The Golden Compass

The Golden Compass
 by Philip Pullman

Bibliography

Pullman, P. (1995, 2005). The golden compass: His dark materials, book 1 (Deluxe 10th anniversary edition). New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 0375838309

Summary

The Golden compass is the first of a three part epic tale and tells of Lyra's extra-ordinary adventures in a world so nearly our own but with fantastical differences!  Lyra must leave her beloved, cozy, if not exactly perfect, life to travel with her daemon, gypsies, an aeronaut, witches, and a very special bear to save children, make a delivery, and unbeknownst to her, commit a great betrayal.  Along the way she learns to use the golden compass.

Critical Analysis

Philip Pullman's greatest talent in this book is getting the reader to suspend disbelief.  He does this by creating a world believable because it is so nearly true, yet fantastic because of the parts that are clearly a world of fancy.  No small part of this great achievement is the creation of his heroine, Lyra, and other characters we grow to cherish.  Lyra is every child, yet no one's child.   She is lovable and mischievous, but by the end of the story, she is strong and righteous. She is special because she has the power to understand the compass.   Other characters are also developed with truly human strengths and weaknesses, even if they are not human.

Universal themes common to fantasy novels abound in The Golden Compass.  There is the traditional quest, good versus evil, and the heroine certainly gains self-knowledge through the adventure.  Philip Pullman manages to combine all of this into a readable, sometimes exciting novel where horrific evil must be conquered and life and death battles occur.  The ending, however, should be called "The Beginning," and characters the reader believes are villains exchange places several times through the story and may change several more times in the next books.


Review Excerpts

* In The Golden Compass, Philip Pullman has written a masterpiece that transcends genre. It is a children's book that will appeal to adults, a fantasy novel that will charm even the most hardened realist. Best of all, the author doesn't speak down to his audience, nor does he pull his punches; there is genuine terror in this book, and heartbreak, betrayal, and loss. There is also love, loyalty, and an abiding morality that infuses the story but never overwhelms it. This is one of those rare novels that one wishes would never end. --Alix Wilber

* This is a captivating fantasy, filled with excitement, suspense, and unusual characters.... There is some fine descriptive writing, filled with the kind of details that encourage suspension of disbelief. The story line moves along at a rapid clip, but flags when it delves into philosophical matters. The ending is less than satisfying, but serves as a lead-in to part two of the series. --School Library Journal


Connections

* Expert from The Golden Compass
 
     After darkness had fallen, and when the stores and equipment had all been safely unloaded and stood in waiting on the quay, Farder Coram and Lyra walked along the waterfront and looked for Einarsson's Bar. They found it easily enough: a crude concrete shed with a red neon sign flashing irregularly over the door and the sound of loud voices through the condensation-frosted windows.
     A pitted alley beside it led to a sheet-metal gate into a rear yard, where a lean-to shed stood crazily over a floor of frozen mud. Dim light through the rear window of the bar showed a vast pale form crouching upright and gnawing at a haunch of meat which it held in both hands. Lyra had an impression of blood-stained muzzle and face, small malevolent black eyes, and an immensity of dirty matted yellowish fur. As it gnawed, hideous growling, crunching, sucking noises came from it.
Farder Coram stood by the gate and called:
     "Iorek Bymison!"
     The bear stopped eating. As far as they could tell, he was looking at them directly, but it was impossible to read any expression on his face.
     "Iorek Byrnison," said Farder Coram again. "May I speak to you?"
     Lyra's heart was thumping hard, because something in the bear's presence made her feel close to coldness, danger, brutal power, but a power controlled by intelligence; and not a human intelligence, nothing like a human, because of course bears had no daemons. This strange hulking presence gnawing its meat was like nothing she had ever imagined, and she felt a profound admiration and pity for the lonely creature.
      He dropped the reindeer leg in the dirt and slumped on all fours to the gate. Then he reared up massively, ten feet or more high, as if to show how mighty he was, to remind them how useless the gate would be as a barrier, and he spoke to them from that height.
     'Well? Who are you?'

* You can listen to a sample from the audio version on Philip Pullmans website.  There are also other things to explore on the site.  Check it out here.

* His Dark Materials Trilogy includes:
The Golden Compass
The Subtle Knife
The Amber Spyglass