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Life & Arts Blogs
 
Controversy piques my interest
By Sara Foss
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
People have warned me that “The Golden Compass,” which came out on DVD last week, is a lousy film, but I think I’m going to watch it anyway. The movie, based on the first book in a popular children’s fantasy trilogy, was a disappointment at the box office, which some have attributed to the controversy about “Golden Compass” author Philip Pullman. Pullman is an atheist, and some Christians believe that “The Golden Compass” contains anti-Christian elements and a covert agenda: getting kids to reject their faith and embrace secularism. Maybe I’m different from most people, but there’s nothing like a little controversy to get me to take an interest in something. I never would have watched every episode of the first season of the reality show “Temptation Island” if all those ministers in Birmingham, Ala., where I was living at the time, hadn’t protested the local Fox affiliate for airing such a trashy and immoral show. (The premise: Several couples travel to Belize and live with a group of attractive singles to test the strength of their relationships. Of course, adulterous hijinks ensue.) Controversy is also the reason I read “The Da Vinci Code,” which I hated. Not because it offended me, but because it was stupid and poorly written. In any case, controversy piques my interest; I like to see what all the fuss is about. In this spirit, I sat down a couple of months ago and read “The Golden Compass.” Speaking of children’s fantasy, I recently read a fine book called “Inkheart.” I’d never heard of this book; it was thrust into my hands by someone who thought I’d like it. “Inkheart,” the story of a bookbinder who has the ability to bring characters from books to life by reading aloud, is a thrilling story, but I imagine it would appeal to book lovers most of all. It was a quick read, thoroughly enjoyable, and it made me think I ought to read more children’s fantasy — certainly there’s more to the genre than Harry Potter and the Narnia books. Children’s fantasy is a real diversion, in a way few books are, and occasionally you need a good diversion. For instance: After “Inkheart” I read something that made me fear for the future of the world, a collection of essays called “30 — The Collapse of the Great American Newspaper.” Yikes! I’m glad I read “Inkheart” before delving into such a frightening vision of the future. This week “I’m Not There,” director Todd Haynes’ Dylan movie, arrives on DVD. I really enjoyed this movie, but I don’t recommend it to most people, mainly because it’s really, really weird. The thing I liked about it is the very thing most people won’t like: It’s not a traditional biopic. After “Ray” and “Walk the Line” I’ve had my fill of true-life musician stories, and I was interested to see a take on the genre that threw its conventions out the window. “I’m Not There” doesn’t really attempt to tell a story at all. Instead, six different actors portray aspects of Dylan’s personality. The one segment that didn’t really work for me was Richard Gere as Billy the Kid; it contains fantastic images — circus animals and such — but I wasn’t sure it belonged in this particular movie. But Cate Blanchett, as the acerbic, unpleasant young Bob Dylan, is outstanding, and the film also features the late Heath Ledger in one of his final roles. One of my favorite movies of 2007, “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly,” was released on DVD last week. This movie, the story of Elle magazine editor Jean-Dominique Bauby, who learns to communicate by blinking one eye after suffering a massive stroke, sounds boring, but is never anything less than riveting. We see the world through Jean-Dominique’s eyes. We hear his thoughts, see his flights of fantasy and catch glimpses of Jean-Dominique’s life before his stroke. “Diving Bell” is also a movie with a lot of humor and empathy; you find yourself laughing more than you expect. As for “The Golden Compass” I’ve got the second book of the trilogy, “The Subtle Knife,” sitting on my desk at home. I’ll probably read it when I need some kind of diversion. Maybe after “War and Peace” this summer. What’s your favorite children’s book? Mine is “The Chocolate War” by Robert Cormier.
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July 4, 2009
2:05 p.m. [ Suggest removal ]
My favorite children's book was The Ordinary Princess by MM Kaye. I loved the story and the pencil illustrations.
4:54 p.m. [ Suggest removal ]
I loved "The Golden Compass," and I loved the sequels, "The Subtle Knife" and "The Amber Spyglass," even more. I'm also eagerly looking forward to seeing the movie. (Also, a warning -- since you said you have the second book, you really should pick up the third, if only 'cause you'll be left scrambling for it by the ending of the second.)
6:34 p.m. [ Suggest removal ]
My favorite story was The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pene du Bois, published 1947. I still read it every couple of years. My favorite overall children's author, however, is John Bellairs. Dark and creepy - I'm re-reading The House With a Clock In Its Walls right now.
10:14 a.m. [ Suggest removal ]
The producers made a significant mistake in watering down the anti-religion theme in the movie. It blunted NONE of the criticism but did make the movie much worse.
11:03 a.m. [ Suggest removal ]
I wasn't impressed as impressed with "Subtle Knife" as "Golden Compass"--to the point where I almost didn't go for "The Amber Spyglass." But I'm glad I went for it anyway. The last was my favorite with a gut-wrenching end that still leaves me considering the characters's choices.
And for audiobook fans--children's lit is fantastic when it comes to the audio. They hire wonderful readers that add more art to the already wonderful stories. I read the first Potter book and really didn't care for it, but after listening to Jim Dale read the second, I was hooked. And Pullman reads the narration in the "Golden Compass" series with other actors performing the dialogue. Took a while for me to get use to that style.
And the Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander hooked me on reading when I was a kid.
11:09 a.m. [ Suggest removal ]
Lloyd Alexander is one of my favorites. I feel like he's sort of been forgotten, despite "The Black Cauldron" having been made into a Disney cartoon. He has another trilogy, The Westmark Trilogy, that might even be better.
8:29 a.m. [ Suggest removal ]
Champ - yes, 21 Balloons is a great book, I just rediscovered it last year.
My family is currently reading the Swallows and Amazons series, we all enjoy them. Heather grew up with her dad often reading them after dinner.
I have been picking up books from my parents' house when I visit - there are a lot of poor books that I picked up during the RIF free book days.
The Adventures of Dr. Rancid and his Youthful Assistant Jeffrey, The War of the Splendid Kids versus the Pitiful Teachers, and The Boy Who Knew Everything all sounded promising, but were mostly disappointing, I still like The War... book, but not really a book for kids, or at least not to read to our four year old.
8:30 a.m. [ Suggest removal ]
I forget what book was banned when my mom was in middle school, but everyone went out and read it since it was banned. They were quite disappointed - whatever the reason it was banned went over their heads, and it wasn't that great of a book anyway, so they all wasted their time reading it in secret.
9:20 p.m. [ Suggest removal ]
I read Inkheart out loud to my wife some years ago. Did you know that it was originally written in German? We got about halfway through the sequel (Inkblood, in German, but Inkspell in the American version, I believe). We stopped for some reason...I'll finish it eventually. They've made a movie of Inkheart, but the trailer suggests that's it's been thoroughly Americanized and kind of crummy.
I liked Lloyd Alexander as a kid as well, though I don't remember much of it now.
Does Ray Bradbury count as children's lit? I guess he'd be borderline. He'd be my favorite though.
1:15 p.m. [ Suggest removal ]
The best thing about the War Between the Pitiful Teachers and the Splendid Kids is the title. What kid wouldn't want to read a book with that title? It's not that the book itself is so bad - it's just that it can't live up to the title.
I don't think of Ray Bradbury as children's lit, even though I read a lot of him in middle school. Maybe Fahrenheit 451 is such a timeless classic that it transcends the children's lit label.