Book Recommendation: The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

This is my second time reading this book. I first read it in April last year. Back then I read the UK edition; Northern Lights. Which is still my favorite cover of them all. But this time I wanted to read a hardcover, and not a paperback. And oh, how much I love this book. I cannot wait to re-read the next two books as well. Starting in a moment. Ever since I first read His Dark Materials, I wanted to re-read the books. But I have been scared of the ending of book three. But I'm glad I decided to read them now.

There is so much I could say about this book. So much. But I will not. I cannot. Because I would never finish talking about it. Instead I'm going to just say a few short things about it, to share my love for it. Because my love for this book? It is huge. I'm so glad I re-read it. First, the writing is stunning. It might have taken me a long time to read this book, because there are a lot of words, but they are all awesome and I didn't mind the time. I just fell in love with it all. The writing and the characters and the world.

This book is about Lyra. Whom I think is eleven years old. I'm still a bit unsure about that, as I don't know if she lied or not. But I think it's true. Because most of the time she acts like a child. And she's adorable. But she can also act so grown up and I loved that about her. Lyra is just an amazing main character. And I adored reading about her. I couldn't have loved her more. Okay, fine, I might have wished she had been older. But then the plot wouldn't have worked. And this plot is just so stunning.

While this book is about Lyra, there are also some other very important characters in it. First there are the dæmons. Everyone has one. It is their very soul, kind of. In the shape of an animal. Who can talk. And share your thoughts. And my god, it was just the sweetest thing. I want my own dæmon. Lyra has Pan, whom is adorable. I loved reading about him. Just so cute. I loved all the different animals he changed into. Sigh. The whole dæmon thing was just so interesting. It's different and beautiful.

The characters. Sigh. So many. There is Lyra's best friend, Roger. Though I felt like we saw too little of him, so I didn't care much. There is Ma Costa, whom I adored. I adored all the gyptians. They were awesome. Then, Lord Asriel. Ugh. I hated him. I hated how he treated and hurt Lyra. I did not like him. And Mrs. Coulter. I couldn't stand her. But she was an interesting character and her dæmon was the creepiest little monkey. Ack. I did love reading about all the characters in this book. They were all great.

There is so much happening in this book. I cannot describe it all. But I do want to say that I loved reading about the panserbjørne. They were amazing. I loved Iorek. And I liked the witches too. Sigh. Mostly I loved all the moments in this book. When Lyra find that boy in the small village up North. That broke my heart. It killed me a little. It was so evil and heartbreaking and beautiful. So well done. There are many depressing scenes in this book. And I loved every one of them. So well written, all of it.

I want to mention it all. But I will not. I will just say a few more things. Like how beautiful this book is. How full of adventure it is. How mysterious it is. How heartbreaking it is. How fun and sweet it is. Sigh. I adored Lyra so much and I loved reading about her. But oh. What I did not remember from reading this book last year was how much it would make me cry. Because I cried a lot while reading it this time. It is all so sad. I loved it so much. Philip Pullman is an amazing author. Can't wait to read more from him.

I'm blaming Philip Pullman for my desire to start re-reading these books right away. Because he replied to my question on twitter. Which kind of killed me a little. And I'm so excited to be reading these books again. <3 So excited that I'm planning on buying this very special and very expensive version of the trilogy for myself for Christmas. <3 And I cannot wait to own them. Sigh. These are books you can read again and again. Well, if your heart can take it. Because, my god, they are heartbreakingly beautiful.

I tried not to talk too much about the book in this book recommendation of mine. I just wanted to share my love for it again. Which I hope I managed to do. And if you have yet to start reading this trilogy, then I hope you will consider doing it now. Because it is worth it. Oh, it is. It is worth all the heartbreak and all the tears. Because it is a beautiful story. So perfect. And I need you all to read these books. They are middle grade, but I believe they would touch the heart of anyone. As it did with me. Now, go read it.

The Golden Compass. The Subtle Knife. The Amber Spyglass. Philip Pullman. The Book Depository.

My review of Northern Lights. My review of The Subtle Knife. My review of The Amber Spyglass.

Update: Newer and better review of the book can be found here.