His Dark Materials
Lest it be thought I haven’t been reading, I have, I swear. Posting, that’s another matter, but reading has been happening.
About a week ago, I finished The Amber Spyglass, which is the final book in the His Dark Materials trilogy which is made up of The Golden Compass and The Subtle Knife as the first two books. Plainly said, I loved this series. I was riveted from about the first page. I found the entire tale enchanting and was horribly sad to see the end of it.
Lyra is the sort of girl one wishes she could be, swept up in an adventure she doesn’t know much about but has a definite idea of what she wants to accomplish with her travels. Her lack of understanding, and ours as well, of what her part in the whole thing is a wonderful mystery throughout. Even once it was explained, I didn’t quite “get” it. Perhaps it is my lack of religious upbringing, but I wasn’t quite sure who wanted what from Lyra until it happened.
Normally I’d be rather disappointed in myself for not understanding that kind of thing, but in this case I found it just got me more into the story. It drew me in and made me want to keep reading even more, if for no better reason than to find out what she ultimately does and how it affects the rest of life in the universe.
Admittedly I was lukewarm to the character of Will for awhile. By the time he was introduced, I was so drawn to Lyra that I was horribly distraught at the idea of being forced into leaving her. However, I warmed to him quickly and loved watching his relationship with Lyra unfold.
I don’t normally get horribly emotional while I’m reading, but I was brought to tears more than once while reading this series. I have been restraining myself from running right out and buying Lyra’s Oxford, because I really want to continue to live in the lives of these characters. They take me away to another world. But at the same time, I know that sadly, this has to eventually end for me and I want to prolong that.
The positive news is that I read recently that Philip Pullman intends to write two more “backstory” type books, one for Lee Scoresby and one for Will. The silly part of me that gets drawn into things like this and wants it to be real is also hoping that there will be more books in the future, such as when Lyra is grown into a woman. I want to know what happens next, my heart longs for more.
I know a lot of people have said this series is full of atheistic ideas, but to be honest, I don’t agree. The series is definitely not pro-religion, but really it’s just another tale of good versus evil. I don’t think that religion or lack there of has to fall into that. I will fully admit that the premise of the series is to undo supposed problems caused by Eve’s fall, but I still don’t agree that this means the series is atheistic in nature. It’s a fabulous story and I sincerely hope that children aren’t kept from reading it simply because it offended someone’s sensibilities.
The movie, The Golden Compass, is on my Netflix list, and I am both eagerly awaiting it and dreading it at the same time. I have such a vivid idea of how it should play out, and have heard bad things about the movie, and I don’t really want it to disappoint me. My hope is really that the continuation of the series, should it happen, is given to more competent hands and it can all be fully realized. Perhaps they can get Peter Jackson to helm it. After all, this should be easier to bring to film than The Lord of the Rings, and he handled that wonderfully.
So my final word on this is PLEASE read this series. It’s beautiful and really some of the best reading I’ve had in years.
