Of golden compasses

The Prince Caspian trailer is out. Mmm. Now, just how many days till May 16? :)

In other news (from a rather opposite direction :)), at Christianity Today I came across Jeffrey Overstreet’s review of Philip Pullman’s The Golden Compass (part of the His Dark Materials series and just released last week as a movie, and if you haven’t heard about it yet then please tell me how to get to the cave you’re living in :P).

I haven’t read the books yet or seen the film, so I can’t in good conscience comment on either. From what I’ve read, though, both on the web and on the Mythopoeic Society discussion list, Overstreet seems to have done a fair job of it.

As for me, I’ll give the first book a try. I doubt I’ll like it — anyone who claims to be “killing God” through his books, and who openly despises both Tolkien and Lewis, doesn’t exactly earn big points in my book — but we’ll see what happens.

I loved the books — loved them — but the movie was a bad adaptation, and utter garbage.

Ooooh, Prince Caspian…I’m already geeking out…

Still waiting for Dawn Treader. I’ve got 4 months to leave on my mission so I can come home before the premiere.

You might not hate the 1st book–he doesn’t get super heavy-handed until later in the series.

I’ve read the entire series and even the fourth book, Lyra’s Oxford, which is an epilogue of sorts.

I loved the entire series.

The disconnect here is that what he strove to accomplish (ridicule religion and dethrone theism) is not what he actually did do (point-up the dark underbelly of centuries of apostate Christianity — which looks, by the by, very much like the dark underbelly of any political power; ridicule a God that doesn’t look at all like the loving Father in Heaven I worship; craft a story of empowerment for children and young adults infused with opportunities for engaged parents to discuss God, faith, and the light within us all).

Silus: Movies often end up that way. :)

Joe: Yes. :)

M: I know. I wish I could go into a coma until all seven are released. Why oh why does it take so long to make movies? ~unreasonably impatient whimper~

ali: That’s what I’ve heard, which is one of the reasons I’m giving the first book a chance. :)

Silus II: One thing that I’ve heard and rather disagree with is that in the third book, one of the ways Lyra releases dust into the world (therefore saving it) is by having (extramarital) sex. Assuming that’s indeed the case, I find that somewhat troublesome. But I won’t say any more about that in my ignorance of the facts. :) As for Pullman failing to do what he set out to do (attacking God), I can see it from two sides. Yes, the books aren’t as bad as he makes them out to be (or so I hear). And yet if that was his intention, it’s hard to imagine that his whole worldview isn’t seeped into the books. But that’s all I’ll say on the matter till I read the books themselves and have a chance to decide for myself. :)

Ben: I think you’ll be more okay with the book than you think. Lyra’s “fall” is meant to be just that: it represents the actual fall of mankind. It’s the difference between representation of evil and advocation thereof.

I saw the movie and have read the first book and I thought they were both wonderful. A bit darker than your typical young adult fiction (at least when I was that age) but still very enjoyable read. And I have to agree, he may have set out to try and destroy God but I see more Christian values being shown than otherwise. It is still, ultimately, the battle between light and dark, good and evil.

Liz: I almost bought it at Smith’s tonight, actually, but opted for OSC’s Empire instead. (My first time ever buying a book at a grocery store.) I just need to find someone who has The Golden Compass and is willing to lend it to me…

Mali: Interesting. I’ve seen enough responses like yours to make it clear that I don’t think it’s right to decry the book without reading it. (If everyone agreed that it was evil, then no, I wouldn’t bother even opening it. :))

I agree with Liz, Ben. The books are actually pretty good, and interesting. I think the questions he asks about Christianity are pretty fair, and completely worthy. He claims to be ‘killing God’ in some sense of the phrase because he doesn’t like how the church (primarily the Catholic church, if I’m remembering right) deals with a few key doctrines, and he doesn’t like that they won’t answer his questions.

Of course, the fortunate part about all this is that LDS doctrine answers these questions.

Basically, I think people are making a huge mountain out of a small mole hill in regards to these books. From what I’ve observed, most people are bashing the books or the movies off of very little information, because most of them have not actually read the books (or seen the movie). It’s the same as people who bash Harry Potter as satanic without having read them.

So…yeah. Long winded rant over- the books really are good. They’re classic for a reason. And in case you haven’t noticed…they’re not really killing God for anyone. Most people read them and come out alive and well with their faith. Questioning is good for us.

Then I’ll just have to read them and see. :) (Does anyone close by — BYU, preferably — have them and want to let me borrow them? There are 38 people ahead of me in the hold queue at the library. :))