𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐬, 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐬, 𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐰𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞; 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭, 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧. ⠀

— Philip Pullman⠀

I began this year by reading Philip Pullman’s 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩, so I only thought it fitting that I would end it by reading yet another of his fantastic expeditions into human nature. 𝑺𝒆𝒓𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒆 is a brief excursion into Lyra’s world, and actually acts as a sort of thematic prequel to 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩, the second entry in 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘋𝘶𝘴𝘵 series. ⠀

𝑺𝒆𝒓𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒆 tells a small, intimate story in which Lyra Belacqua joins some colleagues at an archaeological site that happens to be near the home of a past acquaintance — someone who just might be able to answer some of the many burning questions Lyra has been carrying ever since the events related in 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘋𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘔𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘴. She and her dæmon, Pan, have been growing apart in the aftermath of these earlier exploits, a predicament they can’t seem to be able to solve, causing them both great emotional turmoil. Lyra, true to her curious nature, is determined to decipher this dilemma. She gets some clarification by the end of this novella, but the relationship between humans and their inner-selves is something that will preoccupy Lyra well into her adulthood. Indeed this concern forms the central theme in 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩 (and, I suspect, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘋𝘶𝘴𝘵 as a whole).⠀

I was well into my twenties when I first read 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘋𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘔𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘴, but the series still ended up being acutely formative. It’s a story that spoke to me on a host of different levels (not least of which a spiritual one) and even though I’ve never sat down and revisited the novels, they still, to this day, live rent-free in my head and heart.⠀

This makes every subsequent glimpse into this world feel like a privilege and a homecoming. There’s something intensely warm and comforting about these novels — probably due to the fact that despite them being mostly dark, serious tomes of the fantastic, they are also some of the most human books out there.⠀⠀

Which is a roundabout way of saying that each return visit to Pullman’s world has felt like coming home. Like visiting old friends. Like gaining some fresh, new insight— however small — into what it means to be human and alive. And the experience of reading 𝑺𝒆𝒓𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒆 was no different.