The Amber Spyglass was for me in many ways more enjoyable than the Subtle Knife. But PP the great challenger to the JKR crown does look on the darker side of life. The final novel in the trilogy draws together all the earlier threads very well. For those of you have been following the series, you will know that the first book is closely concerned with Lyra, book two opens up the story and introduces Will, and book three brings their joint stories together, as well as resolving the battle between heaven and Lyra's father. All the previous undercurrents and sub-plots are explained and resolved in a formidable manner. If book one echoed the small world and nativity of young Lyra, book three is more sophisicated and complex reflecting her journey into wisdom and harsh reality.
I do wonder about it all being a children's story. Lyra's mother has -er-rather unusual sadistic tendancies. The love story between her and Lyra's father is quite remarkable, insightful and profound. Pullman has no adversion to killing characters, ill fated love, and a life which is harsh and unforgiving.
Its all well written, clever - and I respect the work enough not to want to give away any more of the plot than I have in this engimatic review. But I do want to say that by the end of this trilogy I was not happy and uplifted. It is not all doom and damnation, but I was depressed by the overall story. The main characters, all without exception, find the strength to continue in the face of adversity, and are stronger, if not happier, for their experience. I, on the other hand, am obviously too old to find such strength in the face of death and separation.
Philip Pullman is a very gifted story-teller, but his tales are too dark for me. Almost as bad as watching the ten o'clock news!
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which dazzles everyone who reads it, children and adults alike. After the originalNorthern Lights, he kept up the quality inThe Subtle Knife, the second title in ...
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