His Dark Materials is actually a trilogy of three books written by Philip Pullman: The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass. You may recognize The Golden Compass as it was made into a film in 2007, although it didn’t do all that great in the box office.
The story basically revolves around two children, Lyra Belacqua and Will Parry, as they wander through a series of parallel universes, meeting friends and foes along the way. The book is full of a variety of characters from giant polar bears and witches to angels and beings that move around on spheres.
The storyline touches on ideas of philosophy, theology, and spirituality and even goes to the point of somewhat retelling the story of Adam and Eve. I’ve read that the series has drawn criticism from some religious groups due to its alleged negative portrayal of organized religion. I did notice this while reading the book, but I’m neutral on the whole topic, so I was not bothered by it.
What I did find interesting were some of the changes made to the U.S. edition of the book. One part in particular touches on Lyra discovering her sexuality and how the event is described. Here’s an excerpt from the original (U.K. edition):
“As Mary said that, Lyra felt something strange happen to her body. She found a stirring at the roots of her hair: she found herself breathing faster. She had never been on a roller-coaster, or anything like one, but if she had, she would have recognized the sensations in her breast: they were exciting and frightening at the same time, and she had not the slightest idea why. The sensation continued, and deepened, and changed, as more parts of her body found themselves affected too. She felt as if she had been handed the key to a great house she hadn’t known was there, a house that was somehow inside her, and as she turned the key, deep in the darkness of the building she felt other doors opening too, and lights coming on. She sat trembling, hugging her knees, hardly daring to breathe, as Mary went on:”And now the U.S. version of the same passage:
“As Mary said that, Lyra felt something strange happen to her body. She felt as if she had been handed the key to a great house she hadn’t known was there, a house that was somehow inside her, and as she turned the key, she felt the other doors opening deep in the darkness, and lights coming on. She sat trembling as Mary went on:”Gotta love censorship in the U.S.! All kidding aside, the book is geared toward younger readers as well as adults, so I guess they thought it was a bit too descriptive. What do you think?
All and all, I enjoyed reading the book. Unfortunately, I don’t think there’s going to be a sequel in the box office any time soon seeing as how the first film did poorly. That’s too bad. I’d love to see how some of the events in the second and third book would be portrayed in film.
Leave a Reply