His Dark Media
Twilight Saga
SherlockChronicles.orgI’ll admit after reading a number of His Dark Materials guides that went about categorizing author Philip Pullman’s science or rendering his influences into concise-yet-interesting volumetric readings, I was hesitant over first finding and then purchasing another such labeled “guide:” George Beahm’s Discovering The Golden Compass: A Guide to Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials. My deciding factor was that deep love of poor college students and far-flung relatives everywhere: the gift card. Sometimes good things come in late, self-chosen packages.
I’ll start somewhere author Goerge Beahm often did in his analyses: the book’s title. “Discovering The Golden Compass” is in some ways a misleading title. Instead of referring to discovery as a notion of uncovering – either the thought Pullman put into the narrative or the sources behind it – Beahm is mainly referring to the act itself: discovering. You can’t help but remember your own first glimpse of that front cover (for me, that one with the girl on the back of a giant polar bear – how curious!) as Beahm bemoans his loss at not initially purchasing that oddly titled first edition hardcover “Golden Compass” book in his hometown bookstore. From the first act of picking up the book, Discovering moves into finding a general orientation in Lyra’s world with character names, places, and a brief but thankfully not-intended-to-spoil synopsis. As Beahm writes, his book isn’t intended to be only a consultation device for post-reading traumas and thesis crutches. The narrative does occasionally withdraw into over-simplifications for non-readers. I have previously promoted simplification of The Golden Compass plot for non-readers as to not scare them away, but a few slip ups like Will living in Oxford (he lives in Winchester) and the cat on the front cover of The Subtle Knife being Will’s dæmon (she’s really just a cat) shouldn’t hinder exactly as in the story. A few awkward instances pop out in the summaries at anyone who’s already read The Golden Compass as potential spoilers, but nothing so drastic as to say Lyra accidentally detonates an atomic bomb destroying not only the Tokay in the Retiring Room, but that in the cellars as well. I hope I haven’t spoiled anything for you.
In the character notes Discovering adds background information where appropriate, noting the similarities between Lyra’s dæmon Pantalaimon and Saint Panteleon in name as well as the development of names for characters Sophonax and Serafina Pekkala. Discovering is also a misleading title in that its author doesn’t entirely limit the scope of his subject to only the first of the His Dark Materials series. I think this has a great deal more to do with the first movie title – where Discovering The Golden Compass is obviously associated - than with veering off some initial plan. Another tie Discovering has to the act is in a quick flip-through of the book itself: printed on quality paper with gold-colored ink titles, loaded with photographs from Oxford, and illustrations from artist Tim Kirk. This is easily the most well-designed of the “guides” in appearance, and its cover curiously boasts “featuring the life of Philip Pullman in his own words” – a reproduction of Pullman’s autobiography, entitled I have a feeling this all belongs to me. This is one of the nicest ways to introduce new readers to Philip Pullman and he’s a master at it: tell them stories.
Something else a quick flip-through might reveal is the large number of quotations gathering into this book. Quotations come into play as narrative starters, supporting evidence, and stand-alone ideas. I really enjoyed the sections devoted entirely to quotes as Beahm gathered together so many real life reading points for Discovering. And therein, at the end we find the true discovery: real life. Discovering is about the act in the reality: where The Golden Compass stands in our world in terms of ever-touted religion, the upcoming movie release, overall reading values, and its place on the bookshelf.
Overall, there aren’t really any new ideas to brood over in any philosophical sense brought on by Discovering the Golden Compass, but it was a fun read, and certainly something which could be read and understood before opening the His Dark Materials text at all. Beahm isn’t overly interested in enunciating the background sources which made their way into Pullman’s narrative, instead he continually points out the story itself is important, and important in our world for all the reasons quoted by its readers and brought in by the success of the His Dark Materials trilogy.
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