Dear Readers,


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Friday, December 21, 2007

The Golden Compass vs. Harry Potter. Smackdown!!

I picked up this YA fantasy novel hopefully, in anticipation of the film. Well I never saw the film because the reviews were just so totally dismal, but the book was fantastic. The most affecting part, as everyone says, is the relationship between the humans and their Daemons--or animal manifestations of their souls. So believable and well-drawn! I also loved Iorek, the ice-bear, and the warm gyptians and the cold but kind witches.
With all that happy praise out of the way, Phillip Pullman, you are no JK Rowling. As much as I adored this book, I neither rushed out to buy a sequel nor would have been more than a little miffed if I'd been interrupted. If it were a Harry Potter book my eyes would not have left the page. The difference is that JK Rowling taps into something in our core humanity that very few writers in any genre are able to.
Still, I'm going to pick up the Subtle Knife one of these days, and devour it greedily.

3 comments:

  1. I feel similarly about Pullman's writing -- it's a marvelous story he's telling, but his writing style feels by-the-numbers. It's not exactly gripping.

    The Subtle Knife is an improvement over The Golden Compass, though. I hope you'll enjoy it!

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  2. Awesome, Christina.
    I just bought The Subtle Knife for my train ride today. Can't wait to read it. But I really can't wait to see what JK comes up with next!

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  3. Anonymous9:18 AM

    nice review,
    I will admit that JK wins hands down

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