His Dark Materials

It must have been synchronicity how I got hold of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy. I only found out about the books when I first saw the trailer of The Golden Compass, but it was Viv who introduced me to Northern Lights (the original title of the first book). She had an extra copy, which she gave to me. As luck would have it, IoE has a trove of Pullman books for borrowing and I quickly moved on to the second book, The Subtle Knife. On another trip, I told a participant's son that I was reading it and he said I could take his extra copy of The Amber Spyglass. Now isn't the universe saying something?

The books are not for everyone. I enjoyed Northern Lights very much because it was gripping. Reading it made me conceptualize London and Manila as entirely different worlds. I'm not so fond of The Subtle Knife because I feel like it just prepares for The Amber Spyglass. The latter is richer and vivid, a more visual read though it's the only one without illustrations. But it's not of the pageturner variety. I only finished it a few days ago though I started three weeks back.

I would say that the stories are potentially "dangerous" and not exactly children's books because the metaphysical roots run deep. But with an informed conscience and the right attitude, they're good reads. It's really up to you if you want to expose yourself to Pullman's ideas. But dialogue and discussion, not banning, is the way forward.

Photo of "Gossip Gay and Blogger Babe" (The Amber Spyglass in hand) stolen from Kat's Multiply site.

Flying home today. Will get my life in order first before blogging again in a few. Stay tuned.