At 17:00 20/02/2008, you wrote:
>2/3rds of the way through Northern Lights with the children. My
>daughter has read it already but enjoys it being read a second time.
>I am really enjoying it - excellent book. Looking forward to the
>other two. Like the allusions to string theory.
Bit like the Narnia / C S Lewis series it works
on many different levels, and there are a number
of other similarities to LWW and LOTR which
become more apparent as the series moves on.
Still I was surprised when I found out it was
intended to work as a young adult's (children's) book.
Accepting linguistic shortcomings, how many
non-literati parents (let alone children) could translate (definitions below):
evanescent
carapace
sark (of chain-mail)
nimbus
tocsin
mephitic
gouts (I KNOW at least one on list will have no trouble with this)
Not in the text but a chapter title: à outrance
How many children or young adults will really
understand "wielding the stick like a fencer's
_foil_"? (I did a little fencing when younger)
Maybe my wordpower is exceptionally limited
compared to the potential readers of this book
but this seemed very odd editing.
But well worth reading for anyone with an
interest in Sci-Fi / Fantasy, philosophy, ethics
or even how physics affects literature (brane /
string theory, collapse of probability waves, quantum linkage).
Julian
evanescent vanishing
carapace shell
sark (of chain-mail) a shirt
nimbus halo
tocsin a signal (bell) that warns of imminent danger
mephitic poisonous / offensive
gouts large blobs or clots
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