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jillpadams 's review for:
The Amber Spyglass
by Philip Pullman
I started this series somewhat blind, knowing only it was a fantasy adventure story. Toward the end of The Golden Compass, a friend asked, Didn't the series have some critical stance on Christianity? ...as a matter of fact.
The overarching plot has some holes, and the dominoes set up to fall are a overly convenient in places. Many other commenters have addressed these flaws, and I agree. Somehow, despite legitimate criticisms about character development of women, summary dismissal of any good in religion, and inconsistent plot in places, I have a 5-star feeling. Maybe just for the boldness of addressing this level of ethical content in a YA book? Five stars for prompting people to think critically via fiction?
**Spoilers**
A couple of the plot holes or disconnected points that bothered me the most, that I'm curious about from others' perspectives:
- What did Lyra's temptation really have to do with anything?
- Why was it that the love story element was a temptation specifically of Lyra? What about Will?
- Why did the temptation reverse the flow of sraf / Dust? Is it just prophecy that if Lyra didn't find love, consciousness evaporates from the world? I don't love that, if so.
- If windows to other worlds can sometimes be opened from elevations or underground, in inconvenient ways, how did they manage to be at the necessary latitude/longitude, generally?
- What the hell was up with Mrs. Coulter's turnaround? Her character lost its depth and her sheer evilness fell apart. Asriel definitely did not warrant that.
I also had my frustrations with the plot arc of Lyra / Will falling in love. As many other commenters have noted, all the fire went out of Lyra after the first book. She went from a firestarter to a slightly baffled hysteric in need of a champion. I hate that. Above and beyond that, when the first book begins, they're about 9 and 10 years old, and the progression of time didn't feel to me to justify suddenly arriving at puberty. Also: what a great story, and why make it end with a contrived love story between two 12 or 13 year olds?
But I will say: the twist of exactly how Mary Malone's temptation took shape was the payout for me. I still don't love how he got to the ending, and am irritable that these two extremely strong characters, in the end, took on your typical romcom archetypes. But Mary Malone's story for them about how and why she left her order of nuns really landed well for me. For whatever reason, I didn't see that coming, and I relate a LOT to her sort of awakening story. I literally had to put the book down and chew on that for a minute before moving on, and it helped me make peace with the "love" story elements. I think her explanation is the thesis statement for all the religious commentary throughout the series:
- Does it actually make a difference to anyone if I am behaving perfectly?
- Can I still love and be loved and express the goodness of the world without being dogmatic?
- Why live life in the future perfect tense of heaven, rather than the present tense?
And that all these things, done wrongly to an extreme, break humanity. I think it's possible to read this and walk away, faith in tact, having learned something or with something to chew on. Or, if leanings are already agnostic or athiestic, to be affirmed that the importance is on loving and living and championing the cause of good. Pullman's critique of organized religion certainly isn't nuanced, but there is an ethical humanist / naturalist core to appreciate, apart from that.
Glad to have read the series, and it's interesting to think about who I would recommend it to, and on what grounds. Always a good thing.
The overarching plot has some holes, and the dominoes set up to fall are a overly convenient in places. Many other commenters have addressed these flaws, and I agree. Somehow, despite legitimate criticisms about character development of women, summary dismissal of any good in religion, and inconsistent plot in places, I have a 5-star feeling. Maybe just for the boldness of addressing this level of ethical content in a YA book? Five stars for prompting people to think critically via fiction?
**Spoilers**
A couple of the plot holes or disconnected points that bothered me the most, that I'm curious about from others' perspectives:
- What did Lyra's temptation really have to do with anything?
- Why was it that the love story element was a temptation specifically of Lyra? What about Will?
- Why did the temptation reverse the flow of sraf / Dust? Is it just prophecy that if Lyra didn't find love, consciousness evaporates from the world? I don't love that, if so.
- If windows to other worlds can sometimes be opened from elevations or underground, in inconvenient ways, how did they manage to be at the necessary latitude/longitude, generally?
- What the hell was up with Mrs. Coulter's turnaround? Her character lost its depth and her sheer evilness fell apart. Asriel definitely did not warrant that.
I also had my frustrations with the plot arc of Lyra / Will falling in love. As many other commenters have noted, all the fire went out of Lyra after the first book. She went from a firestarter to a slightly baffled hysteric in need of a champion. I hate that. Above and beyond that, when the first book begins, they're about 9 and 10 years old, and the progression of time didn't feel to me to justify suddenly arriving at puberty. Also: what a great story, and why make it end with a contrived love story between two 12 or 13 year olds?
But I will say: the twist of exactly how Mary Malone's temptation took shape was the payout for me. I still don't love how he got to the ending, and am irritable that these two extremely strong characters, in the end, took on your typical romcom archetypes. But Mary Malone's story for them about how and why she left her order of nuns really landed well for me. For whatever reason, I didn't see that coming, and I relate a LOT to her sort of awakening story. I literally had to put the book down and chew on that for a minute before moving on, and it helped me make peace with the "love" story elements. I think her explanation is the thesis statement for all the religious commentary throughout the series:
- Does it actually make a difference to anyone if I am behaving perfectly?
- Can I still love and be loved and express the goodness of the world without being dogmatic?
- Why live life in the future perfect tense of heaven, rather than the present tense?
And that all these things, done wrongly to an extreme, break humanity. I think it's possible to read this and walk away, faith in tact, having learned something or with something to chew on. Or, if leanings are already agnostic or athiestic, to be affirmed that the importance is on loving and living and championing the cause of good. Pullman's critique of organized religion certainly isn't nuanced, but there is an ethical humanist / naturalist core to appreciate, apart from that.
Glad to have read the series, and it's interesting to think about who I would recommend it to, and on what grounds. Always a good thing.