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The Golden Compass

(His Dark Materials #1)

Philip Pullman

3.96 · Rating details · 1,128,472 ratings · 17,842 reviews

Lyra is rushing to the cold, far North, where witch clans and armored bears rule. North, where the Gobblers take the children they steal--including her friend Roger. North, where her fearsome uncle Asriel is trying to build a bridge to a parallel world.

Can one small girl make a difference in such great and terrible endeavors? This is Lyra: a savage, a schemer, a liar, and ...more

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Hardcover, 399 pages

Published April 16th 1996 by Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers (first published July 9th 1995)

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3.96 ·

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Nov 01, 2014 Sean Barrs the Bookdragon rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy, children-of-all-ages, sci-fi, 5-star-reads, contemporary-lit

This novel is an absolute work of pure genius, and is in my top ten reads of all time. Before I go into the depths of character and plot, let me start by saying this book is up there with other fantasy hard hitters: by this I mean books like The Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia: the books that define the genre. This is high praise indeed, and this novel is worthy of it.

The protagonist of the book is Lyra, a young girl, who is parentless and seemingly friendless. She has grown up i This novel is an absolute work of pure genius, and is in my top ten reads of all time. Before I go into the depths of character and plot, let me start by saying this book is up there with other fantasy hard hitters: by this I mean books like The Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia: the books that define the genre. This is high praise indeed, and this novel is worthy of it.

The protagonist of the book is Lyra, a young girl, who is parentless and seemingly friendless. She has grown up in an Oxford College and has developed a detachment to her guardians. She spends her days enjoying her youth and harassing those that turn out to be some of her greatest allies. For her, this book is a journey of self-discovery: a way of exploring the limits of her character and potential. Her adventure sees her befriend an armoured polar bear and become the wielder of the golden compass. This is initially described as a lie detector but it is apparent that the depths of its power have not been fully explored.

"It lay heavily in her hands,the crystal face gleaming, the brass body exquisitely machined. It was very much like a clock, or a compass, for there were hands pointing around the dial, but instead of the hours or the points of a compass there were several little pictures with extraordinary precision, as if on ivory with the slenderest sable brush. She turned the dial around to look at them all. There was an anchor; an hourglass surmounted by a skull; a bull, a beehive…..Thirty-six altogether and she couldn’t even guess what they meant."

description

This book retains all the classic elements of fantasy: magic, mythical creatures and supernatural phenomena. The world Pullman has created is physically intertwined with our own; there are references to cities and countries in which his idea has been planted.

Each human has a daemon that is essentially their soul. These take on the form of an animal that is representative of the person, for example someone who is enthusiastic and friendly has a colourful cat whereas as solider has a wolf or a hound. The author does very little to explain this. It is just thing “thing” that we are told about at the start but through the book but we begin to see the significance of it. The fact that children’s daemons change is a subtle hint how children can be influenced and have not found their identity where as adults are secure and confident. In this the author has created an air of mystery as we explore the true meaning of the bond as we read further.

The plot is fantastic. The author manages to surprise the reader on several occasions as he drops several, massive plot turns. This sees the story go into unexpected directions. From the beginning of reading a book, you begin to predict what will happen. Some books are completely predictable and obvious in their direction; this one was not. I physically gasped at some moments as I found myself awed by the author’s storytelling; this is when several characters origins, in relation to Lyra are defined. The book begins as a simple rescue mission but ends as a story that is questioning the morals of all characters involved. The fate of the characters is destined in the mysteriousness of the northern lights; the gateway to beyond.

description

This is one of those books that is applicable to all ages; it originally appears to be a children’s book, but it can be enjoyed by anyone. Much of the content in here touches on themes that most children would not comprehend fully, never mind be able to philosophise about. The author considers spirituality, religion, morals and the existence of the soul, amongst other things. Most children would not pick up on these references and understand the significance of them; however, they would still adore the book.

The book can be seen as two separate entities existing at the same time; the first, and most obvious, is the one that appeals to children; the saving of innocents from despotic adults with lots of exciting characters. The second is on a deeper scale; the author explores the conflicting powers of science and religion, manipulation and morality in terms of actions being for a greater good. In this the author is a genius, he has wrote a book that can be both a children’s bed time read and an adult’s point of pondering. ...more

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Aug 01, 2013 Jayson rated it really liked it

Shelves: genre-juvenile-fantasy, author-british, 300-399-pp, read-in-2007, read-in-2009, genre-young-adult, genre-anthropomorphic, subject-parallel-universe, genre-steampunk

(B+) 78% | Good
Notes: A solid story and well written, but very much a children’s tale with one child going on a quest to save other children.

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Feb 21, 2018 Hailey (Hailey in Bookland) rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: owned, fantasy

2.5*
I never read this as a kid and maybe I would have enjoyed it more if I had, but it was just okay for me!

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Oct 19, 2015 Sean Gibson rated it liked it

Recommended to Sean by: Kristin

I don’t love the Beatles.

*Ducks as he is castigated by the seething masses*

I also don’t love green vegetables, punches to the face, or going to the dentist, though I don’t think those revelatory disclosures will elicit much in the way of rage-fueled attempts to slit my throat with the jagged edge of a broken CD (compact disc, kiddos—look it up).

So, why risk a severed jugular on the day before I’m going to stuff myself so full of turkey that I’ll have a snood coming out of my ear? Well, because ...more

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Dec 13, 2007 Bright rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: everyone

Shelves: digested

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 however, has 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 however, has solved this problem. i can't continue without utterly spoiling the story for everyone who hasn't read it, so consider yourselves warned...

he made jesus into a little girl. even better, he made jesus into a little girl who doesn't even know she's jesus. now how's that for a new twist on the new testament? the part that's particularly brilliant about it, is that it actually worked. lyra is never really anything like christ... she just follows the path of his narrative. first, she has the absent father. lord asrael is desperately involved in his own ideas, so though he's not actually in heaven, he may as well be.

wait a sec, isn't this just dogma again? sort of, except dogma is really more relevant to catholicism in particular, rather than scriptures. and instead of linda fiorentino who is kind of a mopey christ, we get a 10 year old girl. 10 year old girls are the best focal point for any story. i've been one for years.

and this is a perfect choice, because she really never takes time to mope. she doesn't miss her faith or wrestle with it... she doesn't believe at all. and therein lies the genius of pullman's work, that has all the christians in a snit; she's also the antichrist.

why would he do that?

because the bible does. if you really take a look at the word antichrist, it does not mean "evil". khristos, from which christ is derived, means "anointed". so what does antichrist really mean? unanointed, or that which is against the anointed. there's a bunch of baggage on top of that meaning, which is how we got those omen movies, but at the heart of it, it just means smeared with fat. actually, it means recognized by the divine... but in ancient times, we did that by smearing the recognized thing with the fat of a sacrificed animal or person. and that, is why we celebrate the crucifixion. it was the point of christ's birth. as if it wasn't obvious enough, it's why he's referred to as the lamb.

wow. so this is heavy... pullman has gone all the way back to the origins of the judeo-christian faith and said, this important guy, was just the carrier of this magical stuff that we're obsessed with, that we don't even use anymore. it's like we're infected or poisoned by this idea. we need an antidote. we need an antichrist, to show us how far we've wandered from the truth, which had nothing to do with trooping along after some guy.

and this explains why christians are so antagonized by the books. they've been following the beast for years without recognizing it. the golden compass referred to in the book, is the bible we've all forgotten how to read. and in its stead, we've rallied around the church which claims to help us understand the symbols. but in reality, it is the beast referred to. the one which rose from rome, with many heads that change over time. so what really, is the golden compass about? it's about how to be human again. how to regain an understanding of the world, that doesn't rely on our fragile expectations for good and evil. all it requires, is that you give up everything, in order to discover what is important again. and i don't know how christians could have missed that primary message. ...more

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Sep 28, 2015 Cait • A Page with a View rated it it was amazing

Shelves: childhood-favorites, ya-fantasy

I hadn't read this since elementary school and am so glad I took the time to come back to it! I don't know that it would be a full 5 stars if I just picked it up today, but we're going with 5 out of nostalgia.

Lyra was one of my favorite characters as a kid and is still just as fierce & wonderful as I remember. Actually, I'm surprised by how well I remember the whole story. Maybe it's because the characters and world are so strong, or maybe it's because the movie follows the book SO well. Se ...more

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Oct 08, 2018 ~Poppy~ rated it really liked it

“You cannot change what you are, only what you do.”

“So Lyra and her daemon turned away from the world they were born in, and looked toward the sun, and walked into the sky.”

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Jul 09, 2012 James rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 3-multi-book-series, 1-fiction, 2-fic-young-adult, 2-fic-fantasy-and-scifi

I enjoyed the premise and theme of the book. Pullman created well thought out and memorable characters. It was a little too technical for me in regard to the depths of fantasy, i.e. I had to go back and look up the meaning of some of the made up words in the book to stay focused on what was actually happening. But great imagery. I'm not sure if I will read book 2 or 3 of the series yet... thoughts?

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Jun 19, 2012 Jessica ❁ ➳ Silverbow ➳ ❁ Rabid Reads-no-more added it

Shelves: for-nuggets, banned-books, meh, check-and-recheck

9/8/17:

1. I cleared my rating. If that doesn't sufficiently refute the claim that I "just wanted" to give THE GOLDEN COMPASS 1.0 star, then you're irrational, and further discussion is pointless.

2. I am a BOOK REVIEW BLOGGER. That's what I do. If you want to make cracks about being a trophy wife, go right ahead, but to insinuate that I would "skim" a book to have the minimum knowledge required to give the appearance of having read it so that I can give it a bad review b/c reasons, is an attack ...more

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Jan 18, 2018 Catriona (LittleBookOwl) rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook

Rating: 3.5 stars

Listened to this on audio, which was a lot of fun!

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May 13, 2010 notgettingenough rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: childrens

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, necessarily had to ...more

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Dec 10, 2013 Antonio rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasía, inicios, sagas, ciencia-ficción, trilogías, steampunk

De alguna forma este libro empezó como una producción de Disney, en la segunda parte parecía más como de Nick o TNT y ya en la tercera parte ¡Wow! Esto se transformo en HBO.

No sé si este libro debe calificarse como infantil, si bien es cierto que la protagonista Lyra nos va dando una perspectiva bastante inocente de su mundo, los temas que se tratan en el libro no lo son tanto, el centro de la historia es, al parecer, el misterio que existe del porque están robándose a los niños de todas partes ...more

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Sep 16, 2009 Wendy Darling rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorite-ya, favorites-all-time, fantasy, heroines-butt-kicking, young-adult, gorgeous-prose, made-my-heart-hurt, uk, male-ya-author, snowy

Hello friends! We're reading THE GOLDEN COMPASS together throughout the next few weeks as part of our goal to read more classic YA/MG books this year.

Please join us if you can!

-- Discussion on blog: February 28th
-- Hashtag #tmgreadalong if you'd like to discuss as you read on Twitter.

More details on the blog: http://www.themidnightgarden.net/2014...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My review:

Wildly imaginative and thrilling, this complex and be ...more

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Oct 21, 2009 unknown rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: ya, series, seen-on-film, familiars, 30-day-book-challenge

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 connection to the earth, she's beautif ...more

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Apr 01, 2013 Darth J rated it liked it

Shelves: series

I never added a review of this but I'm going to now. I'll admit that this one was a bit slow for me at parts (especially compared to the sequels) but what kept me reading was the fascination with the daemons. I liken them to the patronuses (patronii?) from the Harry Potter series in that they are the animal totem of a character, and can change until someone is "set in their ways". How many other people have held conversations about what their daemon or patronus animal is, and then changed it fre ...more

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Jan 29, 2019 Charlotte May rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: epic-fantasy, middle-grade

Read when I was younger (about 8 years ago I reckon) didn't really think much of it and only made it half way through book 2. Reckon I would like to try it again if that day ever arrives.......

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Oct 29, 2012 Ahmad Sharabiani rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 20th-century, fantasy, fiction, childrens-young-readers

Northern Lights = The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials, #1), Philip Pullman
Northern Lights (known as The Golden Compass in North America and some other countries) is the first book of "His Dark Materials" trilogy. Set in a parallel universe, it features the journey of Lyra Belacqua to the Arctic in search of her missing friend, Roger Parslow, and her imprisoned uncle, Lord Asriel, who has been conducting experiments with a mysterious substance known as "Dust". Northern Lights is a young-adult Northern Lights = The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials, #1), Philip Pullman
Northern Lights (known as The Golden Compass in North America and some other countries) is the first book of "His Dark Materials" trilogy. Set in a parallel universe, it features the journey of Lyra Belacqua to the Arctic in search of her missing friend, Roger Parslow, and her imprisoned uncle, Lord Asriel, who has been conducting experiments with a mysterious substance known as "Dust". Northern Lights is a young-adult fantasy novel by Philip Pullman, published by Scholastic UK in 1995.
تاریخ نخستین خوانش: روز دوم آگوست سال 2008 میلادی
عنوان: نیروی اهریمنی اش - کتاب اول - سپیده ی شمالی در دو جلد؛ نویسنده: فلیپ پولمن؛ مترجم: فرزاد فرید؛ تهران، کتاب پنجره، 1384 تا 1385، در پنج جلد؛ شابک دوره پنج جلدی: 9647822146؛ چاپ سوم 1387؛ شابک دوره: 9789647822145؛ چاپ چهارم 1388؛ موضوع: داستانهای کودکان و نوجوانان از نویسندگان انگلیسی - سده 20 م
عنوان ک‍ت‍اب‌ نخست از مجموعه ی : «نیروی اهریمنیش» شامل دو جلد ب‍خ‍ش‌ اول‌ و دوم: س‍پ‍ی‍ده‌ ی‌ ش‍م‍ال‍ی‌؛ عنوان (جلد سوم) ک‍ت‍اب‌ دوم‌: خ‍ن‍ج‍ر ظری‍ف‌؛ و عنوان (دو جلد چهارم و پنجم) کتاب سوم: دورب‍ی‍ن‌ ک‍ه‍رب‍ای‍ی‌ است. نیروی اهریمنی‌ اش؛ عنوان مجموعه ای سه‌ گانه از داستانهای تخیلی ست، که: فیلیپ پولمن آنها را نگاشته است. کتاب‌ها به ترتیب: سپیده شمالی (1995 میلادی، در آمریکای شمالی، با عنوان: قطب نمای طلایی؛ منتشر شده)، خنجر ظریف (1997 میلادی) و دوربین کهربایی (2000 میلادی) نام دارند. داستان کتاب در مورد دو نوجوان به نام‌های: لایرا بلاکوا، و ویل پری است؛ که در دو دنیای موازی زندگی می‌کنند، و وارد ماجراهایی حماسی می‌شوند. کتاب سوم از مجموعهٔ نیروی اهریمنی‌ اش در سال 2001 میلادی برنده ی جایزه کتاب سال وایت برید در انگلستان شد، که یک جایزه ی معتبر ادبی به شمار می‌رود. روزنامه ی آبزرور از این مجموعه به عنوان یکصد رمان پرفروش دنیا یاد می‌کند. در کتاب نخست: لایرا به کمک دوستش که توسّط شفن ها دزدیده شده رفته، تا او را نجات دهد. ولی در انتها درمییابد که...؛ ا. شربیانی ...more

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Aug 25, 2012 David Schaafsma rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy, children

This is a second reading of Pullman's classic, accomplished on vacation in a car, with the family, by listening to the 9 cd audio collection, with Phillip Pullman Himself reading the narration and beautifully, and a cast of fine actors taking various parts. The first of a trilogy entitled His Dark Materials, which is a great fantasy story supposedly appropriate for grade 6 (American schools) but is really all ages, and like Wrinkle in Time, has dimensions in it which you will discover at any age This is a second reading of Pullman's classic, accomplished on vacation in a car, with the family, by listening to the 9 cd audio collection, with Phillip Pullman Himself reading the narration and beautifully, and a cast of fine actors taking various parts. The first of a trilogy entitled His Dark Materials, which is a great fantasy story supposedly appropriate for grade 6 (American schools) but is really all ages, and like Wrinkle in Time, has dimensions in it which you will discover at any age. It IS a kid's book, in so many ways, with a strong girl main character, Lyra, 11, who is set on freeing her friend and other children from the north, with the help of Gyptions, an armored polar bear, witches, a Texan aeronaut balloonist, among others. This first volume is wonderful fun, focused as it is on Lyra and adventure. Lyra is a pretty unforgettable young girl character, who really grows over the trilogy, and others also take the stage, but in this book she is up there front and center.

The series is also a commentary on and critique of C. S. Lewis's The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe series, which Pullman, an atheist, found as he finds all Christian materials, too simplistic about the nature of the universe. Pullman once commented that he finds it interesting that he is placed in the category of "fantasy" writer, which he thinks is evidence of the narrowness of vision that dominates the planet. In other words, Pullman sees the world as multiple, not binary, not just good and evil, Heaven and Hell; he thinks there are multiple worlds, and he thinks science/physics increasingly supports what many people know about the presence of multiple spiritual realms.

Pullman is also widely castigated/denounced as critical of The Holy Roman Catholic Church, which seems to be true in my reading of this book, though I think he is critical of almost all religions that see the world narrowly and are bound up in a view of the world as comprised of Sinners and Saints. Pullman especially finds the notion of Original Sin, which is the very foundation of the Dutch Calvinist Reformed Church in which I grew up, reprehensible, certainly limiting as a foundation for life. I think the Catholic Church, seeing Pullman as an atheist and his work as an exclusively anticlerical tract, helped to crush the continuation of the fine film series, which only has one third of the story, this book, produced, though that film was tame compared to the book. But I think it is more about the nature of True Religion than anti-religion, and I think Pullman says as much himself.

The series also owes a lot to Milton's Paradise Lost, which will become more evident as the series goes along, though you don't have to know that to appreciate the tales. Pullman loves Milton, and also argues with him, too. As with Warner Brothers cartoons, there's a kid level and an adult level on which you can appreciate the wonder of the tales. But it's not just a fantasy adventure! As with all great literature, it's about what is at stake in making meaning. It's a great classic.

But enough about all that theology jazz! Lyra is the hero of this first volume (and ultimately of the whole series). She is a liar (Pullman pronounces her name Lie-rah), a storyteller, fantasist, without which she could literally not survive. We named our daughter after this main character, so you know I am a fan, though we pronounce the name Lee-rah (as in Lyrical). ...more

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Apr 05, 2012 Emma rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy, childrns, re-read

When a film was made of this book, they did the book a real disservice. This book is amazing. Lyra is the feisty protagonist, an inveterate liar, clever, passionate and loyal. She achieves the impossible, rescues an armoured bear, befriends the witches, and rescues children from a fate worse than death- literally. Pullman does a great job realising this alternate world where everyone has a daemon- like the other half of your soul - and these creatures stay with you through your life. As adults t ...more

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Oct 15, 2007 mark monday rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy-modern, inbetweenworld

fantastic. pullman introduces readers to his sophisticated world view slowly, and this first novel in the trilogy has an ideal narrative focal point in the mean little liar who is the protagonist. i have never seen lying in children portrayed so explicitly as a positive thing, and after this novel, i'm all for it! the settings are wonderfully strange and surreal yet rooted in an eventually understandable reality, and the supporting characters are oblique and enigmatic without being tiresome. the ...more

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Sep 14, 2007 Julia rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: middlegrade, 2007, aal, knopf

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.
(My name has got that sam ...more

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Jul 14, 2007 Oceana2602 rated it did not like it

Recommends it for: no one

Shelves: 2006, english, male-writers

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 beginning, she d 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 beginning, she doesn't have to find out things herself, since the wise men will always tell her wat to do and what is going on in long, question-answer dialogues which will reveal the next part of the plot. Nothing is ever really set up to lead somewhere, unlike for example in Harry Potter where everything leads to something in the end, everything is happening in dialogue, which sounded so constructed and goal-oriented that it rarely ever convinced me.

The narrator is probably supposed to be an all-knowing narrator (sorry, don't know the english term for that), but he slips into Lyra's POV with no pattern I could discover. And the fact that I even noticed this shows how disturbing it was.

The protagonist is, well, I don't know why anyone writing children's book would invent an "unimaginative" (quote), lying, sometimes even hateful character like Lyra. I started to like her a bit more during the second half of the book, but mostly because I felt sorry for her. Then I discovered that she is supposed to be older than 11, when she makes herself younger by telling someone that she is eleven. Until the I had thought she was maybe 8 or 9. Shortly after that I stopped reading the book.

P.S.: After having read numerous other reviews of this book, I feel the need to point out that I'm an atheist and that no, I didn't give this book a bad review because it "offended my christianity". In fact, I seem to be so much an atheist that I completely missed how the book could be controversial or offensive in that regard. I know it offended me by being a bad book sold with a lot of hype, but that's not Pullman's fault. However, I did read that Pullman called himself an agnostic somewhere, and that explains rather a lot to me. ...more

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Mar 12, 2019 Lucy Langford rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

4.5****

”You cannot change what you are, only what you do.”

So begins the story of a fantastic invention of a parallel world to the one we live in and the adventures of a brave-hearted young girl.

Lyra is bound to stay in Oxford to learn and play with her friends, however, when talk of Gobblers arise with children disappearing, and with her close friend Roger being one of those children, Lyra, along with her daemon, Pantalaimon, set out and are determined to find his whereabouts.
Their quest leads ...more

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Feb 12, 2008 Brigid ✩ rated it it was amazing

Shelves: childrens, young-adult, fantasy, adventure, middle-grade

It had been like 12 years since I read this book and I'd been meaning to re-read it for ages––so I finally got around to it, and I fell in love with it all over again. I was kind of surprised by how well I remembered the story/characters despite having not read it since I was 11 years old––apparently it's just that memorable!

There's so much I love about The Golden Compass. The world-building is so vivid and fascinating; I feel so drawn into the settings, I love the dæmons, I love the armored bea ...more

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Mar 25, 2008 Brad rated it really liked it

Recommended to Brad by: China Mieville

Shelves: fantasy

After all the talk about Pullman's supposed anti-Catholicism or anti-Christianity or atheism or whatever one wants to label it, I approached The Golden Compass (known originally as Northern Lights) with an open mind and found something other than what I'd been told to expect.

I found elements that questioned Christianity and Catholicism and the nature of God and its works, but I also found elements that questioned parental authority, the ethical and practical roles of Science, and the nature of ...more

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Aug 11, 2007 Peter added it · review of another edition

Shelves: tutoring

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 this title in the 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 this title in the children's section, the themes and conflicts in the novel are often very adult, the action sometimes gruesome, and characters' behaviors and motivations quite complex.

The sophistication of the story will be lost over children's heads.

Nonetheless, the action will sustain.

For children, The Golden Compass is the story of Lyra Belacqua's adventure to the arctic to rescue her friend Roger, who has been kidnapped by adults who run experiments on children. The story is set loosely in our world and in the past, but in Pullman's revision, every human being has a "daemon" that is a physical manifestation of that person's soul in the form of an animal that is psychically, or perhaps spiritually, connected to the person. The experiments involve the investigation into and hideous manipulation of that connection. Along the way, Lyra meets talking bears, flying witches, and much, much more.

For adults, the novel asks questions about the relationship between religion and science. It explores political coercion and subterfuge. It examines class differences. And, to a very real degree, I think, it focuses on adult obsession with innocence and experience--both in a religious context and in a childhood/adolescence/adulthood context.

The result of all of this is a multi-layered novel. It's fun, but also thought-provoking--and potentially scandalous.

Do I recommend it? Yes. Fun and thoughtful: a novel vision.
Would I teach it? Hard to say. Likely not. It's a wonderful and intricate piece of writing--some of the passages are beautiful and the content generates many talking points--but much of it feels too overtly didactic.
Lasting impression: This is another magnificently realized escapist fantasy like the Harry Potter series. And, from the very beginning it is laden with complex political and social intrigue the stuff of which appears in "grown-up" fiction.
...more

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Dec 19, 2007 Rebecca rated it liked it

Recommends it for: fantasy fans

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 light-hearted or 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 light-hearted or playful. It bothers me when epic stories get a little bit too in love with a sense of their own epicness.

-Roger is supposedly the protagonist's best friend and her motivation for doing everything she does in at least half of the book, and his death is supposed to be some significant turning point...yet he's by far the dullest, least developed, and least important character in the book. He says maybe 20 sentences in the entire novel and his longest continuous presence in the book is when he's asleep in a balloon. Time for Lyra to get a better, more interesting, best friend, which I assume happens in book 2.

-The alethiometer is pretty damn hokey. It sounds like something Neville's grandmother would have given him in the HP series. It doesn't tell the truth so much as do the dirty work of plot exposition for Pullman. "What's so-and-so doing?" And then we get several paragraphs of background information and future predictions. Um, isn't that the kind of information that characters are supposed to figure out by being smart or making friends or discovering things on their own? On the other hand, if the alethiometer is indeed something marvelous and great, then why didn't Lyra use it all the time? There were a couple of times when she was wondering about something or needed a crucial bit of information, but she either chose not to consult the alethiometer or forgot about it. I'm sure that was intentional on Pullman's part, because it was a way for him to show Lyra messing up or figuring something out on her own. But if I had an alethiometer at my disposal, I'd be using it all the time, and there was no good reason why Lyra shouldn't have done that, too.

-Lord Asriel's great "betrayal" was completely obvious to anyone paying attention and wouldn't have been very surprising even if you weren't expecting it. The fact is, he never came across as a "good guy" to me from the very beginning, if for no other reason than that he was a bastard to Lyra from the very first chapter. He obviously didn't give a flip about his daughter, so why shouldn't he betray her to get what he needed to satiate his ambition? Lyra was stupid to ever trust him in the first place. I'm hoping she acquires a little bit deeper faculty of character judgment in the next book.

Despite my criticisms, it was an enjoyable book overall, and it's quite refreshing to read a children's fantasy story that still upholds virtues like bravery and sacrifice without resorting to the ideals and symbolism of Christianity. Pullman's writing is what really sold this book to me. The plot itself is nothing special and falls into the cliches/archetypes that most fantasy falls into, but Pullman is obviously more expert at the writer's craft than most children's authors, or even most fantasy authors, for that matter.

...more

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Sep 09, 2015 April (Aprilius Maximus) rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: 2016

Read until 51% and then skim read the rest. This was SOOOO disappointing. I was looking forward to it so much because the premise sounded incredible and I was excited to hear Pullman's atheism woven into his work, but everything about this book was bland. It was so slow moving and the characters were all so unlikable, I was honestly shocked that I was reading the same book that everyone else loved? Maybe it's because it lacked the nostalgia that a lot of people have with the series because I nev ...more

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Jul 22, 2016 Steven Walle rated it really liked it

This book was a really fun read. It was replete with witches, iron bears and all sorts of mythical creatures. The plot was fun and moved a long at a good pace. It was a real page turner. I would recommend this book to all who love Young Adult/Fantacy.
Enjoy and Be Blessed.
Diamond

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Oct 05, 2012 Amy | shoutame rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, young-adult

One of my favourite childhood books, no idea how many times I've read and reread.

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About Philip Pullman

Philip Pullman

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In 1946, acclaimed author Philip Pullman was born in Norwich, England, into a Protestant family. Although his beloved grandfather was an Anglican priest, Pullman became an atheist in his teenage years. He graduated from Exeter College in Oxford with a degree in English, and spent 23 years as a teacher while working on publishing 13 books and numerous short stories. Pullman has received many awards In 1946, acclaimed author Philip Pullman was born in Norwich, England, into a Protestant family. Although his beloved grandfather was an Anglican priest, Pullman became an atheist in his teenage years. He graduated from Exeter College in Oxford with a degree in English, and spent 23 years as a teacher while working on publishing 13 books and numerous short stories. Pullman has received many awards for his literature, including the prestigious Carnegie Medal for exceptional children's literature in 1996, and the Carnegie of Carnegies in 2006. He is most famous for his His Dark Materials trilogy, a series of young adult fantasy novels which feature free-thought themes. The novels cast organized religion as the series' villain. Pullman told The New York Times in 2000: "When you look at what C.S. Lewis is saying, his message is so anti-life, so cruel, so unjust. The view that the Narnia books have for the material world is one of almost undisguised contempt. At one point, the old professor says, 'It's all in Plato'—meaning that the physical world we see around us is the crude, shabby, imperfect, second-rate copy of something much better. I want to emphasize the simple physical truth of things, the absolute primacy of the material life, rather than the spiritual or the afterlife." He argues for a "republic of heaven" here on Earth.

In 2007, the first novel of the His Dark Materials trilogy was adopted into the motion picture The Golden Compass by New Line Cinema. Many churches and Christian organizations, including the Catholic League, called for a boycott of the film due to the books' atheist themes. While the film was successful in Europe and moderately received in the United States, the other two books in the trilogy were not be adapted into film, possibly due to pressure from the Catholic Church. When questioned about the anti-church views in His Dark Materials, Pullman explains in an interview for Third Way (UK): “It comes from history. It comes from the record of the Inquisition, persecuting heretics and torturing Jews and all that sort of stuff; and it comes from the other side, too, from the Protestants burning the Catholics. It comes from the insensate pursuit of innocent and crazy old women, and from the Puritans in America burning and hanging the witches—and it comes not only from the Christian church but also from the Taliban. Every single religion that has a monotheistic god ends up by persecuting other people and killing them because they don't accept him. Wherever you look in history, you find that. It's still going on" (Feb. 2002). Pullman has received many threats by ardent believers over his choice of subject matter.

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Quotes from The Golden Compass

“You cannot change what you are, only what you do.” — 1142 likes

“That's the duty of the old,' said the Librarian, 'to be anxious on the behalf of the young. And the duty of the young is to scorn the anxiety of the old.'

They sat for a while longer, and then parted, for it was late, and they were old and anxious.” — 350 likes

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