Bookwitch

Christmas four years ago I needed to relax one day (!), so shut myself away with Lyra’s Oxford, the little red book by Philip Pullman. The contents soothed, and so did the very attractive book itself.

Now that it’s time for Philip’s little blue book, Once Upon a Time in the North, I can only say that this is what a book should be like.

Physically the book is wonderful; small, so you can hold it easily, cloth bound, with beautiful cover picture as well as engraved illustrations throughout. There’s even a “board” game folded up in a pocket at the back: Peril of the Pole, and deemed too exciting for under fives.

The story itself isn’t bad either. Only joking. It’s absolutely great, and tells us about the young Lee Scoresby when he first meets Iorek Byrnison in Novy Odense. It’s romantic, it’s exciting, it’s funny. Philip must have had a good time writing his own Western, complete with the His Dark Materials background and characters. And there’s a nice dig aimed at politicians.

There is a risk that this will be my favourite, seeing as it’s about two of my most favourite men, and I always liked a good Western, anyway. Lee’s dæmon Hester proves herself as one of the best dæmons in HDM, and I wouldn’t mind having her male counterpart (if a male can be that good?) for my dæmon.

The usual bonus material is there; extracts from newspapers and books, with some really funny notes for chapter six of The Elements of Aerial Navigation.

I loved Philip’s reading of a couple of extracts from this back in November. I could do with him reading the whole book to me. For the ironing, you understand.