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Oakmont
Book
Group
The Oakmont Book
Group is comprised of students and teachers who meet regularly to discuss a
shared reading. The Group, through consensus, selects a book to read and
then meets over a pot-luck dinner in the Library to discuss the book.
Our next Book Group
selection is The Golden Compass, by Philip Pullman:
Some books improve with age--the
age of the reader, that is. Such is certainly the case with Philip
Pullman's heroic, at times heart-wrenching novel, The Golden
Compass, a story ostensibly for children but one perhaps even
better appreciated by adults. The protagonist of this complex
fantasy is young Lyra Belacqua, a precocious orphan growing up
within the precincts of Oxford University. But it quickly becomes
clear that Lyra's Oxford is not precisely like our own--nor is her
world. For one thing, people there each have a personal dæmon,
the manifestation of their soul in animal form. For another, hers is
a universe in which science, theology, and magic are closely allied:
As for what experimental theology was,
Lyra had no more idea than the urchins. She had formed the
notion that it was concerned with magic, with the movements of
the stars and planets, with tiny particles of matter, but that
was guesswork, really. Probably the stars had dæmons just as
humans did, and experimental theology involved talking to them.
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| Not that Lyra spends much time
worrying about it; what she likes best is "clambering over the
College roofs with Roger the kitchen boy who was her particular
friend, to spit plum stones on the heads of passing Scholars or to
hoot like owls outside a window where a tutorial was going on, or
racing through the narrow streets, or stealing apples from the
market, or waging war." But Lyra's carefree existence changes
forever when she and her dæmon, Pantalaimon, first prevent an
assassination attempt against her uncle, the powerful Lord Asriel,
and then overhear a secret discussion about a mysterious entity
known as Dust. Soon she and Pan are swept up in a dangerous game
involving disappearing children, a beautiful woman with a golden
monkey dæmon, a trip to the far north, and a set of allies ranging
from "gyptians" to witches to an armor-clad polar bear.In The
Golden Compass, Philip Pullman has written a masterpiece that
transcends genre. It is a children's book that will appeal to
adults, a fantasy novel that will charm even the most hardened
realist. Best of all, the author doesn't speak down to his audience,
nor does he pull his punches; there is genuine terror in this book,
and heartbreak, betrayal, and loss. There is also love, loyalty, and
an abiding morality that infuses the story but never overwhelms it.
This is one of those rare novels that one wishes would never
end. Fortunately, its sequel, The Subtle Knife, will help put
off that inevitability for a while longer. --Alix Wilber |
The date of the
potluck/discussion has yet to be determined. Check with Mr. Anderson
for more information.
Previous Book Group
Selections have included:
- A Christmas Carol
- Carmilla
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
- The History of
Love
- The Road
- Everything is
Illuminated
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- Under the Tuscan
Sun
- Frankenstein
- I am the
Messenger
- The Kite Runner
- The Dante Club
- Dracula
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All Oakmont students
and faculty are welcome to join the Book Group for enjoyable book discussion
and tasty food. For more information, please contact
Mr. Anderson.
Oakmont Library Home
January 2, 2008.
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