ConnieK wrote:
I think I like Lyra better as a young adult than as a child as well. I'm not sure why? I enjoy strong female characters, too, so that's not it. Hmm...do you think Lyra shows enough vulnerability as a child to be believable as a child character? She seems more vulnerable, perhaps, as she grows toward womanhood? Does that make any sense?
~ConnieK
Nadine wrote:
I think you are right on about Lyra. I didn't like her at first but I am really admiring her by the Amber Spyglass. She is a different person, growing up and accepting the responsibility that goes with. She has a strong willingness to sacrifice for the good of others and has a great deal of compassion. She was particularly concerned and tender toward The Authority, the cause of all the problems in the universe.
Message Edited by ConnieK on 11-17-2007 11:36 AM
I think Pullman might have deliberately set up Lyra as not that likable to begin with, after all we can't both be wrong
. And his intention was to give her room to grow and mature. I'm not quite to the end of the book yet but she is definitely growing on me. This last book has so much in it that I'm having a hard time taking it all in. I guess when I get to the end, I will begin again! In fact, my feeling is that this series improves with each reading, like peeling down the layers with each reading. There is a tendency to read it as an adventure series but there is so much more to it that you somehow must grasp the whole to understand what has happened and understand the details. This last book is particularly dense in ideas. The development of Lyra and Will is part of one of the many layers, but I would say it is Lyra that has become the real focal point after being shifted to second place for awhile. Will doesn't change that much, he just matures. But Lyra has a lot more facets to her. The most important thing I see is the development of her compassion non-judgmental love. I think this was apparent when she hugged and kissed the harpy and her reaction to the encased Authority.
