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

[canonjohn]

My initial assessment of the series is similar to yours: the first book was good, the second was also (and in some ways more interesting) but the final book was disappointing - though it had good moments. I though Pullman had a strong anti-Christian agenda and the "God" (Authority) that he is attacking is a caricature. If I recall correctly, +Rowan Williams had some interesting observations about the books. I wouldn't want my children (if I had any) to read them without some guidance. I appreciated your reflections.
John

[methodius]

It is indeed a caricature, and more akin to the Gnostic demiurge than to any Christian understanding of God. Pullman likes to compare his writing favourably when compared with C.S. Lewis, but in the third book he descends to the level of Frank Peretti.

[canonjohn]

That comment made me smile. I happen to be a fan of Lewis and I don't like Peretti at all. I would concede that with Pullman the first two parts are well written, although I am not comfortable with the "message". The third part is simply not as well written and is more simplistic.....yes, like Peretti. I would not have thought of the comparison, but it makes sense.
John

Pullman, Peretti and Lewis

[methodius]

I suppose if I hadn't read a couple of Frank Peretti's books, Pullman's "angels" might not have struck me as quite so ludicrous, and the whole battle scene is pure Peretti.

When I first read The amber spyglass I thought the land of the dead part was a bit of a cliche -- rather like the paths of the dead in Lord of the rings (which has always struck me as one of the most unnecessary parts of that story). And Dante had one and Virgil before him and so on.

The mulefa and their wheels were quite interesting, and in some ways the most interesting part of the book, but also the part where Pullman's resentment of Lewis seems to come out most strongly. I may be misjudging, but it looks as though he takes Lewis's concept of hnau (from Out of the silent planet) and tries to counter the use Lewis made of it. In Lewis the villains are a mad scientist and an evil financier, who have their evil imperialistic schemes brought to nothing by a humanities professor.

But in Lewis's book the hnau of Malacandra are still biped vertebrates. Pullman

His Dark Materials

[jp_uk]

I’m of the same opinion as regards the Dark Material’s trilogy: book one is good, book two has some interesting character analysis: especially around motive and actions and then book three sort of runs out of steam. The third book reminds me of my student days when I’d write an essay and it wouldn’t finish, I’d just keep writing and there was no succinct resolution to my arguments. My usual course of action if this happened was to rip it up and start again. ‘The Amber Spy Glass’ had the same feeling: it couldn’t resolve itself and although I enjoyed the book I was left feeling that a small, but successful practical joke had been played on me, a joke I didn’t quite understand

Re: His Dark Materials

[methodius]

Yes, Lewis is preachy in the Narnia stories, especially in his asides to the reader about things like the danger of locking oneself in a wardrobe. But I think Pullman is more preachy, especially in The amber spyglass.

My favourite among the Narnia stories is The voyage of the dawn treader. It wasn't when I first read them, though. Then it was the one I liked least. I thought it was too elitist. A friend told me his favourite character was Reepicheep, and I thought Reepicheep was almost as offensive as Eustace Scrubb.

But after a couple of readings I changed my mind, and in any case found Lewis's presentation of fallen angels much more convincing than the Pullman/Peretti one.

Re: His Dark Materials

[jp_uk]

My least favourite book in the Narnian Chronicles is Prince Caspian. As with you I found (and still find, to a lesser degree) Reepicheep an offensive little chappy - if ever there was a candidate for vivisection it is Reepicheep

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

[ex_lunasparr180]

Funny thing about those books, I read Northern Lights and the whole time I was thinking about how original, wonderfully written, intriguing, intelligent and brilliant it was. On the other hand, I couldn't explain to myself why I found it so dissatisfying. It was like having a sumptuous meal and then finding that you had left the table still as hungry as when you sat down.

It wasn't until I read somewhere that Pullman was an athiest that I understood my reaction. There is just nothing redemptive about Pullman's books. The characters are finely drawn, the descriptions are amazing, the language is beautiful, the plot arc is original and tight, the fantasy is luminous but it all seems so pointless at the end. There is no ultimate meaning. The character's lives just seem meaningless and selfish, not part of any thing bigger than themselves and thus not capable of anything as profound as sacrifice. The magic is empty because it doesn't serve anything higher than itself

Pullman as an author

[methodius]

Though I enjoyed it more the second time around, I still didn't think it was great literature. Perhaps that is for the reason that you mention -- it just didn't seem to be going anywhere, except back where it started. But even the "yhere and back again" in The hobbit felt as though it had a point.

If the point is the tragic star-crossed lovers (perhaps one should say "dust-crossed" in this case), then a Romeo and Juliet-type tragic ending might have been better.