Tests

14/03/13

The first test has come and gone with an entertaining draw.  England were awful for a day then got back on track and without dominating were comfortable thereafter.  Jimmy got in the wickets, Cook got his customary ton and Compton eased personal pressure with his maiden test century.  It’s now nearly lunch on the second day of the second test with England a bit wobbly on 340-5 but still in control of the match.  Compton scored another hundred and this time Trott got to three figures.  The KPego is currently in the 60’s and I may well tune the radio in when I drift off to sleep.  I expect England to bat for most of the day then dominate the match but it might not be easy to bowl the Kiwis out twice.

I re-read Phillip Pullman’s “His Dark Materials” trilogy recently.  Almost a decade must have passed since the first time I enjoyed this epic series.  I really enjoyed it back then and knew that one day I’d pick it up again.  Part one, “Northern Lights”, starts slowly but gathers pace and by the end it’s ripping along.  Before you know it you are well stuck into “The Subtle Knife”, the single narrative has branched out into unexpected directions.  Whenever I re-read a novel I always notice things that weren’t apparent before which enriches the story all the more so.  By the midpoint of the trilogy this is most certainly the case.  “Lyra and her Daemon…” find themselves on a journey which takes her to places beyond her imagination.  Along the way she meets “Will” and the two faces ordeal and terror.  As the story moves into the second half it becomes deeper and darker and in places “The Amber Spyglass” is very bleak.  Pullman covers all manner of themes; Science, racism, climate change, friendship, love and so on, not much is left untouched upon.  This book takes a huge swipe at religion (Catholicism?) and the book was infamous for this at the time.

For some reason I didn’t enjoy the second half of the story as much as the first this time around.  This time it just wasn’t as emotional as it had been before.  Because I mostly remembered what happened the highs weren’t as high and the lows weren’t as low.  That said it’s still a fabulous book that you just have to read, it won’t end how you think either.

By the way, I reviewed another of Pullman’s books here;

http://alittlebitofaread.blogspot.co.uk/2011/01/heresy.html