Review of 'The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials, #1)' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
не знаю, не вразило, м'яко кажучи.
399 pages
English language
Published Sept. 12, 1996 by Alfred A. Knopf.
The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials, #1)
4 stars
(149 reviews)
Northern Lights (titled The Golden Compass in North America and some other countries) is a young-adult fantasy novel by Philip Pullman, published in 1995 by Scholastic UK. Set in a parallel universe, it follows the journey of Lyra Belacqua to the Arctic in search of her missing friend, Roger Parslow, and her imprisoned uncle, Lord Asriel, who has been conducting experiments with a mysterious substance known as "Dust". Northern Lights is the first book of the trilogy, His Dark Materials (1995 to 2000). Alfred A. Knopf published the first US edition April 1996, under the name The Golden Compass, under which title it was adapted as a 2007 feature film and as a companion video game. The book has also been adapted as a TV series in 2019 under the name His Dark Materials. Pullman won the 1995 Carnegie Medal from the Library Association, recognising the year's outstanding British children's …
Northern Lights (titled The Golden Compass in North America and some other countries) is a young-adult fantasy novel by Philip Pullman, published in 1995 by Scholastic UK. Set in a parallel universe, it follows the journey of Lyra Belacqua to the Arctic in search of her missing friend, Roger Parslow, and her imprisoned uncle, Lord Asriel, who has been conducting experiments with a mysterious substance known as "Dust". Northern Lights is the first book of the trilogy, His Dark Materials (1995 to 2000). Alfred A. Knopf published the first US edition April 1996, under the name The Golden Compass, under which title it was adapted as a 2007 feature film and as a companion video game. The book has also been adapted as a TV series in 2019 under the name His Dark Materials. Pullman won the 1995 Carnegie Medal from the Library Association, recognising the year's outstanding British children's book. For the 70th anniversary of the Medal, it was named one of the top ten winning works by a panel, composing the ballot for a public election of the all-time favourite. Northern Lights won the public vote from that shortlist and was thus named the all-time "Carnegie of Carnegies" on 21 June 2007.
Review of 'The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials, #1)' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
I've been meaning to read this series for a long time, and finally got the nudge I needed in the form of the upcoming HBO/BBC series. (I saw the Nicole Kidman movie when it was newish but it didn't do much for me.)
Overall, it's hard for me to get past my biggest issue with this book. As we follow Lyra through the story, we're apparently meant to believe Lord Asriel is a "Good Guy," or at least more so than the creepy Mrs. Coulter woman , then be surprised to find out that's not the case. But the name of the series is "HIS Dark Materials," so who tf else's materials are we supposed to think that's referring to? The mystery, the surprise, the very plot twist that the story DEPENDS ON - the climax? The big revelation? - POOF! Gone. Spoiled because of the TITLE.
I enjoyed the …
I've been meaning to read this series for a long time, and finally got the nudge I needed in the form of the upcoming HBO/BBC series. (I saw the Nicole Kidman movie when it was newish but it didn't do much for me.)
Overall, it's hard for me to get past my biggest issue with this book. As we follow Lyra through the story, we're apparently meant to believe Lord Asriel is a "Good Guy," or at least more so than the creepy Mrs. Coulter woman , then be surprised to find out that's not the case. But the name of the series is "HIS Dark Materials," so who tf else's materials are we supposed to think that's referring to? The mystery, the surprise, the very plot twist that the story DEPENDS ON - the climax? The big revelation? - POOF! Gone. Spoiled because of the TITLE.
I enjoyed the book, but I didn't find it un-put-down-able. The ideas are interesting, the storyline is intriguing. The storytelling is good, the writing is great, though a bit more worldbuilding might be nice. I found some of the characters fascinating, but oddly, not the protagonist. I like that the author doesn't shy away from somewhat graphic scenes.
I intend to read the rest of the series, though I don't feel compelled to jump into them immediately. Thankfully, my issue with this book won't carry over into the others.
BTW, readers sensitive to suffering of children or animals should be aware some scenes might be troublesome.
Review of 'The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials, #1)' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Good beginning to a captivating story and world.
Review of 'The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials, #1)' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Don't think of this book as a stand alone novel. The three books really should have been published as one large book - I'm guessing only economics split these apart.
I have seen the movie several times, and enjoyed it, so I was curious what to expect. The book of course has lots of interesting details, and expands some areas the movie glosses over. Like one, you'll like the other. I was struck by how good a job the movie did of portraying Lyra - her complex character in the book really did shine on screen. Then I hit about the last third of the novel, and the movie and book started going almost opposite directions. No spoilers here, but the book is darker and starts taking on a different tone than the bright steampunk adventure tale.
Can't wait to break new ground with the next book -
[b:The Subtle …
Don't think of this book as a stand alone novel. The three books really should have been published as one large book - I'm guessing only economics split these apart.
I have seen the movie several times, and enjoyed it, so I was curious what to expect. The book of course has lots of interesting details, and expands some areas the movie glosses over. Like one, you'll like the other. I was struck by how good a job the movie did of portraying Lyra - her complex character in the book really did shine on screen. Then I hit about the last third of the novel, and the movie and book started going almost opposite directions. No spoilers here, but the book is darker and starts taking on a different tone than the bright steampunk adventure tale.
Can't wait to break new ground with the next book -
[b:The Subtle Knife|119324|The Subtle Knife (His Dark Materials, #2)|Philip Pullman|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1228630575s/119324.jpg|1570229]
Review of 'The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials, #1)' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
[re-post from my old blog]
I figured any book written by a proud and public atheist was worth trying, especially given the movie hype. It started off badly for me, as it introduced several fantasy memes that I just can't stand, like a child everyone prophesies about and a mistakenly overheard conversation. It got a little better and wasn't awful, I guess. I'm not sure what all the anti-religious brouhaha was all about - it isn't the first fantasy book where the controlling religion is pretty awful.
The milieu was pretty eclectic, to say the least. I was happy he didn't spend pages of exposition explaining every little detail, as I find those mind numbing as well. Talking armored polar bears are a little extreme though! And I surely got tired of the "get captured" plot device, as the girl in question must have gotten grabbed five or six times …
[re-post from my old blog]
I figured any book written by a proud and public atheist was worth trying, especially given the movie hype. It started off badly for me, as it introduced several fantasy memes that I just can't stand, like a child everyone prophesies about and a mistakenly overheard conversation. It got a little better and wasn't awful, I guess. I'm not sure what all the anti-religious brouhaha was all about - it isn't the first fantasy book where the controlling religion is pretty awful.
The milieu was pretty eclectic, to say the least. I was happy he didn't spend pages of exposition explaining every little detail, as I find those mind numbing as well. Talking armored polar bears are a little extreme though! And I surely got tired of the "get captured" plot device, as the girl in question must have gotten grabbed five or six times in order to move the plot along. But I did finish it, which is more than I can say for most fantasy novels these days. And I probably will try the next in the "His Dark Materials" trilogy.
Review of 'The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials, #1)' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
I was recommended the His Dark Materials series by my sister, and I enjoyed the first of the series a lot, and read it in a day. Pullman crafts an imaginative world with armored talking mercenary bears and animals called daemons that accompany each human. This is just good fun fantasy at it's best, somewhere between the compelling plot-line of Harry Potter and the imaginative descriptiveness of Lord of the Rings.
Review of 'The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials, #1)' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
It was slow for me to get into. If I'd followed my 60 page rule, I would have put this down. However, I had heard such good things about it that I did not want to stop just because it was very slow. After such a slow beginning, my reading time contracted to nearly nothing and it took me over one month to read this book. At the time, that was an extraordinarily long time for me to read a book.
In the end, I'm not sure if I liked it that much. Certainly, this is not an easy read. I usually enjoy dark books, and while "violence" to children bothers me, I can tolerate it for the furthering of the plot. Someone is either going to love this book or hate it. I am undecided on which for myself.
Review of 'The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials, #1)' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
This series is incredible and it is a crying shame that the religious right shut down the movie series productions.
