This post first published June 11, 2011.
Author: Philip Pullman
Published: 1995
Publisher: Laurel Leaf
Series: His Dark Materials #1
351 pages (mass market paperback)
I saw the movie for this book about two years ago or so, and I had
liked the movie (though I thought the ending was abrupt and
unsatisfying), so I had wanted to read the book ever since. As you can
see, I didn’t get around to doing that at all, until now, when I just so
happened to have seen the book in the library shelves, and it reminded
me of how I had wanted to read it before.
The Golden Compass takes place in an alternate world of
ours, a world where people’s souls are not within themselves, but are
called dæmons and are outside of the body, in the form of an animal. The
protagonist is a young girl named Lyra Belacqua, who, upon curiosity
one day, hides in a forbidden room in Oxford’s Jordan College and
overhears her Uncle Asriel talk about a strange particle called Dust to
other scholars. Her uncle asks for the college to fund his studies to go
into the North so he may study Dust, which most of his colleagues and
other scholars agree to, so off to the North he goes.
Not long after her discovery about this Dust substance, rumors of a
people called the Gobblers spring up. The Gobblers are behind the
disappearances of children, and when Lyra’s friend Roger is mysteriously
gone, Lyra desires to save him. She knows they are being taken to the
North, so she finds herself in the company of Mrs. Coultar, who seems to
be a scholarly lady, also planning a trip to the North. Unfortunately,
Mrs. Coultar turns out to be a part of the Gobblers group herself, a
discover that leads Lyra to escaping from her clutches and ending up
being accompanied by gyptians, witches and armored bears. Her journey
leads her to the Station where she discovers the terrible and cruel
things the Gobblers are doing to the missing children, all out of fear
of this mysterious Dust.
So, since I’ve already seen the movie (which I know by now is not
100% faithful to the book, but faithful enough), a bit of the magic of
discovering this new world and finding out what happens in the plot was
taken away from me, simply because I already know what’s going to
happen. Nothing I can really do about that there, but at least I am
completely in the dark about what happens in the second and third books.
Regardless, I really liked this book and I can certainly see why others
enjoy it; it’s a beautiful story, definitely one I would consider a
modern classic.
The best thing about this book are the fascinating concepts it has.
My favourite thing concept is of dæmons. I just fell in love with the
idea, of the soul not being kept inside the body, but outside of it as a
familiar. I think the idea is just thoroughly original and how nice it
would be to have a built-in best friend in your life! I even thought
about what kind of dæmon I would have, if I were in this world, and at
first I thought I’d have a really cool animal of some sort, like a
dolphin or panther, something kind of ‘cool’. But really, when I thought
about it, I’d probably have a cat. As in the lame household variety.
Hahaha.
I also love the idea of Dust. At first I had no idea what it could
possibly be. Granted, even the characters didn’t know, so I wasn’t at a
disadvantage or anything. But I know that since this trilogy of books is
metaphorical to religion in some way, I figured Dust had to be too.
It’s sort of explained at the end (incoming spoilers!!!);
the idea of when people grow up, this Dust particle starts sticking to
them, thus symbolizing the passage from childhood to adulthood. In other
words, losing your innocence and gaining knowledge causes the Dust to
stick to them. (End spoilers). Of course, the characters still don’t know exactly
what Dust is. What makes it “stick” to people? Why is it invisible?
What’s the point of it? Asriel thinks it comes from the another world
altogether, and this sets up the second book, I think, considering
Asriel went through all that trouble in the book to cross the boundary
between his world and the one he could see in the sky. Lyra becomes
convinced Dust must be a good thing and also sets out to prove that,
before her uncle can accomplish his own goals with Dust.
I know the book has a lot of other messages in it, specifically
anti-church ones, but I’m really not going to dive into that jar of
cookies (not to mention the fact I really didn’t catch any of it until
the very end and had to look up an analysis of the book on Sparknotes to
figure it out because to me, the book just seemed like an innocent
fantasy adventure for the most part). Anyway, I personally enjoyed this
book a lot. I think I would have enjoyed it even more if I hadn’t
already foreseen everything that would happen, thanks to the movie
version, but still, with knowing the plot ahead of time, I was still
pleasantly surprised at times. It’s a very charming story and I think
anyone who enjoys fantasy stories would like it.
My Rating: 4/5
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