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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
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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.
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.
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3.7 out of 5 stars
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