Reading goal met

[velvetpage]

I finished Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, and I liked it a lot. I thought the story held together quite well, and the characters were very real.

Some of the literary influences I detected in his work, though they weren't listed in the credits by name:

Les Jeux sont faits, Jean-Paul Sartre
Not Wanted on the Voyage, Timothy Findley
Intimations of Immortality, William Wordsworth (though his conclusions were very different, the theme is there)
Various Robert Heinlein and possibly Ursula LeGuin, for the fantasy worlds - the likelihood that he's well-read in terms of alternate-world literature is quite good, considering that's what he was creating, and those two are near/at the top of that particular sub-genre.

It was a gripping read and well worth my time. I'm glad I had the chance to read it.

Comments

[ladyperegrine.livejournal.com]

My cousin told me C.S. Lewis was an influence - my cousin had heard that Pullman said in an interview that he was writing in response to Chronicles of Narnia to a certain extent. (I have no idea if my cousin's right about that, but it would kind of make sense.)

I have to say that I gave up in the middle of the first book. I read the synopsis on Wikipedia, and it didn't seem like things were going to get any lighter. If I'd felt like there were some more promise of things lightening, I might have continued; I don't know.

Which is weird, because I have a degree in literature...I've read some pretty dark stuff...but something about the animal spirits being ripped away from the children and the children being taken away by the 'Gobblers'...I don't know, I just couldn't handle it, not even in a fictional context.

Maybe being a mom's taken away my edge? :-D Or maybe I just picked it up at the wrong time. I'm interested to hear more of your thoughts on it, though. I *liked* what I had seen of the constructed world; I just couldn't handle the plot.

[catsarah.livejournal.com]

It does get better.

And yes, Pullman is on record (interview that was aired on the BBC I think) as saying it was a response to the CON.

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

That aspect got a bit lighter in the next books, though there was still a strong dark element to it. There's redemption at the end of the trilogy for the two villains from the first book, but it's an awful redemption.

I think you'd like it, but I'd advise reading it on a sunlit porch on a day when you're at the opposite end of your spectrum from depression. :)

[ladyperegrine.livejournal.com]

Did things ever get better for Lyra? Does she grow into a heroic person? Those were things I wanted to see. Also, I was really curious about how the alethiometer worked; I hope that part was handled well.

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

Yes; she ends up being one of the two most heroic characters, in a cast full of them. One of my complaints with the Harry Potter books was that the people seeking to remove obstacles from Harry end up being far more heroic than he is himself. That's not the case in this series - there are plenty of people who set out to help Lyra and do it heroically, but she rises to the challenge and is a hero in her own right.

The alethiometer is explained more thoroughly later in the first book, I think, but it's used extensively in all three.

[tormentedartist.livejournal.com]

Yep I loved this trilogy myself. I really liked how he did the sex scene in the second book.

[spiralsongkat.livejournal.com]

I'm currently reading this trilogy to my daughter; we've just begun the second book. We're enjoying it quite a bit.