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Oceana2602's Reviews > The Golden Compass
The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials, #1)
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This book was recommended to me somewhere in fandom as a children's book that is also interesting to adults. I admit that I wasn't particularly impressed with it, and I can't see it as something that I would give my kids to read. My main complaint is the "means to an end" style the author uses. A bit like in a computer game, our main character Lyra runs from one wise man to another in her quest to find some missing children. This is practical, because except for one scene in the beginning, she doesn't have to find out things herself, since the wise men will always tell her wat to do and what is going on in long, question-answer dialogues which will reveal the next part of the plot. Nothing is ever really set up to lead somewhere, unlike for example in Harry Potter where everything leads to something in the end, everything is happening in dialogue, which sounded so constructed and goal-oriented that it rarely ever convinced me.
The narrator is probably supposed to be an all-knowing narrator (sorry, don't know the english term for that), but he slips into Lyra's POV with no pattern I could discover. And the fact that I even noticed this shows how disturbing it was.
The protagonist is, well, I don't know why anyone writing children's book would invent an "unimaginative" (quote), lying, sometimes even hateful character like Lyra. I started to like her a bit more during the second half of the book, but mostly because I felt sorry for her. Then I discovered that she is supposed to be older than 11, when she makes herself younger by telling someone that she is eleven. Until the I had thought she was maybe 8 or 9. Shortly after that I stopped reading the book.
P.S.: After having read numerous other reviews of this book, I feel the need to point out that I'm an atheist and that no, I didn't give this book a bad review because it "offended my christianity". In fact, I seem to be so much an atheist that I completely missed how the book could be controversial or offensive in that regard. I know it offended me by being a bad book sold with a lot of hype, but that's not Pullman's fault. However, I did read that Pullman called himself an agnostic somewhere, and that explains rather a lot to me.
The narrator is probably supposed to be an all-knowing narrator (sorry, don't know the english term for that), but he slips into Lyra's POV with no pattern I could discover. And the fact that I even noticed this shows how disturbing it was.
The protagonist is, well, I don't know why anyone writing children's book would invent an "unimaginative" (quote), lying, sometimes even hateful character like Lyra. I started to like her a bit more during the second half of the book, but mostly because I felt sorry for her. Then I discovered that she is supposed to be older than 11, when she makes herself younger by telling someone that she is eleven. Until the I had thought she was maybe 8 or 9. Shortly after that I stopped reading the book.
P.S.: After having read numerous other reviews of this book, I feel the need to point out that I'm an atheist and that no, I didn't give this book a bad review because it "offended my christianity". In fact, I seem to be so much an atheist that I completely missed how the book could be controversial or offensive in that regard. I know it offended me by being a bad book sold with a lot of hype, but that's not Pullman's fault. However, I did read that Pullman called himself an agnostic somewhere, and that explains rather a lot to me.
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Reading Progress
Started Reading
June 1, 2006
–
Finished Reading
July 14, 2007
– Shelved
February 5, 2008
– Shelved as:
2006
March 20, 2009
– Shelved as:
english
March 20, 2009
– Shelved as:
male-writers
Comments Showing 1-19 of 19 (19 new)
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Fiona
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rated it 5 stars
Dec 10, 2010 08:05AM
I think the term you're looking for is "third person omniscient" for the narrator. This means that the narrator is capable of slipping into the thoughts and perspectives of all the characters, seemingly without warning. I agree with you that it is not my favorite type of POV for a story, but it is what it is.
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I also find it a sign of poor storytelling that the only way the reader can find out what has happened is one character telling another what has happened.
I slept through a good amount of the book. I was reading, but not really paying attention except for a few bits of it. The story telling was dreadful. Mostly because I hated Lyra she was a brat and she never really changed to become someone I would root for. I totally agree with this review (finally someone else who gave it a bad review!)
Im Christian but didn't dislike the book because of the controversy. I was actively looking for the controversy but could find neither hide nor hair of it. I guess it comes later. I disliked it merely for the poor writing. I liked your review. Thanks.
It's fine that you didn't like it, it had its flaws, but I just want to say that this is only a third of the story. Lyra doesn't grow much in the first book. You're right, she does what is needed and doesn't suffer many consequences. It's the rest of the series where her growth occurs (she even gets punished for her lying). Her growth should've happened sooner, but it happens.
Yeah, also the controversial part you were looking for comes in the third book....You're right in that there is nothing controversial in this book. It starts out like a children's book but as the story grows it becomes clearer that it is not.
But to each his own. :-)
THe last book is the one thats controversial. They are literally trying to kill god
Don't rate a book if you didn't finish it
This is a rather shallow assessment of the book, wouldn't you say?
I agree that this book had a big problem with having the future told in advance. It isn't foreshadowing, its fore-blotting-out-the-sun. I don't think it would be a bad book for a younger person though, but it is hard to ever feel anticipation when every beat of the book is announced either by characters or the golden plot device.
Failed review. Lyra is not a passive character at all, and saying there's poor writing or storytelling is blatantly insane.
"omniscient" is the word you want, and there is also a name for briefly slip into a character's POV, though I can't recall what it is called. Virginia Woolf played with a sort of serial limited-third person POV, slipping seamlessly from one person's perspective to another.
Agree with this review entirely. Completely missing the point where christians could be getting mad because I鈥檓 not getting the religious undertones at all.
Great points. I agree especially with this habit in the book of Lyra moving from wise man to wise man (or bear, or alethiometer) to find stuff out. She rarely has to find out stuff for herself. As an atheist too, I have yet to find out what the fuss is about (even after reading Book 2)
I am glad to read a review that describes the same issues I had with the book. I was beginning to worry it was just me.
Currently reading it and feeling the exact same way.
Honestly i understand how its supposed to criticize the church and the way they do things but when the only 2 people "rebelling" against them are both villains in the book it just seems like do as i say not as i do to me the church itself doesn't seem to have much of a role at least in this book turning a blind eye isn't the same as sending people out to do evil
