Northern Lights

[Flingo]

Rescued Thread

Hazel 6th October 2006 11:22 AM

Amazon synopsis -
Lyra's life is already sufficiently interesting for a novel before she eavesdrops on a presentation by her uncle Lord Asriel to his colleagues in the Jordan College faculty, Oxford. The college, famed for its leadership in experimental theology, is funding Lord Asriel's research into the heretical possibility of the existence of worlds unlike Lyra's own, where everyone is born with a familiar animal companion, magic of a kind works, the Tartars are threatening to overrun Muscovy, and the Pope is a puritanical Protestant. Set in an England familiar and strange, Philip Pullman's lively, taut story is a must-read and re-read for fantasy lovers of all ages. The world-building is outstanding, from the subtle hints of the 1898 Tokay to odd quirks of language to the panserbjorne, while determined, clever Lyra is strongly reminiscent of Joan Aiken's Dido Twite. In this first part of the "Dark Materials" trilogy, Lyra's friend Roger disappears. She and her daemon, Pantalaimon, determine to find him. Their quest leads them to the bleak splendour of the North where a team of scientists are conducting unspeakably horrible experiments.

Oddly, I have never gotten round to reading these books but had to read Northern Lights recently because the boy I have begun tutoring for Higher English chose it to write an essay on. I am pretty glad he did choose this as I really enjoyed reading it. Pullman is an excellent story teller and dare I say, a better writer than a certain J K Rowling. He managed to get me passionately concerned and hooked into the lives of some of the characters, in particular Iorek the bear.

The experiments and some of the fight details are truly horrifc and quite dark for a CYA book, but as we know kids can handle a lot more than we think they can and they like their fantasy pretty gruesome.

Lyra makes a convincing hero with the usual cliches: absent parents, a tomboy and plenty of sass. But I felt that it was the other characters around her that kept me gripped. That, and a decent body count.

Well recommended, now I just have to get the other 2!


Adrian 6th October 2006 11:39 AM

I agree with Hazel that not only is Pullman a much better writer than J.K. Rowling, but his stories have much more to them. I started NL not expecting to like it, but after no more than two pages I was hooked. Great story, wonderful herione, but most of all excellent writing.


katrina 8th October 2006 04:18 PM

This is a book I read in a rush a couple of years ago when I was applying to colleges, I keep meaning to go back and reread it so i can read the two books which follow which are sitting on my bookshelf.
I did enjoy it the first time around but for some reason can remember very few details.
Another Pullman book which is worth a look, though for a younger audience, is the Fire-work Maker's Daughter


Flingo 12th October 2006 06:56 PM

I read NL when it was first published, I think I was about 13 years old. I then had an agonising wait until The Subtle Knife was published when I was doing my A Levels. I rushed out to get it, and I am sure my revision suffered as a result! I then had another agonising wait for The Amber Spyglass that was published during exam period at uni!

I'm really jealous of you all who got to read them in quick succession! I strongly feel they need a re-read for me, and I will get around to it one day!

I lent them to my Nan not long ago. She is awful at making a note of title and author but she said on the phone "I did like that one where the children and their animals went off to the North Pole!". I knew what she meant!


Hazel 12th October 2006 07:07 PM

Originally Posted by Flingo
I lent them to my Nan not long ago. She is awful at making a note of title and author but she said on the phone "I did like that one where the children and their animals went off to the North Pole!".

I think she summed it up beautifully!


David 9th December 2006 05:06 PM

The website for next year's film The Golden Compass has just gone online here (http://www.goldencompassmovie.com/).

[FirelightSpirit]

I requested these for my birthday from a friend a few years ago and I wasn't sorry I did. What an incredible story.

It's one of those books that's not easy to classify. I think teenagers and adults would get far more from the series than children and I think that will add to its endurance through the years - children re-reading the books as adults and enjoying them on another level.

I found the archaic references in some places unusual, but that just shows how badly versed in history I am.

The premise was fantastic, highly inventive and original and the characters were wonderful. Good fantasy needs to be totally believable, which this was. It was moving, epic and exciting.

I agree that Pullman is a better writer than Rowling, but for me the Potter stories are more down to earth. I realise that probably doesn't make sense when talking about fantasy, but it's the only way I can describe my feeling. I think it's Pullman's writing style that gives me this impression. I do love HDM though.

[David]

With the Northern Lights film, The Golden Compass, coming up in December the website has been gradually developed. Now you can take a test to find your own Daemon. Mine turned out to be Raina, a spider. Frankly this wouldn't work because Raina would find herself swatted within minutes, which I daresay would do neither of us any good.

Anyway, you can have a look for yourself here (http://www.goldencompassmovie.com/). Click on the rabbit.

[Momo]

Thanks for this website, David.
You know, a lot of us love these type of quizzes.

My daemon is Rasthmus, a whippet. According to the profile, I am modest, sociable, inquisitive, outgoing and competitive. Though I agree with most of the statements, I couldn't say I'm modest.

[lipstick_librarian]

I was hoping for a penguin but my daemon is Sergius the Hare. Modest, solitary, shy and inquisitive - yep, that's me! I really want to re-read the whole trilogy soon, when I reach a hiaitus in my TBR pile.

[megustaleer]

Mine is Themius the Ocelot.
Apparently I'm solitary, spontanious, modest, clever and shy :o

[David]

Huh! My description was very similar to LL's and Meg's (should have noted it but forget now) but do I get excellent animals like ocelots or hares? No, I get a bl**dy spider! There's no justice, I tells ya! :rolleyes:

[katrina]

mine is Sirion a hare, my profile says I am passive, spontaneous, modest, solitary and proud.
I've been told worse.

[Barblue]

My Daemon is Tarquin, a wolf. Apparently I am modest, sociable, relaxed, proud and flexible. Well, I never knew that ;)

[megustaleer]

How come we are all so modest?

[Hazel]

I am Latheus the fox. I am solitary, modest, assertive, spontaneous. Quite pleased as I like to feel a little foxy of a night.

[David]

Quite pleased as I like to feel a little foxy of a night.
Screeching wildly down alleyways, nosing round bins, etc....

:naughty:

[Barblue]

Quite pleased as I like to feel a little foxy of a night.
Currently using our back lawn as a convenience :angry:

[Hazel]

Oh, I love foxes. People always moan about them, it's awful.

Anyway, I didn't mean that kind of 'foxy' as well you know.

[David]

Oh, I love foxes.
Me too. There are plenty around here and they do rather split the community - some of us love them, others definitely don't! I'm not averse to foxy ladies, either, though I sense the residents in this area might be similarly split on that one too! ;)

(I'm just jealous because you've got a cool fox whilst I'm left with the one creature that drives me to horrified paralysis!)

[Hazel]

(I'm just jealous because you've got a cool fox whilst I'm left with the one creature that drives me to horrified paralysis!)

Yes, but you've got 8 legs and spin fantastic webs. I am the jealous one.

I am usually deeply suspicious of people who don't like foxes. They are such mesmerising animals.

[FirelightSpirit]

I like foxes...and wolves. I can't find out what my daemon is because Flash won't work on my computer. :(

[megustaleer]

Oh, I love foxes. People always moan about them, it's awful.

I used to keep chickens, and to find half a dozen lying on the lawn with their heads bitten off did not endear the local fox population to me. I understand that keepers of (valuable) Koi carp get upset, too, when they find their fish recieve the same treatment. It's not as if the d@mned foxes eat the livestock they kill. :mad:

Having said that, no longer having poultry I did enjoy watching a young fox and a muntjac chasing each other round in circles at the end of our garden a couple of summers back :D: ...but my neighbour wasn't enjoying clearing the area of his gravel drive that the foxes used as a latrine. :rolleyes:

[Momo]

How come we are all so modest?Good question.

[David]

How come we are all so modest?
Well, whilst I do know the answer it would be a little forward of me to say...

[Flingo]

My daemon is Rasthmus, a whippet. According to the profile, I am modest, sociable, inquisitive, outgoing and competitive. Though I agree with most of the statements, I couldn't say I'm modest.
Our daemons are related - mine is Photion, the whippet. However, while I am "outgoing, spontaneous, inquisitive, competitive and responsible" it does not appear that I am modest (cos I'm great, me!).

[Momo]

(cos I'm great, me!).And so you are! (That's the proud mom talking. ;))

[Flingo]

And so you are! (That's the proud mom talking. ;))
http://www.websmileys.com/sm/angels/teu07.gif Oh, you say the nicest things!

[FirelightSpirit]

I like foxes...and wolves. I can't find out what my daemon is because Flash won't work on my computer. :(
Got a new computer so I know who my daemon is now. :)

His name is Arkadion and he is a rather handsome crow. I've been matched with him because apparently I am soft spoken, assertive, confident, competitive and fickle. Not sure about fickle, but the other traits are pretty acurate.

[Krey20]

I missed this thread first time around. I loved these books when I read them (a few years ago now).

My Daemon is Androne a Chimpanzee - Solitary, competitive, softly spoken, assertive, flexible.

Not to far off...

The movie trailer looks amazing. Daniel Craig has been cast perfectly. But why, oh, why do the Americans insist on dumbing down movie titles?

[FirelightSpirit]

The movie trailer looks amazing. Daniel Craig has been cast perfectly. But why, oh, why do the Americans insist on dumbing down movie titles?
I have asked this question many times. As Flingo correctly pointed out somewhere (can't remember which thread now), the name of the book was changed first in this case (and with HP), so we can blame the publishers. :angry:

[Colinj]

Tried reading the second one but could not get into it at all.

[David]

The new trailer for The Golden Compass has been released. It's looking like a pretty exciting film! You can see it here (http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1808718640/video/4451177/).

[Webby]

I don't understand the hype surrounding these books. Tried reading this one when it first came out, and simply couldn't get past the first chapter. I tried again several times afterwards, and just didn't find anything worthy of my attention.

I think there are far better children's authors around.

[Billybob]

I don't understand the hype surrounding these books. Tried reading this one when it first came out, and simply couldn't get past the first chapter. I tried again several times afterwards, and just didn't find anything worthy of my attention.

I think there are far better children's authors around.
I have recently read 'His Dark Materials' and I have to say I agree with you Webby. They barely kept my attention and think they are highly overrated. I guess we are in a minority though. :)

[Huntress]

I don't understand the hype surrounding these books. Tried reading this one when it first came out, and simply couldn't get past the first chapter. I tried again several times afterwards, and just didn't find anything worthy of my attention.

I think there are far better children's authors around.


Im glad im not the only person that feels like this. Ive tried reading these book a number of time but never really lose myself

[jfp]

I guess we are in a minority though. :)
Well it's getting to be a more and more sizeable minority...

I was rather impressed by some stills from the film which I found on-line several months ago... decided I wanted to see the film (though I as yet haven't) and that I would read the first book as preparation... so I borrowed it from my niece this summer... and was generally disappointed... I felt the whole thing lacked narrative drive, and that I really had to wade my way through it... and when I got to the end decided it hadn't been worth it...

[Billybob]

Well it's getting to be a more and more sizeable minority...

I was rather impressed by some stills from the film which I found on-line several months ago... decided I wanted to see the film (though I as yet haven't) and that I would read the first book as preparation... so I borrowed it from my niece this summer... and was generally disappointed... I felt the whole thing lacked narrative drive, and that I really had to wade my way through it... and when I got to the end decided it hadn't been worth it...
I felt exactly the same way at the end of Northern Lights. I only read the following 2 in the hope they would get better, unfortunately they didn't. I certainly won't be bothering to go and see the film.

[Iffy]

I'm still finishing the last book of the trilogy and I find the premise very interesting...maybe you have to have religious hang-ups to appreciate it.
I find it amazing that this is seen as a children's books. Is it ok to give children books that refer to the sexual abuse of children and other grusome realities? Maybe that is how it is today...I don't have children so I don't know.
OK, I admit it. I too found the first book kind of slow and the second book even slower. But the IDEAS of the book interested me. I was a died in the wool Catholic so it hit home for me.
By the way, I have a Jackal daemon and that's ok with me.

[Kaz]

After Xmas, I read Northern Lights that I find it okay and slow. Only thing I enjoyed to read about demoems. I have been to cinema today to watch and I prefer film to book!

[Flingo]

I finally went to see the film on Friday - it seemed to lack the depth of the book, but it was quite a reasonable adaptation.

I certainly feel like I want to re-read the book, but hand on heart, I know I won't get round to it!

I find it amazing that this is seen as a children's books. Is it ok to give children books that refer to the sexual abuse of children and other grusome realities? Maybe that is how it is today...I don't have children so I don't know.
I don't think of His Dark Materials as being "children's" books - but they are ok for children over 10 or 11 years old to read. They are fantasy, and I think children of the younger end of this age range will take it as that - a story, not a fact!

[David]

I finally went to see the film on Friday - it seemed to lack the depth of the book, but it was quite a reasonable adaptation.
Latest rumours are that there will be no trilogy of films. Apparently the protests by American Christians meant it wasn't very successful there, although made a great deal worldwide. Part of the reason it lacked the depth you notice, Flingo, is because all the 'controversial' aspects about God were hugely watered-down. Though not enough, it would seem. The studios are reluctant to go against Christian feelings again and it looks set to be quietly forgotten.

[SlowRain]

Latest rumours are that there will be no trilogy of films.
I think that's just idle speculation on the part of the author and some reporters with nothing better to write about. It made $300M worldwide on a $180M budget (and I believe that doesn't take into account video sales and rentals or merchandising). Pare the budget back to $100M and I'd even invest in it. It could also be a ploy to get some publicity and backlash going in an effort to speed up the approval process for the sequels.

[My Friend Jack]

I read NL whilst on holiday last week. Absolutely loved it. Started TSK as soon as we got home! Will post some thoughts when I've finished TAS, but isn't it odd how religious nutters (from all persuasions) seem unable to cope with the difference between fiction and non-fiction?

[My Friend Jack]

I finished the trilogy a few days ago. Decided to wait before posting, so I could decide how I really felt. Well...

Absolutely loved all 3 books. Anti-Christian? It's a story, a work of fiction, for goodness' sake! If it encourages the reader to think about the place of religion in society, that can be no bad thing. If the reader believes that every word of the story is true, then the reader is a muppet. A work of fiction, aimed at young people, which challenges their perceptions of humanity, draws attention to the difference between good and evil and love and hate, and makes them think and wonder should be applauded. The fact that the 3 books are so readable and downright entertaining means that the books are actually being read!

Oh, I nearly forgot... what a beautiful ending.

[Cassie]

I read all three when they first came out and loved them from start to finish!
The film 'looked' good but certainly the books are better. The National Theatre staging was wonderful and made fantastic use of the setting. They are certainly on my re-read list!

[helenoftroy]

Hey, new here! I've got to say, I think they're some of the best recent books I've read. I'm not generally a huge fantasy novel fan, (Tolkien excepted!) I think perhaps because some of them seem to just be re-working generally accepted ideas and themes. But what I really liked about HDM was that it was really different, and I think the fact that it was little deeper than the average (personally I loved the way it raised questions) made it really readable, and it made me think about it when I'd finished reading them, always a good thing. I have to admit I read them pretty quickly, I read TSK when on holiday, had to go to the local book shop and get myself the next one, couldn't wait to read it. I read it when I was about 14, 15 perhaps, and I agree with some people that it's not really suitable as a childrens' book, it's quite harrowing at times. But, on the other hand, it seems to me that it would appeal on different levels, hence why it's so easy for adults to read as well, so perhaps if I'd read it before at an earlier age, I would have appreciated it in a different way, and read from a different perspective.

All in all, amazing books, and ones I look forward to re-reading many times.

[My Friend Jack]

Hi, Helen, and welcome.

If you like your fantasy to be of the more thought-provoking nature, can I recommend Stephen Donaldson's Thomas Covenant books, and Frank Herbert's Dune saga.

[Loz]

Philip Pullman has said he's going to write another Lyra book and also another one about Sally Lockhart. All the details are in this interview with the Liverpool Daily Post at http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-life-features/liverpool-special-features/2008/10/17/writing-for-children-gives-me-freedom-64375-22054226/

[N-esque]

Woah this confused me at first. Is Northern Lights the UK name for the book? Because I bought it as The Golden Compass long before there was even going to be a movie.

i read this when I was 11, then again when I was 15. I loved it both times though I think I appreciated it a lot more the second time. I do like HDM a lot. I have to respect a book where the author is willing to kill off main characters. plus I'm just a sucker for fantasy novels. : D

[My Friend Jack]

Woah this confused me at first. Is Northern Lights the UK name for the book? Because I bought it as The Golden Compass long before there was even going to be a movie.

No, it's more a case of The Golden Compass being the North American name for Northern Lights!

[Momo]

I always ask myself why the same book has to have two different titles in the same language (sometimes they do that to films but not as often). It's bad enough if you can't recognize the book once it's translated.

[megustaleer]

According to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Lights_(novel))For some time during the pre-publication process, the series of novels was known as The Golden Compasses. The word Compasses referred to a pair of compasses—the circle-drawing instrument—rather than a navigational compass. Pullman then settled on Northern Lights as the title for the first book, and continued to refer to the trilogy as The Golden Compasses. Like the eventual title for the trilogy, the original title The Golden Compasses comes from a line in Milton's Paradise Lost.

In the United States, in their discussions over the publication of the first book, the publishers Alfred A. Knopf had been calling it The Golden Compass (omitting the plural), which they mistakenly believed referred to Lyra's alethiometer, because the device superficially resembles a navigational compass. Meanwhile, in the UK, Pullman had replaced The Golden Compasses with His Dark Materials (a title that Pullman had taken from a line in Paradise Lost) as the title of the trilogy. According to Pullman, the publishers had become so attached to The Golden Compass that they insisted on publishing the U.S. edition of the first book under that title, rather than Northern Lights with the title used in the UK and Australia.

[My Friend Jack]

I don't remember any circle drawing in any of the 3 books!

[Tay]

I read this when it first came out and again a couple of years ago.

I wasn't so enamoured the second time around but still enjoyed it. I'm all for a book that challenges pre conceived ideas of religion and state. Something that will hopefully make younger readers take a fresh look at the world around them. To ask more questions, to not just accept the given but to consider and investigate. All the time being able to lose themselves in a good fantasy novel which hopefully will encourage them to read more.

As Frank Zappa is credited with saying 'The mind is like a parachute, it doesn't work unless it's open.'

I also liked the idea of the Daemons, thinking back to those strange years of puberty and the myriad of changes and contradicting thoughts that exploded within the mind, the uncertainty that seemed to rule (well in my case anyway) kind of mirrors the constant changes of the Daemons. Their ability to mimic, mirror or contrast the emotions of the child like a 'soul' spinning in an elliptical orbit sometimes attached by the gravity of the child and sometimes almost out of control.

"When your daemon settles, you'll know what sort of person you are."

"But suppose your daemon settles into a shape you don't like?"

"Well then you're discontented, en't you?"

Explains a lot of people I've met in my life. :D

[Hazel]

As Frank Zappa is credited with saying 'The mind is like a parachute, it doesn't work unless it's open.' Never heard that before, but I like it.


Explains a lot of people I've met in my life. :D:D

I really should read the other 2 books in this series. I read Northern Lights a couple of times but never went on to the others even though I have them on my shelf.

[Tay]

I really should read the other 2 books in this series. I read Northern Lights a couple of times but never went on to the others even though I have them on my shelf.

I've been re 'reading' the other two on audio just recently (half way through the third) and recomend this as a way to 'read' them.

Pullman narrates the prose well and there is a cast of actors who play the characters. It brings the books to life, far more than the film did.

The books grow intellectually, exploring meanings of life and death, essence of intelligence and aspects of evolution. Whilst still remaining engaging stories.

[anneliesscott]

I agree with Hazel - my daughter adored the audiobooks of the Northern Lights, and listened to them nightly for so many months that she virtually knew the entire series from memory.

[anneliesscott]

I meant that I agree with Tay!

[Binker]

We listened to the first book on CD during a driving trip across country before the movie came out. The whole family was entranced. In fact, we would sometimes pull into a stop and sit in the car, waiting for the end of the chapter.

[EasySkanking]

I was bought the trilogy last year after the film had been a big success.
I loved each book, even though I don't usually read this kind of thing. They drag you in so much you can't put it down!

After watching 'The Golden Compass' film, I have to say that the book is a lot better. Like most books to films, there were some changes, but I prefer the book as it leaves room for your imagination to picture the scenes, rather than the film do it for you.

I've yet to read some more of Philip Pullmans books, but i doubt they will meet the greatness of 'His Dark Materials'.

This book is one i may be buying in the future:
http://www.philip-pullman.com/pages/content/index.asp?PageID=68