Reader Review
The Golden Compass is the first book in a three book series. This story is set in a fictional universe that is very similar to ours. The reader is able to relate to the setting, but is also able to recognize some of the more important differences between our reality and the fiction in the story. Some of the more major differences are the fictional races (including talking bears) groups of people, how powerful the "church" is, and the presence of alternate universes appearing in the Aurora Borealis. The story focuses mainly on a powerful group nicknamed the "gobblers"--a group of people who kidnap children, the fact that humans have a daemon--a soul on the outside of the body in the form of an animal, and a little girl named Lyra who is rough around the edges, but is of noble decent, and how she relates and is destined to change it all.
The reader is taken through a journey of life and death and important decisions made by an 11 year old girl. We watch this seemingly emotionally hard girl grow and soften and make mistakes and learn in this beautifully descriptive story. The themes contained in this story are captivating, intense, and relevant to today. Man vs. Nature, the Loss of Innocence, and Power and how it corrupts both man and nature are just a few of the themes prevalent in the novel.
Now what about the movie?
I saw the 2007 movie when it came out. At the time I thought it was well done, but I had yet to read the book. After reading the book, the movie did the story a huge disservice. My biggest complaint is that the movie did not do a stellar job of conveying how important the daemon is and how painful it is when they are severed or too far away from each other. Writing in the novel is painfully beautiful in that the reader feels the fear and the pain that is not conveyed in the movie.
Overall:
I HIGHLY recommend this book for both adults and children alike.
Chapter by chapter study guide can be found here http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/hisdarkmaterials/section1.html
Here is the vocabulary list I came up with in reading the book. The definitions will be accompanied with a sentence from the book (sometimes additional sentences from dictionaries or my brain will be added) and synonyms and antonyms. I will give you the full list now, and the definitions in bits of no more than 20. There are approximately 40 for this book.
Vocabulary List
abated, acclamation, ague, bemused, besotted, calumny, carapace, cloying, corrugated, dais, deft, despondency, desultorily, earnestly, eloquently, festoon, filch, imperious, insolent, inveigled, lithe, lurid, malodorous, obstinately, oratory, pall, pandemonium, phantasmagoria, preposterous, propulsion, qualed, querulously, recompense, rescind, sark, skua, sodden, stolidly, stout, swag, tern, trodden, wraiths.
Definitions 1-10
1. abate- (v) to reduce in amount, degree, intensity, etc.; lessen; diminish:
a. to deduct or subtract
b. to omit
Synonyms: decrease, weaken, subside
Antonyms: increase, intensify
“He explained his idea to Lyra…when [her] seasickness had abated slightly.”
2. acclamation- (n) a loud shout or other demonstration of welcome, goodwill or approval.
a. An oral vote, especially an enthusiastic vote of approval taken without formal ballot
Synonyms: eclat, plaudit
Antonyms: disapproval
“Then there was acclamation, pandemonium, a crush of bears surging forward to pay homage to Iofur’s conqueror”
3. ague- (n) a malarial fever characterized by regularly returning paroxysms, marked by successive cold, hot and sweating fits
a. a fit of fever or shivering or shaking chills, accompanied by malaise, pains in the bones and joints, etc.; chill
Synonyms: chills, fever, acute
Antonyms: heat, warmth
“He walked with a stick, and…[had] been trembling as if with an ague.”
4. bemused- (adj) bewildered or confused
a. lost in though; preoccupied
Synonyms: baffled
Antonyms: enlighten, illuminate
“…he flattered and bullied Iofur Raknison, and with a bemused willingness the bears set to work.”
5. besotted- (v) intoxicate or stupefy with drink
a. to make stupid or foolish
b. infatuate; obsess
Synonyms: buzzed, intoxicated
Antonyms: intelligent, sharp
“Iofur was besotted with her. Couldn’t stop talking about her. Would do anything for her.”
6. calumny- (n) false and malicious statement designed to injure the reputation of someone or something
a. slander; defamation
Synonyms: libel, vilification, derogation
Antonyms:
“I was betrayed by lesser men…[he] spread lies and calumny about my qualifications. Calumny! Slander!”
7. carapace- (n) a bony or chitinous shield, or shell covering some or all of the dorsal part of an animal, as of a turtle or the exoskeleton covering the head and thorax of a crustacean.
a. A protective shell
Synonym: shell, case
Antonym: interior, inside
“…his helmet enclosed the upper part of his head in a glistening carapace of silver-gray…”
8. cloying- (adj) causing or tending to cause disgust or aversion through excess
a. overly ingratiating or sentimental
b. [cloy] (v) to weary by an excess of food, sweetness, pleasure, etc.; surfeit; satiate
i. to become uninteresting or distasteful through overabundance
Synonyms: glut, sate, bore
Antonyms: amuse, charm
A diet of coke and candy soon cloys.
“...the air was even harder to breathe than in the cell, because all the natural stinks had been overlaid by a heavy layer of cloying perfume.”
9. corrugated- (v) to draw or bend into folds or alternate furrows and ridges
a. to wrinkle, as the skin or face
b. to make irrigation ditches in a field
Synonyms: creased, puckered
Antonyms: flat, smooth
“She swerved that way and saw a gap between the coal spirit barrels and the end of a corrugated iron shed…”
10. dais- (n) a raised platform, as at the front of a room, for a lectern, throne, seats of honor, etc.
a. a raised platform for speakers and honored guests
Synonyms: terrace, stage
Antonyms:
“And on a dais at the far end of the room, a mighty throne reared up high.”
End.
