It’s truly interesting how many of the world’s great books have found themselves sullied with controversy. My most recent read, Phillip Pullman’s “His Dark Materials” series, which includes “The Golden Compass”, “The Subtle Knife” and “The Amber Spyglass” has definitely raised a few brows. For all of the literature that is protested, this is the first time I actually understand, although do not perhaps sympathize with, all of the rabble-rousing.

Maybe you saw the film adaptation of the first book, which came out in 2007. It was an interesting story about a young girl, Lyra, her daemon, Pantalaimon, and the rightful king of the armored bears, Iorek Byrnison. It’s a fun story, full of magic and mystery, worlds much like are own though distinctly different, the message that one person, no matter how small, can actually make a difference. That’s what this series is about, no question.

But as the storyline develops, so does its depth. The main characters are attempting to reenact the battle of heaven- this time to help the renegade angels win and to dethrone “the Authority” (the book’s term for God, who falsely makes those who don’t know better worship him). The gist of the war can be summed up by one quote: “All the history of human life has been a struggle between wisdom and stupidity... The rebel angels, the followers of wisdom, have always tried to open minds; the Authority and his churches have always tried to keep them closed.”

Another lesson we learn in the series is that you cannot travel to other worlds without reaping major consequences. Lyra, and her friend, Will, use a mystic tool to cut holes into the fabric of the universe and dart from one world to the next. Later on, they find out that they cannot do that without, in essence, destroying all worlds. If you want to run with the anti-religious symbolism, you can understand what this implies. On a related note, Lyra and Will visit the world of the dead, a deep underground prison of sorrow where all spirits, good and bad alike, are kept for eternity. After much struggle, the two manage to free the ghosts, where they reenter the world and dissolve becoming one with the universe and ceasing to suffer an afterlife.

So I understand the controversy, but don’t sympathize with it. Why? I think its nonsense to protest literature. Books are supposed to make you think about what you believe and why you believe them (my favorite example of this is Vladimir Nabokov’s “Lolita”). Books don’t tell you what to think. Also by rallying against a book, those opposed to it only bring it more attention and more chances for its message to meet the eyes and minds of more readers. It’s not like I read this book and am suddenly an Atheist or that I believe there really is a magic item that can un-sew the fabric between two worlds—that’s ridiculous. I am still me. I have just been entertained for a while.

Melissa LR Handa is the founder and organizer for the Ann Arbor Classics Book Group and the Lead Books Contributor for AnnArbor.com. If you would like more information or to join the group, please feel free to send an email her way.