Puntabulous

The Golden Compass – Review

Okay, so I finally finished The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials, Book 1) by Philip Pullman. What an incredible book! I was captivated by the world Philip created and was swept up into the story from cover to cover. I love the whole concept of the animal dÃ¦mons and the idea of them having the ability to morph into different animals while their humans are children, before settling on a single animal when they reach puberty, and the effects this ability has on the “establishment” and what drastic measures this causes them to take. It was such an interesting and unique take on a story we’re all familiar with.

Lyra is also an incredibly compelling heroine, who is both cunning and fierce. A more brash, but still likable version of Harry Potter. (How could I not compare the two?) And Mrs. Coulter and her golden monkey are awesomely eeeevil.

Having already seen the movie adaptation, and loving the stunning visuals, I had no problem carrying over those images and transferring them to the book. I especially loved reading Iorek’s lines with Ian McKellen’s majestic voice in my head. Now I knew the movie left out the last third of the book, but I was still completely shocked at the events that took place during the final act. How could that character be you-know-what! That was shocking!

I started The Subtle Knife (His Dark Materials, Book 2) yesterday, and it’s a bit jarring starting off with a new character, but I’m already starting to warm up with him, and of course, Lyra will still be the star of the show, so I hope I won’t be disappointed.

Let’s discuss The Golden Compass in a bit more spoilery detail in the comments, shall we? Please no spoilers for Books 2 and 3!

BOOKS, REVIEWS | Craig | August 12, 2008 5:20 am

24 Comments

By KÃ¡ri, August 12, 2008 @ 6:18 am

I need to re-read it. I’ve been intending to for a long time, I’ve just never got round to it. Those are definitiely among my favorite books. And you will learn to love Will.

I have to say though, that I was disappointed by the film. There were several things that annoyed me:
1. The dÃ¦mons disappeared in these huge puffs of yellow Sabrina the Teenage Witch extravaganza. I mean, how unrealistic! Every time someone dies, there’s a firework show? C’mon!
2. Nicole Kidman’s face job. Get a grip, my most awesomest actress in the world that I used to love more than any other woman excluding my mom!
3. The ending; or rather, the lack thereof.
4. The useless dialogue: *While riding and having ridden for a long time Lyra says to Iorek:* “We must hurry, we must hurry to save him!” It’s pretty obvious. And who would say that while en-route?
5. The fact Lyra finds out who the gobblers are sooner than in the book. It makes everything less exciting later on, I think.
6. Making the Magisterium look like it’s a simple instition of three creepy guys instead of a huge, unvieldy beurocratic nightmare of a maze.

Otherwise, I liked it. I liked all the actors (excluding botox) and I loved the CGI (excluding dÃ¦mon-disappearance effects). I hope there’s another one and they fix what they did wrong.
By Craig, August 12, 2008 @ 7:14 am

Kari: Your complaint about the dÃ¦mons’ disappearance in the movie mirrors my complaint about them in the book. As I was reading it I was like: “They just disappear?! No bang?! How undramatic!” I guess you just like what you’re used to.

I enjoyed the movie more for the visual style than the movie itself. It was just a bit too plodding and lacked focus. It only really picked up in the later half with the bears and Bolvangar. I thought Nicole Kidman was excellent despite the lack of facial movement. And now that I’ve read the book, I like the girl who played Lyra even more. But now I also see Daniel Craig’s Lord Asriel in a totally different light!
By Mjohnson, August 12, 2008 @ 7:28 am

Craig you will learn to love Will. He’s a great character. The thing I love about Pullmanâ€™s characters is that he exposes their flaws. Not something you really get in Harry Potter. Even thought these books are good old good vs evil it’s less black and white then H Potter.
By Hayden, August 12, 2008 @ 7:31 am

Wow, you must have really loved this book to give it this much attention on Puntabulous. I will have to give this title a shot….
By BeRightBack, August 12, 2008 @ 8:11 am

Though many people seem to think that the trilogy goes downhill after the first book, I actually like the second book the best for the way it expands and integrates Will’s (aka “our”) world and Lyra’s together in sometimes chilling ways. It’s also the place where the Paradise Lost allusions become the most pronounced. I feel like the whole trilogy is great, starting off with a small focus and constantly expanding until it encompasses* universes. I think people just get nostalgic for the simpler pleasures of the traditional young adult fantasy structure of the first book and start to resent the intellectualization and abstraction that occur later in the series. But it makes sense to me that a series thematically about growing up gets progressively more challenging and philisophical in its narrative structure as it goes along.

*unintentional, but har har nonetheless.
By Craig, August 12, 2008 @ 8:16 am

BeRightBack: “intellectualization” Oh noes! Am I going to have to think? The progression you’re talking about definitely makes sense. Again, I know it’s not great to compare it to Harry Potter, but that’s another series that changed as it went along. I think it’s defintiely a good thing. Otherwise you might as well just read the same book three times. I also need to read Paradise Lost.

Glad to hear I’ll love Will.
By john, August 12, 2008 @ 8:27 am

I loved The Golden Compass and I liked the movie. I wasn’t happy with all the changes, particularly the end of the movie, but I understand why the changes were made. I thought Kidman was fantastic in the role and I thought her waxy features added to the creepiness of Mrs. Coulter. I also find it really creepy that the monkey is never heard to speak in the book or movie.

Craig: I really enjoyed The Subtle Knife, it is my favorite of the three. I did find the transition very jarring and there are a few things I didn’t like, but overall, it is good. The last is my least favorite, but I’ll refrain from further comment until you have read them.
By srah, August 12, 2008 @ 9:15 am

I hated The Golden Compass and the movie was even worse. I liked The Subtle Knife a lot better, because there was almost no Lyra in it (I found her inconsistent and unlikable). I am told that this is because I listened to the book on tape instead of reading the book myself, because Lyra is particularly annoying in that format. Oh well, the series has been ruined for me by Lyra’s annoying whiny voice and I have no desire to read them now!
By Scott, August 12, 2008 @ 11:13 am

Interesting. I bought this book to read after seeing the movie.

Have you ever watched a movie and then wanted to read the book because you know the book is going to be even better? That’s what happened to me.

Unfortunately I’m having trouble getting a decent pair of reading glasses. They can’t seem to get my lens prescription right. Until that happens, I can’t read small print very well.
By Craig, August 12, 2008 @ 11:18 am

john: Glad to hear I’m in for a treat with this book. Sorry to hear about the last book though!

srah: You should totally read them! Boo for books on tape!

Scott: That’s exactly what happened to me. Watching the movie and the amazing world they created, you could just tell the book would be amazing.
By john, August 12, 2008 @ 12:03 pm

Craig: Keep an open mind, one man’s trash may be another man’s gold. I’m curious about some of your reactions to TSK, one of my coworkers had a violent reaction to one aspect of the book.

Books on tape have their place. I’ve listened to a few while traveling and sometimes, while I work out. I find the books more engaging than music to help take my mind off the monotony of riding a stationary bike. I will admit, however, that reading the book is much better.
By Mjohnson, August 12, 2008 @ 12:40 pm

I bought the series for my Godson with the first book on tape thinking that, since he is only 12, he would get into the book on tape and then devour the other two.
How wrong I was. I realised that afterwards. I spoke to his Mum and she tells me he still hasn’t read the books 8 months later, though he did listen to the CD.
By Nick, August 12, 2008 @ 12:48 pm

The Subtle Knife is my favorite, followed by The Golden Compass. I certainly do like parts of The Amber Spyglass, but as I’ve said before, it just seems like Pullman reached a point where he either needed to expand it to four books of cram it all into three. He decided on three…. There’s just too much going on, and a lot of is is very weird.

I don’t know how you feel about re-reading books, but I will say I got a lot more out of the second reading of the books a year or so later, than I did the first time.

Even with my objections about the third, I still do like the trilogy, and I will read it again. It’s just not going to be up there with Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings anytime soon.
By Craig, August 12, 2008 @ 12:51 pm

Nick: I love re-reading books for that very reason. Lord of the Rings gets better and better everytime I read it. This first time was just a struggle for me to get through since it was so dense, but ever since, I get something new out of it everytime.
By Sven, August 12, 2008 @ 1:08 pm

I’m still disappointed that it’s more famous as ‘The Golden Compass’ and not as ‘Northern Lights’, as though people wouldn’t get the metaphor. The Subtle Knife is awesome (Mrs. Coulter is especially wicked) but then the middle ones are always the best: just look at ‘The Empire Strikes Back’.
By Polt, August 12, 2008 @ 1:13 pm

I didn’t read the books, I didn’t see the movie, so I got nothing.

Still found a reason to comment though.

HUGS…
By Michael X., August 12, 2008 @ 1:16 pm

My boyfriend and I were having a discussion about the Gay Man’s attraction to “Alpha Females,” and as soon as the conversation got to the Catholic Church (lots of gays + Virgin birth = one heckuva cult), I brought up Lyra. My boyfriend is a Children’s Librarian, and had never read His Dark Materials. I gave him my boxed set, and after he was done with it, we picked up the conversation again.
One of the most interesting themes of the book is the role of Women in the whole story. With Lyra as an anti-Eve, Mrs. Coulter as an anti-Madonna and Mary (wink and nod) Malone as the anti-Disciple, the whole saga presents an interesting alternative to the andro-centric mythos of the Big Three religious traditions in our world by giving these women the power to defy existing conventions all in the name of Love.
Of course, this is the message that got so many Evangelicals upset about the movie when it came out.
By john, August 12, 2008 @ 2:51 pm

Thems sound like thinkin words to me Craig….
By Meee, August 12, 2008 @ 6:18 pm

Okay, I’m with Polt, didn’t see the movie or read the book but I’ll contibute to that little counter thingy on the bottom. I find often with books in a series the first one is not always amazing because most of the time is spent setting up the whole background, then book 2 gets into the meat. Whether books 3 and beyond can hold it is another story. Glad you enjoyed it.
By Meee, August 12, 2008 @ 6:20 pm

Holy Hell Michael, ya lost me after “my boyfriend and I were having a discussion”. I try not to think that much when I read. That’s what work is for.
By Dustin, August 13, 2008 @ 12:29 am

I bought all three books after seeing the movie in April. I have yet to start reading them. They sit on my shelf next to me and I need to start them, especially since there are no more Harry Potter.
By Craig, August 14, 2008 @ 7:59 am

Michael X: Very interesting point about the role of women! I haven’t gotten to Mary Malone yet. Is she in book 2 or 3?

Dustin: You have to read them! The Golden Compass was so so so good.
By Christian, August 16, 2008 @ 10:39 am

Will ended up being my favorite character! Like you, I was thrown a bit by the beginning of book two starting off with a whole new character and world, but Will grew on me and ended up being just as compelling as Lyra.