{"id":468,"date":"2011-08-05T06:00:41","date_gmt":"2011-08-05T13:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/?p=468"},"modified":"2011-08-03T16:57:34","modified_gmt":"2011-08-03T23:57:34","slug":"mark-reads-the-amber-spyglass-chapter-15","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/2011\/08\/mark-reads-the-amber-spyglass-chapter-15\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Reads ‘The Amber Spyglass’: Chapter 15"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the fifteenth chapter of The Amber Spyglass<\/em>, Iorek begins to mend the shattere subtle knife, but the process turns out to be much more emotionally exhausting than anyone planned for. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read The Amber Spyglass<\/em>.<\/p>\n

CHAPTER FIFTEEN: THE FORGE<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve never particularly been great with good byes.<\/p>\n

As difficult as it was to read this chapter, the foreboding sense of finality is what drives the point home: Lyra and Will are now utterly on their own. Iorek\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s interest in the subtle knife never really was interest: he was unsettled by its very existence, and disturbed by what he had done to repair it. Even the Gallivespians know that they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve reached a critical moment: Either Will or Lyra must<\/em> be convinced to come with them to reach Lord Asriel, or the whole plan would fall apart.<\/p>\n

The bulk of this chapter is spent detailed the incredibly complex and involved process by which Iorek uses his ability to forge the subtle knife. I believe I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve addressed it in past reviews, but if not, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m fine repeating it here: I am not very talented with things physical in nature. If you attended by panel at LeakyCon and were there early, you got to witness it first hand! I am a klutz of epic proportions. On a daily basis, I drop something or stub something, run into an object, hit myself, or otherwise cause harm in a manner that embarrasses me. Years ago, I was told it was because of a brutal ear infection I got as a child that messed up my inner ear, affecting my balance, but I think it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s more fun to believe that the universe gave me the talent to string words together and do complex math in my head, and then balanced it out by taking away physical coordination.<\/p>\n

This manifests most strongly in my inability to do most things involving my hands. How I am able to play the guitar and the bass at all<\/em> is beyond me. I cut myself when chopping things. I routinely get mixed up tying shoes<\/em>. I have these fat, stubby fingers that are always in the way and can never seem to communicate with one another. I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t hold things together, and even my mind is not visually based. I could not build something out of LEGOs without instructions. I was horrific at arts and crafts in elementary and junior high, and if you ever want to see something that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll make you scream or cackle, ask me to draw. Can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t do it!<\/p>\n

The reason I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m sharing all of this is the fact that while I was totally and completely enamored by the forging process, it was a little bit like reading a detailed explanation of particle physics. I understood the concepts and what each action meant, but visualizing a lot of it in my mind? Thinking about myself doing it? It only inspired self-deprecating laughter. Seriously, if by some stroke of luck I was in the same situation and<\/em> I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d managed to survive this far, I would have burnt my arm off at this point. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not even being hyperbolic. How many times on Mark Watches have I spoken about literally<\/em> punching myself in the face on accident?<\/p>\n

So while I appreciated the lengthy scene and I was certainly completely entertained by it, I was also reading it all with this thought in my head: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153YEAH, I COULD NEVER DO THIS.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

What I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t anticipate but actually did<\/em> understand was the idea that the subtle knife, whatever its intentions may be, need all three of those beings to be in that room to help forge it back together. (Plus, the more Lyra is involved in things, the better this is.) When Will first starts thinking about how imperative it is that this knife be repaired and starts thinking about the knife in terms of its actual atomic structure, I thought that was a little…strange? As in, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Dude, you can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even see the atoms, what are you doing?<\/em>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s when Iorek clued Will (and, thereby, me as well) into the fact that this knife depended on Will as well:<\/p>\n

\n
Iorek roared above the clangor, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Hold still in your mind! you have to forge it, too! This is your task as much as mine!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
It speaks to how well Pullman wrote about the subtle knife in the last book that this makes so much sense to. Cutting windows into other worlds was every bit about mental and intellectual concentration, so it stands to reason that putting the knife itself back together would require the same attention. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even necessarily need an explanation for why Will feels this way, either. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the bearer of the subtle knife. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s good enough for me.<\/p>\n
Exhausted after the process, Iorek seemed desperate to talk to Will by himself, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s here that I learn what I said earlier, that Iorek\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s interest in the knife was anything but.<\/p>\n
\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Maybe I should not have mended it. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m troubled, and I have never been troubled before, never in doubt. Now I am full of doubt. Doubt is a human thing, not a bear thing. If I am becoming human, something\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s wrong, something\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s bad. And I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve made it worse.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m reminded of how it first felt when one of the scientists at Bolvangar grabbed Pantalaimon, and how easily I slipped into revulsion in response. I do not have a d\u00c3\u00a6mon and Pullman was able to convey this idea of wrongness as if it was second nature to me. Sadly, our world also doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have ice bears who can talk (SERIOUSLY, FUCKING TRAGEDY, Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ALL), but I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m able to understand how wrong<\/em> this is: bears have little to no resemblance to human culture and experience.<\/p>\n
So what is it about the knife that brings this out in Iorek? Iorek quizzes the boy about this while communicating just how awful he feels. When the bear learns that Will saw his mother in Mrs. Coulter\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s face just before losing concentration, he asks the boy what he is going to do with the knife. When Will responds that he doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know, the massive bear PUNCHES HIM DOWN THE HILL.<\/p>\n
What the hell, Iorek?<\/em> Offended at the very idea that Will holds this horrific weapon and is uncertain about what to do with it, Iorek lashes out at Will. I think part of this reaction is motivated by the fact that Iorek now knows exactly what doubt feels like, and it repulses him, too. For Will, though, his uncertainty isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t so much about doubt as it is about the moral crisis brewing within him. Does he give up this \u00e2\u20ac\u0153mission\u00e2\u20ac\u009d to return home? Does he go to Lord Asriel as Balthamos told him? Does he follow his best friend to the world of the dead, where he may well die himself? Each choice has its own logic that supports it, and each choice fills Will with fear. As he puts it:<\/p>\n
\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153So I have to think it through. Maybe sometimes we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t do the right thing because the wrong thing looks more dangerous, and we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to look scared, so we go and do the wrong thing just because it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s dangerous. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re more concerned with not looking scared than with judging right. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s very hard. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t answer.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Philip Pullman, I love you until the end of time. That is simply gorgeous.\u00c2\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n
The first of the good byes comes here, and Iorek imparts upon Will one final bit of knowledge:<\/p>\n
\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153If you want to succeed in this task, you must no longer think about your mother. You must put her aside. If your mind is divided, the knife will break.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Iorek must feel that this<\/em> is what caused the knife\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s destruction, and it comes after he just told will that his actions may have caused the destruction of his own bear kingdom as well. When Will thanks Iorek very simply, I was suddenly struck with such a dreadful sense of terror. Why was Iorek saying farewell? Where was he going? What had he done?<\/p>\n
Iorek speaks alone with Lyra after this, and I believe this is the first time he has ever ben affectionate to Lyra, licking her wounds and nuzzling her hands. As comforting as that was to read, it bothered me. As I said in the beginning, this all had a ring of finality to it, and Iorek confirms that when he finally speaks to Lyra about her plans to visit the world of the dead. It breaks my heart to read just how much he clearly cares for Lyra, and how he almost treats her like he is her father, worried for her life. He speaks openly about the war he knows is coming, and warns her that if she does die, she will never see him again, as bears do not have souls. But if she survives, she will be \u00e2\u20ac\u0153a welcome and honored visitor to Svalbard,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d where he is going to return home with his fellow ice bears.<\/p>\n
But he has one parting message for Lyra, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s one that brought me to tears:<\/p>\n
\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I am not happy that you should do what you plan, but there is no one I would trust to go with you except that boy. You are worthy of each other. Go well, Lyra Silvertongue, my dear friend.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Are you ready for this? I was not.<\/p>\n
\n
After a minute he stood up gently and disengaged her arms, and then he turned and walked silently away into the dark. Lyra thought his outline was lost almost at once agains the pallor of the snow-covered ground, but it might have been that her eyes were full of tears.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know why, but I have such a strong feeling that Lyra will never see him again. I think Pullman will bring him back, like Lee Scoresby, but only to narrate what will be his final battle. The relationship between Lyra and Iorek is one unlike anything I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve read before, both because it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so nontraditional and because their love is so fierce and determined. And yet all I can imagine is that snowy white bear disappearing in the horizon, and I fear that this is the last we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll see of him.<\/p>\n
This is how Lyra comes to realize the solitary nature of her journey, and she vocalizes it to Will. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d like to take back what I said at the end of yesterday\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s review: these two have never been more vulnerable than they are right now<\/em>. This depresses me so much, not because I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t believe they can accomplish the impossible, but because the fate of all these universes is in the hands of two people who so desperately wish to be loved. I want this to work out because of empathy<\/em>. I know what it feels like to sense this sort of cosmic loneliness, and I am happy that Iorek is right: these two are very worthy of one another.<\/p>\n
So Lyra and Will resolve to find the world of the dead, and promptly announce it to Tialys and Salmakia upon returning to where they were camping. Will is firm and direct: the two can return to Lord Asriel empty-handed, come along with them, or Will shall kill them with the subtle knife.<\/p>\n
They obey, and they follow Will and Lyra into a new world. We end with the Chevalier composing a message, and I wonder how Lord Roke will take the message that these Gallivespians have not succeeded in bringing back these children to Lord Asriel.<\/p>\n
———-<\/p>\n
Make sure to check in on\u00c2\u00a0BridgeToTheStar’s contest for Mark Reads<\/a>, where you can win a signed copy of\u00c2\u00a0The Amber Spyglass<\/em>. They are also hosting\u00c2\u00a0this week’s spoiler thread for chapters 11-15<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In the fifteenth chapter of The Amber Spyglass, Iorek begins to mend the shattere subtle knife, but the process turns out to be much more emotionally exhausting than anyone planned for. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read The … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48,79],"tags":[23,81,62,80],"class_list":["post-468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-his-dark-materials","category-the-amber-spyglass","tag-mark-reads","tag-mark-reads-the-amber-spyglass","tag-philip-pullman","tag-the-amber-spyglass-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=468"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}