Sifting through His Dark Materials: Part One

Things I liked about the Books:

I want to start with the positives about what I like in these books. There are things I really loved about these books, especially with some of the new, imaginative things Pullman brings out in his world. Not just liked, but geeked out about, which is one of the highest compliments in my vocabulary.

Warning: Spoilers ahead from now and until the end.

First, the daemon idea is very, very cool. If you have not read the books, a daemon is essentially a visual representation of a person’s soul, or inner most thoughts, depending on which term you prefer. These daemon’s (and incidently, the word, at its core meaning, DOES NOT mean demon in the original Greek. Rather, it means a spirit of some type) take the shape of animal, depending on what a person is feeling. That is, only the children’s take shape, not the adult’s which stay the same.

Such a cool idea. I want one. Mine would be bear, in case you were wondering. Or maybe I am kidding myself. Maybe it would be duckbilled platypus.

I loved the armored bear Iorek. I mean, how cool can you get? An armored bear running around, crunching bad guys? What a great image. I loved it.

I loved how Pullman weaved in some quantum physics into his story line, especially with the possibilities of other worlds. I have been reading for osme time on my own about this subject (and only understood about a ¼ of it) that it was great to see it used in story form.

The themes of bad authority is a good one for literature to explore. As some people have said, and I agree with, the Authority (the God figure in the story) is not the God I serve, so I would rebel against him too, as well as the bumbling fools that make up Pullman's version of the church. The only thing I think is that Pullman did not make them loathsome enough, but I will write more about that later.

Of course, all the themes of love, honor, giving yourself up for your friends is there, but not as evident as in Harry Potter.

Other things I loved in a short burst:
the Texas Airman. The Alethiometer. Oxford. Dust. The subtle knife which can cut through worlds, a stand in for reason, I am guessing.

Next Up: The Negatives.