Just Finished Reading: The Golden Compass and Philosophy – God bites the Dust edited by Richard Greene and Rachel Robinson

How could I honestly resist this book? A book that discusses the philosophical implications of one of the best fantasy series I’ve ever read. The idea of discussing philosophical issues through analysing popular cultural themes does appeal to me deeply. Not only does it make philosophy in general much more interesting (I hate to use the word accessible) to a wider audience but it also delves into the philosophical ideas raised by reading a series of books, watching a series of TV shows or watching a movie (or a franchise of movies). Being the person that I am, I do like looking for the philosophical underpinnings of cultural artifacts like books and films. So these books – of course there’s a whole series of them – are ideal for me.

This volume was particularly satisfying as I’ve only read the occasional and, to be honest, not very good book on Philip Pullman’s Dark Materials trilogy. This collection of essays knocks everything I’ve read so far out of the park. The first essay in particular which examined the underlying structure of his series was very good and raised interesting issues and not a few eyebrows. Other essays looked at the charge that Pullman was corrupting the young, whether Lyra was free enough within her destiny to actually be a true hero as well as speculations on the nature of Dust, the operation of the Subtle knife and the claims of the Magisterium.

Reading this inevitably made me want to read the trilogy again. It still remains one of the few series I’ve actually read more than once. Truthfully I didn’t enjoy it quite so much the second time but the rush I got from the first reading could hardly be replicated on my second visit. With so much else to read I am resisting the temptation to follow Lyra on her singular adventure again but will be reading both of Pullman’s shorter volumes in this (and other) universes shortly. I’d just wish he would produce the long anticipated Book of Dust rather than working on other projects. Needless to say I can recommend this to anyone who has read and, hopefully, enjoyed the Dark Materials books. Much of this volumes impact would, of course, be lost if you haven’t read them although you don’t have to had seen the somewhat questionable movie as well.