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July 24
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Stephen
gave
 
to:
The Amber Spyglass (His Dark Materials, Book 3)
by Philip Pullman
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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read in July, 2008
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July 09
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Stephen
gave
to:
The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists (Leather Bound)
by Neil Strauss
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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Stephen
gave
to:
The Subtle Knife (His Dark Materials, Book 2)
by Philip Pullman
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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read in July, 2008
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Stephen
gave
to:
The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials, Book 1)
by Philip Pullman
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my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
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read in July, 2008
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Stephen
read and liked
Andrew's
review of The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials, Book 1):
"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 d...more
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 most of the attention in The Golden Compass. Our protagonist is little Lyra, a girl with a destiny, which Pullman frequently reminds us of. She has some knack for figuring out a golden compass, a device which is capable of telling a person whatever they ask it. The story revolves around an altered kind of morality which Pullman promotes through Lyra. She cheats, steals, lies and fudges her way out of, or into, all her battles and trials; relying heavily upon hope and intuition to sort out whatever mess is left over. Toward the end of the work, in several pages of dialogue, one of the main characters even goes so far as to basically spell out the matter: the church’s perception of morality is ass-backwards and this story is about a different vision of Good, one just as valid and likely as the next.
Pullman’s work starts of with subtle moral overtones but, by the end, is a full blown commentary. This effect is one that seems to highlight and underlying issue throughout the book—the author’s trust in his reader. Whether done with the knowledge that most pop-fiction is read by people who don’t view reading as a thinking endeavor, but rather an escape, or simply because bringing the plot to fruition through mischief and making it an obvious statement was beyond Pullman’s grasp, this issue undermines large sections of the work’s narrative continuity and believability.
The essay-like expulsion at the end isn’t necessarily a short-coming when seen alone. It’s well integrated enough, but throughout the book there are other moments where an authorial voice chimes in, as though to beg a reader to keep reading. The plot is interesting and the story is enjoyable, which makes such intrusions all the more annoying. Events are foreshadowed, not by some subtlety of events which, when considered, may point toward their eventual outcome; rather the narrative voice will simply say, eventually this will be important, but she doesn’t know why yet.
The unfixed narrative position also leads to minor annoyances when it seems to stick with a certain method of experiencing the world and then veer drastically off course. Keeping within the range of Lyra’s own perception suits the work well, but the random deviations appear to be just that—random rather than somehow highlighting a significant event through the sudden change.
That said, the issues themselves are not terminal, nor do they creep up too frequently. The writing itself is well composed and direct, producing few sentences of beautiful language but also conveying the story very well. The general tone of the work is playful and adventurous but produces an air of imminence which works for the story by giving it a sense of importance. The characters are well conceived and functional. There are quite a number of archetypal characters, but in most situations it actually helps to enhance the main crew. Dialogue is mostly believable and works well for the characters.
Overall, it’s fairly solid pop-fiction novel with an interesting moral situation to explore and a lot of world-hopping adventures in store for the second two books in the series. The book certainly does a lot with the elements that it uses. More than that, the book is fun in a lot of ways. It’s not outright comic, but it is a story meant to give the reader a ride. Toward this end, the work is a success. It’s fast-paced and enjoyable throughout. Worth a read if you’re looking for Harry Potter type entertainment, but don’t come expecting Proust.
Cons:
Direct forewarning which breaks narrative tension and continuity
Seemingly random boundary-breaching for narrative voice
Lack of reader-trust
Total narrative collapse (page 231, transition from third to fourth paragraph)
Pros:
Fun story which suffers little interference from other issues
Language is clean and functional
Potential growth throughout trilogy shows promise
Characters are well done
...less
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May 24
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Stephen
gave
to:
Catch-22 (Paperback)
by Joseph Heller
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my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
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Stephen
gave
to:
Slaughterhouse-Five (Paperback)
by Kurt Vonnegut
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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read in May, 2008
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July 09
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Stephen
is currently reading:
The Rules of Life: A Personal Code for Living a Better, Happier, More Successful Life (Paperback)
by Richard Templar
bookshelves:
currently-reading
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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April 14
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Stephen
gave
to:
The Rules of Work: The Unspoken Truth About Getting Ahead in Business (Paperback)
by Richard Templar
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my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
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read in April, 2008
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February 27
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Stephen
gave
to:
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7)
by J.K. Rowling
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my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
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read in August, 2007
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