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Post by Hermes on Oct 21, 2017 12:05:38 GMT -5
I'm thinking this should be of interest to Snicket fans, since His Dark Materials was very prominent in the children's literature world when ASOUE first came out, and they do have similar themes, though this is not at first obvious (think snake and apple). This is a prequel, like ATWQ, though apparently in the course of the series it's going to turn into a sequel. Are people planning to read it?
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Post by A comet crashing into Earth on Oct 21, 2017 16:58:58 GMT -5
I'm definitely planning to read it! I pre-ordered it at the first opportunity and expect it to arrive soon - unfortunately, to my parents' house, which was the only stable address I had back then, so I'll probably have to wait until the middle of next month to read it. I was originally planning to re-read HDM before then, but since I haven't started on that yet, I doubt I'd be able to wait for the time that would take me before I begin on La Belle Sauvage. I'm glad it seems to have been well received so far. It'd be really disheartening if he'd spent 17 years writing the sequel, only to not have it live up to the originals.
I think I'd actually disagree about the thematic similarity - or at least share my thoughts in order to hear what the rest of you think. There is the apple and the snake, but I feel like the two works are approaching them from very different angles - in HDM, these things are metaphorically represented by other entities, while in ASOUE, they appear as a literal snake offering the Baudelaires literal apples. Pullman uses his story to carry his theme, while Snicket just uses the theme as a tool to build his story. They do both tie the religious themes together with a coming-of-age theme, but that's a fairly standard for children's fiction. Then there's the authors' own religious orientations, which are prominent in the writing of both. Pullman approaches his Genesis symbolism as a piece of Christian* culture as viewed by an Atheist. Snicket, on the other hand, writes as a Jew looking at Jewish* culture, and I think both works are in that respect markedly influenced by their authors' perspective. Finally, the religious themes are very much present in HDM from the beginning, while ASOUE doesn't really concern itself with it at all - at most, it restricts itself to Jewish in-jokes and possibly the occasional snide commentary on some harmful religious practice or other (I don't remember this in ASOUE, but I can easily imagine it's there), until The End, when it ends the series on a piece of symbolism usually associated with beginnings. It does so quite skillfully, but I would probably call it a theme to TE specifically more than ASOUE as a whole.
Anyway! I'm very excited about the new book, and hoping to use it to motivate myself to read the old ones again.
*I presume. I'm not particularly well versed in either religion, so I may have missed some obvious clues about either author's approach here.
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Post by Dante on Oct 22, 2017 8:01:16 GMT -5
I am planning to read the book(s), though it might not be for a little while; I have a pretty extensive reading list. My main concern is that the book/series has been so long in coming that I'm no longer certain I'll be able to appreciate it as I would have had it arrived a little nearer to when it was first promised. But that's an unfair judgement to make when I don't really have much of an idea of what the series is even really going to be about at this point.
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Post by Violent BUN Fortuna on Oct 23, 2017 5:33:44 GMT -5
I've got the book and I've read the first chapter. Like A comet crashing into Earth I had meant to re-read HDM first but I didn't get a chance. So far it's drawing me in well and it feels nicely familiar and cosy to read; not much else to say because I don't want to spoil things and also, you know, it's only the first chapter. But it's good! I'm excited about how big it is -- so much to read!
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Post by zombieinthesnow on Oct 24, 2017 18:54:03 GMT -5
I was originally planning to re-read HDM before then, but since I haven't started on that yet, I doubt I'd be able to wait for the time that would take me before I begin on La Belle Sauvage. Same. I can kind of see HDM and ASOUE as similar in that they're both ~dark/edgy kids' books (though any parents complaining about ASOUE should really see HDM to put things in perspective).
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Post by Songbird on Nov 23, 2017 15:47:14 GMT -5
I'm interested to hear what everyone thinks about this one, HDM is one of my favorites and I was so excited to hear he wrote a new book
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Post by Violent BUN Fortuna on Nov 25, 2017 11:38:15 GMT -5
I really loved it. I forgot just how much I enjoy Lyra's world; even though terrible things happen there, it's incredibly cosy to read about, but also thrilling and really creates the most beautiful images in my mind. Pullman's imagination is brilliant: I didn't find a dull moment, which is impressive given how quietly events unfold for quite a large portion of the book. Malcolm is a good protagonist: very likable, very real, and just easy to get along with, as it were; I didn't find myself getting irritated with his choices or exasperated at his preoccupations. He carried the story excellently.
There are certain books which, after I've finished them, I go through a sort of book hangover, or rather a period of mourning for that book, because I want to still be immersed in that world and I simply can't read anything else for at least a few days because nothing feels right. This was definitely one of those books.
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Post by Violent BUN Fortuna on Nov 25, 2017 11:38:48 GMT -5
I'm interested to hear what everyone thinks about this one, HDM is one of my favorites and I was so excited to hear he wrote a new book Have you read it yet?
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Post by Songbird on Nov 26, 2017 8:42:57 GMT -5
No,not yet. I have a policy of not buying myself anything until after January- my birthday is in January and the holidays in December- I'm a notoriously hard person to buy gifts for says my family lol
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Post by Violent BUN Fortuna on Nov 27, 2017 8:51:50 GMT -5
Well I definitely recommend it! I'd recommend it even if you hadn't read His Dark Materials, but as you have then I think you'll really love it.
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Post by Teleram on Dec 4, 2017 1:40:00 GMT -5
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Post by Reba on Dec 4, 2017 1:54:06 GMT -5
liam neeson isn't a buff action hero, he's the old retired guy with family struggles and a dark past!! AND JACK REACHER IS JUST AS GOOD AS TAKEN
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Post by Dante on Jan 30, 2018 12:17:29 GMT -5
I have since read La Belle Sauvage, and enjoyed it, but the main thing it highlighted to me is that I remember far too little about His Dark Materials, only the very broadest strokes, and I'm probably going to need to reread the series to enjoy The Book of Dust at its most complete. LBS seems to lean very heavily on its connections to the original and doesn't especially resolve anything on its own, and frequently went down alleyways I didn't see coming; I'm not sure how well it would work as a true standalone, though of course it also has its own (indirect) sequels on the way.
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Post by Songbird on Apr 10, 2018 21:28:38 GMT -5
I have since read La Belle Sauvage, and enjoyed it, but the main thing it highlighted to me is that I remember far too little about His Dark Materials, only the very broadest strokes, and I'm probably going to need to reread the series to enjoy The Book of Dust at its most complete. LBS seems to lean very heavily on its connections to the original and doesn't especially resolve anything on its own, and frequently went down alleyways I didn't see coming; I'm not sure how well it would work as a true standalone, though of course it also has its own (indirect) sequels on the way. So you would reread the trilogy first? I haven't gotten to the book yet, I'm still working through a stack.
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Post by Dante on Apr 17, 2018 16:22:31 GMT -5
While I'm sure it's not strictly necessary, I feel in retrospect I might have benefited from rereading Northern Lights (or The Golden Compass, depending) beforehand; though it might be just as well to catch up afterwards. (Something which I haven't managed to do yet. I, too, have many books queued up.)
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