A (Re)Introduction

[cjp]

Hi all!

I first signed up, as my profile says, pretty much exactly 6 years ago. In fact I logged in here for the first time in years, last week, exactly 6 years to the day (including the day of the week) since I registered. Quite spooky. Anyway, I never hung around or introduced myself before, so thought I may as well do so now.

I read the books years ago, and I believe finishing TAS was the reason for my registering in the first place; mostly due to the kick-in-the-gut feeling it left me with, but also due to the fact I love these books.

Now at the age of 26, I was sorting through my bookshelf a couple of weeks back and realised I'd never owned TAS; I'd merely borrowed it at the time. Being a bit of a completionist, I needed to fix this and bought a second hand copy. For some reason I decided to re-read the last few chapters only, which brought all the intensity of that ending back again (I've posted on the matter!); sign of a good book, even though it makes a 26 year old man feel slightly foolish.

I've now got the HDM bug back. I've ordered Lyra's Oxford and One Upon a Time in the North, both of which I've never read, and a companion guide for the trilogy. I'm looking forward to reading these through, as well as the three original books again; I've only ever read these once years ago. I also remember giving up on TSK early on (I can't remember why; think it was to do with the change in setting/characters) and taking another couple of years before I read it, so I imagine it may be nearly 10 years since I've read NL. I did however finally get around to watching The Golden Compass the other night though, which I enjoyed more than I thought; it was a nice summary for me of what happened in NL, having not read it for so long, but I can see that it felt far too rushed if you didn't know enough from the book to fill in the gaps. I was also prepared for the 'sanitized' ending. I've also been checking up on various bits I've missed from later editions of the books, such as the appendices and lantern slides.

I've signed up to plenty of forums in the past, but always been one of those lurkers who never posts. I'm going to try and buckle that trend.

I have a habit of rambling on like this.

Chris

[Jaya]

Hi Chris! Welcome back to The Republic of Heaven. For reference, I'm posting your initial post below. Have fun looking around our threads, and the rest of the website. If you want, re-read The Amber Spyglass with us and Mark (see the Mark Reads threads) as he reads a chapter a day.

I first read Northern Lights over 3 years ago, loved it, and immediately started reading The Subtle Knife. For reasons I'm still unsure of, I stopped reading it a couple of chapters in. However, I finally got round to reading TSK whilst on holiday this year, and upon returning home, immediately started on The Amber Spyglass. I finished reading TAS 2 days ago now. I then set out to find an online community to talk about the books with, and stumbled upon Kingdom of Heaven, and therefore this place. I've spent a couple of days reading posts on these boards. Including reading all 61 pages of the "Did Lyra and Will have sex" thread. And for the record, I don't think they did. Their love was so perfect and complete, that I don't think they needed to in my mind, and so that's what I'm sticking to.

From what I've read, I'm pretty sure that just about everyone who read HDM found the ending of it to be touching, and overall quite sad. In a way I've never been affected by a book before, I really did find the ending to be heart wrenching. It was as if I was the one who was being torn apart from the other. It's an incredible feeling that made me realise something:

It made me realise how, quite brilliantly, PP had made me care deeply for the characters (Will and Lyra). And I hadn't even seen it coming. There is always emotional attachments to characters in stories, yes - it's the sign of a good writer, but to be this affected by the actions and events surrounding two characters was something completely new to me, and as I said, completely unexpected as well.

I believe it comes from the feeling you get from reading HDM, as the characters grow up before your eyes, and you see what is happening, that Will and Lyra's love is, if ever there was, THE perfect love. Which of course makes the end of TAS even more tragic. Here was the very embodiment of love, being torn apart. Although it is clear they will always love each other, and in that way, always be faithful to each other. Personally, it took me a day or so to get around the confused-stomach-tightened feeling I had after finishing TAS. And that may very well sound stupid, but I don't know how else to explain what I felt.

But PP does offer us two crumbs of optimism for the future, in regards to Will and Lyra's being apart:

1. The fact that they will be together for eternity after they die, thanks to the window that has been left open from the land of the dead. For some reason, this doesn't really "comfort" me in anyway. The fact is that they have to wait for the rest of their lives to be together. In relation to eternity, this is nothing, but to mere mortals, a lifetime is the longest possible time imaginable. And we know for sure that Will will live for at least another 60 years, and probably for much longer.

2. The possibility of being able to travel as angels do, between worlds. With the huge steps Mary has already taken towards the end of TAS, it doesn't seem unreasonable to think that given 10/20 years, Will could be able to use this method of travel, and to visit Lyra in her world. When I thought about this, it actually made me optimistic for their future.

The HDM trilogy, and especially TAS, turns out to be an incredible journey and adventure, with an incredibly sad, yet brilliant ending. If had been done any other way, I don't think HDM would have been anywhere near as hard-hitting or memorable. And it leaves us with many moving moments, the final talk at the bench (“As long as I live...")

[cjp]

Oh dear, re-reading things you wrote years ago... However, I stand by the non-melodramatic parts! Those 2 'crumbs of comfort' were the same I was thinking of last week, which I suppose at least points to some consistency on my part!

I'm not always that melodramatic or maudlin though! I've been following the Mark Reads bits with interest, looking good so far.

[bee]

Hello Chris! Six years is just before my time so I'm glad to meet you now!

Welcome back. I haven't yet read Lyra's Oxford or Once Upon a Time in the North, but I hope to soon. Make sure to post your thoughts on on those!

[cjp]

I definitely will; there's nothing like first-time reactions!

I'm also staying clear from posting in the Mark Reads topics for now; I really want to re-read the entire trilogy from start to finish, so don't really feel I can jump in and comment on things that aren't fresh in my mind. For example, I completely forgot that todays chapter (chapter 6) even existed!

[Anoria]

I'm also staying clear from posting in the Mark Reads topics for now; I really want to re-read the entire trilogy from start to finish, so don't really feel I can jump in and comment on things that aren't fresh in my mind. For example, I completely forgot that todays chapter (chapter 6) even existed!

Same here (well, sort of - you're showing more restraint than I). I recently re-read TGC but because of the Mark Reads discussions, I'm hurrying to go through the other two books so I can participate. Pro tip: don't try to read the beginnings of TSK (because that's where you left off) and TAS (because that's what the forum is talking about) at the same time, it's kinda confusing.

I think old newbies returning is even better than new newbies joining. Glad to have you here

[cjp]

Yeah, having now watched TGC last week, read a few chapters at the end of TAS, and having read the Mark Reads articles (but not the chapters, if that makes sense), my brain is currently a mess of continuity and patchy knowledge.

Thanks for the welcome! I'm aiming to hang around a lot longer this time!