fantasy fiction
Recently, I finished reading the His Dark Materials trilogy, which includes The Golden Compass, by Philip Pullman. John gave me the book for my birthday last year and I finally got around to reading it. Quite honestly, I wasn't too keen on committing to reading a 933 page, three part volume. But, being a book written for children, I decided that it was reasonable to include on my list of summer reading. I was looking forward to finding out what all the fuss was about.
Prior to the release of the film version of The Golden Compass, which I haven't seen, I didn't know much about the novel. I only became aware of the controversy associated with the book when the film came out. During the media coverage of the debates surrounding the film, I was shocked to learn that the Chronicles of Narnia had strong religious undertones — I was quite young when I read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and all of the religious references obviously didn't register. Quite honestly, I'm not sure I'd catch them all now given my very rather superficial understanding of Christianity [1]. Of the Narnia series, Pullman has said: "It is monumentally disparaging of girls and women. It is blatantly racist." (via The Guardian)
Needless to say, as an atheist, I was intrigued by Pullman's literary rebuttal to C.S.Lewis (and was thinking that I should re-read some C.S. Lewis to get a better appreciation of its racist and sexist undertones).
And the verdict? I enjoyed His Dark Materials quite a bit and would recommend it. I found the plot a bit slow in places, but generally captivating. I appreciated that the anti-Church sentiments were unmistakeable yet embedded in the story and presented in such a way as to create suspense and keep the reader guessing. Pullman's re-branding of the notion of Original Sin was brilliant as was his rendering of the afterlife. And the female characters were strong and smart, which I loved. I also enjoyed the author's presentation of scientific theories alongside fantastical concepts throughout the trilogy.
Many of the themes explored His Dark Materials are not those that a child would necessarily understand. Although Pullman's books are so very much different than the Chronicles of Narnia series, they share one thing in common: any person who reads them in their childhood should re-read them as an adult.
And, finally, when it comes to fantasy fiction, J.R.R. Tolkien still takes the cake in my books.
[1] Religion has not played a central role in my life — I learned most of what I know about Christianity in MRE (Moral and Religious Education) in elementary school. MRE involved separating the Catholics from the Protestants. For this purpose, I was classified as Protestant (the lone Jew in my class had to spend MRE sitting in the Principle's Office, which I didn't perceive as being wrong on so many levels until much later in life). We learned the main stories from the Old and New Testaments and we watched religious movies, like the Ten Commandments, and we made decorations for the teacher's church at Easter. Very instructive.
