His Dark Materials author Phillip Pullman rips into C.S. Lewis. (Via LinkMachineGo.) Pullman’s got a point, but to my mind his trilogy grew a lot more ponderous and a lot less fun once the whole Republic of Heaven angle became the central thrust of the story (somewhere in the first third of The Subtle Knife.)
5 thoughts on “Iorek v. Aslan.”
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Philip Pullman reminds me of a boy who hated being forced to go to church as a child and now is exacting what revenge he can. He reminds me also of the former bassist for the pretenders who, when the eagles were mentioned in an interview, said that they old farts should just get out of the way and let the new blood in (meaning, of course, himself). Pullman’s books are wonderfully crafted and i think i almost feel towards Lyra and Will as Lee Scoresby did – that’s how well written. But i think his anti-religious ranting and taking pot shots at fantasy giants like Tolkien (supposedly lord boreal was fashioned after tolkien?)
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/relig/enc/stories/s510312.htm
does not raise his standing in my eyes. He should just accept his laurels rather than try and tear down icons of the past (like tolkien and lewis) just to raise his own stature. On their own merits, his books stand with Lord of the Rings or Narnia as great books. Why engage in the petty trashing? It is the pettiness which now taints his works in my mind.
I checked your link and i honestly don’t remember a girl in the Narnia novels going to hell for liking clothes and boys. I’ll have to reread it but i think if anyone went to hell there was more to it than that. But then, that’s typical of Pullman to set up an extreme straw-man and argue against that instead of the facts. His one-dimensional portrayal of “the church” in His Dark Materials is much the same way. It is reminiscent of the portrayal of “the church” in hollywood and american tv shows.
To the best of my recollection, when i read the Narnia novels for the first time (as an adult) i found the female characters to be wonderfully strong characters, not the window dressing so often seen in puerile fantasy. Some of the scenes were laughable – his having the dinosaurs eat the world and then die and leave fossils all in a day – come on! but still, he wasn’t trying to fool anybody. Everyone knew where CS Lewis stood. I found the portrayal of god/jesus as Aslan very charming.
Please allow me to make this clear – I have no problem with Mr. Pullman proselytizing his religious views. If he feels so strongly about it he should speak out. Where i have an issue is that he seems to feel his work cannot stand on its own and that he must tear down other writers to further his cause. Attack the ideas? Cool! Attack the people? Petty.
As much as i loved Iorek as a character i have to give the edge to Aslan. At least CS Lewis never attacked Lewis Carroll.
Pullman’s assessment of the “Hell” scene in “The Last Battle” is blatantly incorrect. The character is not “sent to Hell”; they are rather spoken of unfavourably by other characters for becoming materialistic, and denying that the fantastical expereinces in the previous books happened. Mr Pullman’s assessment is incorrect.
Re:
“The character [Susan in THE LAST BATTLE] is not ‘sent to Hell’: they are rather spoken of unfavourably … ”
Why did you call Susan “they” rather than “she”?
Your comments have just saved my day!
I am doing a rather large paper (30+ pages) on Lewis vs. pullmann to complete my education. I’m so happy to see others who feel as I do about the two authors.
I am putting emphasis on development of moral and ethics in childrens upbringing (I’m studying to become a schoolteacher) and I am a big fan of Lewis on that account. Sure his books are preaching Christianity, but at least he was open about it! He found God as an adult, and sure that affected The Chronicles of Narnia, but I sure don’t see that as a bad thing! The books should also be seen as products of another time, a time where religion wasn’t frowned upon as it often is today. A time where the Christian teachings where a natural part of childrens education. If anything the books might have been seen as blasphemic because of the great likeness between Aslan and Jesus.
I read His Dark Materials as a teenager (I was 13 when The Golden Compas was published i Danish) and I really didn’t like it much. I didn’t read the next two books until 4 or 5 years ago, and I still didn’t like them. Well don’t get me wrong. I like The Golden Compas for the story about the girl, and her adventures, but I really miss happiness in the books. There are short moments of bliss, but they are always destroyed, and my overall impression of His Dark Materials is really gloomy.
For sure this is not something I would want to read to my children…
And the bashing of C.S. Lewis has really made me look down upon Pullman. He comes across as a sulky teenager, bashing everyone feeling different than himself.
It seems that the point of His Dark Materials is to teach the reader, that you can’t trust anyone except yourself. There is no God to help you, and the people you trust either die or turn against you. Well for sure thats not a morale I like!
One thing strikes me though: If he really has such a strong dislike for The Chrohnicles of Narnia, why has he chosen to build the Iorek-carachter so close against Aslan? They are both large predators, dangerous in appearance, but mild and caring to those who are on the “good” side. Maybe he hates Lewis so much, because he can’t help but be influenced by him?
Well…just my thoughts… If any of you would be interested in a further discussion my mail is nadja@stofanet.dk and I would greatly appreciate it!
Susan, simply wasn’t with them when they died. She didn’t get sent anywhere. She remained in the shadowlands. Which in concept could be hellish?? I think she rather missed her chance at that moment but he did give her time to redeem herself . . . possibly . . . I guess I can’t know that. But that was my perception.