Endicott Mythic Fiction discussion

Our September 2012 book is The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman.
Who's reading?

i read this years ago and remember liking it a lot (yet being very happy that i had it as a 3-in-1 edition of the whole trilogy!!) - that polar bear on the cover plays a big part that's pretty awesome. it's due for a re-read for sure.

I tried to read it around the time the movie came out and gave up a couple of chapters in. It seemed very childish to me at the time.

I'm game for a re-read though. Maybe I'll like it better second time around.

Sorry but It does not appeal to me either. My son and I tried reading it a few years ago but we could not get into it. We also did not like the movie.

I just wanted to mention that I recently read the complete Grimm’s tales in another group, however I will definitely join you all reading Kafka on the Shore in November! I am looking forward to reading all the books on the Endicott Mythic Fiction list http://endicottstudio.typepad.com/jom...
I’ve loved almost everything I have read from that list!

Of course I am giving the Golden Compass a go! :)

just zipped through the first 2 chapters last night, and this book makes for a very rich re-read. sometimes knowing the central mystery of something makes visiting it again a special pleasure because you can relax into all the little details that you missed the first time around when you were spending all your energy just figuring out what the heck was going on.

I read the trilogy years ago & loved this first novel of the three.
I loved the idea of daemons (view spoiler)[and read intercision as an incredibly powerful metaphor for child abuse. (hide spoiler)]
I liked the movie as well & wish the other two books had also been filmed.

as i'm reading it, i remember images from the movie, and there's definitely plenty of cinematic moments in the book that would lend themselves wonderfully to being filmed. but i can't help feeling that the bond between the people and their daemons as described in the text would be awfully hard to get across in images.

clearly, when i'm done, i need to re-watch.

I finished it about a few days ago, but I've been trying to think of what to say about it.

The pace picked up just a few pages past where I'd quit last time, and I did like the second half a lot better than I did the beginning.

But, I still didn't really love it as much as most people seem to. The youngness of the novel still really bothers me and I'm not sure why. I read and like children's books all of the time - though they usually are more like fairy tales. Maybe I was just expecting more of a fairy tale feel?

Interesting article about Pullman:
PHILIP PULLMAN’S TWICE-TOLD TALES

I loved the book but was really disappointed by the film.