{"id":375,"date":"2011-06-09T07:00:54","date_gmt":"2011-06-09T14:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/?p=375"},"modified":"2011-06-01T23:09:53","modified_gmt":"2011-06-02T06:09:53","slug":"mark-reads-the-golden-compass-chapter-11","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/2011\/06\/mark-reads-the-golden-compass-chapter-11\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Reads ‘The Golden Compass’: Chapter 11"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the eleventh chapter of The Golden Compass<\/em>, Lyra assist Iorek in getting back his armor, and we watch as utter chaos breaks loose. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to read The Golden Compass<\/em>.<\/p>\n

THIS BOOK IS JUST GOING TO END ME.<\/p>\n

CHAPTER 11: ARMOR<\/strong><\/p>\n

God, I am just enamored with this. I still haven’t figured out how any of this can be viewed as a “controversial” book, but I am still halfway from the end of the first novel in a trilogy, so maybe all of that stuff comes later. I’m wondering both how I didn’t read this before and why EVERYONE EVER hasn’t already read it. THIS IS SO FASCINATING. THIS IS SO ENTERTAINING. I AM QUITE PLEASED WITH MY JOURNEY THROUGH THIS BOOK. I also must admit I am just happy to read a book that has real sentences<\/em> again. Oh god oh god<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Honestly, thanks to each of you who have pestered me since I finished Harry Potter<\/em> to start this trilogy. I am just SO HAPPY READING IT RIGHT NOW.<\/p>\n

Ok, enough gushing. MOVING ONWARDS.<\/p>\n

I am now very aware of the unique power that Lyra has in this because of her possession of the alethiometer. I was so excited to learn more about it, but at this point, I worried that some sort of training session might weigh things down too much or make it feel over-explained. In that sense, it feels very natural to the flow and pace of the story that Lyra is simply understanding<\/em> the alethiometer and how it works. I think that in any other context, this might have been seen as a rather convenient device to move the story along, but for once, it actually doesn’t feel that way. It’s also fascinating as a way to give Lyra power in a situation that would otherwise leave her completely powerless. As all of the men of the gyptians meet to host a conference about Iorek’s ultimatum, Lyra has already determined exactly where the bear’s armor is and why it’ll be hard for anyone to acquire it. And that sort of shift of power is actually a rad story device and I imagine that if I<\/em> was eleven when I read this, it would be very empowering to me.<\/p>\n

Lyra decides not to tell John Faa or Farder Coram about her discovery, and as she spends time on her bunk thinking of such things and the life of Iorek, she brings up something I’d not thought about. Having a d\u00c3\u00a6mon means that you have an eternal companion who is largely in tune with just the kind of person you are. She remarks that Iorek’s life must be lonely without a d\u00c3\u00a6mon, and I realized that not once had Lyra ever talked about the sort of loneliness one in her position should<\/em> have felt, given her upbringing at Jordan College. Throughout it all, she’s always had Pantalaimon with her, protecting her and indulging her sense of humor, and it’s at this point that I desperately wish I had my own d\u00c3\u00a6mon. Honestly, that just sounds so pleasant<\/em> to me. Where is my d\u00c3\u00a6mon \ud83d\ude41 \ud83d\ude41<\/p>\n

The story takes a shift towards something that is absolutely NOT shrouded in terror or doom or intensity for once, and I will graciously accept this moment<\/em>. That night, Lyra wakes suddenly and, seemingly for no reason, she heads above deck and is shocked when she realize the Aurora is up in the sky:<\/p>\n

The sight filled the northern sky; the immensity of it was scarcely conceivable. As if from Heaven itself, great curtains of delicate light hung and trembled. Pale green and rose-pink, and as transparent as the most fragile fabric, and at the bottom edge a profound and fiery crimson like the fires of Hell, they swung and shimmered loosely with more grace than the most skillful dancer. Lyra thought she could even hear them: a vast distant whispering swish. In the evanescent delicacy she felt something as profound as she’d felt close to the bear. She was moved by it; it was so beautiful it was almost holy; she felt tears prick her eyes, and the tears splintered the light even further into prismatic rainbows. It wasn’t long before she found herself entering the kind of trance as when she consulted the alethiometer. Perhaps, she thought calmly, whatever moves the alethiometer’s needle is making the Aurora glow too. It might even be Dust itself.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I’ve never seen the Northern lights and I would love to before I pass from this world. This just sounds so amazing that I understand why it would bring Lyra to tears. That being said, I feel like this is a huge deal and I was unsure what this meant to the larger mythology of The Golden Compass<\/em>. Why did Lyra feel such a connection to the Aurora and why did her brain go straight to Dust? (I still don’t fully understand Dust myself.)<\/p>\n
It doesn’t help that Lyra then gets a chance to witness what her father had spoken about way back in chapter two: the city in the lights. I don’t understand this, and it gives me chills. Is she looking at a real<\/em> city or just a representation of one? UGH NOTHING IS EXPLAINED YET I WANT TO KNOW SO BADLY<\/em><\/p>\n
This also marks the arrival of Kaisa, Serafina’s d\u00c3\u00a6mon. (I had to remind myself that witches could send their d\u00c3\u00a6mons far away from their bodies, since this confused me the first time around.) Kaisa, a magnificent gray goose, comes to ask Farder Coram why he is interested in speaking with Serafina. He notices Lyra and asks who she is, and upon learning her identity, the conversation takes a strange turn. Why, I wonder, does Kaisa immediately ask if Coram has come for war<\/em> right after learning who Lyra is? That seems like a bizarre implication to me.<\/p>\n
As the conversation continues to unfold, Kaisa refers to the Oblation Board as DUST HUNTERS.<\/strong> What the hell??? And they’ve been in the North for ten years<\/em>. And then this, about Dust:<\/p>\n
“What is certain is that when people become aware of it, a great fear comes over them, and they’ll stop at nothing to discover what it is.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT THIS MEANS. But that’s ok, because it’s clear I’m going to find out soon, as Kaisa relates the wonderful news: because of Farder Coram’s due obligation, Kaisa will tell them how to find the Dust hunters. And on that topic, too, it sounds like the Dust hunters have set up an elaborate system to do whatever it is they do up in the north. Oh, and this:<\/p>\n
“We don’t know what they do, but there is an air of hatred and fear over the place and for miles around. Witches can see these things where other humans can’t. Animals keep away too. No birds fly there; lemmings and foxes have fled. Hence the name Bolvangar: the fields of evil.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
No, seriously, I need to know what the hell is going on<\/em>. Oh god, this is MAKING MY STOMACH HURT. So whatever the Oblation Board is doing in the north involves:<\/p>\n
\n
Sawing children in half???<\/li>\n
Burning tons of coal???<\/li>\n
Hunting for Dust???<\/li>\n
?????<\/li>\n
Possible profit??? LOOK I DON’T KNOW<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Oh god this book<\/em> and the things it does to me. Kaisa gives the three of them information about how the place is defended (poorly, I might add), allowing them to feel a rush of hope for their mission. Lyra, who has nearly exploded with excitement at this point, finally gets a chance to ask Kaisa why he said the witches talk about her.<\/p>\n
“Because of your father, and his knowledge of the other worlds,” the d\u00c3\u00a6mon replied.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
WHAT???????????? <\/strong>I would like to describe to you what my face just did through a GIF:<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n
$\"\"$ <\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n
[Image description: GIF of Jamie Foxx from his appearance on Sesame Street. I cannot describe what the purple and pink thing is in the background because I honestly don’t know what it is, but it looks animated? More important: Jamie Foxx’s face. The GIF animation goes like this: Jamie expresses utter fucking shock and confusion at something off-screen but then is very pleased by something else, so his face turns into the most awkward smile of all time. No, he only pulls up his upper lip above his teeth and it’s not a particularly wide smile and it just makes me feel these things in my stomach that I am not sure I like.]<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n
I can’t breathe. I love time travel more than most things, <\/em><\/span><\/span><\/em>but I also love parallel universes just as much<\/em>. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
Naturally, everyone aside from Lyra balks at this suggestion? Surely you mean the stars, right?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
NO<\/span><\/span><\/strong>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
So you mean the spirit world, right?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
NO<\/strong>.<\/p>\n
And Lyra says it’s the city in the northern lights.<\/p>\n
“Yes,” he said. “Witches have known of the other worlds for thousands of years. You can see them sometimes in the Northern Lights. They aren’t part of this universe at all; even the furthest stars are part of this universe, but the lights show us a different universe entirely. Not further away, but interpenetrating with this one. Here, on this deck, millions of other universes exist, unaware of one another….”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
THERE IS NO IMAGE AND THERE ARE NO WORDS FOR WHAT I AM FEELING IN THIS MOMENT!!!!!!!<\/p>\n
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!<\/p>\n
And this is not even the best reveal we are about to come upon<\/em>. As Kaisa demonstrates what he means by flapping his wing and “brushing” ten million worlds at once, I am just ecstatic<\/em> and I can barely sit in my seat and Kaisa further explains how the charged particles in the Northern Lights thin the matter between worlds<\/em> and I just want to punch myself and we learn that the Dust hunters imprisoned Lord Asriel and<\/p>\n
“They think he intends to use Dust in some way in order to make a bridge between this world and the world beyond the Aurora.”<\/p>\n
LET ME DIE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!<\/strong><\/p>\n
THIS IS VERY RAPIDLY BECOMING ONE OF THE GREATEST THINGS I HAVE EVER READ. I INTEND 100% OF THIS HYPERBOLE. GOOD GOD I HAVE NOT LIVED UNTIL THIS VERY MOMENT<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n
Lord Asriel is imprisoned by armored bears<\/em> because the Oblation Board does not want him to use Dust to enter a parallel fucking universe<\/em>.<\/p>\n
I am feeling nothing but pure joy right now. I am so, so, so happy I quit\u00c2\u00a0My Immortal <\/em>because now I get to freak out whilst I am on the AIDS ride because I WILL HAVE TO WAIT A REALLY LONG TIME TO CONTINUE READING BEYOND CHAPTER TWELVE.<\/p>\n
my god<\/p>\n
The plot continues to twist further and further as we learn just how complicated this situation is, as the many groups who have an interest in such a bridge are all going to be inevitably in conflict with each other. That<\/em> is fascinating to me, because it doesn’t posit this as just a simple Team A vs. Team B. I imagine that’s going to make this a whole lot of fun as we progress towards the North.<\/p>\n
But this all leads to a conversation about Iorek, as Lyra questions what side the bears fall on. We learn that Farder Coram is not so certain that they can actually acquire the services of the armored bear. What makes this all so complicated is the fact that no one can deny Iorek’s violent past and nature. Lyra is right, that Iorek’s anger and rage was justified, but John Faa isn’t budging. He’s worried that even if<\/em> they do get him, they won’t be able to control him. I do love, though, that Lyra is able to bring the conversation to an utter halt when she reveals that she knows exactly where Iorek’s armor is.<\/p>\n
And I think that goes back to my comment about how Lyra now has power, and how that power can frighten those who around her. It’s unsaid here, but I am getting the sense that John Faa and Farder Coram are a bit unsettled by Lyra’s use of the alethiometer. I hope that they are not hiding anything, but maybe that’s my mind getting ahead of itself.<\/p>\n
Lyra acts further on that power the next day when she decides that she needs to take matters into her own hands. She has this powerful sense of moral rightness and, combined with her faith in the alethiometer, she sets out to see what she can do. She gets a chance to meet Lee Scoresby, the aeronaut that John Faa had picked up, and she learns that he actually fought alongside Iorek Byrnison at one point. Unfortunately, he says that Iorek is a “problem.” There’s not much to go off of that, but I got worried. Would this be much more complicated than I hoped?<\/p>\n
Lyra doesn’t concern herself with this, though, as she and Pantalaimon learn from Scoresby’s d\u00c3\u00a6mon that they need to move quickly and directly. And so Lyra heads to the sludge depot to find Iorek, which is not hard to do, considering he is a gigantic fucking bear who works in a sludge depot<\/em>. The very sight of him strikes “cold fear” in Lyra, and Pantalaimon heads in by himself at first, hoping to calm Iorek, but Lyra begins to feel that pull from her d\u00c3\u00a6mon she described earlier. It’s described in much more detail here, and it’s a combination between “physical pain deep in the chest” and “intense sadness and love.” In fact, it’s so bad that Lyra cannot stand it and she rushes past the gate she was hiding behind to grab her d\u00c3\u00a6mon and feel the relief of his presence.<\/p>\n
The girl and the d\u00c3\u00a6mon looked up at the solitary bear. He had no d\u00c3\u00a6mon. He was alone, always alone.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Why hello there, most depressing sentence in all of The Golden Compass<\/em>. It is rather nice to meet you<\/em>.<\/p>\n
Obeying Scoresby’s d\u00c3\u00a6mon’s recommendation, Lyra is extremely forward with Iorek, plainly stating that while Lord Faa and Farder Coram are going to negotiate to get his armor back, she knows exactly where it is.<\/p>\n
“So if I tell you, will you come with us and help rescue the kids from Bolvangar?<\/p>\n
“Yes.”<\/p>\n
THAT SIMPLE<\/strong>. But Lyra makes sure that Iorek promises not to take vengeance on the people here, and he agrees; then she reveals that it is in priest’s cellar. As the sun sets and Iorek tells Lyra that he owes her a debt, the transformation that occurs still<\/em> gives me goosebumps. The sheer, awesome power of this rejected panserbj\u00c3\u00b8rne <\/em>is something I can barely comprehend. His speed and dexterity is not something I would have expected from him as he bounds down the street towards the priest’s house.<\/p>\n
The scene at the priest’s house scares me; Iorek’s capacity for destruction is shown here, as he enters the house with his armor and makes the entire house shake<\/em> and then he tears a window apart and climbs out<\/strong>.<\/p>\n
this is the greatest thing ever committed to paper<\/em><\/p>\n
Unfortunately, though, Iorek does not stop after retrieving his armor and, disobeying Lyra’s request that he not take revenge, he lashes out violently to the citizens around him, finally grabbing a sentry and placing the man’s head in his jaw. In a moment of foolish, beautiful panic, she finds one of the only uncovered spots within reach and digs her fingers into Iorek’s fur and gives an AMAZING LITTLE SPEECH.<\/p>\n
“Iorek!” she said in a fierce undertone. “Listen! You owe me a debt, right. Well, now you can repay it. Do as I ask. Don’t fight these men. Just turn around and walk away with me. We want<\/em> you, Iorek, you can’t stay here. Just come down to the harbor with me and don’t even look back. Farder Coram and Lord Faa, let them do the talking, they’ll make it all right. Leave go this man and come away with me…”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
It’s a nice sign of Lyra’s power that’s divorced of her alethiometer, too. She can be a forceful person as she needs to be, and I adore the certainty that she has here. As Iorek moves away from town and towards the harbor, there’s a clam relief in the way that Lyra feels about what’s just happened. I mean…she just got Iorek his armor, convinced him not to kill someone, and got him to agree to accompany her on a journey to Bolvangar. UTTER PERFECTION<\/em>.<\/p>\n
(Side note: There’s not much of him here, but I’m enamored by Lee Scoresby and how he factors into this. He seems like such a tiny character here, but his ties to Iorek suggest a much larger story at hand. I WOULD LIKE MORE, PLEASE.)<\/p>\n
I am now aware just how much this book is coming together; I’ve just passed the halfway point and we’ve now got a full cast of characters heading to the north, the least of which is now Iorek Byrnison, who is wearing freshly lubricated armor, swimming alongside Lee Scoresby’s sledge. Pullman uses the word “thrill” here at the end of chapter eleven, and I cannot think of a better word. There is nothing<\/em> that I have ever read like this, and the sense of adventure, combined with an intriguing mythology about parallel universes, has never quite made me anticipate a story as much as this.<\/p>\n
[Pantalaimon] could tell her when they woke, and it was probably a marten, or a dream, or some kind of harmless local spirit; but something was following the train of sledges, swinging lightly from branch-to-branch of the close-clustering pine trees, and it put him uneasily in mind of a monkey.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
GODDAMN IT.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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