The Golden Compass - Philip Pullman

I read this early last week, and have read several others since, failing my intention to write immediately after finishing a book.  I fear what it says about me to lose track so soon.  Especially considering the fact that I have been doing basically nothing the past week and have had lots of time to come here and write my impressions. I've thought about it so many times but just couldn't bring myself to do it til now. So here I am.

Read this early last week; it's one of the books I bought with my gift certificates from the local used bookstore just after the new year. I actually picked up the whole series in mass-market paperback, with great old-school covers, but I only read the first one; will get to the others eventually.  Now that they sit in my possession I'm just happy knowing they're there.

I first read the series back in high school. We had to read The Golden Compass for my gr 10 English class, and when I finished it I just went through and read the others because I always have to know what happens. I remember my teacher (who was generally disliked and heavily mocked by myself and peers) talking to my mother at the parent-teacher interview that year about how I had finished the rest of the series.  He was saying something along the lines that he hoped we had talked about it because he felt it was a 'dangerous' book.

He meant dangerous in the context of the fact that he is a Reverend and I guess wanted to make sure my mom wasn't letting me get any crazy ideas about religion from the books.  She said something about not censoring what I read, and he said something about 'well even so, you wouldn't want her reading something like Clockwork Orange' at which point my mother turned to me and said, 'have you read Clockwork Orange?'  The Reverend immediately blushed and said 'no, I wasn't trying to suggest that you'd let her read that - ' which my warrior mother nipped in the bud by saying 'I only ask her because I've got it on the bookshelf at home.'  And I quietly cheered.  And of course searched it out as soon as we were back home, and read, and loved.  It was one of my first experiences with the idea of people trying to censor children, or teenagers; with the idea of a book being dangerous, of an idea being dangerous....a concept which continues to enthrall and delight me.

Besides those other memories associated with this book, the strongest one was probably how much I had loved the idea of daemons, and how bad it made me want one.  The whole world is so clearly drawn, Lyra's character one you become quite attached to.  All the characters, really, including that of poor Roger.  I was very happy to find I enjoyed this book just as much as I did back in grade ten, and felt so satisfied re-visiting it.