(no subject)
While browsing Amazon to find a book my brother might like for his birthday, I ended up on the reviews page for the Philip Pullman trilogy His Dark Materials. Unsurprisingly, nearly all of the one-star reviews say something along the lines of "oh my god these books are atheist! I would not let any child read these books and adults should stay away from them too!" However, I was particularly struck by this one, titled "Children's Book??":
I am an avid reader, and I love fantasy and children's literature, but what is up with everyone loving these books? I was looking forward to reading The Golden Compass, only to be completely disapointed within a few pages of starting it. I found it to be almost disturbing in its weirdness, and I honestly do not know a child, even an older well-read child, that would be able to read these books without confusion and with a genuine interest in finishing the trilogy. I managed to finish the first book, but had no interest in pursuing the trilogy further, and I was honestly left with a bad vibe from having read The Golden Compass. After reading the comments from the author about his purpose for writing the book, I can understand why I do not like it. What happened to writing children's books with the intent to entertain children with harmless, light-heartedness? I will stick with Harry Potter and Chronicles of Narnia thank you!!!
First of all, she must not know many children--I can think of several who read and loved the trilogy. Admittedly, they were all readers to begin with. Mostly, though, I love the (almost certainly unintended) irony of thinking that C.S. Lewis wrote the Chronicles of Narnia with merely "the intent to entertain children with harmless light-heartedness". I can see favoring the Narnia books over His Dark Materials for the direction of indoctrination, though I don't agree that Pullman was trying to turn readers into atheists, but thinkers, but trying to claim that Pullman had ulterior motives and Lewis did not is patently ridiculous in my opinion.
I am an avid reader, and I love fantasy and children's literature, but what is up with everyone loving these books? I was looking forward to reading The Golden Compass, only to be completely disapointed within a few pages of starting it. I found it to be almost disturbing in its weirdness, and I honestly do not know a child, even an older well-read child, that would be able to read these books without confusion and with a genuine interest in finishing the trilogy. I managed to finish the first book, but had no interest in pursuing the trilogy further, and I was honestly left with a bad vibe from having read The Golden Compass. After reading the comments from the author about his purpose for writing the book, I can understand why I do not like it. What happened to writing children's books with the intent to entertain children with harmless, light-heartedness? I will stick with Harry Potter and Chronicles of Narnia thank you!!!
First of all, she must not know many children--I can think of several who read and loved the trilogy. Admittedly, they were all readers to begin with. Mostly, though, I love the (almost certainly unintended) irony of thinking that C.S. Lewis wrote the Chronicles of Narnia with merely "the intent to entertain children with harmless light-heartedness". I can see favoring the Narnia books over His Dark Materials for the direction of indoctrination, though I don't agree that Pullman was trying to turn readers into atheists, but thinkers, but trying to claim that Pullman had ulterior motives and Lewis did not is patently ridiculous in my opinion.