no use. What I do remember, however, is the impression the book made on me. I recall that I enjoyed reading it and that I felt enlightened while doing so. I saw similarities among the major religions of the world and learned about other religions that, prior to this book, I’ve never heard of.

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“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” by J.K. Rowling

The 2005 cover by Mary GrandPré. I still like it.

I forgot what grade I was in when this book came out but I know I was in high school, probably a junior or senior. Harry Potter was such a craze back then that almost everyone would try to sneak a read in class, especially if the teacher had assigned a video for the class to watch. We would hold the book under the desk and attempt to read in the semi-darkness of the classroom. That’s exactly what the majority of my psychology class did. We were all reading as quickly as we could because it was rumored that someone important dies in this installment. But one day my psychology teacher got so frustrated with us reading and not paying attention to the lesson that he gave away the ending: “Look. Dumbledore dies now stop reading!”

“What?!” was my reply, “why Dumbledore?” Of all the people in the novel, why did Dumbledore have to die? This question pestered me when I first read the series. Back then I couldn’t grasp the meaning of Dumbledore’s death. I saw it as just another horrible occurrence in Harry’s life. Now that I’ve re-read the novel and seen the movies numerous times, I think I now know why Dumbledore had to die: he knew too much; to throw readers off; and he is a crutch.