For those of you who are patrons of the DPL, you've probably recently recognized the name of another popular children's book that will be coming to the big screen: The Golden Compass. The first of the His Dark Materials Trilogy (a three part book series) by Phillip Pullman, the movie will be releasing Friday, December 7th, 2007, and I'm sure that those of you who are fans of the book series will be looking forward to it.
Centering around the adventures of a little girl, Lyra, who wishes to seek out the mysteries behind the society she lives in, this book takes place in a world that Pullman makes clear is very different from ours from the very beginning. The first noticable different is the existence of daemon, physical manifestations of the Human soul in the form of an animal that represents one's personality. A daemon is usually of the opposite gender of the person that is paired with it. Same gender pairs are considered rare and are the object of much research. When children are young, their daemon can change into any form that represents the child's potential. However, as they grow older and approach puberty, the speed at which their daemon can change slows down, and it eventually settles for a permanent form. Lyra's daemon is a Polar bear, Pantalaimon, which she calls Pan for short. In the beginning of the series, while Lyra is young, he assumes many forms including a cardinal, a mouse, an otter, and most often an ermine.
Lyra is a curious girl, and she discovers the Golden Compass, which is an advanced piece of technology capable of answering basically every and any question the wielder asks. However, the Golden Compass, which has a life of its own, communicates through pictures and symbols. You must ask the Compass questions through these symbols as well. It is very difficult for anyone in Lyra's world to interpret the symbols; older men have studied the symbols for decades just to figure out how to ask a single question. But when Lyra finds it she has no problem at all. Later on it is discovered that a child's mind can speak to the Compass without any effort--a miracle of childhood, and everyone in the vicinity begins chasing Lyra for her knowledge of the Compass.
Watching (or reading) Lyra's adventures as she tries to find the connection between her life--and the lives of all children--and the way her world functions is a wonderful tale of courage, youth and life. I certainly can't wait for the film release--can you?
The other two books, The Amber Spyglass and The Subtle Knife complete the series, and you can find both, along with The Golden Compass, at the Main Branch of the Detroit Public Libary system.
Below is the link to the official site for the Golden Compass Movie. There's a test you can take to figure out what your daemon is! I wonder what mine will be!
http://www.goldencompassmovie.com/?engine=adwords!10095&keyword=%28movie+sites%29&match_type=content
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