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A review by beaconatnight
Der Goldene Kompass by Philip Pullman, Andrea Kann, Wolfram Ströle
5.0
I really didn't anticipate to love Northern Lights as much as I did. When it comes to adventure tales it really doesn't get much better than this. With parallel universes, bear warriors in armors, prophecy by interpreting symbols, grand adventure into the cold North and so many brilliant ideas that make the world the more lively it immediately established itself as a favorite of mine.
I love how the story introduces the fantasy elements into a Victorian steampunk world, so that we find dæmons, witches, and talking polar bears as well as zeppelins and guns. In this world, twelve-year-old Lyra Belacqua lives with her dæmon Pantalaimon in Jordan College, Oxford. One day she sneaks into the forbidden meeting room where she hides in a wardrobe when not only important scientists but also her uncle, Lord Asriel, come together for a very important talk. She overhears something about a mysterious "Dust" and how children are less attracting to these particles than adults are. She also gets to know about a parallel universe that can be seen through the Northern Lights.
Shortly thereafter, children start to disappear from the streets of Oxford. Rumor has it that a secret organization, the so-called Gobblers, are behind the abductions. Among the disappearing children is Roger, Lyra's best friend. Eventually she also learns that Lord Asriel is held prisoner in a fortress called Svalbard. She leaves Oxford when the impressive Mrs Coulter shows up and asks Lyra to join her. Of course, there is much more to Mrs Coulter that Lyra at first realizes and soon she is out on her own, set not only to find Roger but to save Lord Asriel from his imprisonment.
There are the big question marks that guide the story forward. What is this "Dust"? Why do they need the children? What is meant by children being only "half"? Lyra herself, and her role in the events to come, is another mystery. Her popularity allows her to form allegiances with many different people and parties. However, not all forces are sympathetic to her cause and it's not always clear who she can trust. Maybe the most heartwarming bond is with a outcast polar bear, the wonderful Iorek Byrnison. There are also some thrilling action sequences that vividly pass before your mental eyes. Finally, I just loved how some plot threads play out, like Lyra's brilliant move to trick the king of the bears to fight Iorek or the eventual reunion with her father.
Maybe the story's strongest feature is the relationship between humans and their dæmons. There is something beautiful about the idea of the human soul being manifested in an external being that symbolizes their human's personality and its stage of development. When coming of age, children have to figure out who they are and their character traits are still in flux, and so their dæmons too are able to transform. When they grow older, though, their traits settle and change (in personality as well as outer appearance of the dæmons) becomes much harder. So, human person and dæmon belong together like two representations of the same entity. Separation cannot occur but under great pain and sadness.
Considering the fact that the book is mainly marketed towards a younger audience, I was surprised to find how dark the story really is. Not only do the children guilelessly smoke and drink heavy alcohol, there are cropped off heads, a seal ripped to pieces, the details of what the word "castration" means. Artistically more interestingly, you are so drawn into the world that the reader physically shares the disgust when you get to know more about the experiments they are doing on children and you encounter their horrifying results.
From the very beginning there are twists that make it hard to interpret characters' motivations and intentions. Because of this, it becomes impossible to unambiguously locate them on the usual good/evil axis. This interesting approach is maintained to the very end of the book where some central characters go out with a bang. But not only in respect to the ambiguities and uncertainties the story offers qualities of what you may call high literature. It is told in this almost poetically rich language that takes its time to draw the details of the sceneries on your mental canvas while still while still maintaining its fluent elegancy.
Rating: 5/5
I love how the story introduces the fantasy elements into a Victorian steampunk world, so that we find dæmons, witches, and talking polar bears as well as zeppelins and guns. In this world, twelve-year-old Lyra Belacqua lives with her dæmon Pantalaimon in Jordan College, Oxford. One day she sneaks into the forbidden meeting room where she hides in a wardrobe when not only important scientists but also her uncle, Lord Asriel, come together for a very important talk. She overhears something about a mysterious "Dust" and how children are less attracting to these particles than adults are. She also gets to know about a parallel universe that can be seen through the Northern Lights.
Shortly thereafter, children start to disappear from the streets of Oxford. Rumor has it that a secret organization, the so-called Gobblers, are behind the abductions. Among the disappearing children is Roger, Lyra's best friend. Eventually she also learns that Lord Asriel is held prisoner in a fortress called Svalbard. She leaves Oxford when the impressive Mrs Coulter shows up and asks Lyra to join her. Of course, there is much more to Mrs Coulter that Lyra at first realizes and soon she is out on her own, set not only to find Roger but to save Lord Asriel from his imprisonment.
There are the big question marks that guide the story forward. What is this "Dust"? Why do they need the children? What is meant by children being only "half"? Lyra herself, and her role in the events to come, is another mystery. Her popularity allows her to form allegiances with many different people and parties. However, not all forces are sympathetic to her cause and it's not always clear who she can trust. Maybe the most heartwarming bond is with a outcast polar bear, the wonderful Iorek Byrnison. There are also some thrilling action sequences that vividly pass before your mental eyes. Finally, I just loved how some plot threads play out, like Lyra's brilliant move to trick the king of the bears to fight Iorek or the eventual reunion with her father.
Maybe the story's strongest feature is the relationship between humans and their dæmons. There is something beautiful about the idea of the human soul being manifested in an external being that symbolizes their human's personality and its stage of development. When coming of age, children have to figure out who they are and their character traits are still in flux, and so their dæmons too are able to transform. When they grow older, though, their traits settle and change (in personality as well as outer appearance of the dæmons) becomes much harder. So, human person and dæmon belong together like two representations of the same entity. Separation cannot occur but under great pain and sadness.
Considering the fact that the book is mainly marketed towards a younger audience, I was surprised to find how dark the story really is. Not only do the children guilelessly smoke and drink heavy alcohol, there are cropped off heads, a seal ripped to pieces, the details of what the word "castration" means. Artistically more interestingly, you are so drawn into the world that the reader physically shares the disgust when you get to know more about the experiments they are doing on children and you encounter their horrifying results.
From the very beginning there are twists that make it hard to interpret characters' motivations and intentions. Because of this, it becomes impossible to unambiguously locate them on the usual good/evil axis. This interesting approach is maintained to the very end of the book where some central characters go out with a bang. But not only in respect to the ambiguities and uncertainties the story offers qualities of what you may call high literature. It is told in this almost poetically rich language that takes its time to draw the details of the sceneries on your mental canvas while still while still maintaining its fluent elegancy.
Rating: 5/5