The Golden Compass

A few months ago my brother lent me a book that I "had to read". I have about 10 books that I am currently making my way through, but I started that one because he made such a big deal about how incredible it was. Harry Potter X 1000...a true coming of age story. I read about 150 pages when he took it back to re-read on his flight to Japan.

A few days ago I saw the commercial for the movie and remarked to The Man that I wished I would have read it before the movie came out. Yesterday I got an email about the movie. Now I am pretty skeptical of emails warning me not to see or read something. I am sure in my high school Harry Potter was a no-no. Anyway, the gist of the email was that the author, Philip Pullman, is an avowed atheist whose goal is to promote his belief (or lack thereof) and mock Christianity. That this series (beginning with the Golden Compass) is a direct reaction/rebuttal to Pullman's hatred of C.S. Lewis and the Chronicles of Narnia. That the book ends with "good" triumphing over "evil" ---in other words, the children of the book killing God.

I called my brother this morning to ask if it's true and he gave a non-committal, "it's open to interpretation". However, he did say that it's so brutal he can't see how they're turning into a major motion picture.

I'm not telling you to see it or not to see it. I will finish the book, but I'm glad i know this because I won't be letting my children see it...and I would have.