duessa and mardi

#4: philip pullman's his dark materials trilogy

reason: i had never read fantasy or young adult before i, out of curiosity, casually picked up the golden compass.  these books have so much going for them--the imagery alone is worth the read.  add to that the fact that the narrative is interesting and beautifully written and they're all the better.

does pullman's lack of religion, the hotly debated subject that caused these poor books to be challenged/banned, come into play in the novels?  not necessarily.  as a literature student i could certainly interpret them that way, but there is more complexity to them than that.  there's rich allegory at play here; i haven't quite worked it out, but i won't stop reading and enjoying them until i do.