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Nov 04, 2008

Abigail rated it:

In his Carnegie Medal Acceptance Speech, given in 1996, Philip Pullman contends that "There are some themes, some subjects, too large for adult fiction; they can only be dealt with adequately in a children's book." His subsequent remarks about the importance of story, its centrality to both children's and adult literature, will be most welcome to anyone who grows tired of the sort of "literary armageddon" that certain critics, ala Harold Bloom, envision when faced with the ad More...

17 comments like (91 people liked it)

Dec 13, 2007

Bright rated it:

the golden compass trilogy seems like a natural progression in christian literature. yes, it is christian literature, the same way the chronicles of narnia are. aslan is only a lion when the reader is about 10 or so in the united states. after a point, he unrepentantly becomes jesus. and the four children are like, the gospels or something. and the story is somewhat ruined then, because as an adult, you can't just shoehorn jesus into a lion outfit without snickering a little.

pullman More...

10 comments like (28 people liked it)

Jun 21, 2011

Joel rated it:

I really liked this book! I think it is easily among the best of the crop of Potter-era YA lit (even though it actually came out first!).

The movie was just ok. I thought the lead kid did a good job playing Lyra, and Nicole Kidman made a very menacing Ann Coulter. But my very favorites were Daniel Craig as the zealot Lord Asriel and Eva Green as badass witch Serafina Pekkala.

Serafina Pekkala is one of my favorite witches in literature: she's grounded in her co More...

29 comments like (17 people liked it)

Nov 04, 2007

Darren rated it:

The story in brief: The book is a fantasy novel set in a strangely familiar pseudo-Victorian/steampunk parallel Earth. The protagonist is a young ophaned girl who's been raised at Oxford by the attending scholars. The story concerns kidnapped children, hidden mysteries of the Church, wandering gypsies, proud Arctic warrior bears, long-lived flying witches, and the possibility of a rift that could exist between different worlds.

Daemons: Each human being in this world has a constant More...

0 comments like (15 people liked it)

May 21, 2010

notgettingenough rated it:

Later....A friend said to me today that if you read this book properly, it should make you a better person. I'd just earlier in the day been thinking pretty much the same thing. When I asked S. in what way was he made better, he said he couldn't say, just that it had. Exactly. I think you have a sense as you read this book that Lyra's goodness has rubbed off on you, she's made you better in an entirely non-specific way.

M. then said that she didn't think a book, to be special, necessa More...

27 comments like (21 people liked it)

Jan 21, 2008

Seth rated it:

Although it's 3 physical books for publishing reasons, His Dark Materials (HDM)is one continuous story (well... see below), so I'm reviewing the whole set. It isn't useful to review one part alone.

HDM is a decent read with many great elements. On Orson Scott Card's "MICE" scale--Milieu, Idea, Character, and Event--it's mostly a Milieu story, so expect a tour of the world(s), focusing on the strangeness therein and the history thereof. It's a great setting with many fabulous More...

1 comment like (13 people liked it)

Sep 18, 2007

Lena rated it:

[Note: After I wrote this review (below) I was emailed by many people that my interpretation is WAY off. Everyone tells me that in the 2nd and 3rd books, the author's purpose in writing is to increasingly "kill God in the minds of children." I haven't read those other books so I can't confirm or deny that theme. But Snopes confirms what people have told me. Read the article at http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/...

I get annoyed by authors who set out with the More...

21 comments like (9 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Peter added it

The Golden Compass, by Philip Pullman, picks up where the Harry Potter series leaves off. As in Rowling's series, the hero of The Golden Compass--Lyra, a pre-teen girl in Oxford, England--is plucked from her mundane existence to become supremely important to the fate of the living world.

However, unlike the Potter series, The Golden Compass, immerses us immediately in political, religious, and cultural conflict as well. While the central character is indeed a child, which lands th More...

2 comments like (14 people liked it)

Apr 01, 2011

e.c.h.a rated it:

Butuh waktu lama untuk menyelesaikan buku ini. Jujur, ini buku Fantasi terberat yang PERNAH saya baca selama ini. Terus membolak-balik halamannya, membayangkan situasinya, memvisualisasikan ceritanya dalam alam pikiran saya. Fantasi atau Fiksi Ilmiah? Gabungan keduanya menurut saya. Philip Pullman menggabungkan imajinasi, ilmu pengetahuan dan meraciknya menjadi suatu cerita yang membuat saya menbayangkan di luar batas nalar.

Melalui Lyra, pembaca dituntun memasuki suatu dunia yang sam More...

140 comments like (7 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Bill rated it:

Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy has acquired the reputation of being a sort of Narnia for Atheists. This reputation is, at least by the end of The Golden Compass, largely unearned. Though the religious beliefs depicted in Pullman's fantasy universe throw their real-world parallels into an interesting light, there is nothing that compares to the explicitly Christian message in C.S. Lewis' classic children's books.

His Dark Materials is set in the Edwardian England of a para More...

2 comments like (10 people liked it)

Dec 03, 2011

Rollie rated it:

NOTE:I'm trying not to spoil everybody else with this review

This book was recommended to me by a classmate who I used to call Rukawa because of his anime-like looks. And a goodreads friend told me that this book is Emma Watson’s favorite. Well, since I have crush on her, I expected this to be good—hoping her taste for books would be the same as mine.

My friends were ranting about this book. They were sounded crazy while they were chatting about this book. So I tried to fi More...

24 comments like (7 people liked it)

Mar 25, 2008

Xue Yun rated it:

The Golden Compass
By Philip Pullman
Alfred A. Knopf, 1995, 399 pp.,$20.00
IBN 978-0-679-87924-4

Unknown, unconsciousness, witchcraft, faith, destiny and betrayal-anyone want a ride? Philip Pullman’s The Golden Compass, the first book in his trilogy, His Black Materials, is everlasting. Imagine you’re living in a college where everywhere you go is filled with books, books, and more books. Of course you would be bored, thirsting for some kind of adventure. If you are L More...

13 comments like (6 people liked it)

Jan 31, 2008

Ruth rated it:

Okay. I know there is a huge controversy about this book in the Christian community. I think I have received a forward about this book/movie from about 10 different people, warning about the athiest undertones and asking people to boycott the movie. Of course, curiosity got the better of me and I had to see if it was really up to all the hype.

The Golden Compass is the first of three books in the trilogy titled His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman. In case any of you are going to read More...

1 comment like (8 people liked it)

Nov 28, 2011

Alex rated it:

THE GOLDEN COMPASS, HIS DARK MATERIALS BOOK 1 BY PHILIP PULLMAN: Originally published as Northern Lights in 1995, this is the story of a young girl who doesn’t know what to do or what is going to happen with her life, but soon discovers that she is on a specific course of destiny that she is unable to avoid. While The Golden Compass is considered a children’s book, like the Harry Potter series, it is written with an adult voice in an adult language, with adult themes. It seems that British aut More...

11 comments like (7 people liked it)

Jun 24, 2008

Tiffany rated it:

Alternate universes, strong female heroes and anti-heroes, graphic death scenes, talking polar bears, religious controversey...What's not to like about this book?

Incidentally, I'm working at a Catholic publishing house right now run by the Daughters of St. Paul. Here's what one of the sisters, who's written a lot books for our Faith and Culture line, said in the Huffington Post about the movie:

Sister Rose Paccate, director of the Pauline Center of Media Studies in Culver More...

2 comments like (7 people liked it)

Apr 16, 2008

Christian rated it:

The Golden Compass
Ballantine Books,1995, 351 pp., $6.99
Philip Pullman
ISBN 0-345-41335-0

"In fact, of course, Lyra and her peers were engaged in deadly warfare. The children of one college waged war on another." Mischievous, Lyra is for a girl, always being told to se More...

5 comments like (5 people liked it)

Mar 12, 2008

Jessica rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Mar 22, 2008

Hong Deng rated it:

The Golden Compass Yearling, 2001,399 pp., $7.5
Philip Pullman ISBN 978-0-440-41832-0

Lyra, a teenage girl, trapped by a cunning woman, in a risky and heart-compulsive situation, faces the danger of losing her best friend to events beyond her control. Locked in a mortal battle with creatures, dreadful and petrifying, she fights bravely. If you are already a fan of fantasy books, The Golden Compass will make you feel more passionate. If you have never been attracted by fantas More...

6 comments like (4 people liked it)

Jan 30, 2008

Andrew rated it:

The first book in Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy, The Golden Compass, is a well crafted story awash with a new sense of morality, adventure and some annoying narrative flaws. While they don’t hamper the experience too heavily, they do detract from an excellent story and a thoughtful approach to the still powerful, if not more openly mocked, position of religion in people’s lives.
First, the up sides. Much like most modern popular fiction, the element of story has received mos More...

0 comments like (6 people liked it)

Dec 27, 2007

Rebecca rated it:

This book started off strong, but by the end of the story, I felt that Pullman had sacrificed logic and direction for drama and suspense. He did a good job of gradually making Lyra less of an ignorant brat and more of a noble little savage girl. Overall, I liked this book well enough to want to read the second one in the trilogy, but I had several problems with it:

-There was no comic relief or even any funny moments in this book. It took itself extremely seriously and was rarely l More...

1 comment like (9 people liked it)

Apr 10, 2008

LeAnn rated it:

Interestingly, although this book has an 11-year-old protagonist, Lyra Belacqua, it is not a children's book at all. It doesn't really work on a child's level. I'm sure that my 11-year-old understood the story on only the most superficial level and that level is pretty good, but not great.

First of all, outside of Lyra, the other characters aren't particularly interesting or strong. They had potential, but there are so many of them and Lyra spends so little time with them that the rea More...

1 comment like (5 people liked it)

Nov 15, 2007

Jamie rated it:

If you haven't read it, there's spoilers, for sure...I'm just musing.
So I'm re-writing this, now that I'm on the final pages of the second book, The Subtle Knife. I stand by my original analysis of these books: I think they are much closer in relation to L'Engle (Theology and Science with a fantacy twist) than Rowling. I'm a Harry Potter fan to the core, but this is apples to oranges. These books are painful, viscous, monumentally sad in the way that The Neverending Story got you when More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 01, 2008

Eleanor rated it:

What a waste, I should have followed my instincts and not bothered finishing. The entire story hinges on the opening scene which is mildly dramatic, and from there the characters gain not an inch more depth. Lyra the protagonist was somewhat likable and probably easier for young readers to identify with, and perhaps if the adult characters were more thoughtful and complex I could have liked this book, maybe even the series. I gave this more than one star because the world in which this book i More...

5 comments like (9 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Parthena rated it:

This book was so thoroughly mind-blowing, inspiring, thought-provoking, and intriguing, that I wish there was a higher rating than "5" on this site. This was probably the best book I've ever read. It starts out slightly slowly, but develops into such an intricate, rich, fulfilling story that I don't think any review I give it could do it justice.

I completely disagree with other reviewers on here who state that the main character is mostly selfish, childish, and "two-d More...

4 comments like (6 people liked it)

Oct 22, 2009

Oceana2602 rated it:

This book was recommended to me somewhere in fandom as a children's book that is also interesting to adults. I admit that I wasn't particularly impressed with it, and I can't see it as something that I would give my kids to read. My main complaint is the "means to an end" style the author uses. A bit like in a computer game, our main character Lyra runs from one wise man to another in her quest to find some missing children. This is practical, because except for one scene in the beginn More...

1 comment like (12 people liked it)

Sep 26, 2007

Julia rated it:

I really like that the Iorek Byronison, the bear, is always referred to by full name. When I'm Bear King, I definitely want to be on a full-name-all-the-time basis. Then I will battle challengers to mortal combat, tearing through armor, swiping off heads with my massive paws, slicing open chests and devouring hearts. And as I gorge myself on bear blood, I will cry out "Bears! Who is your King?" And my name will roar from a thousand bear throats.
it's going to be awesome.
( More...

1 comment like (8 people liked it)

Mar 25, 2008

Tennessee10 rated it:

The Golden Compass is a Pseudo-fantasy book that takes place in an alternate universe version of England, and the world at large. The main character is Lyra Belacqua, and I found her extremely likable. The entire book is likable, in fact, as it and the series as a whole deals with topics from Atheism to the concept of multiple universes. While aimed at children, adults will probably enjoy it significantly more. Just don't see the movie if you want to keep your faith in Hollywood.

1 comment like (4 people liked it)

Jul 01, 2009

Sam rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

6 comments like (3 people liked it)

Dec 01, 2009

John rated it:

His Dark Materials is a three volume adolescent adventure tale occurring in a pseudo-Victorian universe parallel to our own. In this “steam-punk” environment religion and science are alloyed in clever and interesting ways. For example, a mechanical bug is a flying machine with a trapped evil spirit as its energy source, and physics is called experimental theology.

The protagonist of this trilogy is a pre-adolescent named Lyra Belacque. Lyra is a girl with a destiny, a feisty, cle More...

4 comments like (12 people liked it)

Mar 06, 2008

Christopher rated it:

This book is so thoroughly written, I have a hard time imagining most children enjoying it. It sounds strange to write this, but the characters are so well described, the plot so intricately woven, and the concepts so clearly defined that I can imagine reading it to be somewhat onerous to most kids these days.

My justification for this is based largely on the detail that goes into describing dust itself. A central construct to the story, dust is a mystical element that hovers around p More...

9 comments like (4 people liked it)

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