(urth) OT- His Dark Materials
Don Doggett
harlekin at earthlink.net
Thu Oct 14 17:07:40 PDT 2004
Hey everyone,
I just finished The Amber Spyglass last night and I have to say I was
pleasantly surprised by the entire trilogy. The only review I read of
it was backhandedly complimentary and very critical of Pullman's
negative approach to God and the Church. I think the reviewer dropped
the ball though. It seems to me the work is profoundly Gnostic and
having taken that viewpoint, it couldn't go in any other direction.
Careful reading reveals that Pullman (no matter what his personal
beliefs, which I don't know) leaves open the question of an ultimate
Creator. All he's really saying is the God of the Christian Church
ain't it. He's the Demiurge, a big faker who makes the world a worse
place than it needs to be. It's really interesting to read him with
Wolfe in mind. Though Pullman isn't nearly as subtle a writer, IMO,
he is certainly as humane, and probably more sympathetic to women than
Wolfe. (Though I tend to agree with Blattid's fallen world theory
regarding that). But they're apples and oranges I suppose.
Just my two cents
Don
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