From: Beth Wright <bethlibrarian>
Date: Fri, 4 May 2001 07:52:30 -0700 (PDT)

Some second-hand comments from a 12-year-old boy about the His Dark Materials books (via his tutor): he liked the kids (Lyra and Will) because they got in trouble and didn't always agree with the adults arounds them. He thought the world in the books was confusing, but that was OK because the real world is confusing.

Now, my own reactions to the trilogy: when I first read The Golden Compass, right after it was published in the U.S., I didn't like it. I thought it left too many questions unanswered, that it didn't stand alone.
 After reading Big Grandma's comments I finally have some insight about why this was. Big Grandma says this is a book for "smart readers." I read a lot of fantasy and I guess I think I'm a smart reader, at least in this genre. It bugged me that by the end of the book I was still clueless about how daemons really worked, and about what was really the same and what was different between the worlds, and on and on. Learning the mechanics of a fantasy world has always been part of my enjoyment of books like this one, but Pullman just wasn't playing that game.

Since then I've reread The Golden Compass. I enjoyed it much more the second time, knowing that I wasn't going to get my questions answered and appreciating it for all that's great about it (which other members of this list have started to enumerate).

A final thought: maybe I would have enjoyed it more the first time if I was 12. Because when you're 12, as noted above, the real world is confusing, and you don't get all your questions answered.

Beth Wright Youth Services Fletcher Free Library Burlington, Vermont

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Received on Fri 04 May 2001 09:52:30 AM CDT