I received the first of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials Trilogy novels, Northern Lights (or The Golden Compass as known in the U.S.), when I was around the age of seven when my mother decided I was “above my age’s reading level” (as many mothers believe of their children). I took one look at the then enormous novel and stashed it away on my bookshelf. A couple years later, I pulled it out once again only to read the first few pages. This practice continued until I was in the sixth grade and I actually found the motivation to read a bit further. By the third chapter I was hooked. I reread the novel, this time the entire series, when I was in high school and really came to understand the complexities of the story plot and what it represented. Since the Hollywood film came out, many of you may know the story plot or have read the novel itself (as usual, if you have only seen the movie, the novel is much more engaging and complex). In short, the main character Lyra ventures from home in search of her kidnapped friend Roger. She meets an Armored Bear along the way, as well as other friends and ultimately discovers that hundreds of kidnapped children are being used for ‘medical’ (for lack of a better word) experiments, ultimately conducted by her mother. She uses a ‘golden compass’ to navigate her way along her journey, as the instrument is able to mysteriously read the powers of the world. The book caused controversy as it has many hidden representations, mostly in regards to organized religion. I would recommend this series to anyone, especially adults who are more likely to grasp the hidden themes throughout the trilogy.
Here is a link to an article about the film sparking protest from the Catholic Church: http://www.catholicleague.org/release.php?id=1342
And another to a more engaging site about The Golden Compass as a movie versus a book: http://www.avclub.com/articles/book-vs-film-the-golden-compass,10156/
Image taken from: http://accordingtoheather.files.wordpress.com/2007/08/golden-compass.jpg
Did you see the film version? What did you think?
ReplyDeleteI find this book fascinating, and I love what PUllman does with William Blake in the third book. But then, I'm a fan of Blake, who back in his day was fond of bucking established religional institutions!
ReplyDeleteI saw the film version and didn't like it at all--it leaves out key points in the story, morphing it into something else with different meanings. But that is usually how boook-to-movie goes...
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