Julia (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
floweranza) wrote2007-05-23 04:21 pm
floweranza) wrote2007-05-23 04:21 pm
(no subject)
I just finished reading through the His Dark Materials trilogy.
These books are - well, amazing, to say it in as few words as possible. There are times when I wished that the situation was just a bit less detached, but there were also times when the vivid descriptions did more for me than any watered-down movie could do. The movie, from what I've heard, is not going to make 'sweeping' references to the religious themes presented in the books.
But how?
The magic of these novels is that they're so utterly audacious. The simple fact that they openly criticize religion (esp. the Christian doctrine) in what could be arguably noted a children's novel is already enough to anger many. And those who think Harry Potter is a devil's tale? They obviously haven't gotten their hands on this literary masterpiece. By the way, the writing style appealed to me far more than Harry Potter ever did. Calling it a children's book, too, turns some heads.
I personally disagree with this label. Much like the later Harry Potter books, these books delve into topics simply far beyond a child's level of interest. (And for the His Dark Materials trilogy, even more so.) The main characters are children, true, but they're growing to be adults; their sexual maturation is what ultimately leads to victory. The highest representatives of the Church undoubtedly, and in effect, snatch children off of the streets to kill them in a misguided attempt to wipe the world of original sin. An (armoured bear) comrade eats his deceased dear friend's corpse as nourishment and as an honour to the fallen man - it's described very matter-of-factly, and I'm sure it would do nothing but shock small children. Children seem to be what the movie is being marketed at, really. And it's a shame. It deserves more. Our conservative society is far more conservative than people think on a daily basis.
So - I will probably not go to see the movie. But I do encourage anyone who has a liking of fantasy and an open mind to read these three novels, because they're brilliant and beautiful.
Mrs. Coulter + redemption.
These books are - well, amazing, to say it in as few words as possible. There are times when I wished that the situation was just a bit less detached, but there were also times when the vivid descriptions did more for me than any watered-down movie could do. The movie, from what I've heard, is not going to make 'sweeping' references to the religious themes presented in the books.
But how?
The magic of these novels is that they're so utterly audacious. The simple fact that they openly criticize religion (esp. the Christian doctrine) in what could be arguably noted a children's novel is already enough to anger many. And those who think Harry Potter is a devil's tale? They obviously haven't gotten their hands on this literary masterpiece. By the way, the writing style appealed to me far more than Harry Potter ever did. Calling it a children's book, too, turns some heads.
I personally disagree with this label. Much like the later Harry Potter books, these books delve into topics simply far beyond a child's level of interest. (And for the His Dark Materials trilogy, even more so.) The main characters are children, true, but they're growing to be adults; their sexual maturation is what ultimately leads to victory. The highest representatives of the Church undoubtedly, and in effect, snatch children off of the streets to kill them in a misguided attempt to wipe the world of original sin. An (armoured bear) comrade eats his deceased dear friend's corpse as nourishment and as an honour to the fallen man - it's described very matter-of-factly, and I'm sure it would do nothing but shock small children. Children seem to be what the movie is being marketed at, really. And it's a shame. It deserves more. Our conservative society is far more conservative than people think on a daily basis.
So - I will probably not go to see the movie. But I do encourage anyone who has a liking of fantasy and an open mind to read these three novels, because they're brilliant and beautiful.
Mrs. Coulter + redemption.
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But for now, I'm gonna sit here and watch Selena on YouTube... do you like her music?
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I think she only got famous when she was killed, but that's me
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I really do think some of her songs are great, though. :) I'm also fond of the movie, for some strange reason. ...probably because I'm a girl.
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you? me?...
and yeah, i totally agree with your assessment there, and to find out that its a children's movie is pretty disappointing. i mean, the raw sexuality in these books is something that i'm just now grasping, re-re-re-re-(etc.)-reading them. its pretty amazing. its like i'm reading them for tha first time, almost, 'cause i'm suddenly seeing all this new meaning.
but yeah, i pretty much love these books, and this is a pretty long comment huh and now i'm trying to see how long i can go without breaking the sentence, though i guess its not that hard since i can just not put in a period though thats cheating which is why i'm using so many transition words like and and but and so and though and stuff like that but now i'm running out of ides so i'll have to stop pretty soon and oh but is another transition word too.
Re: you? me?...
There are a lot of reviews out there harsh to The Amber Spyglass, and most of their reasons are that it's a let-down after all action. And I'm like, '...what? It's not feasible to think that they're going to continue those fighting for their lives after the situation is over. It's called a resolution at the end of a tale, kids.' And it's a great resolution, I think.
We'd like the characters to have a good ending, but what makes the story even more poignant is its reality.
Yeah... it's pretty amazing. When I was first reading The Golden Compass (just a few days ago!), I was like, Woah. Is this seriously in a children's book? Well, it's what it is, but... this is amazing, and why does this have a children's book illustration on the cover? All the interaction between two peoples' daemons - that's essentially sexual. I have no idea how they're going to portray the scene where Mrs. Coulter's daemon feels up the daemon of the guy she's out to kill.
RUN-ON SENTENCES YAY YAY YAY YAY!! Heh, I got my SAT Subject Test scores, and I bombed U.S. History. ...but, I didn't wanna take it anyway. Literature was as easy as locating a noun in this sentence: 'The pineapple fell.' ldkfjdflkgjlkgj tests and paying money and college and ugh, I don't care.
Totally rereading these books in the near future. :)
Re: you? me?...
but yeah man, i've 1/2way through The Subtle Knife already, and The Golden Compass was pretty much as awesome as i remembered, but even more so, 'cause now i catch all tha hidden meanings. i mean, when i first read it, i was about 11, i think. but yeah, tha entire way in which Asriel and Mrs. Coulter interact is completely sexual, but in a creepy way. like, tha monkey wasn't so much feeling up tha snow leopard, as like, clawing it, and vice-versa. so its not even tha kind of accepted sexuality of modern culture, like, say, kissing, and sexual images, which aren't even allowed in children's movies anyway. but this is an almost sadistic kind of thing, but not really. like, they hate each other, but they're attracted to each other too much to stay away. and they actually hate each other, not like, great dislike, but HATE, in tha purest sense of tha word. if any of that makes sense.
and that's ignoring tha violence. there are too many deaths to count, and HELLO? bear fight? Iorek eats Iofur's heart! kids ain't s'posed to see that! (you can like, hide this, or whatever, if you don't want peoples to see that spoiler)