I know by now all of you have recieved at least 1 e-mail about the "dangers" of this book, "The Golden Compass" and how it's author is an atheist, etc.. I, however was not convinced of the book's faults and decided to read it for myself, and see if it really was a bad as everyone was saying. I know this is a controversial subject, but I think a lotf of people have just been listening to rumors about the book, rather than doing the homework themself. I will save my "official" opinion until I read the complete MOVIE review.. but here is the book's review.
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The Golden Compass
first in a set of 3 entitled "His Dark Materials"
(The author got this quote from "Paradise Lost" by John Milton.. it is in the preface."
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The story in a nutshell, is about a spunky, very opinionated girl named Lyra. She grows up under her Uncle, Lord Asriel in Jordan College in England. One day she overhears Asriel and the men of the college talking about resaerch he was doing on another world existing amongst their own, and this group of people called "Gobblers" who are stealing children and taking them to the frozen North, for reasons unknown. Then she recieves the alethiometer, from the professor at the college, a device like a compass, which tells the truth based on whatever questions is asked of it. It is a very complicated device, but yet somehow Lyra can read it. She is then believed to be "that girl" who is prophesied whould one day come. This sends many people her way, including the dangerous, yet lovely Mrs Coulter. Lyra's best friend Roger is snatched by the Gobblers, and Lyra heads to the North to find him, along with the task of recsuing the now-captured Lord Asriel, and giving him the alethiometer. Along the way she meets gyptians, Panserbjorne (group of fighting polar bears) witch clans, and contunues to run into the mysterious Mrs Coulter. She runs into the Gobblers lair, and discovers the horrifying reason for all the kidnappings, and rescues the children. The truth is then discovered about Lord Asriel, Mrs Coulter and their work(s). Lyra jumps into this "new world" leaving hers behind.
The book ends here.
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The breakdown:
#1- Each child and adult in this book has a daemon, which is their soul, in the form of an animal. Consequent to opinion, they are not evil, but rather a dear friend and lifelong companion. (Lyra's is sometimes seen as her conscience!) Children's daemon's can change form, sybolizing that as a child they can form their own life.. and future. Daemons cannot be seperated from their humans, as it leads to inward death ( kind of a half-life as a human, and daemon)
#2- I did not find any reference in this book at all to "the kids killing God" as described in the emails.
I do not know if they perhaps take this from the next book, and place that in the movie as well, I only read the first book, The Golden Compass. But I'll have to wait and read the movie review when Focus on the Family does it.
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The Positive features.
#1- This book is very inspiring, in the form of Lyra's devotion to her friend, Roger, to her panserbjorne, Iorek and saving the children from the Gobblers, . She is very determined, and intelligent, and puts others before herself.
#2- People are very kind/helpful to Lyra in this book, even before they hear of her "chosen one" status.. the kindness of the lady gyptians, and the witch clan queen, and her many friends on her quest.
#3- The altheiometer, which has tremendous power if used for evil, is always used for good in Lyra's hands. She uses it to help her friends, one of whom is the bear, Iorek, who she restores to his rightful place as king bear, and find helps to find Lord Asriel, never for selfish reasons.
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The Negative features
(most of which are in the last 20 pages of the book)
#1- This book does involve some violence, which includes many war/fighting scenes with Mrs Coulter's people and the witch clans, gytptians etc. Also includes a vicious, (and rather gory in the book) fight to the death for panserbjorne Iorek and another bear.
#2- The Gobblers horrifying reason for kidnapping children is to seperate them from their daemons, which basically results in half-dead children and daemons, who eventually die anyway. Their goal is an experiment with Dust, which is a magical material that exists in human life, but is tied to original sin, yet as children are found to not carry any on them, Only pubescent children and adults. They (Mrs Coulter and her group, the church symbol of the Magisterium) then further experiment on the children, trying to "save" them from becoming adults with fixed daemons, who are dipped in "sin". (Dust)
#3- There is a quote from the "Bible" from Lord Asriel which is Genesis 3, retold in a way which it adds Adam and Eve's daemons into the text, and when they eat of the tree of good and evil they beheld their daemon's true form. (This is why adult daemon's are fixed in one shape)
#4- There is a paragraph discussing castration, as it is used in the Magisterium, to have male singers for choirs, etc. It is compared to the cutting of a child's daemon, which the Gobblers are doing.
#5- The last pages of the book involve Lord Asriel kidnapping Roger and using his daemon's life (and Roger's) to open up the world in the sky, which some might speculate is heaven, although it is just referred to as another world. Lyra tries to save him, but is unsuccessful. But she is privy to a private meeting at the doorway to the worlds between Lord Asriel and Mrs Coulter, who consquently are discovered to be her mother and father. Lyra then steps inside the doorway to the other world, and there the first book ends.
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I hope this review helps some of you discuss and decide whether you will let your children see the movie/read the book. My opinion, only book based, is that it is a teen-age sci-fci novel, only for older children who have a personal knowledge of Jesus/Church and can tell the difference between what is for entertainment and what is for teaching. I believe I will go and see the movie, merely for the reason it was a great book to read altogether, but I am an adult, and less suseptible to some of the negative features mentioned here.
I would be interested to know what you all think of the book/movie and if this helped you at all!
