There Are Some Themes, Some

You Don't Read It In The Sense Of Reading A Message; It Doesn't Work Like That. What's Happening Is That The Shadows Are Responding To The Attention You Pay Them.

I'm Perfectly Happy About Being Superstitious And Atheistic.

Lyra Learns To Her Great Cost That Fantasy Isn’t Enough. She Has Been Lying All Her Life, Telling Stories To People, Making Up Fantasies, And Suddenly She Comes To A Point Where That’s Not Enough. All She Can Do Is Tell The Truth. She Tells The Truth About Her Childhood, About The Experiences She Had In Oxford, And That Is What Saves Her. True Experience, Not Fantasy - Reality, Not Lies - Is What Saves Us In The End.

Sticks And Stones, I'll Break Yer Bones, But Names Ain't Worth A Quarrel.

I Have Maintained A Passionate Interest In Education, Which Leads Me Occasionally To Make Foolish And Ill-considered Remarks Alleging That Not Everything Is Well In Our Schools. My Main Concern Is That An Over-emphasis On Testing And League Tables Has Led To A Lack Of Time And Freedom For A True, Imaginative And Humane Engagement With Literature.