Sushi

I don't know if Viggo would want to do another trilogy type movie! but anyway I was on some HDM websites and found a pic of Lyra and Will from the production. Here the link

I never really thought about how old they were. I always thought Lyra was 12 but then somehow she got older.. They don't really look how I imagined the characters..they look kinda scary actually.

[ 10-26-2003: Message edited Eowyn_Evenstar ]

Ben

silvercrystal - Thanks [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

Is that picture of the stage production? That's almost how I imagined them. Though I think Lyra would be a bit scruffier than that.

Sushi

Almost but not quite. Decided to reread the books because I realised how much I could'nt remember. But It's great to read because you suddenly understand things you missed on the first read. Like Lord Asriel - you can tell he's powerful and threatening but I think there is a little playfulness/tenderness there with Lyra. He is her father after all.

Does anyone know the exact age of Lyra and Will?

Ben

I should have tickets for the production sometime this week! I can't wait at all now. Roll on December.

~*Johanna*~

OH. MY. GOSH. I just finished reading the trilogy, and I cannot believe how good it was. I almost cried! So sad, so sad... but very good!

I thought they were 12, too! At least I know Lyra was in the middle of The Amber Spyglass. I'm not sure but I thought they said Will was that age or a little older. That's what I remember at least.

And the pic...hmm...Lyra looks about how I imagined, but not the guy who played Will. Just doesn't look exactly right...but that's just me. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

Sushi

Ending is so horrible but brilliant is'nt it??? Sometimes the unhappy endings are the best way to go about it. At least we can read Lyra's Oxford soon. There's also another book coming out by Philip Pullman.. don't know when but it's called The Book of Dust which will have all sorts of stories like how Lord Asriel and Mrs Coulter met and things about Serefina Pekkla (good name!).

I saw some posters for the play on the underground today... I have'nt seen a play in YEARS!

Ben

Are you going to the play? When are you going to go?

I thought the Book of Dust would come out before Lyra's Oxford, but seems like I was wrong.

Has anyone read Pullman's other books? They are also really good.

Lucky44

I didn't really dig the Sally Lockhart trilogy. I mean, it was alright and all, but I think because I loved HDM so much, they were simply sub-par in comparison.

Also, I liked HDM for the fantasy element that SL didn't really have. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

Thanks to whoever posted the picture of Will and Lyra. I think they look perfect. [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

Ben

I enjoyed the Sally Lockhart books because I thought they were a good embodiment of Victorian life for younger people. Though I'm not a younger person.

Of course they don't really compare to HDM at all. But they are a different style.

silvercrystal

I've read a few of his other ones. They're really good.

I wrote to him when I was younger due to something I was doing with this book club I was part of. He replied really quickly. It was this really nice typed up letter that he wrote himself and he referred to me by name and then signed it at the end. It was really nice to see that he replied to it himself.

The picture - Hmm...I can see those two as lyra and will but I think I'll have to reread the books to get a proper image. I might do that today, I have time now since I finished Beowulf which I had to read for my english course. That reminds me, I'm studying english at uni and in my third year I can study the His Dark Materials triology if I choose childrens literature as one of my courses. It'll be so fun [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

Ben

Studying HDM would be such a great thing. I could just talk for ages and ages about it.

What do you think about the way Pullman depicts God, angels and that kind of thing? Some people say that he is polluting children's minds with it. But I think the whole thing is rich in discovery that every child should read it.

Lucky44

I think the theological content of HDM is far too deep to send any sort of message to children. I'd bet money that children under the age of 14 don't even understand most of what they read in tAS. Heck, I'm 22, and I'm not sure if I really understand all the ideas and implications.

As with any fantasy novel, it's hard to say they're telling children this or that. I mean, why aren't people complaining that it teaches children that our souls are really following us around in the form of animals?

When I was younger, I didn't read books to discover life's great truths. I read them to be entertained. I think to say that these books are polluting children's minds is ludicrous. People don't realize that just because adults get one thing out of these books doesn't mean that children are going to get the same thing. I'd say by the time children are old enough to actually understand what's going on, and not just see this as a neat story about a boy and a girl with animals who fight evil ghosts, they'll practically be adults, and will know how to take Pullman's ideas in context and weight them logically and reasonably.

~*Johanna*~

I think Pullman was amazingly brave and daring to write what he did in HDM. About God (The Authority) being the bad guy and all. It's so complex and at times, scary. Because I'm not religious it doesn't matter to me, but I can see that people might get mad. It's weird though, think about how much heavier these books are with religious references, and yet Harry Potter got all the bashing. In my opinion, none of these are "polluting the children's minds". They are books, fictional books, for crying out loud!

I think this series of books are my second favorite of all time. (My favorite book is The Blue Sword by Robin McKinnley.) [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

[ 10-30-2003: Message edited ~*Johanna*~ ]

Ben

I was entertained by these books and I did learn a lot from them. But mainly that I could still be sucked into another reality and imagine it as vididly as if it were really there. The descriptions are so alive and that's what I love about HDM.

Hood

Ben! [img]smilies/wave.gif[/img] You're here too!


I always cry! I read the whole triology million times and I always cried. But that's the only way it could end I guess, and it's brilliant.