"The Golden Compass": The Movie

Just a plug for a coming attraction. (And no, I don't own stock in New Line Cinema!)

"His Dark Materials" by Philip Pullman may be one of the most literate and creative fantasy trilogies ever written. Right up there with The Lord of the Rings. Entire blogs could be -- and they have been -- devoted to studying the three books. His Dark Materials is often described as "young adult fiction," but intelligent readers of any age should find it absorbing and entertaining reading.

For the uninitiated, I'll just mention that the books describe the adventures of Lyra, an adventurous pre-teen girl, who lives in Oxford, England. But her Oxford is an Oxford that lies in a universe parallel to our own, a universe existing within inches of ours but in a different "dimension," or plane of reality. Lyra's world is a world very similar to that of 20th century Earth, but an Earth that appears slightly askew, with numerous disorienting differences from ours.

In the second book of the trilogy, The Subtle Knife, Lyra meets and falls in love with Will, a boy her age from our own universe, who has crossed into Lyra's world through a portal he accidentally discovers. They survive a number of dangerous adventures together, dangers threatening to both body and soul, all the while seeking the meaning and effects of a mysterious and all-pervasive substance called "dust." The trilogy ends (in The Amber Spyglass) with their heart-breaking and permanent separation, and the final separation between their two universes. The cutting asunder of both their lives and universes is an act they tearfully undertake themselves, voluntarily, for the salvation of both their worlds.

You may think I'm merely describing another Bridge to Terabithia, one designed for juvenile fantasy buffs. If so, you're mistaken.

This is a saga that starts out borrowing a stanza (and its title) from Milton's Paradise Lost and goes on to examine some of the same fundamental issues as did Milton in his epic poem. His Dark Materials touches on science, metaphysics, religion, morals and ethics, the nature of the soul -- in other words, Man's relationship to his World -- and is just a heck of a good adventure yarn as well.

The trilogy has been heavily criticized by some conservative religious authorities for its ridicule of Christianity. Pullman is indeed an atheist, but the satiric aspects usually mock some of the more simple-minded and unsophisticated concepts of religious faith. His Dark Materials portrays God fantastically as a pathetic, senile old man ("the Authority"), in whose name others, both angelic and human, now exert real power. The pair of mutually devoted gay angels -- complete with feathered wings, right out of a Raphael painting -- who offer assistance to Lyra and Will may similarly offend conservative sensitivities, but again, no young reader bright enough to be reading the books in the first place would see this device as anything but fictive, humorous and touching.

It's only a story, in other words, in the same way that a Greek myth is a story --it's not presented to kids, or anyone else, as a theological argument. Nevertheless, in order to market the films more successfully to wider audiences, the films' director (Chris Weitz) is said to have soft-pedaled those aspects of the books that might be perceived as anti-religious. He has stated that the films would otherwise be an "unviable project financially," but that he views the trilogy as overall a "highly spiritual and reverent piece of writing." (see Weitz's 2004 interview.)

So do I.

One of Pullman's more imaginative devices is his assignment of a "daemon," or personified soul, to every human being in Lyra's world. Each daemon is a talking animal, and the species of animal represents the nature of its human's soul. The daemon and its human cannot separate by more than a few feet, and they go through life in a continual, conversational companionship. (If you ever find yourself talking to yourself, even arguing with yourself, you are insane ...! -- no, no, I mean you understand the relationship between Lyra and her daemon.)

For kids, the daemon may change species of animal from moment to moment, day to day, as the emotions and nature of its child change and develop. At puberty, however, the daemon finally becomes fixed in its final form, representing the kind of soul the young person has achieved and will have for the rest of his or her life.

You can't tell a book by its cover, in other words, but you definitely can tell a man by his daemon.

The relationship between humans and their daemons is a central theme of the trilogy, and a significant and often tragic element of the plot.

The good news, by now obvious -- and my reason for reminding you of this trilogy -- is that in January, after several years of uncertainty, New Line Cinema completed filming, and on December 7 will release its film of the first book, The Golden Compass. A rather flashy and attractive publicity website is up and running (don't try watching it with a dial-up connection, however) .

Assuming the film bears any resemblance at all to the book, I say "two thumbs up" even before I see it! Don't miss it!