After years of service as a public librarian, it slowly dawned on me my ideal profession in Lyra's alternate Brytain would have to be a librarian at Jordan College. It may not be as exciting as studying ice bears at Svalbard or being a laconic Texas aeronaut, but honestly, I can very easily see myself spending a fine life at this grandest of the Oxford colleges, happily cataloging books and anbarographs while neatly tucked away by the Melrose Quadrangle.
As is, I feel a personal touch is in order here. So I invite you along to tour my own little Jordan library of All Things Pullman. I'm an American, so I'm especially proud of the British editions. Break out the decanters of tokay, kick back with
some smokeleaf, and I'll arrange the lantern slides and photograms
and take you through my modest (though proud) collection.
Perhaps not particularly enthralling, these are my standard US editions of His Dark Materials. To be honest, they are not even the oldest editions I have ever read, nor are they the first ones I bought. I purchased the trilogy back in the mass market paperbacks that were published in the nineties, only to give them away at some point. I was intent on upgrading to the quality paperbacks anyway, so here
we are. And the cover designs are rather nice.
These are my special editions of The Golden Compass. The first is the fantastic 20th anniversary edition complete with slip cover, and the second is the legendary 10th anniversary one, complete with some exclusive Lord Asriel papers documenting his expeditions in the back.
And these are my original American hardcover editions of The Book of Dust
in all their Dusty glory. And yes, the middle La Belle Sauvage is a collector's edition.
And did I mention that one was signed by the man himself? I randomly picked this up at a Books-A-Million, and even snared a second one for a library coworker. To know that this was once actually held in the hands of Philip Pullman makes
me very happy. I am sure my daemon has done a fair amount of backflips
over it, snow leopard or no. This is the pride of my modest little collection, to be sure.
My recently acquired British paperback editions of His Dark Materials. Courtesy of
a used bookstore outside of Atlanta, as well as Abe Books here on the web.
I waited to secure this edition of the trilogy for a long while. I have yet to read
them but I will be using them as the definitive source when I write my own scholarly book. I do so enjoy the British spellings, as well as the complimentary covers.
And likewise, my British quality paperback copies of the first two books in The Book of Dust trilogy. Sadly not signed. Happily shipped quickly and safely. Also secured courtesy of Abe Books, which I highly recommend for alternate editions.
And what Pullmanverse collection would be complete without these little tie-in novellas? I should add I once had hardcover editions of Lyra's Oxford and Once Upon a Time in the North, but they went the way of my Golden Compass movie bookmark, and they simply disappeared. Perhaps they really did fall through one of those mischievous cracks between the worlds? Serpentine is obviously a recent acquisition, and hopefully I can quickly write a little review of it soon.
I should also assure everyone my Audible account is stuffed full of daemons and Dust as well as my bookshelves. I own the magnificent full cast versions of His Dark Materials, narrated sublimely by Pullman himself. Speaking of sublime narration, Michael Sheen reading La Belle Sauvage and The Secret Commonwealth is incomparable as well. Amazingly, I managed to pick up the latter on sale for about ten dollars, so best ten dollars spent ever. Once Upon a Time in the North is also narrated by Pullman with a full cast, and well worth the investment.
Completist that I am - or at least aspire to be - I also own both the ebook version of the short story "The Collectors," as well as the wonderful audio version as performed by Bill Nighy. I recommend both, and apparently a printed copy will eventually be available. Might I add, also nice for Halloween, as it is a spooky tale featuring everyone's favorite femme fatale and her golden monkey. It was originally simply going to be a ghost story before the HDM elements were officially locked down.
As much as Pullman disdains the title The Golden Compass, that's how the first novel is marketed in the U.S. So this is my two-disc blu-ray special edition of the New Line movie of 2007. And look, I know the HBO series is the rage right about now, but I have a very soft spot for this movie. Yes, it has its issues. The directing and editing wasn't always the best, and the ending was non-existent, but I'm going to echo what Pullman always says - the cast was perfect. I hope to review it at some point too.
I saw the graphic novel at my library for years, though initially it was chopped into two parts and didn't cover the full story. I repeatedly picked it up but never read it. I finally bought it at the bookstore the other day. I've read about twenty pages, and it's pretty cool. I'm just open to adaptations being adaptations, and that's that. I would like to try to review the graphic novel as well when I've completed it.
And again, in the interest of being a completist, I also talked myself into purchasing a digital copy of season one of the HBO series on Amazon. I of course watched it as it aired, but I have mixed feelings on this one. More on it later, but I feel tonally the show is a bit off. That also seeps down into the cast and the basic aesthetics of the series. It is all solid and competent, as far as it goes, and the actors are all very talented but ... it's just not really HDM to me. Or to put it another way, it feels lesser than the sum of its parts.
The mission statement originally seemed to have been since we now have a long form show by which to adapt the story, we can be very, very faithful to the books. And I know a movie or a series is not a novel and changes must be made, but season one did not work that well for me. I'm not a hater, but that's how I feel. I will give it another shot since I own the digital version now.
I am still skeptical of the show, though that season two trailer does look very impressive. Or maybe it's just the latent excitement of finally getting to see an adaptation of The Subtle Knife on a screen.
And a loose assembly of HDM tie-in books I've collected over the years. Critical Perspectives and The World of the Golden Compass are each a collection of essays, while the last one is a rather comprehensive Rough Guide to Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials, outlining everything from the characters to the worlds to the adaptations to the real life inspirations from science and religion.
Once upon a time I owned Laurie Frost's definitive The Elements of His Dark Materials, but alas, it was either lost in a move, or again, lost to one of those
pesky interdimensional cuts left by the Aesahaettr.
A special shout out goes to this book, courtesy of Donna Freitas and Jason King. I had been wanting to read this one for awhile, finally found it online, and was not disappointed. This has probably inspired a lot of my own work and thinking, as these two offer the same kind of intelligent, nuanced, and sensitive reading of the Pullmanverse that resonates strongly with me. Far from being an atheistic
manifesto, HDM is addressed as a rather profound religious text, with a strong connection to the divine.
Maybe not directly related to HDM or TBOD, but Daemon Voices has to get an honorary mention, as it forms a wonderful backbone to all those fictional worlds. To be honest, I own the hardcover edition, I own the e-book version, and I also own the audiobook, not least of which because it's also narrated by Pullman himself.
To put it simply, Daemon Voices is a collection of essays, articles, and lectures that span many years, and they serve as just a continual source of inspiration and imagination. Indeed, if you are a poet, writer, painter, musician, filmmaker, whatever kind of artist, this should be your bible. That's why I own so many different versions of them! And in no small part, they inspired this blog and everything to come.
To sum up, I hope all of you have enjoyed learning more about me and meeting my books. Rest assured, they are safe and sound, and far out of the reach of the Magisterium. As I spoke about Donna Freitas an entry back, this video is one of
the interviews she masterfully had with Philip Pullman over a decade ago, and happily still available on YouTube. It sums up the Republic perfectly, as well as offering a taste of her own work.
Stay Dusty My Friends
#PhilipPullman #HisDarkMaterials #TheBookOfDust #RepublicOfHeaven
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