Finished reading HDM
I finished re-re-re-reading His Dark Materials yesterday, twice in Finnish, twice in English. (Once when I was reading my boyfriend looked at me really funnily and asked "Are you reading it for the second time?" and I answered "Well... Actually the fourth." He has also read HDM, thanks to me, but he's not the reading type and I guess he doesn't understand how some books can mean the world to the person who loves them)
I started the Golden Compass for over a year ago, so as you can see I haven't been hurrying too much. As I know what's going to happen in the three books, I can read them slowly and whenever I feel like it. Sometimes I used to read them as a bedtime story, sometimes when I had nothing else to read and sometimes when I just wanted to spend some time with Lyra and Will or whoever starring the book at the moment. But everything good has to end sometime, and now I think I should wait at least a year before I start it again.
It's funny how I know some parts of the books better than some other parts, even though I have read them all as many times. For example, in the Golden Compass when Lyra has just escaped from Mrs. Coulter's cocktail party and buys coffee or something, and she tells the two gentlemen that her name is Lizzie and her father is a murdered and "oh, there he's coming", is something I've rememebered ever since I read it for the first time. On the other hand, the whole chapter "There is now" from the Amber Spyglass seemed totally as if I'd never read it before. Almost everything in the last few chapters, except the separation of Will and Lyra is sort of covered with mist to me, but I guess it might have something to do with the fact that I always read the last few chapters so quickly through, without thinking but crying my eyes out.
About crying my eyes out, I was at my boyfriend's during the last ten chapters, and I guess it must have been quite a shock for him when I suddenly started sobbing and sniffing while I was reading. He even brought me a paper so I could wipe my nose! And he asked whether I cried because of him or because of the book.
After I had finished I just tossed the book away and curled under a blanket and sobbed for I don't know how long, and then he said "Oh poor thing are you worrying if I had to move to another universe", and actually that was just the thing that had been mostly in my mind.
What saddens me the most is that it's their destiny to fall in love with each other. There's no question about whether it should or should not happen (as there might be a question whether e.g. Lee Scoresby should or should not have died), it's inevitable. Everything from the witches' prophecy to the cat at the hornbeam trees and Mary being the tempter led to that. If it didn't happen all the Dust would just pour out.
And then, in order to reserve Dust they have to be separated for their whole lives. I mean, come on! It's like an universal twisted plan to make their lives suck (your daemon can live only in their own world, you can't cut to another world without creating a Specter, you can have only one window and it must be in the world of the dead .... Why couldn't they make two small ones!) I just figured all this after the fourth reading and it makes me even sadder than before.
But I have to admit, if everything had turned out fine and they'd be happy together for the rest of their lives, I suppose I wouldn't be so affected by these books, and even though I would still love then, I wouldn't love them as much as I do now.
I've been thinking of bying hardcover British versions of these all, also I should by Lyra's Oxford and Once Upon a Time in the North. I've got only the Finnish translation (hardcover, which I'm never going to read again because the translation sucks big time) and US version (paperback), but I want the UK hardcover where's Pullman's illustrations in the beginnings of the chapters, and the Golden Compass is the Northern Lights as it should be. Also I want them separately, and I don't want any movie covers. Huugh I'm so demanding! I'm quite a fanatic, I guess. I found something promising from amazon.com.uk, but I have to think about it a bit more. And it's going to cost a few pennies, but I think it'll be worth it.
This entry is also in my journal.
I started the Golden Compass for over a year ago, so as you can see I haven't been hurrying too much. As I know what's going to happen in the three books, I can read them slowly and whenever I feel like it. Sometimes I used to read them as a bedtime story, sometimes when I had nothing else to read and sometimes when I just wanted to spend some time with Lyra and Will or whoever starring the book at the moment. But everything good has to end sometime, and now I think I should wait at least a year before I start it again.
It's funny how I know some parts of the books better than some other parts, even though I have read them all as many times. For example, in the Golden Compass when Lyra has just escaped from Mrs. Coulter's cocktail party and buys coffee or something, and she tells the two gentlemen that her name is Lizzie and her father is a murdered and "oh, there he's coming", is something I've rememebered ever since I read it for the first time. On the other hand, the whole chapter "There is now" from the Amber Spyglass seemed totally as if I'd never read it before. Almost everything in the last few chapters, except the separation of Will and Lyra is sort of covered with mist to me, but I guess it might have something to do with the fact that I always read the last few chapters so quickly through, without thinking but crying my eyes out.
About crying my eyes out, I was at my boyfriend's during the last ten chapters, and I guess it must have been quite a shock for him when I suddenly started sobbing and sniffing while I was reading. He even brought me a paper so I could wipe my nose! And he asked whether I cried because of him or because of the book.
After I had finished I just tossed the book away and curled under a blanket and sobbed for I don't know how long, and then he said "Oh poor thing are you worrying if I had to move to another universe", and actually that was just the thing that had been mostly in my mind.
What saddens me the most is that it's their destiny to fall in love with each other. There's no question about whether it should or should not happen (as there might be a question whether e.g. Lee Scoresby should or should not have died), it's inevitable. Everything from the witches' prophecy to the cat at the hornbeam trees and Mary being the tempter led to that. If it didn't happen all the Dust would just pour out.
And then, in order to reserve Dust they have to be separated for their whole lives. I mean, come on! It's like an universal twisted plan to make their lives suck (your daemon can live only in their own world, you can't cut to another world without creating a Specter, you can have only one window and it must be in the world of the dead .... Why couldn't they make two small ones!) I just figured all this after the fourth reading and it makes me even sadder than before.
But I have to admit, if everything had turned out fine and they'd be happy together for the rest of their lives, I suppose I wouldn't be so affected by these books, and even though I would still love then, I wouldn't love them as much as I do now.
I've been thinking of bying hardcover British versions of these all, also I should by Lyra's Oxford and Once Upon a Time in the North. I've got only the Finnish translation (hardcover, which I'm never going to read again because the translation sucks big time) and US version (paperback), but I want the UK hardcover where's Pullman's illustrations in the beginnings of the chapters, and the Golden Compass is the Northern Lights as it should be. Also I want them separately, and I don't want any movie covers. Huugh I'm so demanding! I'm quite a fanatic, I guess. I found something promising from amazon.com.uk, but I have to think about it a bit more. And it's going to cost a few pennies, but I think it'll be worth it.
This entry is also in my journal.
