The Ruby in the Smoke.THE RUBY IN THE SMOKE. Philip Pullman Pullman. 1 Former town, since 1889 part of Chicago, Ill. It was founded in 1880 by George M. Pullman as a model community for workers of his sleeping-car company; all property was company owned, and administration policies were paternalistic. . 1985/2004. Read by Anton Lesser Anton Lesser (born 14 February 1952) is a British actor, he attended Moseley Grammar School and the University of Liverpool before going to RADA in 1977 where he was awarded the Bancroft Gold Medal as the most promising actor of his year. . 4 tapes. 6.5 hrs. Listening Library, Books on Tape. 1-4000-8512-8. $32.00. Vinyl; plot, author, reader notes. JS * Pullman's His Dark Materials His Dark Materials is a trilogy of novels by the fantasy fiction author Philip Pullman, comprising Northern Lights (released as The Golden Compass in North America and published in 1995), The Subtle Knife (1997) and The Amber Spyglass series has recently overshadowed his Sally Lockhart trilogy; but it's a delight to return to his late '80s adventure/mysteries. From the first page, where our Victorian heroine is introduced ("Her name was Sally Lockhart; and within fifteen minutes, she was going to kill a man."), the tension begins to mount as 16-year-old Sally probes the underlying truths behind her father's death at sea. Pullman maintains the excitement and mystery throughout, as Sally and the people who befriend be·friend tr.v. be·friend·ed, be·friend·ing, be·friends To behave as a friend to. befriend Verb to become a friend to Verb 1. her delve deeper into shady dealings intertwined with opium opium, substance derived by collecting and drying the milky juice in the unripe seed pods of the opium poppy, Papaver somniferum. Opium varies in color from yellow to dark brown and has a characteristic odor and a bitter taste. , murder and a long-lost ruby. Lesser voices all the characters distinctively, with one exception--when Sally and her business partner, Frederick, engage in dialog, their voices are a shade too similar and it's not always clear who is speaking. Where Lesser really excels is in his characterizations of the two old ladies of the story: Sally's exceeding unpleasant guardian, Mrs. Rees, and Mrs. Holland, the villain of the piece. His portrayals of these two are done in vivid and nasty tones, which add greatly to the narrative. An ALA Best Book for Young Adults, this is a solid selection for YA audiobook collections. Carol Reich, Youth Svcs. Mgr., Hillsboro PL., Hillsboro, OR J--Recommended for junior high school students. The contents are of particular interest to young adolescent and their teachers. S--Recommended for senior high school students. *--The asterisk (1) See Asterisk PBX. (2) In programming, the asterisk or "star" symbol (*) means multiplication. For example, 10 * 7 means 10 multiplied by 7. The * is also a key on computer keypads for entering expressions using multiplication. highlights exceptional books. |
|
||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion