The Golden Compass Part I of
His Dark Materials Trilogy also known as Northern Lights -
by Philip Pullman
Brand New 9 CDs 10.75 Hours - Performed by the
Author and a full cast
In The Golden Compass, readers meet for the first time 11-year-old Lyra
Belacqua, a precocious orphan growing up within the precincts of Jordan College
in Oxford, England. It quickly becomes clear that Lyra's Oxford is not
precisely like our own - nor is her world. In Lyra's world, everyone has a
personal dæmon, a lifelong animal familiar. This is a world in which science,
theology and magic are closely intertwined.
Sample Golden Compass Audio mp3
These ideas are of little concern to Lyra, who at the outset of the story,
spends most of her time with her friend Roger, a kitchen boy. Together, they
share a carefree existence scampering across the roofs of the college, racing
through the streets of Oxford, or waging war with the other children in town.
But that life changes forever when Lyra and her dæmon, Pantalaimon, prevent an
assassination attempt on her uncle, the powerful Lord Asriel, and then overhear
a secret discussion about a mysterious entity known as Dust.
It is at this time that children mysteriously began to disappear. Children, and
only the children, are vanishing at the hands of what become known as the
"Gobblers." Who the Gobblers are and what they want is unknown, but soon,
children from far and wide are disappearing with out a trace, even Lyra's good
friend, Roger.
But before she can begin her search for Roger, Lyra is introduced to Mrs.
Coulter, a beautiful and bewitching woman. Mrs. Coulter is a scholar and an
explorer - seemingly everything that Lyra could ever hope to be. Mrs. Coulter
takes Lyra under her wing and employs her as an assistant to help in the next
expedition to explore the Arctic North. On the morning she is to leave Jordan
College, the Master of the school gives Lyra an alethiometer, a rare and
powerful instrument with the power to reveal the truth in all things.
While under Mrs. Coulter's guidance, Lyra learns of her mentor's critical role
in Church's General Oblation Board, a.k.a. the Gobblers, the party responsible
for the disappearing children. It is revealed that these kidnapped children are
taken to Bolvangar, a place in the far North, to participate in Dust
experiments whereby they are severed from their dæmons through a process called
intercision. Lyra also learns that the Church has captured and imprisoned Lord
Asriel in the Arctic region of Bolvanger where he has undertaken Dust
experiments of his own.
Horrified at what she has learned, Lyra and Pantalaimon flee Mrs. Coulter's
home in the middle of the night and are rescued through the kindness of two
gyptian men. The gyptians are a gypsy group of boat-people who live a harsh
life on the water tempered by their unwavering sense of family, loyalty and
love. It is the gyptians' children who have suffered most at the hands of the
Gobblers, and they have vowed to travel North to rescue them. Lyra pledges to
share what she knows, rescue her dear friend Roger, and ultimately find her
imprisoned father. Through the gyptian elders, Lord Faa and Farder Coram, Lyra
is bewildered to learn that her parents are Lord Asriel and Mrs. Coulter.
Despite this shock, Lyra quickly learns to read the alethiometer and understand
its messages. Although her alethiometer enables her to discover the truth in
everything around her, Lyra is unaware of the incredible role her own life
plays in the fate of the universe. Lyra is the subject of a great prophecy in
which she is destined to commit a fateful betrayal that will determine the
future of all worlds.
To succeed in the rescue mission for the children, the gyptians enlist the
alliances of three people who come to regard Lyra dearly: Serafina Pekkala, the
witch queen who reveals that the fate of universe lies in Lyra's future; Lee
Scoresby, a Texan aeronaut and commander of a hot air balloon; and Iorek
Byrnison, a renegade armored polar bear, deposed as king of his clan by a
deceitful brother. While on their long, hard journey in the far North, Lyra and
Pantalaimon are kidnapped by hunters who take them to Bolvangar, the place
where all the kidnapped children have been brought. At long last, Lyra is
happily reunited with Roger, but to her horror, she witnesses intercision, the
gruesome Dust experiment that separates child and dæmon. Banding together, the
children and their daemons escape the terrors of Bolvangar, fleeing into the
safety of the gyptians, Serafina Pekkala's witches, Lee Scoreby's balloon, and
Iorek Byrnison.
Although the children are rescued, the journey for Lyra and Roger is far from
over. They travel further north and finally find Lyra's father, Lord Asriel.
Lord Asriel has experimented with Dust as well, and has discovered its role in
crossing the barriers into other worlds. He has constructed a bridge to another
world, but crossing that bridge requires the energy released in an intercision.
Unable to sacrifice his own child, Lord Asriel makes Roger his prey and escapes
to another world. The universe has been broken and Lyra's friend lies dead, but
she vows get revenge and discover the secret of Dust.
The Cast
Stan Barrett - Lord Asriel/Iorek Byrnison
Andrew Branch - Kaisa/Able Seaman Jerry
Douglas Blackwell -John Faa/Iofur Raknison
Harriet Butler - Bella
Anna Coghlan - Bridget McGinn
Ruper Degas - Pantalaimon
Alison Dowling - Mrs. Coulter
David Graham - Jotham Santelia
Stephen Greif - Martin Lanselius/Sysselman
Garrick Hagon - Lee Scoresby
Andrew Lamont - 1st Gyptian Boy
Fiona Lamont - Martha
Alexander Mitchell - Hugh Lovat
Arthur Mitchell Charlie
Hayward Morse The Butler/The Chaplain
John O'Connor The Dean
Philip Pullman Narrator
Anne Rosenfeld Mrs. Lonsdale
Liza Ross Stelmaria/Billy
Suzan Sheridan - Serafina Pekkala/Roger
Jill Shilling - Ma Costa
Stephen Thorne - The Master/Farder Coram
Rachel Wolf - Annie
Joanna Wyatt - Lyra
Other parts played by members of the cast
About the Author Philip PullmanPhilip Pullman CBE (born October 19, 1946) is an English writer. He is the
best-selling author of His Dark Materials, a trilogy of fantasy novels, and a
number of other books.
Biography
Pullman was born in Norwich, Norfolk, England, to RAF pilot Alfred Outram and
Audrey Evelyn Merrifield. The family travelled with his father's job, including
to Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), where he spent time at school. His father
was killed in a plane crash in 1953 when Pullman was seven. His mother
remarried and with a move to Australia came Pullman's discovery of comic books
including Superman and Batman, a medium which he continues to espouse. From
1957 he was educated at Ysgol Ardudwy school in Harlech, Gwynedd and spent time
in Norfolk with his grandfather, a clergyman. Around this time Pullman
discovered John Milton's Paradise Lost, which would become a major influence
for His Dark Materials.
From 1963 Pullman attended Exeter College, Oxford, receiving a Third class BA
in 1968, in an interview with the Oxford Student he stated that "he did not
really enjoy the English course" and that "I thought I was doing quite well
until I came out with my third class degree and then I realised that I wasn’t —
it was the year they stopped giving fourth class degrees otherwise I’d have got
one of those". He discovered William Blake's illustrations around 1970, which
would also later influence him greatly
Pullman married Judith Speller in 1970 and began teaching children and writing
school plays. His first published work was The Haunted Storm, which joint-won
the New English Library's Young Writer's Award in 1972. He nevertheless refuses
to discuss it. Galatea, an adult fantasy-fiction novel, followed in 1978, but
it was his school plays which inspired his first children's book, Count
Karlstein, in 1982. He stopped teaching around the publication of The Ruby in
the Smoke (1986), his second children's book, whose Victorian setting is
indicative of Pullman's interest in that era.
Pullman taught part-time at Westminster College, Oxford between 1988 and 1996,
continuing to write children's stories. He began His Dark Materials about 1993.
Northern Lights (published as The Golden Compass in the US) was published in
1996 and won the Carnegie Medal, one of the most prestigious British children's
fiction awards, and the Guardian Children's Fiction Award.
Pullman has been writing full-time since 1996, but continues to deliver talks
and writes occasionally for The Guardian. He was awarded a CBE in the New
Year's Honours list in 2004. Pullman also began lecturing at a seminar in
English at his alma mater, Exeter College, Oxford, in 2004. He is currently
working on The Book of Dust, a sequel to his completed His Dark Materials
trilogy.
His Dark Materials
His Dark Materials consists of Northern Lights (titled The Golden Compass in
North America), The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass (see also a short
companion piece, Lyra's Oxford, containing items of interest and a short story,
as well as the yet-unpublished prequel, The Book of Dust ).
The first volume of the trilogy, Northern Lights, won the Carnegie Medal for
children's fiction in the UK in 1995. The Amber Spyglass, the last volume, was
awarded both 2001 Whitbread Prize for best children's book and the Whitbread
Book of the Year prize in January 2002, the first children's book to receive
that award. The trilogy won popular acclaim in late 2003, taking third place in
the BBC's Big Read poll.
In 2005 Pullman was announced as joint winner of the Astrid Lindgren Memorial
Award for children's literature.
Philosophical and religious perspective
Pullman is a Distinguished Supporter of the British Humanist Association and an
Honorary Associate of the National Secular Society.
The His Dark Materials books have been at the heart of controversy, especially
with certain Christian groups. Some, including Peter Hitchens, claim that he
actively pursues an anti-Christian agenda. Proponents of this view cite the
critical articles he has written regarding C. S. Lewis' series The Chronicles
of Narnia (which Pullman denounces as religious propaganda), and the usually
negative portrayal of the "Church" in His Dark Materials.
The two series have some resemblance. Both feature children facing adult moral
choices, talking animals, religious allegories, parallel worlds, and concern
the ultimate fate of those worlds. The first published Narnia book, The Lion,
the Witch and the Wardrobe, begins with a young girl hiding in a wardrobe, as
does the first His Dark Materials book, Northern Lights (published as The
Golden Compass in North America).
Some, including Hitchens again, have seen the His Dark Materials series as a
direct rebuttal of C. S. Lewis's series.Pullman has also criticised the way
Lewis excludes the character Susan from the final 'heaven' scenes in The Last
Battle, saying she is rejected for her growing worldliness. Lewis devotees
argue that Pullman has read too deeply into this; Lewis made no statement about
Susan's ultimate destiny, and never excluded the possibility of her rejoining
her friends in heaven later, as they are dead and she is still alive.
However, Pullman has found support from other Christians, most notably Rowan
Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury. These groups and individuals point out
that Pullman's attacks are focused on the constraints of dogmatism and the use
of religion to oppress, not on Christianity itself. Dr. Williams has gone so
far as to propose that His Dark Materials be taught as part of religious
education in schools. Moreover, even authors of works dedicated to critical
appraisals of religious themes in his writing have described Pullman as a
friendly and generous debating partner.
Screen adaptations
* A film adaptation of The Butterfly Tattoo is set to film in 2007. It is
a Philip Pullman supported project to allow young artists a chance to get film
industry experience.
* A co-produced BBC and WGBH Boston television adaptation of The Ruby in the
Smoke, starring Billie Piper and Julie Walters, was screened in the UK on BBC
One on 27 December 2006 and premiered on PBS Masterpiece Theatre in America on
February 4, 2007. The BBC and WGBH have plans to adapt the other three Sally
Lockhart novels, The Shadow in the North, The Tiger in the Well, and The Tin
Princess, for television.
* A film adaptation, titled His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass, is to be
released in December 2007 by New Line Cinema, starring Nicole Kidman, Daniel
Craig and Dakota Blue Richards.
Bibliography
Non-series books
* 1972 The Haunted Storm
* 1976 Galatea
* 1982 Count Karlstein
* 1987 How to be Cool
* 1989 Spring-Heeled Jack
* 1990 The Broken Bridge
* 1992 The White Mercedes
* 1993 The Wonderful Story of Aladdin and the Enchanted Lamp
* 1995 Clockwork, or, All Wound Up
* 1995 The Firework-Maker's Daughter
* 1998 Mossycoat
* 1998 The Butterfly Tattoo (re-issue of The White Mercedes)
* 1999 I was a Rat! or The Scarlet Slippers
* 2000 Puss in Boots: The Adventures of That Most Enterprising Feline
* 2004 The Scarecrow and his Servant
The New-Cut Gang
* 1994 Thunderbolt's Waxwork
* 1995 The Gasfitter's Ball
Sally Lockhart
* 1985 The Ruby in the Smoke
* 1986 The Shadow in the North (first published as The Shadow in the Plate)
* 1990 The Tiger in the Well
* 1994 The Tin Princess
His Dark Materials
* 1995 Northern Lights, retitled The Golden Compass in the US
* 1997 The Subtle Knife
* 2000 The Amber Spyglass
Companion Books
* 2003 Lyra's Oxford
* 2009(According to Pullman himself, Although this could change) The Book of
Dust (not yet published)
Plays
* 1990 Frankenstein
* 1992 Sherlock Holmes and the Limehouse Horror (from Wikipedia)
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