Author: Philip Pullman
Translator: Chang-shik Lee
Publisher: Gimmyoungsa
SERIES:
- His Dark Materials Trilogy, Book 1 - The Golden Compass
- His Dark Materials Trilogy, Book 2 - The Subtle Knife
- His Dark Materials Trilogy, Book 3 - The Amber Spyglass
| Important! Please read before you order! |
| >>>This book is written in Korean. |
About This Book
Amazon.com
Some books improve with age--the age of the reader, that is. Such is
certainly the case with Philip Pullman's heroic, at times
heart-wrenching novel, The Golden Compass, a story ostensibly for
children but one perhaps even better appreciated by adults. The
protagonist of this complex fantasy is young Lyra Belacqua, a precocious
orphan growing up within the precincts of Oxford University. But it
quickly becomes clear that Lyra's Oxford is not precisely like our
own--nor is her world. For one thing, people there each have a personal
dæmon, the manifestation of their soul in animal form. For another, hers
is a universe in which science, theology, and magic are closely allied:
As for what experimental theology was, Lyra had no more idea than the
urchins. She had formed the notion that it was concerned with magic,
with the movements of the stars and planets, with tiny particles of
matter, but that was guesswork, really. Probably the stars had dæmons
just as humans did, and experimental theology involved talking to them.
Not that Lyra spends much time worrying about it; what she likes best is
"clambering over the College roofs with Roger the kitchen boy who was
her particular friend, to spit plum stones on the heads of passing
Scholars or to hoot like owls outside a window where a tutorial was
going on, or racing through the narrow streets, or stealing apples from
the market, or waging war." But Lyra's carefree existence changes
forever when she and her dæmon, Pantalaimon, first prevent an
assassination attempt against her uncle, the powerful Lord Asriel, and
then overhear a secret discussion about a mysterious entity known as
Dust. Soon she and Pan are swept up in a dangerous game involving
disappearing children, a beautiful woman with a golden monkey dæmon, a
trip to the far north, and a set of allies ranging from "gyptians" to
witches to an armor-clad polar bear.
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. Fortunately, its sequel, The
Subtle Knife, will help put off that inevitability for a while longer.
--Alix Wilber
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