The Republic of Heaven

*wanders in here after an age*

Besides Will's flash-forward in The Amber Spyglass, I also love this passage from The Subtle Knife:

And then Serafina understood something for which the witches had no word: it was the idea of pilgrimage. She understood why these beings would wait for thousands of years and travel vast distances in order to be close to something important, and how they would feel differently for the rest of time, having been briefly in its presence.

I have another from TAS... "Someone who displays to his under-officers a captive tied to a chair is clearly a prince of politeness." One of my favourite quotes in the book; I always smile when I read it.

There are many little touching vignettes through the books, some I've only picked up on second reading.

In the cave: Will breathed in the scent of Lyra's sleepy body with a happy satisfaction: she was here, she was real.

Perhaps it's the cumulative effect of lines such as that, that gives these characters so much substance.

Or these ones; Asriel to Ogunwe (yes, I know it's a passage, not a line): My daughter!" cried Lord Asriel, exulting. "Isn't it something to bring a child like that into the world? You'd think it was enough to go alone to the king of the armoured bears and trick his kingdom out of his paws - but to go down into the world of the dead and calmly let them all out!...Did we know what we were taking on when we started this rebellion? No. But did they know - the Authority and his Regent....what they were taking on when my daughter got involved?"

Makes me smile every time I read it.

"...Shame to die with one bullet left, though."

It's been my motto ever since.

Got to be- TAS, page 512.

'Everything about her in that moment was soft;...'...nearer to the last one of all'.

I don't know about the dialogue in the books, but in the film, it must be:

'In the Retiring Room already.'

if only... wrote:
'In the Retiring Room already.'

They translated that so worng in the swedish subtitles. I am so ashamed. What was the guy thinking?
"In the bedroom (Retiringroom- restroom- bedroom) completely ready"

That is some horrible translating.

whoa, that's bad translation. And I found my favourite book dialogue.

TAS, when Will says:

"Spies, sent by Lord Asriel. They helped us escape yesterday, but if they're on our side they shouldn't hide and eavesdrop on us. And if they do, they're the last people who should talk about dishonour."

last,closing line from NL:
Lyra and her daemon turned away from the world they were born in, and looked toward the sun, and walked into the sky.

Best Line EVER

damnit if i found that prior to my last post that would be my choice

a great one was 'the bilges, whatever they were,' i always laugh at that.

One of my favourite lines is said by John Parry in TAS: "We have to build the republic of heaven where we are, because for us there is no elsewhere." I just think that sentence has layers of meaning.

And of course I love the last line of NL - that can't be beaten. Such beautiful imagery.