Mark Reads ‘The Golden Compass’: Chapter 1

In the first chapter of The Golden Compass, we are introduced to Lyra and her dæmon, Panatalaimon, some sort of spirit animal that can take different animal forms. The two of them get stuck in a room while exploring Lyra’s school, and she witnesses a dire threat to her own uncle. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to read The Golden Compass.

Gosh, I love starting a new project. There’s a rush of excitement and anticipation that comes with this, and I’ve meant to read this trilogy for a long time because of C.S. Lewis. And I will explain that at some time in the future when it’s right. I know very little about this series, and whenever I start a new project, it inevitably brings new folks around here, so let’s get down to the details before I begin my proper review.

• YES, I AM USING THE GOLDEN COMPASS.

It’s what the book is called in North America and it’s probably an inferior title, but that’s what my book is called and it’s just easy to remember that way. DILL WITH IT.

• DO NOT SPOIL ME

Years ago, I do vaguely recall seeing the movie adaptation of this book, but all I can remember of it was that:

1. It was incredibly confusing.
2. There was a polar bear fight.
3. IT WAS REALLY CONFUSING. And Daniel Craig was really hot as Lord Asriel.

That being said, we are treating this like all other series. Please read the site rules, which include a detailed spoiler policy. Half the joy of this place is allowing me to innocently plow through a series/book without knowing what happens. So, do not answer my rhetorical questions. Don’t give me hints for the future. Don’t tell me your favorite scenes or characters. Does it happen in the future? Don’t post anything about it THE END.

• BE RESPECTFUL TO ONE ANOTHER

If I’ve learned one thing in the many years I have lived on the Internet, it’s that discussions revolving religion, especially the Western world’s version of Christianity, rarely end well. This site is not going to be home to a theism war in any sense, so please do not post comments like “LOL CHRISTIANS R DUM” or “ALL ATHEISTS R DOUCHES” and take a moment to be respectful of another person’s beliefs and please take the time to have discussions, not raging arguments, ok? DON’T RUIN THIS FOR ME. I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHAT THIS SERIES HAS TO SAY ABOUT RELIGION AT ALL SO PLEASE DON’T TRY TO HAVE ARGUMENTS RIGHT OFF THE BAT AND INADVERTENTLY SPOIL ME.

Ok. Onwards we go!

CHAPTER ONE: THE DECANTER OF TOKAY

With the exception of Harry Potter, every book series I’ve read has a female protagonist. Huh.

The first chapter of The Golden Compass jumps into the action more so than anything I’ve read in the past, dropping us into the middle of a bit of an exploration on the part of Lyra and her dæmon, Pantalaimon. Now, a lot of what happens here is an exposition of sorts, but Pullman also flat out references things that make absolutely no sense to me, and I imagine this will all be much more coherent later.

It sort of feels like starting Harry Potter in that sense, too, because this is a fully imagined, alternate world, full of its own language and colloquialisms and political systems, and while Pullman does define some of this, most of this is left for later. As far as I understand it, Lyra attends Jordan College, which is run by the Master. (No, not of Doctor Who lore, though that would be pretty fantastic.) There’s a very specific order in terms of class/power, including Lords and Servants, and that women don’t seem to play into much of it. On top of that, every person has their own dæmon that walks alongside them, able to change forms, and….tell their owner stuff? I don’t understand what purpose they serve, but in no way am I complaining about that. I already want a dæmon myself to tell me not to get into shenanigans with a haughty tone and then gradually give in because I’m awesome.

Those shenanigans appear here in the first chapter, as Lyra’s curiosity about a place called the Requirement Room, where Big Important Men hold meetings of sorts in. Pullman’s an adequate writer so far, in the sense that it’s easy to imagine all of this in my head as he describes the functionality and physical space, but nothing he’s written has really jumped out at me. Stylishly, I do feel that this isn’t that a far of a stretch from Rowling’s style, actually, in that it’s third person, very matter-of-fact, and fairly basic. Nothing to complain about, but nothing to write home about. (That really is kind of an awful phrase, isn’t it? I never write home, anyway, so it doesn’t even make sense. STILL, YOU UNDERSTAND THE SENTIMENT.)

Lyra and Pantalaimon are contrasted fairly well this early on in the story, as Pantalaimon is a much more practical and pragmatic character than Lyra is, who so far seems motivated to satisfy her own curiosity quite in conflict with her own personal safety. It was also hard for me to not think about how often Harry and his friends over heard major plot changes or twists by hiding in a cupboard or behind a corner or under the Invisibility Cloak, which…ok, this is certainly NOT Harry Potter, and I promise I’m not going to spend the whole book talking about the two.

But I will say that it feels like Pullman does something immediately with Lyra’s situation that Rowling generally didn’t. When the Master and his servant arrive in the Requirement Room and Lyra and her dæmon are forced to hide behind a chair, she overhears that her uncle, Lord Asriel, is on his way to the school. That excitement, however, is easily crushed when she watches the Master poor a white powder into a decanter of Tokay that is specifically for Lord Asriel. (I had to Google “Tokay” to see if it was a real thing or some sort of imagined alcoholic beverage. It’s totally real!)

Well, this book got to assassination pretty quickly, didn’t it? (I don’t know the intended age for this series, but I feel safe assuming it’s for young adults, probably early teens.) And while the characters in Harry Potter would have either kept this development to themselves, mulling on the possibilities, or perhaps planning things out for a much later time, it takes Lyra less than ten pages to outright tell Lord Asriel himself what just happened. I APPROVE OF THIS SORT OF PACING.

But I’m jumping ahead of myself, which I seem to do a lot these days. Pullman gives a lot more information about this world before that confrontation, and all of that helps me understand things a bit more. I learn additional info about dæmons and it seems whatever form yours takes denotes what sort of class you belong to. The Steward, as a servant, gets a dæmon that is a dog, and because he is a superior servant, his dog is more “dignified.” (Which, seriously, is an absurd concept, assigning class to dogs, but that’s how classism works, doesn’t it? You co-opt inanimate objects to visually denote your place in society, despite that those physical objects out of that context may have no meaning at all.) Then Lyra gives us this tidbit:

The dæmon seemed suspicious, and cast around as if she’d sensed an intruder, but didn’t make for the wardrobe, to Lyra’s intense relief. Lyra was afraid of the Stweard, who had twice beaten her.

what. Beaten her for what? I also noticed (and this is the case with the entirety of the first chapter) that every dæmon we see is a “female” dæmon as well, with Pantalaimon as the exception. I don’t know if that means anything at all at this point, but just something I noticed. Lyra also makes a reference to Pantalaimon being one to “know about conscience,” and it’s a phrase that seems so intentional, so now I’m wondering: are dæmons meant to act as physical manifestations of a person’s conscience? How will that work with villains involved?

More important, though, is Lyra’s constant assertion to Pantalaimon that she is sure something is going on, that it’s entirely reasonable that they may be witnessing a murder attempt. Pullman makes no qualms about introducing what feels like an intricately complex political system, full of drama and intrigue, right here in the very beginning. Lyra refers to some sort of “secret” set of “ritual[s]” that those in the Requirement Room participate in, but even that is brushed over and unexplained, though Pantalaimon is quick to tell Lyra that, “Hiding and spying is for silly children.”

Which must be why it is one of the funnest things in the world. Duh, Pantalaimon.

But this silliness passes as Lyra is consumed by anxiety, both at the fact that she just witnessed the Master pour a mysterious powder into her uncle’s drink and because the very fact that Lord Asriel is coming to Jordan College is not a good sign at all:

It wasn’t often that he visited the college, and the fact that this was a time of high political tension meant that he hadn’t come simply to eat and drink and smoke with a few old friends. She knew that both Lord Asriel and the Master were members of the Cabinet Council, the Prime Minister’s special advisory body, so it might have been something to do with that; but meetings of the Cabinet Council were held in the palace, not in the Retiring Room of Jordan College.

Ok, so….where does this novel take place? Somewhere in Britain? Does it have the same governing system as it does now? (I hate having to say this, but please don’t answer my rhetorical questions. SRSLY.) Pullman tells us that there are rumors of invasions that are affecting the political nature of things in the world, but, again, I don’t really understand any of this. What is Lord Asriel’s place in all of this? What does he do in the “far North,” as Lyra puts it?

Lord Asriel himself is finally introduced properly at this point, and I will say that while I don’t know how I’ll feel about this book as a whole, I can already appreciate the interesting social dynamic of the relationship between Lyra and her uncle. (Where are her parents? She hasn’t mentioned them yet.) It strikes somewhere right between fear and respect, as she even says that his voice brings feelings of “pleasure and apprehension.” Lord Asriel inspires fear in Lyra, but not the kind that seems violent or detrimental, but mostly from the fact that he is a powerful person. Her fear seems more as if she fears disappointing him rather than anything else. I think that’s part of the subtext for her actions in this chapter, too, as she not only wants to save his life (obviously), but that she also wants to win his respect more than anything else.

He also doesn’t seem to fit the mold of a particularly nice person, either; moreso, I find him to be one who commands attention and who is more interested in honesty and integrity than to catering to a social construct of politeness.

On top of worrying about the powder in the decanter and nervous about Lyra’s hiding spot in the wardrobe (is that wardrobe a reference to C.S. Lewis?), Pullman adds another bit of intrigue: Lord Asriel demands Wren, the butler, to bring him a screen and a projecting lantern. He has something to show everyone and it cannot wait. Well…what the hell is so important that it cannot wait?

As I contemplated what on earth he could show these people (I have no guesses at all), Lyra cannot resist her hiding place any longer as she catches Asriel pouring a glass of the liquid in the decanter. She cries out “No!” to him and WELL I GUESS SHE CAN’T HIDE ANYMORE, CAN SHE

I will say that Lord Asriel scares the living hell out of me here, as he reacts with a violent fury at the revelation that Lyra is hiding in the wardrobe, grabbing her angrily and twisting her wrist, and PLEASE STOP I DON’T LIKE WHEN PEOPLE FIGHT 🙁

When Lyra flat-out tells him that the Master is trying to poison him, Lord Asriel immediately releases her and she tumbles to the floor, and the dynamic changes so suddenly that it makes me think that perhaps she did just earn some of his respect, despite that she’s doing something so painfully foolish. It helps that Asriel purposely spills the decanter when the Porter arrives and makes it look like the Porter did it himself. That can be the only explanation for why Asriel believes Lyra’s claim without question. Why else would he trust her so quickly? (I might be missing a large part of the story. I can admit that, but this is just what popped into my head right now.)

To add to this wonderful theory of mine, as the projection lantern is brought in, Lyra realizes that it’s being set up in the perfect spot for Lyra, hiding in the wardrobe, to see the entire thing. Yes, this is convenient to the story, but DON’T CARE. I need to know what he’s going to show the Master and all the other Very Important Men, and it’s a neat twist on the relationship of Lyra and Asriel at this point.

As soon as the door closed, Lord Asriel looked across the room directly at the wardrobe, and Lyra felt the force of his glance almost as if it had physical form, as if it were an arrow or a spear.

What an interesting way to introduce a character, I have to say. We’re not meant to like him right off the bat, but I get this weird sensation that I need to earn his respect, too, and then I remember that he isn’t a real person. I like when things are developed slowly and subtly at times, but I also like when a character is so distinct as Lord Asriel is here. If anything, it just keeps me intrigued. I want to know more.

“Master,” said Lord Asriel. “Yes, I’m back. Do bring in your guests; I’ve got something very interesting to show you.”

Oh damn it. I have to wait until the next chapter? Immediately regretting this absurd reading method.