His Dark Materials Trilogy
3 ratings since posting on Thursday, October 16, 2008
Overall Rating   based on 3 ratings |
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If you have seen the movie the Golden Compass, that does not, by any means, accurately represent the first book of this amazing and very engrossing trilogy! The movie uses, and even rearranges/changes, key elements of the story to present a story of it's own and (imho) obscures the range of character and humanness that this book explores and conveys. The Lyra in the movie is not the Lyra I read in these stories, and that makes all the difference. The real and heartfelt expressions of what a being goes through in their decisions and experiences of life cannot be too well translated onto the big screen, and there is plenty of that expressed in these books that are worthy of attention and merit deep consideration for today's world. Phillip has a way with the 'cliff hanger' that keeps one reading, done in such a way that is not just hyperbole, but by presenting deeply emotional and philosophical material(coupled with plenty of adventure) that keeps one turning the pages. I read these to Shemaia mostly when she and I were going to bed, but a faster and fun way to read them we found were during long drives or in the afternoons when we had a few hours to kill(rarely, but it happened). :) Without giving anything away, I will say that the conclusion of this story left me with the feeling of having delved into the nature of humanity and come out into an expanse of consciousness, that with grace, we may 'soon' be seeing. It is interesting to note that Shemaia and I tried to continue with the Harry Potter series, but found the immature and overly dramatic brash dialog to be unbearable. Actually, I have read the whole series already, to see what my son was reading and what was so popularly being regarded as 'great literature' for our children and even some adults. My observation here is what I had felt from the beginning of the read and do admit to being somewhat entertained by them, continuing on in the hopes of some substantial shifts in relating and dialog. There were sparse moments, but for the most part not much change and I had little taste for the manner in which the characters didn't mature and repeatedly engaged in embittered discourse, regardless of being 'friends'. Hmm...perhaps I'll do a HP review. :) The depth and scope of his Dark Materials by far surpasses HP, yet there is plenty for the young adult and even child to enjoy while not getting too graphic, which I did not feel of the HP series. And I feel(dare I say it) even surpasses Tolkien's popular series. For while they present dramatic and even, in the case of Tolkein, a well written epic battle of 'good vs. evil', they do not touch the firmament of the immortal soul that Pullman has endeavored to convey and (once again imho) has superbly done so, by not merely giving us a fight of the 'light over the dark', but to show that all is not so black and white and deserves our truest attention. The link for the book is to the omnibus edition that collects all three books into one trade paperback, but you can search for the individual books on their own if you wish, but I do recommend having all three at once, because you are going to want that next book right away. ;^) Here is also a recent article that the author Phillip Pullman wrote that conveys some of the issues of consideration: www.hisdarkmaterials.org/news/...n-laws Peace...and may you enjoy! - SKeye , posted 10/16/08 |
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