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So much press for the books. I've read them and lots of the articles. my personal view is that (for the most part) kids should be able to reads books that may push the boundaries. The important thing is parent communication. Talking about the books with kids.
The only reason I wouldn't take my son is it I think the movie is too scary, not because of the killing-the-imposter-God controvesy. (Translation - I will most likely go see it first alone and then decide).
But when he gets to an age where he wants to read it, I will let him.

I so read Flowers, and cringe at the thought of my daughter reading it. But then I cringe at the thought of her doing many of the things I may have done.

Tricia: That (talking with kids) was the one thing in Bazelon's article that made sense to me.

And, the movie is scary. I had my almost-7-year-old with me and he was pretty scared, I think. (He's such a Stoic by nature, it's not always easy to tell.)

I read Flowers. And found (at age 12) some of it compelling. I will say that I'm proud of my 12-year-old self when I look back. I recognized then that the writing was terrible. (Bazelon did point out some particularly funny bits.)

I don't understand how you can compare Cathy having sex with everyone under the sun and the first book of the Pullman trilogy. Lyra's mother is basically evil - she's supposed to be evil - and she does evil things to children. I think a 12 year old could easily get the good vs bad out of this book (and the film). I also don't think in the 21st century where revelations abound of child abuse from every kind of trusted adult/child relationship that an evil parent is going to freak a kid out. I mean the queen in Sleeping Beauty sent her off to be murdered by the woodsman and then hunted her down and poisoned her when that failed. Are we okay with that because she's the stepmother and we watch the movie usually as a cartoon? Is she somehow more benevolent than Lyra's mother?

I don't buy the Slate conclusions at all - you read "Flowers" knowing it is trash from the very beginning (I read it in jr high); you read "Compass" knowing it is much more than it seems.

I'm holding off on the movie for my 6 year old just because I think he will be scared not confused; we'll see it in a couple of years.

Colleen

I knew about the ending going in so wasn't thrown by it. However, Lyra's final line is pretty trite. I stayed away from commenting on the ending (on my blog) because I want them to get to make the second movie. I figure they will do a better job with it and address the weak ending of this one. (And by weak ending I don't mean it ending where it did, but the stilted final dialog between Lyra and Roger).

I went yesterday with a couple of 6th graders and plan to post a podcast of their comments soon. Think it is about time a couple of the intended audience (kids) got heard!

Monica, if we reviewed books that way we'd be roasted!

Roger,

You mean my not writing about the ending or giving the kids some air time? I don't think of my blog posts as reviews although others have referred to them that way. They seem way too informal and incomplete to be reviews, in my opinion.

Monica: I *think* Roger is referring to Bazelon's "review." (I hope, considering I didn't write a review of the movie here at all.)

Not writing about the ending. I know a blog post isn't necessarily a review, but withholding a point because you're afraid it will have a negative effect on box office strikes me as morally suspect if not bankrupt. ;-)

Oh, so that's what Roger means...

Thanks for clarifying, Roger.

I guess I can live with that:) Besides, if I had written about the ending I'd have gotten grief on the spoilage front for sure. (Hey, you haven't seen the movie yet, have you, Roger?)

As far as the Slate article goes, I thought that using The Golden Compass for talking about the allure of dreck was a really odd choice. But I didn't get that she was really making much of a connection between the two books. It was more like she threw The Golden Compass into the title to get the article published. I could totally relate to what she was writing about the appeal of Flowers in the Attic. I read V.C. Anderws like crazy at the age of 12. Plus, I couldn't agree more with her points about allowing kids to read what they want to read and then trying to get them to talk about it.

I obsess about essays because I'm interested in writing them. The essay in Slate seems structurally wrong to me. I agree with alia that it sounds as if the author wanted to write about Flowers in the Attic and used the interest in Golden Compass to sell her article. But as a piece of writing, it was all wrong. It shows lack of control to set up one topic and totally drop it and go onto another.

I am so impressed with all you folks who read Flowers in the Attic as kids and survived the experience. I read it as an adult (maybe in my twenties) and was scarred by it. Kiddy incest is one line I have to stay well back from in my reading.

Gail, that's your daemon whispering to tell to move into YA. Stop resisting.

Monica, I saw it last night. I didn't mind the ending but thought throughout that the characters spent too much time telling us what was going on rather than being embedded in the story itself. But Richard (who has never read the books) was completely caught up in it. I bet to make the second movie they'll have to change the ending of the first book--look, Billy Costa has already been spared (and was marvelously played, I thought).

Ah, but has he been spared? And where the hell is his daemon anyway? Could just be a matter of time for poor old Billy. Seems to me things could go either way in a sequel, I think. Depends on how intense they want it to be.

Glad to hear Richard got caught up in it. I enjoyed seeing that world I knew so well on screen, but wondered (as I DID write on my blog:) whether those who didn't would be confused. Glad to know he for one was not. I agree completely with you that there was too much exposition, but I think that was because they tried so hard to keep it under two hours.

I find this is a complex issue. I believe the Catholic School Board in Halton should allow the book, but the notion that books are not banned in the public school system in Toronto is ludicrous.

Many books deemed non-pc for issues of race, gender and sexual orientation are routinely taken out of the curriculum or libraries but because they are older and the censorship is coming from the left it is not acknowledged.

Again, I think the Halton school board should allow the book. But the hypocrisy on this one is disgusting.

I didnot read your blog sorry but I will read The Golden Compass to my 4 year old daughter. can't express how sad it make me feal to hear about any type of supression. thanks. Intolerance is Intolerable

I am not a religious man, but I do respect the fact that many do follow a religious belief. However, there are always some members of religious groups who tend to be extreme and want to pose their beliefs on other, even at the expense of the rights of those who follow other beliefs, including those who do not believe in a god. To those of you have banned the Golden Compass in Canadian School Boards, I have three comments. First, the book is a fantasy book, not fact. Second, what ever happened to our freedom to decide what we should read or not. Some material is banned because it promotes illegal acts (and then again many of those types of books are not banned). However, questioning religion is not illegal…it is a natural and I am sure everyone has at one point or another. I have heard that the Golden Compass and the related books in the series are molding children’s minds and thus should be banned. What? Is that not how religion gets most of its followers, by molding minds at a very young age? I have a problem when public taxes pay for schools that have such short-sightedness. If I were a school teacher, administer, etc, I would be happy that the students are reading...period. Schools are meant to be places where students learn the basics (math, reading, writing, etc), but they are also places that should allow students to explore new theories and ideas so that they can become independent thinkers. The banning of this book is just one more example of why schools….all schools should be secular. In addition, the banning of a children’s fantasy book because it brings children on a journey where the religious rulers are corrupt and try to keep people from seeing the truth is really silly….all students need to do is open any history book. In fact the banning of the book actually support’s the idea that this fantasy story is closer to the truth than fiction.