Northern Lights

Having discussed the South Bank Show on Philip Pullman a couple of weeks ago, I resolved to read his His Dark Materials series. I managed to get started on Northern Lights this week and I was very impressed with it. In fact, I was also a little surprised that it was a children's book at all - kids these days must have significantly wider vocabularies than in my day - the language is pretty damn' impressive. The themes too are hardly childish - the effects of experience on innocence, honour, betrayal, torture and some very high concepts, all realised within a created world fascinatingly dissimilar to our own. Simon mentioned that the first book is actually the slowest of the three, so I'm looking forward to being carried along in the next couple.

Posted on March 29, 2003 06:22 PM

Just wait till the second book ... gripping!

Posted by Owen on March 29, 2003 11:08 PM

frankly I was incredibly impressed with the "his dark materials" trilogy. I personally think that the only reason that they are described as children's books is because children are the protagonists of the story. The themes, dilemmas, and plotlines of the books are very deep, and very entertaining. I ghope you enjoy them as much as I do.

Posted by Mike on March 30, 2003 09:32 PM

They are good books although the last one is the least interesting IMHO.
As for childrens books: They only understand what they understand. For example, I read 'Less than Zero' when it came out in 198? and I was not far into my teens. That book is full of stuff that went completely over my head at the time becuase I didn't have any real frame of reference for a lot of the themes and issues in it. Re-reading it in my twenties I was a little shocked at the content that I had blithely ignored at the first time of reading and had no clear memory of.
Which themes do you think are adult and which childish? The obvious one is sex (of which there is little in these books) and despite all the law making in the world sex is one of those things that you are old enough to understand when you are old enough to understand it.
The others that you mention (innocence, honour, betrayal, torture) were the daily bread of the playground as I recall it.
I can't actually remember very much of how I thought when I was a child but I imagine that when they read the dark materials books they don't notice the themes but just enjoy the story.
P.S. who would you have play Mrs Coulter in the film?

Posted by charles on March 31, 2003 10:52 AM

Having read the Dark Materials trilogy I've also become immersed in his Sally Lockhart series, which are very different and equally brilliant.

Posted by Squodge on April 3, 2003 11:32 AM

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