Pullman :: Miyazaki

Some years ago, I read all three of the Philip Pullman books in the His Dark Materials trilogy. I love those books. It's a fascinating, erudite and entertaining world he creates, and I ought to re-read them because we finally watched The Golden Compass the other day.

For awhile now, the girl's been enamored of the Hayao Miyazaki movies. We have a pile of them: Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle, Nausicaa, Castle in the Sky, Totoro and Kiki's Delivery Service. They are, in a word, wonderful. All of them have strong girl characters at the center of the story - and even when they are princesses, they aren't "princesses". They are feisty, independent, sturdy girls - great role models for my girl child. The Miyazaki movies also move gently between reality and fantasy, are set in an often vague time period, frequently invoke our need to protect the world from greed and destruction, and often feature whimsical flying machines and airships.

While watching The Golden Compass, I was struck by the similarities to Miyazaki. Strong girl as lead character? Check. Vague time period? Yup. Clash between good and evil? Certainly. Flying machines? Oh yes, fabulous zeppelin-like airships and other wild contraptions.

---

Have you read the Pullman trilogy? If not, I have a set to give away. I bought paperbacks when I read them originally. But they seemed to me to be the kind of books that you'd want to have around for a while, to be able to pass along to your kid, so I replaced all three with hardcover copies. The paperbacks came out of one of the boxes from the cellar, and they're next up on the great book giveaway of 2008. And they're in great shape, because I'm gentle on my books. So, tell me in the comments if you want the trilogy and I'll do a random select at day's end on Monday the 8th. And I'd rather send all three to one person, so don't ask for a particular one of the three, please.