Since being furloughed on March 24, well maybe since even for a week before that, I have had a hard time reading, a hard time focusing on anything....Worries over COVID19, stay at home orders, being out of work, my son's school being closed and if he will get to finish 8th grade and have the traditional transition to high school, how long will this last, etc etc...I feel like I am getting my mojo back. I have had to force myself to turn off the news and limit somewhat my time checking social media for updates. It is helping a little...so please don't take the length of time it is taking me to read books as any kind of reflection on the book...
I of course had heard of this trilogy way back when but hadn't read it. I think it was because I was under the impression that it was going to be preachy and whatnot..But then the HBO show with Lin-Manuel released and I had to check it out..and I really liked it...but then being who I am, I then felt the need to read the books...and here I am..
Of course, I mean it almost goes without saying, the book is somewhat different than the show...first of all there is stuff in the show that doesn't happen at all in the book, I am thinking that it comes up in later parts of the story. Since the show is called His Dark Materials and not Golden Compass it seems like they are pulling from all three books and intermingling them. But there are other differences...Lyra is better in the book, I mean she is much more interesting and deeper. The time line in the books is different, but that could just be because it isn't spelled out on screen, for example the amount of time she stays with Mrs. Coulter before the party that sets her on the road...
Religion...since that was what kept me from reading them before now...I didn't feel preached at or that I was trying to be converted. I was Jewish before I started reading and I am still Jewish now, no pull to go out and join a Church. It becomes more overtly spoken of near the end of the book, but in such a way as I don't know yet if Pullman is preaching for or against religion or overly dogmatic religious views...
I love, I mean really love, the development of the relationship between Lyra and Iorek Byrnison. Ma Costa is so much better in the book as is Farder Coram. As is typical, the book is better than the screen version. Because I watched before I read I didn't have that dissatisfied feeling while watching so maybe I will just operate them in my mind and think of them as two different entities and watch season 2 when it comes out...We shall see...In the mean time I will finish up the trilogy
(Finished April 9, 2020)
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