His Dark Materials, by Philip Pullman

Wonderfull books. I loved them. I'm usually not one for fantasy, but I loved these books. Not only have Pullman created some wonderfull characters and creatures, but he deals with some big stuff in a way that makes it readable both for teens and for adults.

Yup, I loved them.

I love that he is so challenging - not in the words, but in the ideas and concepts he presents.

Even my hubby enjoyed them, and he hardly reads fiction.

Yes, I agree with you that he's challenging. I like the fact that he takes a scholar's approach to his symbolism so comes up with a truly literary fantasy. We read the series aloud with our kids and I was struck by the differenc in experiencing the books whether I was reading out loud, listening, or reading to myself. I'd never appreciated the fact that I notice entirely different aspects of the writing depending on how I'm hearing/reading it.

But I never got past the beginning of the third book. He ran into some problems there figuring out the ending. In fact, I understand that he submitted the entire ms to his publisher, then decided it was all wrong and withdrew it for revisions. This is hearsay. Does anybody know the story?

Man I love this trilogy. I also have a book "The Science of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials" by Mary and John Gribben. I also have a book titled "Lyra's Oxford" by Philip Pullman. I got them because the character had the same name as I do. It took a little while to get used to. I haven't read them in a long time but I love the story and characters.

Spoiler ahead, fair warning!




I loved the first two, but the third for some reason didn't capture me the same way.


The characters have always stayed fresh in my mind, and I especially loved Iorek and Lee & Hester. Lee's & Hester's death brought tears to my eyes because it was both heroic and understated.

I enjoyed these books as well. Good stuff. The movie will probably be goofy as usual.

Isanthe said:

The characters have always stayed fresh in my mind, and I especially loved Iorek and Lee & Hester. Lee's & Hester's death brought tears to my eyes because it was both heroic and understated.

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Definitely.
Lee's and Hester's death seem to go unnoticed by all except by the reader, which I think makes it all the more emotional.
As fo Iorek... well, what can i say? he's a legend.
He makes you think, what if I were more like him?
Could I help to make the world a better place?
Do i have the strength and courage to stand for what is right?

The Golden Compass (my thoughts so far...)

I saw the preview and decided to treat this movie (and another one, the Spiderwick Chronicles) like I treated Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings in 2001.
Back then I saw the previews for both movies and decided to read the books to know ahead of time what the stories were truly like. This way I could enjoy the movie even more.
It worked great for both those so I'm doing it again. I read the first four Spiderwicks (they're small) and while waiting for book five from the library I started on Golden Compass. I like Spiderwick, but I think I like Compass more.
Originally published in England as the Northern Lights, this is the first of a trilogy. It's about a girl in a parallel Earth who has to go on a quest and do all sorts of stuff. You know me, I like my spunky, adventurous girls (Annabelle) so I'm totally eating it up.
At first I wasn't to enamoured with Lyra only because she's a bit crass sometimes, but as a writer I can see that Phillip Pullman did that to give her room to grow in the series.
In this world every human who ever lived has a Deamon. These are shape shifting creatures who share every emotion and physical feeling with their human. Lyra's Deamon is Pantalaimon. I really like him. He's my favorite character. I have a preview on my blog that shows him a bit more than the other. It's from the Comic Con.

I hope we're out of our crisis by December. I REALLY want to see this.
At the moment I'm about half way through the first book. I need to get back to reading.

I really enjoyed this series when I read it a couple of years ago, but I need to reread them. I don't know if I'll see the films, I haven't watched the previews yet. But the casting is good, and it's always a plus when the posters are cool, too.

Pan is the daemon of the hour...too sweet to be sour.

Where can I see previews of the movie? I love this series.

Here:

http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/thegoldencompass.html

I also loved this series. I'm definitely going to go see the movie.

In London England they actually turned the book series into two plays, and it was hugely successful. In fact that was the reason I read the books was after I had seen the plays. I enjoy them a lot, but have read that the movies are going to tone down the religious stuff which disappoints me a little. Still aesthetically the film looks amazing, and I mean, Daniel Craig is in it, does one need any other incentive?

Are they going to do the other two books as well? Does anyone know?

I think they definitely will as long as this one does well...which it should, considering the huge fanbase.


I have to say that I don't mind them toning down the religious aspect seeing as I'm a churchgoing Catholic. Damn I love those books, and have since I was about ten.



And man, I can't wait to see how the Amber Spyglass gets translated to the screen. OH MAN.

Awesome books.

I've read the book (and enjoyed it. I mean, who couldn't love the idea of talking, armoured polar bears?) and will be watching the film. I like to keep an open mind about adaptations, but my first two reactions to the news were;

1. Northern Lights is a better title than The Golden Compass. Still, no biggie.

2. Nicole Kidman? What were they thinking?

Nicole Kidman as a cold heartless b****? What's wrong with that casting?

Danger Jane - For me the religious stuff is key to the books, but I can understand how as a catholic you wouldn't mind it toned down. Personally though it is a huge disapointment that they are.

My daughter read the books first, and then I read them a few years ago. I was really sucked into that alternate universe. I can't wait for the movie.

Toothpaste said:

Nicole Kidman as a cold heartless b****? What's wrong with that casting?

Danger Jane - For me the religious stuff is key to the books, but I can understand how as a catholic you wouldn't mind it toned down. Personally though it is a huge disapointment that they are.

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Yes, Nicole Kidman as a cold heartless b***, sure, Nicole Kidman as a waxen glass eyed unemotive automaton, fantastic... but there comes a point where that character has to show true emotion, fear and vulnerability. Nicole Kidman?

EDIT:

Now, I haven't read books two and three, but from what I'm told, they wouldn't lend themselves to the screen as well as the first. Is this true?

beezle said:

Yes, Nicole Kidman as a cold heartless b***, sure, Nicole Kidman as a waxen glass eyed unemotive automaton, fantastic... but there comes a point where that character has to show true emotion, fear and vulnerability. Nicole Kidman?

EDIT:

Now, I haven't read books two and three, but from what I'm told, they wouldn't lend themselves to the screen as well as the first. Is this true?

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There are some parts of the third book that might be difficult to film. They may have to change some small things.
I don't see too many problems with the second one though. Can't wait for the first film, brilliant books

I love multi- parallel universe stories. That's why I first picked it up and then to find out the main character has the same name as me. Well, that's just bonus.