An elderly man – a regular library patron - sparked my curiosity about Philip Pullman's trilogy, His Dark Materials. Although they were shelved in the Young Adult section, he told me that they were based on John Milton's Paradise Lost and recommended them for adults.
He was listening to the audio books on CD, read by the author. I, too, listened to the three books - read aloud to me over the course of several months by a friend (a great way for us to experience books together!)
The Golden Compass was the most exciting – filled with brave children, evil parents, arctic places with cool names like “Svalbard” (a real place that is home of the global seed vault about 700 miles from the North Pole!), armored polar bears, and physical "daemons," which are spirits in personalized animal forms attached to every human. In the finale, a massive explosion of energy released from the separation of a child from his daemon rips a hole in the universe that the young heroine, Lira, travels through to a new world.
In the second book, The Subtle Knife, Lira meets Will, who uses a magical knife to cut anything – even windows into more worlds. From this point and throughout the third book, The Amber Spyglass, the adventure follows the two children as they explore the world of the dead and confront a fundamental choice between good and evil that parallels the story of Eve’s choice in the Garden of Eden.
I really enjoyed these books. They were fun and also thought-provoking in that they raised questions of spirituality, organized religion and the existence of a supreme, divine "Authority,” as well as scenarios of global climate changes. Sometimes, though, I felt that the three books could have been consolidated into one, for it seemed like the author was repeating himself. Although that may allow each book to stand on its own, I advise reading them in order.
We began reading/listening to these books last winter, the same period of time that the first book in the trilogy, The Golden Compass, was released as a movie. I haven't seen it yet, but the library has the DVD. I’ve placed a hold on it and am looking forward to watching it.
I would recommend the Dark Materials trilogy to adults and youth who enjoy fantasy/science fiction, or just want to read a good adventure tale. - Reviewed by Joyce
1 comment:
I finally watched the dvd of The Golden Compass and didn't especially like it.
The film tried too hard to pack everything into about 90 minutes and, thus, the character development and even the plot were vague.
Nicole Kidman was pretty good as the evil mother, and -- if looks could kill-- some of hers would.
I don't really recommend the movie for adults, but if you're looking for light entertainment, it's tolerable. On a scale of A+ (fantastic) - F (terrible), I would give it a C.
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