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Northern Lights by Philip Pullman

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Dec 03, 2007

Duc rated it:

(review of isbn 0679879242)

Read in March, 2009

A few years back, I met a friend. Her name is Aleathea. She told me it was a Greek word meaning truth. Her father is a Greek Scholar. There is that coincidence which leads me to this book. At times, I wish I had an Aleatheometer to tell me the truth. Writers have said that fiction is the best form to bring out the truth. Here it is a device and a metaphor for writing. There are some ideas about quantum physics as in the parallel universe and elemental particles.
I’ve always wanted to re...more

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Sep 13, 2008

Aerin rated it:

(review of isbn 0679879242)

bookshelves: childrens, fantasy

Read in September, 2008

I've been looking forward to reading His Dark Materials ever since I heard it described as "Narnia, written by an atheist". I'm an atheist, and while I've loved the Narnia books since I was a kid, as I've grown older their insidious dogmatic Christian overtones have troubled me more and more. It's nice to have an alternative fantasy series available, with a positive, freethinking message instead.

I won't get into why I think the whole "controversy" around these ...more I've been looking forward to reading His Dark Materials ever since I heard it described as "Narnia, written by an atheist". I'm an atheist, and while I've loved the Narnia books since I was a kid, as I've grown older their insidious dogmatic Christian overtones have troubled me more and more. It's nice to have an alternative fantasy series available, with a positive, freethinking message instead.

I won't get into why I think the whole "controversy" around these books is ridiculous; that would be WAY too soapboxy for a book review. Suffice to say that I think it's hilarious that some people actually think it's a BAD thing to teach kids to think for themselves.

But after all the hype surrounding this book, I was surprised at how little it dealt with religion at all. Yes, there's an evil Magisterium, a very Dark-Ages-type immoral religious authority, but it factors into this book very little. And there's a couple of bits of dialog late in the story where some characters are critical of Bible stories, but again, it's not a major plot point. I haven't read the other books in the series yet, so I'm assuming Pullman's "horrible, atheistic" message becomes more salient later on. Either that, or the pious critics of these books are making mountains of molehills; it wouldn't be the first time.

What this book really turned out to be was a straightforward and very well-written adventure story. I loved that the protagonist was a girl, I loved that she was rowdy and uncouth and dirty, I loved how much she kicked ass. The story was exciting from page one, full of plot twists and narrow escapes and mysterious elements. The wide variety of creatures and cultures was impressive, and the characters were odd and unique and lovable. I loved that it didn't feel like a "kid's book", that Pullman never tried to dumb things down for a young audience. I wish I'd read this book when I was twelve, but I enjoyed it just as much reading it at twice that age.

I'll definitely be reading the rest of this series soon. I was promised insidious atheistic brainwashing, and I hope the next two books deliver! ;)(less)

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Jan 27, 2008

Elizabeth rated it:

(review of isbn 0679879242)

bookshelves: childrensbooks

Read in January, 2008

I wish I hadn't seen the movie before I read this book.

Still, the book was far better than the movie. In fact, the book actually made sense.

One note of criticism though, I didn't care for Pullman's religious reaching, it seemed to grand for the novel and somewhat heavy-handed. As pure fantasy, it was a lot of fun. However, I don't think that the story of Lyra Silvertongue is as compelling as Harry Potter. But of course I'm hooked--I've got to finish all three!

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