Spiritual Education: The Golden Compass & Harry Potter

I was one of the kids that grew up reading the Harry Potter books. I learned a lot from those books including vocabulary, morals, about friendship, etc. So for this assignment I wanted to read a different book so I read the Golden Compass. I had seen the movie before and wanted to read the actual book to know more about it since they only produced the first movie and stopped.
I can definitely see the difference in the Golden Compass and a book like Lord of the Rings though it might be hard to put into words. The books take place in an alternate reality where peoples spirits or souls manifest themselves as animal companions. This I thought was a great concept in and of itself. Often when I am talking to someone or see a person on the street I make a comparison between them and an animal. Not just because of their appearance but mostly for their personality. So it was interesting to read about the different characters with different animals and seeing how their personality fit with their animal.
The book follows the story of this little girl that goes on an adventure to discover more about this 'dust' or 'space dust' against the wishes of the Gobblers. The Gobblers have attempted to silence and erase the knowledge of the existence of this dust, for unknown reasons at the beginning of the book but I believe is a way for them to keep control.  She goes on the adventure with a golden compass which was told to tell her the truth and was given to her by the head of the college.
It is fun to make a comparison between The Golden Compass and the Harry Potter novels. Both tell stories of children, the age of the reading audience, and of a great evil they have to overcome but are told to stay away from. Both are told to stay away from this danger but are encouraged by a wise elder to take on the challenge but to be weary. They both go through a series of trials and make many close friends along the way. I could go on about the similarities but I now see how these  types of 'spiritual education' books teach kids to take on challenges with a brave face and to value friendship above all else.

The Hobbit

The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings are by far my favorite fantasy novels. It is easy to see why JRR Tolkien is called the granddad of high fantasy. Though I am more a fan of the Lord of the Rings trilogy for its more mature story line full of epic and emotional moments I do have to say I still like The Hobbit. Originally not written to be published and more just meant to be a hobby, it can not really say that it was written for a younger audience but it certainly captivated a younger age group when it was published. It's fun to read the book and hear names and descriptions of places that are so reminiscent of Northern european mythological places and people. These books were a way for Tolkien to bring to life a lost age of Europe, one of beauty, mystery, and magic. 

Though I have read The Hobbit multiple times in the past when I was rereading it this time I compares it to the new movie that was released. I realized that even though it was a great book not all books would make great films if they were made exactly like the book. In a book there is  time for descriptions of minute details and of peoples thoughts and emotions but in a movie there has to be some level of action, some driving force that makes the characters move onward. In the book the only thing that kept them motivated to move foreword was the prospect of reaching and reclaiming the mountain but in the movie there was that and the White Orc and his pack of worgs hunting the companions. Te me it seemed like a much needed addition to the story line for the sake of making the movie not seem dull. It also fills in a gap for the missing prologue in The Hobbit. 

Equal Rites

In the book Equal Rites I found it really interesting how it approached gender roles in the world of high fantasy. In the book there are wizards which have always been males that derive their magic from the sky through research and practice and then there are witches which pull their powers from the earth, their magic is something that comes from within. I think it's interesting the authors choice of how the different genders get their magic because it is a reflection of the genders characteristics. Men generally are very much about hard facts and research while women are very much about innate knowledge and emotions. This is just a generalization made for the sake of understanding the book.  The book then progresses and tells a story of a girl wizard that struggles through this world of men and her attempts to fit int, gain control over her powers, and become a powerful female wizard which has always been a mans field. Much like in the world of today, women attempt to succeed in the mans world, to testosterone fueled. Men have never had to think in the way of women but women are always forced to try to think like a man in order to survive.