MadelynIris
Refugee
Got this from an email list I subscribe to. Curious on your thoughts about this author, the books, and the movie.
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Think of it as the 'anti-Narnia' story if you will. At least I get that vibe from The Golden Compass author Philip Pullman when he states:
"I hate the Narnia books, and I hate them with a deep and bitter passion."
What do you think? Did you pick up any message from that subtle statement?
Which is incredibly ironic, since he borrows a significant amount of imagery and plot points from The Chronicles of Narnia for his books! Let's see, The Golden Compass introduces us to Lucy Lyra, who eventually hides in a wardrobe. There's an alternate world with witches and talking animals and final battles (oh my!). So in other words, he hates the Narnia series with a 'deep and bitter passion', but he was happy to borrow some of the critical elements that make it such a compelling series.
Well, isn't that special!
What isn't so special is the apparent dishonesty coming out of the film's promoters and the author himself. Here's a small sample from Pullman's web site in his own words:
"The meaning of a story emerges in the meeting between the words on the page and thoughts in the reader's mind. So when people ask me what I meant by this story, or what was the message I was trying to convey in that one, I have to explain that I'm not going to explain. Anyway, I'm not in the message business; I'm in the 'Once upon a time' business."
Fair enough, except the 'Once upon a time' actually has clear 'messages' from characters in the story like these:
"The Christian religion is a very powerful and convincing mistake, that's all."
"Every church is the same: control, destroy, obliterate every good feeling."
And the most telling statement of all from Pullman:
"My books are about killing God."
I don't know about you, but when I think "good children's stories," "killing God" ranks right up there with what I look for.
------------------------
Think of it as the 'anti-Narnia' story if you will. At least I get that vibe from The Golden Compass author Philip Pullman when he states:
"I hate the Narnia books, and I hate them with a deep and bitter passion."
What do you think? Did you pick up any message from that subtle statement?
Which is incredibly ironic, since he borrows a significant amount of imagery and plot points from The Chronicles of Narnia for his books! Let's see, The Golden Compass introduces us to Lucy Lyra, who eventually hides in a wardrobe. There's an alternate world with witches and talking animals and final battles (oh my!). So in other words, he hates the Narnia series with a 'deep and bitter passion', but he was happy to borrow some of the critical elements that make it such a compelling series.
Well, isn't that special!
What isn't so special is the apparent dishonesty coming out of the film's promoters and the author himself. Here's a small sample from Pullman's web site in his own words:
"The meaning of a story emerges in the meeting between the words on the page and thoughts in the reader's mind. So when people ask me what I meant by this story, or what was the message I was trying to convey in that one, I have to explain that I'm not going to explain. Anyway, I'm not in the message business; I'm in the 'Once upon a time' business."
Fair enough, except the 'Once upon a time' actually has clear 'messages' from characters in the story like these:
"The Christian religion is a very powerful and convincing mistake, that's all."
"Every church is the same: control, destroy, obliterate every good feeling."
And the most telling statement of all from Pullman:
"My books are about killing God."
I don't know about you, but when I think "good children's stories," "killing God" ranks right up there with what I look for.