shopping His Dark Materials

Several times over the last few years, I’ve read and listened to three books by Philip Pullman: The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass, collectively called the His Dark Materials trilogy.

These are wonderful, wonderful books, with a unique and seductive ethos and a deep, real, and fully imagined world. They are a feat, an accomplishment, a masterpiece, and I love them.

I learned recently that a movie is being made of them, or at least of the first volume, The Golden Compass. At first I was a little nervous about this, especially since the audiobooks were so beautifully realized (a problem I also have with the Hitchhikers’ movie). But Philip Pullman is not only alive and well but thoroughly involved with the shepherding of his work. For some reason I feel like he protects it. He narrated the audiobooks. I expect he’d write, or at least co-write, the screenplays. And Harry Potter opened a lot of doors. So I’m okay with the movie idea.

His Dark Materials, by the way, is both better-written and more serious than Harry Potter. Lyra is a far more complex character (partially because she and Pantalaimon are two characters in one). In many ways, these books are better than Harry Potter. Better than Harry Potter.

That all said, and the promise of the movie lurking at the back of my brain, I was intrigued and delighted to learn that His Dark Materials was a stage play, already come and gone, at the National Theatre in London.

This page is one of many on the Stagework website featuring clips of scenes from the play. That link is the scene right before Lyra leaves Jordan College with Mrs. Coulter, where the Master gives her the alethiometer.

My point, and I do have one, is that this movie cannot now come soon enough. You’ve seen the merchandise you can buy from Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings. You’ve seen the beautiful solid wood wands, the wool scarves, the solid gold One Ring, Arwen’s Evenstar pendant, the swords, the dolls—the beautiful, beautiful things. These things really exist.

Say it with me. Alethiometer.

There’s a closeup in the clip on the site. For me, this goes beyond Harry’s wand, beyond lightsabers, beyond the One Ring. This is the ultimate prop. Heavy, brass and glass, with innumerable moving parts and dozens of tiny, beautiful paintings.

They’ll make them. They’ll sell them. I’m speechless with anticipation.

Eventually they’ll make the knife, too.