Have you read ... Philip Pullman?

   

    I've been watching the BBC documentary, The World of Philip Pullman. First broadcast in 2001 and written and narrated by novelist and bographer D.J.Taylor, it's an incisive appraisal of the work and beliefs of a man who, from a garden shed in Oxford, conjured another world. I'm referring, of course, to His Dark Materials, the trilogy for which he is best known, children's books which have found an enormous adult readership.

    Northern Lights, the first book in the series, was recommended to us by a publisher friend not long after it came out. I read it avidly, unable to put it down, and went straight on to volume 2 The Subtle Knife. Then we had to wait for the third book The Amber Spyglass, but when eventually it was published it was one of only a handful of novels I've bought in hardback on the day of release - I had been so captivated by the earlier ones that I was impatient for the conclusion. That it went on to be the first children's book longlisted for the Booker prize, and is a work which "bridged the divide between age and gender", says much.

    The documentary refers to Philip Pullman's range, likening it to that of Beethoven in moving from "the delicate and light to the hugely tragic and enormous", and it praises the sophistication of his writing. Interestingly, Pullman describes himself as a realist, not a fantasist, interested in how real people behave but finding "the mechanism of fantasy useful".

    It's been 12 years since I turned the final page of the trilogy and I'd love to read it again. Have you read Philip Pullman - any of his books - and if so, what did you think?

Comments

[Mary]

I'd love to read them again, too. How interesting to compare him to Beethoven. I'd certainly count them as great classics. What a shame that film adaptation with Nicole KIdman was so feeble.

[Cornflower]

I haven't seen the film, but yes, it's a pity it didn't live up to the books.

[Sue]

I thought Northern Lights was wonderful and went on to The Subtle Knife which I also enjoyed. I got a bit bogged down in The Amber Spyglass though. Time to give it another chance perhaps.

[Barbara]

Read the first one, thought it was brilliant and absolutely hated it.

[GeraniumCat]

I loved them all, although especially the first, but I don't like them quite as much as I liked another trilogy which came out at around the same time, and to which I awaited the sequels even more eagerly: Garth Nix's Old Kingdom trilogy. I've read that several times, to the once I've read Pullman's. My husband, who hasn't read His Dark Materials, did enjoy the film.

[The Willoughby Book Club]

Haven't read any Pullman - but certainly tempted on the strength of the reviews above! Thanks

[Erika]

I read them as they appeared. Entranced by the first one, slightly restless with the second, definitely less pleased by the third. Where did this trilogy nonsense come from?

I am looking forward very mush to reading his re-telling of 100 of the Grimms' fairy tales.

[Jodie]

Yeeeeeeeesssssss, wonderful books! Oh and what pretty covers above. I've also read his detective trilogy and two of the follow on books from HDM.

[Essie Fox]

I adored them and also couldn't put them down. When I finished reading the last I wrote a letter to Philip Pullman...a real fan letter.

On Wednesday I'm going to King's Place to hear him talking about his new book. Can't wait.

[Georgina]

I read and loved the Dark Materials series and went on to read all his other books too. I also enjoyed the television adaptations of the Victorian detective series.

[Georgina]

I've just looked at his website and realise that I haven't read all his books!

[Charlie]

Love Philip Pullman, though I never made it to the last book in the trilogy (currently working on changing that as I started reading them again). His standalone novels are brilliant too, but His Dark Materials has to be the best!

[LizF]

Bought them for the children as they came out but I have only read Northern Lights which I did very much enjoy. They are on my list to read at some point though - maybe in time to give them to the grandchildren (gives me about six or seven years I reckon since the eldest is now 4!)
I actually quite liked the film although I'm not a fan of Nicole Kidman when she does the breathy acting bit but as junior son said 'what's not to like about armoured polar bears?'

[LizF]

Is that the one that starts with Sabriel?
I bought them for my daughter but read them myself first much to her irritation!

[Caroline pARR]

I reread His Dark Materials every year as I love them so much - usually around Christmas actually so I am due a Pullman fix soon! One of my fellow Open University students is writing her dissertation on Pullman's use of Paradise Lost in His Dark Materials, which I think sounds fascinating and I am hoping to convince her to let me have a peak once she is done! Have you seen Pullman has just released his version of Grimms' fairy stories?

[Mary Ann]

I thought the first two were interesting and entertaining and did all kinds of interesting things wtih Milton and Blake that raised expectations high. The Amber Spyglass was a huge disappointment; both dull and none of the expectations were met satisfyingly; it turned into a Hitchenesque/Dawkinesque anti-Christian screed, replete with evil priests and a nun who rejected God and embraced atheism (the correct view) because she was kissed. Puleeze.