His dark materials

[methodius]

I've just re-read His dark materials by Philip Pullman.

It's not really a trilogy, but rather a single novel in three volumes, like Lord of the rings. Pullman rather immodestly claims that his books are better than those of Tolkien or C.S. Lewis.

I first read His dark materials about five years ago, and didn't like it much. I thought the first

Comments

Re: His Dark Materials

[methodius]

I first read The lion, the witch and the wardrobe when I was 24, and immediately read the rest of the Narnia books. I wished then (and wish now) that I had been able to read them as a child -- much better than Enid Blyton and Biggles, which was just about all that was available when I was a child.

Here's some infor about Peretti's books. Piercing the darkness is the one that The amber spyglass reminds me of. Definitely inferior to Lewis (and, in some respects, to Pullman).

Peretti, Frank. 1995. The oath. Dallas: Word.
Dewey: 813.54
ISBN: 0-8499-1178-8
Steve Benson's brother is killed while
camping, apparently by a wild animal, and a
bear is suspected. Steve Benson, a wild life
biologist, is not so sure, and wants to
investigate further. But the people of Hyde
Valley, the town near where the attack took
place, do not seem to want him investigating.
The town, it seems has some secrets its own,
and the people are prepared to resort to
violence to keep them secret.

Peretti, Frank E. 1989. Piercing the darkness. Westchester,
IL: Crossway.
ISBN: 0-89107-527-5
A novel about principalities and powers
affecting everyday life. A bit like some of
the novels of C.S. Lewis - a cross between
"The Screwtape letters" and "That hideous
strength", but more crude and simplistic than
Lewis.

Re: His Dark Materials

[jp_uk]

Methodius

Many thanks for this, I will have a read.

I note both yourself and Fr John are listed as having an interest in Alexander Schmemann. Not so one well known here in the Anglican fold, alas, but someone I am familiar with and have tried, with (ironically!) an Evangelical zeal, to get friends to become more interested. I bought 'The Eucharist' as ordination presents for two priest friends of mine - one was more pleased as the book was on his reading list from theological college (Rydley Hall, Cambridge) - so Fr Schmemann's work is being studied here.

I have both The Eucharist and Liturgical Theology on my own bookshelves and perhaps the former will be my next 're-read'. I last read the book when I was a novice fourteen years ago and perhaps it is time to have a look at it again.

Must get on with some work.

Again thanks for the info.

Every Blessing:

J-P

Schmemann

[methodius]

Have you read For the life of the world?

Re: Schmemann

[jp_uk]

Methodius

No, I haven't read that book, though it is a book 'earmarked' for reading.

So many books: so little time!

I like Schmemann's style and his vision. My Christian roots are within the Conservative, Evangelical tradition, a tradition which has eschewed liturgy and ritual - in some cases in such a way that the very act of discarding ritual has become a ritual. It was not until I became more interested in the wider tradition of the Church that I seriously began to read about the evolution and meaning of the liturgy. The first book which opened up this road was ‘Company of Voices’ by the Anglican Religious, George Guiver, from that I went on to read Schmemann's ‘The Eucharist’.

I was a novice brother at the time in a community that has sought to marry the traditions of the East and West. Their present Liturgy is an amalgam of two elements: the Anglican Communion Rite and the Liturgy of St John Chrysostom. The community uses prosphora instead of the pathetic wafers, used in the West, and there is a procession of the gifts while singing Ps 24 and the cherubic hymn. As there is no Iconostasis and Royal Doors some of the impact is lost, but the sense of the Eucharist being a gathering of all in all and for all is explicit and a welcomed inclusion into Anglican worship. [If you want to have a look at the monastery’s chapel there’s a photo on my journal under ‘Where do I go from here? ‘ (It’s not a happy entry..).]

Schmemann’s writing was the means by which I was able to understand this and moreover see its importance. Alas the Anglican Eucharist is rather lacking outside of the monastery, though I believe some churches have adopted a ‘parish’ version of the monastery’s liturgy.

If you keep suggesting books to me, Methodius, I can see I’m going to weighed down when I go on holiday in a few weeks!

Many thanks and every blessing:

J-P

Re: Schmemann

[methodius]

There is an LJ community for discussing Schmemann's works.

For the life of the world converted me to Orthodoxy. In the secular sixties I went to study theology in England, at St Chad's College, Durham. Fr George (Paul) Guiver was also a student. One Easter vac I attended a seminar on Orthodox worship for non-Orthodox theological students at the Ecumenical Centre in Bossey, Switzerland, which included Holy Week at St Sergius in Paris.

And then I read For the life of the world -- well, actually the abbreviated version, The world as sacrament. I had been dissatisfied with the evangelical/social activist divide in Western theology for some time, and thought that both sides were right in what they affirmed and wrong in what they denied. Schmemann's book cut the Gordian knot, and said all the things that I had been trying to say, however inarticulately.