or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
Trade in Yours
For a £2.00 Gift Card
Trade in
More Buying Choices
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
Sorry, this item is not available in
Image not available for
Colour:
Image not available

 
Tell the Publisher!
I’d like to read this book on Kindle

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.

"His Dark Materials" Illuminated: Critical Essays on Philip Pullman's Trilogy (Landscapes of Childhood) [Paperback]

Millicent Lenz , Carole Scott

Price: £24.95 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
Only 2 left in stock (more on the way).
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon. Gift-wrap available.
Want it Friday, 21 June? Choose Express delivery at checkout. Details
Trade In this Item for up to £2.00
Trade in "His Dark Materials" Illuminated: Critical Essays on Philip Pullman's Trilogy (Landscapes of Childhood) for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £2.00, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Special Offer until June 30, 2013: Receive an additional £5 promotional Gift Card, when you trade-in at least £10 worth of books. Learn more

Special Offers and Product Promotions

  • Amazon Family members enjoy 20% off every delivery of nappies. Join today to get your discount, as well as a free trial of Amazon Prime and up to £50 worth of offers every month.


Frequently Bought Together

"His Dark Materials" Illuminated: Critical Essays on Philip Pullman's Trilogy (Landscapes of Childhood) + The Devil's Account: Philip Pullman and Christianity + Navigating the Golden Compass: Religion, Science and Daemonology in Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" (Smart Pop Series)
Price For All Three: £43.78

Buy the selected items together


Product details

  • Paperback: 320 pages
  • Publisher: Wayne State University Press (30 Nov 2005)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0814332072
  • ISBN-13: 978-0814332078
  • Product Dimensions: 15.2 x 1.3 x 22.9 cm
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 643,527 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Product Description

Synopsis

British author Philip Pullman's celebrated trilogy for young readers, His Dark Materials [Northern Lights/Golden Compass (1995), The Subtle Knife (1997), The Amber Spyglass (2000)], has reached a broad spectrum of readers, from those appreciating his metaphysical imagination and literary depth to those charmed by his suspenseful and emotional storytelling. Pullman's trilogy is distinguished not only for its narrative and poetic power but also for its awareness of literary tradition. His Dark Materials confronts some of the most urgent dilemmas of our time without suggesting answers but rather a way of meeting them with courage and surviving them with grace. Edited by Millicent Lenzrenowned for her study of Pullman's workthis is the first book to place His Dark Materials in critical perspective. The fourteen diverse essays within offer literary and historical analysis as well as approaches from such disciplines as theology, storytelling, and linguistics 1886167249 03e040305-56

Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store

If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store. Learn more


Customer Reviews

There are no customer reviews yet on Amazon.co.uk.
5 star
4 star
3 star
2 star
1 star
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com: 3.7 out of 5 stars  3 reviews
12 of 15 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars An amazing reference 25 Nov 2007
By Heather E. Waddell - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
The essays in this collection are wonderful references for any critical look at HIS DARK MATERIALS. It was a constant go-to for me while writing my thesis. The essays are organized well and cover a broad range of topics. Since criticism on HDM is so new, it is sometimes difficult to find essays that directly relate to the trilogy as literature. This was the first source I found for academic work that discussed more than the trilogy's merit as a children's series. I also appreciated that opposing viewpoints were presented for several of the topics, and that there were short summaries given for each article.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Thorough and insightful 8 Sep 2011
By N. J. Stallman - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
His Dark Materials Illuminated is by far the most sophisticated of collections of essays published on HDM (particularly compared to "navigating the Golden Compass" and "the world of the Golden Compass"). The text is diverse in the topics analysed, providing on occasions multiple opposing perspectives on a theme. Of particular note are the theological engagements with Pullman's text, which are by far some of the best presented so far.
10 of 17 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars Fan Criticism 27 May 2008
By A Reader - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
This collection of supposedly critical essays was very disappointing. It reminded me of critical essays on Star Trek, which are too accepting of the work as a perfect and self-contained opus. Very seldom do the essays in "Illuminated" look at Pullman's literary creation with any critical distance; very seldom, for example, do they take note of the trilogy's many inconsistencies, plot holes, and cardboard characters. And although the essays do discuss the trilogy's relation to Blake, Milton, and Lewis, they rarely acknowledge its relation to the modern fantasy genre as well as atheist polemics -- much the same way that Star Trek fan criticism fails to acknowledge the Hollywood studio context of its opus.

I found Pullman's trilogy fascinating but deeply flawed. I am sympathetic to his atheist argument, but felt that he failed truly to engage Christianity in a fair fight (he hardly mentions Christ). I was disappointed because what I thought was going to be an anthem to atheist rationalism proved to be pantheist mysticism instead. And I thought the literary qualities of the third book were abominable, especially after the excellent work in the first. I had hoped to see some of these considerations explored in these essays, but I found them too uncritical, and above all, too eager to accept as satisfactory Pullman's ambitious but failed attempt at imagining a universe.

The debate that Pullman tackles deserves a better effort than his, substantial though it is, and I would like to see some criticism that sifts the solid points in Pullman's writing from the clumsy gaffes and points the way toward some better assessment of the argument.
Were these reviews helpful?   Let us know

Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
Search all Amazon discussions
   
Related forums


Listmania!


Look for similar items by category


Feedback


Amazon.co.uk Privacy Statement Amazon.co.uk Delivery Information Amazon.co.uk Returns & Exchanges