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3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
I enjoyed this mostly, but... did anyone else feel like the (pending) relationship between L & M was a bit manufactured? It seemed like in the earlier books, P.P. showed us the develpment between L & W, whereas in this installment he fell back on just telling us about a connection. There is so much in the book that is beautifully fleshed out, but it did seem like a pretty essential basic story element was overlooked there.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Pullman has me hooked, looking forward to the third Book of Dust later this year. I feel this one is a lot more grown up than the previous editions, so not something I will share with my ten year old for a few years.
I wish the professor that originally got me hooked on Philip Pullman was still alive. I remember we were discussing the His Dark Materials Trilogy and I remember him saying "I love the books but I simply can't agree with its materialism". Referring to the fact that consciousness and spirit is explained by 'dust' and could be observed with the methods of science. I never had much issue with this since science, if anything, is a great springboard for the spiritual rather than what kills it. It takes us to the limits of knowledge and explains our smallness and finitiude in the grand scheme of things. Point is: I almost feel Pullman felt this critique and corrected for this by presenting something that counters scepticism.
And yet he's done so much more. In fact he has outdone almost everything I've read so far. Touching on issues such as the migrant crisis, violence in the Middle East and corporate takeover, Pullman has somehow something like a 19th century travelogue with contemporary issues. Unlike his previous books where I felt too much time was spent on entertaining young readers with long boring sequences of action, I'd say there isn't a single chapter, word or page that feels extra. Straddling romanticism and realism while always maintaining his ability to deal with heavy intellectual issues, Pullman has created something for his readers that is now much more grown up.
And yet he's done so much more. In fact he has outdone almost everything I've read so far. Touching on issues such as the migrant crisis, violence in the Middle East and corporate takeover, Pullman has somehow something like a 19th century travelogue with contemporary issues. Unlike his previous books where I felt too much time was spent on entertaining young readers with long boring sequences of action, I'd say there isn't a single chapter, word or page that feels extra. Straddling romanticism and realism while always maintaining his ability to deal with heavy intellectual issues, Pullman has created something for his readers that is now much more grown up.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Cant wait till the third. Strange to have Malcolm and especially Lyra grown up.
I knew going into this there would be a cliff-hanger ending, which implies a slight suffering from second-book-syndrome, and yet. And yet. I read it avariciously, riveted to each turn of the page, to each new scene, to each new reveal both enlightening and terrifying. I fell into this book as though no time had passed since I read [b: La Belle Sauvage|34128219|La Belle Sauvage (The Book of Dust, #1)|Philip Pullman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1498930382l/34128219._SX50_.jpg|14190696] or His Dark Materials, I found my footing as easily as Pantalaimon searchingly darts through darkened streets or Lyra moves through the world naïvely aware of both danger and opportunity, as Malcolm and Asta travel while going back and forth until they resolve existent and new dilemmas at hand, as Oakley Street stands just as strong even as it finds the ground it is rooted in eroded away instantaneously, as the Magisterium and CCD tighten their hold on this world of Dust and dæmons, rose oil and refugees.
Once again Pullman gives us a rich cast of characters, from those we know, from those we only met before, and from those we meet along the way. From the new Master of Jordan College to the gyptian Giorgio Brabandt, from Hannah Relf, Malcolm and Alice to Gottfriend Brande, Simon Talbot and Olivier Bonneville, from Farder Coram and Sophonax to Cornelis and Dinessa and so many more. We go from familiar Jordan College and St. Sophia’s to the Fens, to Germany and Geneva and Prague to Constantinople and Smyrna and east, ever more towards the east. But it is not just a journey of people and places, but a journey of self-reflection and questioning, of learning and experiencing, of making mistakes and doing the best one can. It is also a journey about the secret commonwealth, towards acknowledging it (or not), towards accepting it (or not), towards embracing it (or not)…or if such things are even possible, that is.
I could talk about the infection of prizing reason and logic above all other ways of thinking poisoning young minds in this book, or the questions of what is truth, what is real, or the relevance of its themes of a refugee crisis, of rising extremist dictatorships, of religious fanaticism both corrupt and militant. But to address them much beyond what I have done here spoils the journey these themes take you on over the course of the book, the rollercoaster that is discovery, then doubt and questioning, and resolution, and then discovery, then doubt and questioning…know that all these themes (and more) are heavily present, but fit organically into Lyra and Pan’s story, into Malcolm and Asta’s story, into the Magesterium and Oakley Street’s stories. I was whisked away to their world, while a part of me was also acutely aware of just how many parallels there are between their world and our own, another part of me firmly anchored in the story while another used it to process things going on right now. Pullman’s bulls-eye accuracy for merging and mixing the real world and the world of Lyra is so complete, so total, that they are as intrinsically linked as they can be while toeing the line of pure fiction and reality-made-fiction.
If not for the second-to-last scene which firmly places this book as being the buildup and lead in to the third book, this would be a solid five stars based on everything else above. Considering how this book dropped with no fanfare that I heard, I wonder how long we’ll have to wait to read the final Book of Dust, and if we will be given the opportunity to prepare or not.
Favorite quotes:
“It’s the oldest human problem, Lyra, an’ it’s the difference between good and evil. Evil can be unscrupulous, and good can’t. Evil has nothing to stop it doing what it wants, while good has one hand tied behind its back. To do the things it needs to do to win, it’d have to become evil to do ’em.” – Farder Coram, page 263
“There are too many habits, ways of thought, institutions, that are committed to the way things are and always have been. The truth would be swept away at once. Instead, we should delicately and subtly undermine the idea that truth and facts are possible in the first place. Once the people have become doubtful about the truth of anything, all kinds of things will be open to us.” -- Delamare, page 297 – Sounds like he’s describing an aspect of the “fake news” phenomenon
Small things, perhaps, but a hundred of them, and they kept coming. Her dæmon had seen all that, and disliked it, and then he’d had enough.
She tried to defend herself against this self-summoned tribunal. But her defense was feeble, and she soon stopped pretending. She was profoundly ashamed. She had done wrong, and her wrongdoing was bound up, somehow, with a vision of the world from which the secret commonwealth was excluded. – page 439
(Misguided fanaticism that is so on-point it’s terrifying: )
The young gunman said, and Parker whispered, “That you dig up and burn every one of your rosebushes and smash every piece of your distilling apparatus. That you destroy every vessel that contains the dung of Satan, which you call perfume and oil. That is the will of God. In his infinite mercy, he has sent me and my companions to inform you of this and make sure it is done, so that your women and your workers may live lives that are pleasing to God instead of filling the air with the foul stench from the bowels of hell. […]
“When you light that fire,” he said, “the fire that will consume your gardens and your factories, it will light a beacon of truth and purity to shine all over the world. You should rejoice at being given this opportunity. My companions in the brotherhood of this holy purpose are numbered in the thousands of thousands. The word of God has spread so fast that it is like a forest fire, and it will spread further and further until all the world is burning with the love of God and the joy of perfect obedience to his will.” – page 491
“But what does it mean, for things like that to turn up? It might be just a matter of temperament whether you find it meaningful.” [Asta said.]
“That would make it meaningless,” [Malcolm] pointed out. “Shouldn’t it be true whether you believe in it or not?”
“Maybe refusing to see is the mistake. Maybe we should make a commitment. Decide. […]” – page 559
Once again Pullman gives us a rich cast of characters, from those we know, from those we only met before, and from those we meet along the way. From the new Master of Jordan College to the gyptian Giorgio Brabandt, from Hannah Relf, Malcolm and Alice to Gottfriend Brande, Simon Talbot and Olivier Bonneville, from Farder Coram and Sophonax to Cornelis and Dinessa and so many more. We go from familiar Jordan College and St. Sophia’s to the Fens, to Germany and Geneva and Prague to Constantinople and Smyrna and east, ever more towards the east. But it is not just a journey of people and places, but a journey of self-reflection and questioning, of learning and experiencing, of making mistakes and doing the best one can. It is also a journey about the secret commonwealth, towards acknowledging it (or not), towards accepting it (or not), towards embracing it (or not)…or if such things are even possible, that is.
I could talk about the infection of prizing reason and logic above all other ways of thinking poisoning young minds in this book, or the questions of what is truth, what is real, or the relevance of its themes of a refugee crisis, of rising extremist dictatorships, of religious fanaticism both corrupt and militant. But to address them much beyond what I have done here spoils the journey these themes take you on over the course of the book, the rollercoaster that is discovery, then doubt and questioning, and resolution, and then discovery, then doubt and questioning…know that all these themes (and more) are heavily present, but fit organically into Lyra and Pan’s story, into Malcolm and Asta’s story, into the Magesterium and Oakley Street’s stories. I was whisked away to their world, while a part of me was also acutely aware of just how many parallels there are between their world and our own, another part of me firmly anchored in the story while another used it to process things going on right now. Pullman’s bulls-eye accuracy for merging and mixing the real world and the world of Lyra is so complete, so total, that they are as intrinsically linked as they can be while toeing the line of pure fiction and reality-made-fiction.
If not for the second-to-last scene which firmly places this book as being the buildup and lead in to the third book, this would be a solid five stars based on everything else above. Considering how this book dropped with no fanfare that I heard, I wonder how long we’ll have to wait to read the final Book of Dust, and if we will be given the opportunity to prepare or not.
Favorite quotes:
“It’s the oldest human problem, Lyra, an’ it’s the difference between good and evil. Evil can be unscrupulous, and good can’t. Evil has nothing to stop it doing what it wants, while good has one hand tied behind its back. To do the things it needs to do to win, it’d have to become evil to do ’em.” – Farder Coram, page 263
“There are too many habits, ways of thought, institutions, that are committed to the way things are and always have been. The truth would be swept away at once. Instead, we should delicately and subtly undermine the idea that truth and facts are possible in the first place. Once the people have become doubtful about the truth of anything, all kinds of things will be open to us.” -- Delamare, page 297 – Sounds like he’s describing an aspect of the “fake news” phenomenon
Small things, perhaps, but a hundred of them, and they kept coming. Her dæmon had seen all that, and disliked it, and then he’d had enough.
She tried to defend herself against this self-summoned tribunal. But her defense was feeble, and she soon stopped pretending. She was profoundly ashamed. She had done wrong, and her wrongdoing was bound up, somehow, with a vision of the world from which the secret commonwealth was excluded. – page 439
(Misguided fanaticism that is so on-point it’s terrifying: )
Spoiler
“And what is the will of God?”The young gunman said, and Parker whispered, “That you dig up and burn every one of your rosebushes and smash every piece of your distilling apparatus. That you destroy every vessel that contains the dung of Satan, which you call perfume and oil. That is the will of God. In his infinite mercy, he has sent me and my companions to inform you of this and make sure it is done, so that your women and your workers may live lives that are pleasing to God instead of filling the air with the foul stench from the bowels of hell. […]
“When you light that fire,” he said, “the fire that will consume your gardens and your factories, it will light a beacon of truth and purity to shine all over the world. You should rejoice at being given this opportunity. My companions in the brotherhood of this holy purpose are numbered in the thousands of thousands. The word of God has spread so fast that it is like a forest fire, and it will spread further and further until all the world is burning with the love of God and the joy of perfect obedience to his will.” – page 491
“But what does it mean, for things like that to turn up? It might be just a matter of temperament whether you find it meaningful.” [Asta said.]
“That would make it meaningless,” [Malcolm] pointed out. “Shouldn’t it be true whether you believe in it or not?”
“Maybe refusing to see is the mistake. Maybe we should make a commitment. Decide. […]” – page 559