HIS DARK MATERIALS

LA Times puff piece on things but there's some useful bits among the slop.

that article ends kind of abruptly!

SEQUEL

my daemon is a fox.

Okay, so. As muttered above, I've had the damn thing sitting around for a bit and had promised myself I would obv. read it all before the movie came out. I'd mentioned the books to a friend of mine, she went and got her own copy from the library and started to read it and I was all, "Okay, it's a sign."

So I read the first one today. Lived up to all the promise. And to celebrate I then saw the trailer, which I'd carefully avoided until now. This'll be good. (But isn't Mrs. Coulter supposed to be a brunette?)

More thoughts on all the books when I've read them all...

Read in a single day? Even with all those long words like 'magisterium'? I think you'll like the second one (The Subtle Knife) even more. It really does build the momentum.

...as for the brunette issue, Pullman stated he originally wrote the part with Nicole Kidman in mind, and she is, lest we forget, a gingah. I think in the film her golden blonde hair will set her apart from the witches, i.e. Eva Green and her dark ilk.

Read in a single day? Even with all those long words like 'magisterium'?

It's a quick read! And I don't mean that as an insult, rather as a sign of appreciation -- he takes you into the world created very easily and the various characters and plot points are quick to grasp, if the deeper theology requires reflection. Also, the setting reminded me a hell of a lot of Randall Garrett's Lord D'Arcy stories, of which I'm v. fond, so it was easy to accept an alternate England/Earth setting mixing the supernatural and the technical.

i mainlined the first two over last weekend. they remind me more of l'engle than lewis, carroll, or rowling – and the writing is much lovelier, to boot.

i'm a lion named sophia

L'Engle! That's a *sharp* comparison -- as soon as I read that it all clicked on that front.

Randall Garrett's Lord D'Arcy stories

totally forgot about those, i loved them.

i'm surprised most of the initial rush of hype isn't even mentioning the anti-theist angle. i guess they're saving that up for the big arts-section think pieces this fall.

in the meantime, i'll be preparing my rebuttal.

Unsurprisingly, given the fact it's US-financed, the 'anti-theist' angle has been toned down in the film in favour of a more generic 'anti-authoritarian' slant. Even Pullman's backtracking a bit, saying that the 'Magisterium' might denote an umbrella organisation of all kinds of wickedness, not just the Catholic Church, as so brazenly alluded to in the books.

i'm surprised most of the initial rush of hype isn't even mentioning the anti-theist angle

"So I dunno, Bob, you think we should play that up given how most of America claims to believe in God?"

"Nah, Mark, better to let it lie for now."

Repeat as needed.

I would have thought that the anti-Catholic aspect would have gone down a storm in the States, as the born-again section of Christian right often seems to give the impression that they think that all Catholics are Statnists...

Perhaps, but those who have read the final book know that God does in fact feature in a massive way, and, Statnists or no Statnists, believers in any monotheistic religion would take umbridge with the events. Quick, read the other two!!!

umbrage at the events. I think Umbridge is a place in the Midlands.

I think there's another really obvious umbrage-attractor in the final book beyond the God stuff, but since there's a lot of ppl who haven't read them I will hold my tongue.

Isn't Umbridge where The Archers live?

I think there's another really obvious umbrage-attractor in the final book beyond the God stuff, but since there's a lot of ppl who haven't read them I will hold my tongue.

Philip Pullman and the Gay Agendar!

No no not even the gay agenda!

I think there's another really obvious umbrage-attractor in the final book beyond the God stuff, but since there's a lot of ppl who haven't read them I will hold my tongue.

Ah yes, I think I know what you're talking about, right near the very end, correct? Wouldn't play too well in the midwest, so I imagine they'll tone it down considerably.

I'm beginning to think I shouldn't check on in this thread again until I've read them all, so to prevent tongue destruction. (A quarter of the way through The Subtle Knife at present.)

"So I dunno, Bob, you think we should play that up given how most of America claims to believe in God?"

i don't mean the movie people playing it up ("this christmas, god's on the wrong side!"), i mean it mostly not being mentioned in das media. it's a nice juicy angle. i expect it'll come up to some extent later, the same way the narnia god-angle did. and then john gibson or some other fox-news guy can try to start a boycott.

"this christmas, god's on the wrong side!"

Oh man, someone fake trailer this.

"IN A WORLD...

WITH A WITCH...

AND A BEAR...

THERE'S ALSO A GIRL.

THIS CHRISTMAS, GOD'S ON THE WRONG SIDE!"

(With Bruce Willis as Lord Asriel.)

Real movie trailer, almost as pompous as you'd imagine. And what's with Oxford looking like Tatooine? And why do children in these movies always have to be really posh? I always pictured her as a bit of a latchkey urchin (even though he uncle is obviously a lord).

And what's with Oxford looking like Tatooine?

I was thinking Coruscant (and surely most of the city shots are of London). Said trailer was linked up above a bit -- I like it, actually! But maybe I would. Yeah, some things seem a bit jarring but the set pieces are all there from what I can tell.

Twenty pages away from finishing The Subtle Knife.

And done, so Amber Spyglass to go. Yeah, this whole shebang is pretty amazing. I'm honestly kinda surprised it became so huge (obv. not Rowling levels but still), but glad it did.

I think I'm going to read The Golden Compass again, only this time with Alex (he's almost 9!). I made him watch the trailer with me this afternoon and he lit up like a little Christmas tree.

And then you cut away his daemon. Meanie.

As for my own -- Kyana the snow leopard, in that I am allegedly softly-spoken, clever, a leader, proud and solitary. Hmm.

Meantime, I don't think anyone's mentioned yet on here how we have Daniel Craig and Eva Green following up Casino Royale together almost a year later, kinda (though obv. more appropriate if she was in the Kidman role).

the trailer looks almost too otm design-wise, but that's not really a complaint. and i have no real problems with the cast (withholding judgment on lyra -- she'll have to convince me in the movie). the tone and pacing will be the key. if i was a betting man i wouldn't bet too heavily on chris weitz, but who knows?

Done. Damn. Not the ending I would have guessed, but the right one it was.

Oh and I did like this from way upthread:

That said, Lee Scoresby = Sam Elliott

-- g--ff c-nn-n (gcannon), Thursday, August 7, 2003 9:18 AM (3 years ago) Bookmark Link

The power of prediction! (Then again I think Sam Elliott is required to play crusty old Texans by law now.)

More after mental digestion and pondering but you know what the mulefa/wheelie creature world reminded me most of? The first book in Doris Lessing's Canopus in Argos series, Shikasta. I wouldn't be surprised if there was an intentional reference going on.