For those caught in the muck called debate tourneys, you (most likely) would agree with my sentiment above.

Don’t say I didn’t warn ya! Click only if you want to read all my rambles

True, it’s the kind of muck you willingly jump into, but the road to (most likely) glory is paved with proximity mines… thus it kinda makes me a bit woozy. You can prep yourself with so many information before you need a breather.

Enter stage left: Star Wars – Coruscant Nights Trilogy.

I’m now a quarter into book 2, and now devouring the whole thing like a rancor on diet… coz I want to start reading Phillip Pullman’s His Dark Materials Trilogy!

(Not to mention the nice slim Essential Guide to Mastering the Art of Kendo…)

Yay for me.

On the other hand, I’m missing my one and only quite terribly (well, after not seeing her for most of the year and then meeting her for only a couple of hours… you get the picture…)

Now, I’m sitting yet again in front of my notebook, suddenly at loss what to do.

Whacking Tyranids on DoW 2 – Done.

Whacking mobsters on Hitman 2 – Done.

Read all the weekly manga scans – Done.

Clear out my spam folders – Done.

Propose to my one and only – On Hold until fund reaches $ 100k or more.

Practicing my atrocious kendo – On Hold until my back clears out.

Sending my loan conversion letter to MARA – On Hold until Moanday.

Research for GSD and VC matter load – On Definite Hold until I feel doing it.

So who said I was disorganized? I am THIS organized!

I did warn ya I was rambling, didn’t I?

Genre: Fantasy

Year of Publication: 2000

Book 3 of His Dark Materials

The Amber Spyglass brings the intrigue of The Golden Compass and The Subtle Knife to a heart-stopping end, marking the final volume of His Dark Materials as the most powerful of the trilogy.

Along with the return of Lyra, Will, Mrs. Coulter, Lord Asriel, Dr. Mary Malone, and Iorek Byrnison the armored bear, come a host of new characters: the Mulefa, mysterious wheeled creatures with the power to see Dust; Gallivespian Lord Roke, a hand-high spymaster to Lord Asriel; and Metatron, a fierce and mighty angel. So, too, come startling revelations: the painful price Lyra must pay to walk through the land of the dead, the haunting power of Dr. Malone’s amber spyglass, and the names of who will live–and who will die–for love. And all the while, war rages with the Kingdom of Heaven, a brutal battle that–in its shocking outcome–will uncover the secret of Dust. Philip Pullman deftly brings the cliff-hangers and mysteries of His Dark Materials to an earth shattering conclusion–and confirms his fantasy trilogy as an undoubted and enduring classic.

Download Link

http://ifile.it/jwrspne

Si uite si a doua carte de PHILIP PULLMAN pe care o termin! Si tin sa anunt ca THE AMBER SPYGLASS a fost chiar mai buna decat THE SUBTLE KNIFE! Da, ati auzit bine, am facut o afirmatie ce pana si mie mi s-ar fi parut ridicola inainte sa incep sa citesc cartea de fata.

Trebuie sa intelegeti un lucru in legatura cu ultimul volum al trilogiei HIS DARK MATERIALS: actiunea e intensa, iar cand spun asta vreau sa zic ca e inimaginabil cum de poate un scriitor sa obtina un asemenea efect… e uluitor, ce sa mai ocolim! Pot spune cu siguranta ca acesta este unul dintre cele mai bune fantasy-uri citite anul acesta!

Acum o sa va ofer sinopsis-ul cartii (care o sa va spuna povestea mai bine decat mine) si apoi o sa mai adaug cateva lucruri:

Will este purtatorul pumnalului. Acum, insotit de ingeri, are misiunea de a livra aceasta arma puternica, mortala, Lordului Asriel – la cererea tatalui sau muribund.

Dar cum ar putea sa-l caute pe Lordul Asriel cand Lyra a disparut? Doar cu ajutorul ei poate poate dezlega numeroasele mistere care nu-i dau pace. Cele doua mari puteri ale multor lumi s-au ridicat pentru razboi si Will trebuie sa o gaseasca pe Lyra, fiindca impreuna au de purtat propria lor lupta, o calatorie inevitabila care il va duce pana in lumea celor morti…

Interesant, nu? Hai ca ma las pagubas daca nu v-am facut deloc curiosi )

Si daca veti citi aceasta carte veti mai observa ceva:

1. Cartea e complexa, chiar foarte complexa, lucru ce se datoreaza partial si intinderii destul de mari – varinata in limba engleza are 550 de pagini.

2. Persoanajele – inclusiv cele ce apartin lumii fantastice – sunt atat de bine conturate incat pur si simplu par reale, extrem de verosimile – daca nu ma credeti va trebui sa cititi!

3. Romanul are o nuanta accentuata de basm (adica mai mult decat de obicei in cazul genului fantasy), dar cu toate acestea nu o sa va plictiseasca si in plus intamplarile sunt perfect credibile.

HIS DARK MATERIALS este cu siguranta una dintre cele mai bune serii scrise vreodata, iar PHILIP PULLMAN este un adevarat geniu!

Titlu: The Amber Spyglass

Autor: Philip Pullman

Editura: Scholastic Children’s Books

Editura la care cartea va fi publicata in Romania: Humanitas

Nota data de mine: + + + + + din 5

As part of my ongoing interest in genre and writing and literary merit, I came across a discussion of Philip Pullman’s views on fantasy. (Actually, I came across them as part of research on myth and story that I’m doing for a paper, but that’s irrelevant.) The author of the popular and controversial fantasy trilogy His Dark Materials doesn’t seem to like fantasy much.

I don’t like fantasy. The only thing about fantasy that interested me when I was writing this was the freedom to invent imagery such as the daemon; but that was only interesting because I could use it to say something truthful and realistic about human nature. If it was just picturesque or ornamental, I wouldn’t be interested.¹

He also says:

The more fantastical something is the less interesting I personally find it. By realistic I mean if it is talking about human beings in a way which is vivid and truthful and tells me things about myself and my own emotions and things which I recognize to be true … I don’t often encounter that sort of thing in fantasy because a lot of fantasy writing seems to me preoccupied with one adventure after another and improbable sorts of magic and weird creatures like orcs and elves and so on who don’t have any connection with the sort of human reality that I recognize so I am a little but wary of fantasy and what I was trying to do in my ‘fantasy’ … was to tell a realistic story by means of the fantastical sort of machinery of the stories.

So what you’re saying, Pullman, is that people who write fantasy use made up things and narrative adventure to say nothing useful, but you use made up things and narrative adventure to talk about the human condition.

Which is funny, because it seems to me that all you’re doing is not giving anyone but yourself much credit. You can do good things with “fantastical sort of machinery,” but no one else can. And because those other people write “fantasy,” and you’re better than them, you are clearly not writing “fantasy.” You just use it.

Really? Because I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t take long to find a lot of good things being said about humanity by reading fantasy fiction. There’s issues of morality, questions of theology, explorations of love and philosophy and all the subtleties and problems that make us human. And it seems pretty narrow-minded to say that the use of “magic and weird creatures like orcs and elves and so on … don’t have any connection with the sort of human reality that I recognize.” You don’t think that maybe, just maybe, it’s metaphorical?

Oh, no, right, only you’re capable of that.

And let’s not even delve into the fact that most of the tropes of fantasy fiction are derived directly from real-world mythology and represent human archetypes recognizable in every culture in the world and have existed for thousands of years.

He’s also said:

I always took a dim view of fantasy — still do in fact. Most of it is trash, but then most of everything is trash. It seemed to me writers of fantasy in the Tolkien tradition had this wonderful tool that could do anything, and they did very little with it.

And:

The first book I think really did what fantasy can do, besides Paradise Lost, was a book published in 1920 called The [sic] Voyage to Arcturus by David Lindsay. It’s a very poorly written, clumsily constructed book which nevertheless has the force, the power, the intensity of genius. He uses fantasy to say something profound about morality — none of Tolkien’s imitators do this.

I just think Pullman hasn’t read much fantasy. I mean, he even calls out specifically the downfall to his argument — Sturgeon’s Law, that ninety percent of everything is crud. Yes, there is a lot of bad fantasy out there, lots of stuff that maybe doesn’t do anything useful with the tools it has, just as there’s lots of bad “literature” and bad science fiction and bad movies and, well, bad people. But there’s also good stuff. And given how much volume there is of fantasy, there’s a fair amount of good stuff.

Yes, Pullman, it’s actually possible that people other than you can use fantastical elements to say something profound. It’s possible that people other than you know what a metaphor is.

That’s what fantasy does, it uses metaphor and allegory to say something about us, about our lives. Hell, that’s what all fiction does, ultimately. That’s what myth has done for thousands of years.

And don’t get me wrong — His Dark Materials is a brilliant work of writing, and I love it. But yes, it’s fantasy. And so is a lot of other good stuff. Why are people so averse to that label? Because it’s popular these days? Like success equals trash?

Get over yourselves.

———-

¹ Quotations by Philip Pullman taken from William Gray, Fantasy, Myth and the Measure of Truth, New York: Palgrave MacMillan (2009)

Philip Pullman

The greatest story ever told (as debated here) has been given a new leash of life by His Dark Materials author Philip Pullman.

In a new project, Pullman has written an alternative Bible passage re-imagining the fate of Jesus Christ, who, it is written, was killed by the Romans (or not).

Talking to The Daily Telegraph, a friend of the author said: “He has written what would have happened if Jesus had had a fair trial. He knows it will be controversial, but he has some serious points to make.”

Pullman will read his reworking or Christ’s fate at the Globe Theatre on Thursday 19 November as part of the 10th anniversary celebrations of Reprieve, an organisation which campaigns for prisoner rights.

The author is not new to controversy with the church. An honorary associate of the National Secular Society, several of Pullman’s books have been criticised by the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights. His Dark Materials, Pullman’s collection of fantasy novels which contain much discussed religious allegories, have been seen as a direct negation of Christian author, C S Lewis’, The Chronicles of Narnia, which have been criticised by Pullman.

He is also often lambasted for an interview in which he reportedly said: “I’m trying to undermine the basis of Christian belief.”

Despite all this confrontation the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, has suggested His Dark Materials be taught as part of the religious education curriculum in schools.

The Reprieve event will be hosted by Jon Snow and will also feature John le Carré and Martha Lane Fox.

Watch a documentary on Philip Pullman below:

Discussion:
Do you think Pullman has gone too far in his atheist quest with this latest project? Do you feel we should question religion more in literature? What was the last faith themed piece of writing you read?

Words: Dean Samways

Familjen är nyss hemkommen från en promenad i parken. Tengil tyckte det var fantastiskt att få komma ut på en lite längre runda igen och gräset måste känts väldigt skönt under tassarna, för det första han gjorde när vi kom till parken var att springa minst sju varv runt mig i full fart. Sen körde han nosen i backen och var så nöjd så. Vi passade på att öva lite sök också, vilket gick jättebra. På vägen hem mötte vi en mamma med tre barn i 7-9års-åldern. Tengil var då ganska trött och hade en brottningsmatch med kopplet, varvid ett av barnen utbrast: “Titta mamma, en galen liten hund med kläder!”. Haha, om hon bara visste hur rätt hon har!

Vi var och vaccinerade oss i tisdags, vilket resulterade i en hemmadag igår. Jag mådde skit under natten och morgonen, men efter några Ipren blev det bättre och idag är vi båda på topp igen. Så nu kan det svina bäst det vill, vi klarar oss.

Idag firar vi att PRV tänker godkänna vårt sökta efternamn (Frihager) såvida ingen gnäller hos PRV och av någon anledning tycker att vi inte ska heta det. Men vi hoppas på att ingen gör det. Det vore väldigt dumt tycker vi. Idag firar vi också att Jesper har fått jobb!! Hipp hurra!! Det är kul att ha mycket att fira!

Var i Lund idag och hämtade en bok för uppsatsskrivandet. Lyssnade på The Arks skiva Prayer for the weekend (det gäller ju att lyssna ikapp de gamla skivorna nu eftersom det kommer en ny i vår – hurra för det med!) och kunde inte låta bli att ta till mig den popreligiösa bönen Gimmie love to give. För just nu, efter att ha pressat ner tio sidor om litterära värdeteorier och förkovrat mig (utan större njutning) i texter av katolska präster angående Philip Pullmans His Dark Materials (det är en studieskada att kursivera titeln!) är jag faktiskt jävligt trött på allt tyckande. Kan inte folk bara få ha sina åsikter ifred? Måste argumenten för varför man gillar en bok alltid vara allmängiltiga och kan barn inte bara få läsa barnlitteratur som om de faktiskt vore barn?! Gud, är det så svårt? Grr och morr!

Men, för att avsluta lite uppåt, snart är det helg igen! Då är det planerat ytterligare ett Nike-yoga-pass och så ska vi åka upp till Pildammsparken för en riktigt härlig långpromenad. Myyys!
Och även om jag inte är ett fan av att börja julfirandet för tidigt så ser jag fram emot tändningen av julljusen i Malmö stad den 29:e november!

10. The Chronicles of Amber
Roger Zelazny

With the Amber novels, Zelazny created a very detailed and intricate fantasy universe. Fantasy fans have called this one of the most engrossing fantasy worlds they have ever read and remains a classic of modern fantasy.

9. The King of Elfland’s Daughter
Lord Dunsany

One of the most influential works of fantasy writing, Lord Dunsany’s 1924 novel of elves, kingdoms and magic laid out the groundwork for much of modern fantasy today. This is truly a pioneering work in the genre which laid out the groundwork for the writers who would come after.

8. A Song of Ice and Fire
George R. R. Martin

George Martin’s series is a richly constructed world grounded in both reality and fantasy. These unconventional plots keep the story fresh. The action is realistic while the events are unpredictable, adding a certain suspense around the characters, as you truly don’t know what will happen to them. The four books of the series thus far have grabbed the attention of high fantasy fans everywhere as they have proven to be some of the best there is.

7. A Wrinkle in Time
Madeleine L’Engle

This richly layered children’s fantasy has become a favourite to many readers over the years. Its deep themes may remind you of C.S. Lewis, with a hard look at what it means to be a child, as well as just being a great adventure. A Wrinkle in Time is a book which will stand the test of time.

6. The Harry Potter Series
J.K. Rowling

Sure, it may be bold of me to include a series which is so recent as high as #5. However, this is no ordinary fantasy series. This is the series which created a worldwide reading phenomenon, grabbing the attention of both kids and adults everywhere. Yet Harry Potter is not just hype; these are wonderfully crafted stories set in a fully realized magical world. The characters feel real, and even more so since we follow them through their growing years throughout the seven books. There are twists and very interesting plot devices all leading up to a final conclusion which does not disappoint. This series is one of the powerhouses of modern fantasy, and will remain so more a long, long time.

5. The Chronicles of Narnia
C.S. Lewis

Its interesting that most of this list is comprised of stories written for children. Perhaps it says something about the child-like need for discovery in fantasy tales, and none sums it up better than the Narnia books. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe has reached instant classic status, and the wardrobe in the title has become an icon for all portals into new and fantastic worlds. Lewis’ Christianity allegories also give this series an intellectual edge which doesn’t distract from the story. These seven books are some of the most beloved fantasy stories of all time.

4. His Dark Materials
Philip Pullman

Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy tells the story of two kids who are able to journey through the different dimensions which exist in the universe. These two children have a great destiny in the future of all the worlds which will affect the very nature of existence and spirituality. Pullman reaches for some pretty big goals here, but does not disappoint. He tackles the domination of organized religion while championing the freedoms of human thought and expression.

3. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass
Lewis Carroll

Carroll’s fantasy tale of Alice’s trip down the rabbit hole has captured the imagination of youth all over the world. This exercise in nonsensical logic, language and situations has become a book not only to enjoy, bu also to study. The metaphors in these two tales run deep and are often referenced by many other media. Alice and her crazy adventures simply make no sense; and that’s why we love them.

2. A Midsummer’s Night Dream
William Shakespeare

Let’s face it;  Shakespeare is the master.  Many of Shakespeare’s plays have an element of fantasy in them, but with Dream the bard went all out.  Shakespeare mostly played upon the idea of the fairy world and the mischievous creatures’ intrusions upon the lives of us regular humans.  Midsummer night’s dream is perhaps Shakespeare’s most beloved comedy, and its whimsy will live on for many centuries to come.

1. The Lord of the Rings
J.R.R. Tolkien

Choosing the greatest work of literary fiction was an easy task. It is, of course, the Lord of the Rings; the epic high fantasy of one hobbits journey to defeat the powers of evil. No fantasy world is as rich or detailed as Tolkien’s Middle Earth. It is as if he himself believed it to be a real place, complete with a full, fleshed out history and wonderfully detailed geography. And set in this world is a strong, heartfelt story which has proven to be ageless. This is a bold tale of massive proportions which also works on the simplest emotional level. A masterpiece in every way.

Title: The Subtle Knife
Author: Philip Pullman
Published: September 2002 (first published in 1997) by Alfred Knopf
Pages: 352
ISBN: 9780375823466

Description: In this stunning sequel to The Golden Compass, the intrepid Lyra finds herself in a shimmering, haunted otherworld — Cittàgazze, where soul-eating Specters stalk the streets and wingbeats of distant angels sound against the sky. But she is not without allies: twelve-year-old Will Parry, fleeing for his life after taking another’s, has also stumbled into this strange new realm.
On a perilous journey from world to world, Lyra and Will uncover a deadly secret: an object of extraordinary and devastating power. And with every step, they move closer to an even greater threat — and the shattering truth of their own destiny.

I Give This Book 3.5 Stars!

I liked this book for the most part.  It’s extremely imaginative.   Not only did the author create worlds separate from our own, but he makes them seem entirely believable.  My issue is the confusion.  This story is so complex at times, I have no idea what is going on.  I reread passages, and hope for the best.  If I have a hard time understanding (and I consider myself an educated adult), what in the world does the targets audience think?  Do they just skim over the passages that are trying to explain dust, or angels, or spectors (for example).  I applaud Philip Pullman for what he is trying to accomplish with this story, but it just feels like to much.

I have so many, but LAST NIGHT.. *glares*… NOT this morning…. *glarees* I wanted to make a random blog…

So… Here are some awesome links to some awesome websites.

http://something2010.wordpress.com/

http://deathwolfrp.wordpress.com/

http://peachmanga.wordpress.com/

http://www.cityintheclouds.proboards.com/index.cgi

http://hexrpg.com/

http://drejpokemon.webs.com/

So I just finished the His Dark Materials series by Philip Pullman.  I have to admit, I wasn’t really impresses with the series as a whole.  I thought the first book was pretty good, but the second and third books went downhill fast.  I thought the third book just ended.  I was expecting more than a chapter for the “final battle”.  There was all this build-up to nothing.  The whole thing withFather Gomez was a big let down.

As a Christian, I wasn’t bothered by what Pullman wrote.  In fact, I was kind of puzzled.  I know that it was a fantasy series.  I’ve read lots of fantasy books in my life, but these had me scratching my head.  Things like Dust, dæmons/souls, , the land of the dead, and angels are not necessary for a fiction book.  Several good fiction books don’t have these things.  They aren’t even needed for a criticism of Christianity or religion in general.  But here they are in this series.  I have to wonder why.  I might be missing something here though.

For those of you who actually follow this blog, and don’t just click on a link that happens to mention Robsten or the Twilight Saga, I’m sorry!  There’s not been much poetry over the last couple of days, but a lot of clicks.

Yes, I like the clicks.  (And, strangely, “Robsten” seems to generate a whole bunch more than, let’s say, “sestina.”)

But I want to explain to you (who may not understand why in the world I write about this stuff) that I truly am interested in a couple of facets of Twilight mania (besides each of Rob’s cheekbones.)

First:  despite all the poetry I’ve posted on this blog, I am mainly a fiction writer, primarily for children and young adults.  As a result, I am fascinated by the question of what makes people read a book again and again.  And I have to say (without mentioning anything about my own experience) that the Twilight mania proves Twilight et al. to be a set of those much re-read books.

It’s a given that books that generate this type of obsessive re-reading are not always particularly “good” books, i.e. well-written.  In fact, many “good” books, that is, really profound, original, heart-wrenching, or poetic books, are not the most dog-eared at the end of the day (or lifetime.)  It’s almost as if such books are too sharp, too bitter, too stinging, to be savored again and again (in the same way that grapefruit is not typically considered a comfort food.)

This is not to say that much re-read books are poorly written!  (Charlotte’s Web and  Harry Potter are much re-read great books.) Only that good writing alone does not make a book a good re-read.  (Nor does a good plot, good jokes, good suspense, even though one or more of these is likely to be present.)

So what does make a book a good re-read?

To me, the distinguishing factor is that the book creates characters with whom readers like to spend time, sometimes, too, a world in which readers like to spend time.

Reading a book is a commitment.  It means hours in which you are not conversing, i-ming, watching TV; hours, in other words, in which you are alone.  Sometimes, in fact, a book is a way to be alone, a path to privacy in a place with hard-to-place boundaries, such as a subway, or, if you are a child, a family dinner.

Because of the inherent solitude of reading, it is important that the main character is good company—fun, cool (but not too cool as to be unempathetic), willing to share confidences.  Being admirable is helpful too, as long as there are also sympathetic and/or humorous failings and idiosyncrasies.  (Sam Vines, Captain Carrot, Granny Weatherwax in Terry Pratchett, even Hercule Poirot in Agatha Christie.)

The world of a much re-read book can, of course, have its dark side.  But it is hard to repeatedly spend time in a world that is overwhelmingly creepy or frightening. (The Road, by Cormac McCarthy, and even Cold Mountain, by Charles Frazier, are obvious examples of wonderful books in which the worlds created, or re-created, are just too horrific to motivate re-reads.  On the children’s shelf, similarly, the later tomes of the wonderful, His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman, that is, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass, also, with the exception of certain scenes, get both too threatening and rarified for a child’s immediately repeated visits.)

Ideally, the created world, even if dark, has a fun, semi-magical side.  (Hogwarts, obviously; the barn in Charlotte’s Web, Florida, as seen by Carl Hiassen, Discworld, as envisioned by Terry Pratchett.)

Re-reading is a particular practice of the young and the young (or perhaps, immature) at heart who can repeatedly find sustenance in something that’s already well-digested.  (Sort of like baby penguins.)   This may be because the young (and not young, but immature) are themselves subject to (i) so much fluctuation, and (ii) so much beyond their control, that they find special comfort in the predictability of a “known” fiction.   The combination of the familiar with the fantastical may be especially appealing.

Romance makes a great re-read as well.   First love is a story that has been told again and again and again; is it any wonder that some people don’t mind re-reading the exact same version of it?

Which brings me back to Twilight.

Tomorrow or in the near future (if I get time),  I’ll write about the second facet that I find interesting—that is, what makes people re-see a movie, as opposed to re-read a book.

In the meantime, check out 1 Mississippi by Karin Gustafson on Amazon.

Philip Pullman, author of the fantastic ‘His Dark Materials’ trilogy (Lyra? Daemons? Need I say more?) gave a talk for The Open University 40th anniversary lectures on a) the nature of reading, and b) the relationship between the story and its illustration. And guess what? I attended. I’ve interviewed this fantastic writer a few times and always found him to be passionate, fiery, resolute and charming all at the same time and this was exactly how he was when I saw him talk.

The borderlands of reading

Opening his talk, he told the packed audience: “When we read, we enter a borderland – the space that opens up between the private mind of the reader and the book. Parts of the borderland belong to the book, parts are made up by the reader – of their memories of other books, of real people, what they associate with particular words, the reader’s temperament and so on. In other words, no reader will read the same way.” I found this fascinating – and spot on.

He likened it to what is known as ‘liminal states’, the ambiguous conscious state of being on the threshold between two different existential planes. He also referred to John Keats’ notion of negative capability, ‘when man is capable of being in uncertainties, Mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after fact and reason’ (from a letter written to his brothers George and Thomas on the 21 December, 1817).

Pullman then went on to show the audience a series of paintings, for example Gwen John’s ‘Precious Moment With Book’ which demonstrates how the world around you dissolves when reading, the only clear space left between your eyes and the book you’re holding. He also highlighted how the painting shows the unique mixture of relaxation and attentiveness that comes from reading. Another painting he looked at was Casper David Friedrich’s ‘The Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog’, comparing the way the man depicted in the painting surveys the landscape before him to the way a reader surveys their borderland.

Illustrations in children’s literature

He then went on to focus on illustrations found in children’s literature, expressing his sadness at how it has become unfashionable to illustrate children’s novels because “pictures in book are like a windowsill.” He used examples from Fritz Wegner’s work, admiring the “romantic atmosphere” he created. Pullman also illustrated the charm of more amateurish drawings, such as those by Arthur Ransome and Tove Jansson (Moomins), and recalled how the “scratchy, swift and confident” drawings of Richard Kennedy swept him into foreign lands such as the working class Parisian scenes in Paul Berna’s A Hundred million francs. Away from urban settings, Pullman highlighted how ‘BB’ Denys Watkins-Pitchford depicts the countryside in Brendon Chase who Pullman with an “honesty and passion”. He also praised Rupert the Bear illustrator Alfred Bestall, especially the end pages of each Rupert manual which depict a landscape, which Pullman described as “full of fancy, lightness, delicacy and charm.”

On the other scale, Pullman went on to focus on illustrators where there is no interest in landscape and more a focus on people. For example, the Thomas Henry illustrations in Richard Crompton’s William books, that “scruffy muddy-kneed schoolboy” as Pullman described him where the focus was very much on the people and not on the “generic middle class England.” Same goes for Walter Trier’s illustrations in Emil and the Detectives – “wonderfully fluid and expressive lines but no background.”

In Pullman’s own books, the Folio Society editions of Northern Lights gave Pullman great pleasure. With illustrations by Peter Bailey, the main character in his trilogy, Lyra, is depicted beautifully (pictured). Pullman also gave an insight into his own illustrations. Before Northern Lights, the first in ‘His Dark Materials’ trilogy came out, he illustrated the decorative devices at the top of each chapter and had to illustrate them using heavy black and whites to the size of a postage stamp.

Philip Pullman’s website

Nu är hela familjen hemma igen, efter en hundkurskväll i Svågertorp. Tengil vet inte om att han är supertrött utan springer just nu ärevarv runt runt i lägenheten. Med rätta, i och för sig, eftersom även kvällens träning gick fantastiskt bra. Trots en hormonstinn liten knodd i andra änden av kopplet. =)

Idag har vi också varit sjuka igen. Tråkigt tråkigt! Varm i huvudet är man, utan att egentligen vara förkyld eller någonting. Ögonen hänger inte riktigt med heller, det liksom snurrar i huvudet. Jobbigt eftersom det är svårt att koncentrera sig just på någonting. Alltså har dagen, förutom kursen, varit lugn.

I nästa vecka händer minst två roliga saker! =)
Rolig sak 1: Vår beställning från AdLibris kommer med fem böcker. Däribland His Dark Materials på engelska och Nikki Sixx biografi Heroine Diaries. Massor av trevlig läsning!
Rolig sak 2: Vi har nu sagt upp vårt ComHem-abonnemang på bredbandet och har fr.o.m. nästa vecka mobilt bredband från 3. Snabbare, men för samma pris i månaden. Det allra bästa är att jag lyckades övertala Jesper att vi skulle välja ett rosa moden. =D Sååå snyggt!!

Nu är jag, helt ärligt aptrött. Inte särskilt pigg på skola i morgon heller. Förhoppningsvis blir det kort.

På lördag kommer Maria och Duncan hit!!! Och jag ser helt sjukt mycket fram emot det. Vin och tjatter för hela slanten! Yeah!

A couple of months ago, I decided to read The Chronicles of Narnia to my seven year old daughter, Hayley. It was a test to see whether  she or I had the patience to read a book that was a masterpiece of children’s literature and probably a little advanced for a girl of her age.. Actually we were inspired by seeing the  two wonderful Andrew Adamson films of the epic story. She and her friends were play acting the characters after seeing the film. Hayley liked to play Susan. So she was excited about listening to the whole story.

Well, 1500 pages later we finished reading the sixth book, The Silver Chair. Hayley’s patience started to flag as had C.S. Lewis’s inventiveness (in my humble opinion). I still couldn’t give it up, so I read the final volume: The Last Battle by myself. It was an annoying and entirely unsatisfactory ending. More on that later.

Several years ago, the publisher had changed the order of the books. For most of the time, the books were numbered sequentially as they were written by Lewis, beginning with The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. For some reason, and probably an error in judgment and in marketing, the publisher changed the sequence to coincide with the order of   internal time in which the stories took place in Narnia. The result was that instead of reading The Lion… first, we read The Magician’s Nephew, a prequel that tells how Narnia began. It is an inferior book.   I recommend starting with The Lion. It is certainly the best of the stories and a good way to get hooked on the series.

What struck me about the books, particularly in comparison to the films,  but also in comparison to popular young adult books being written today, was their slow moving plot. I suppose this was to be expected. Films have their own dynamic. Action needs to be compressed. And commercial considerations require the story to move along at a good clip. I wonder, though, whether Lewis’s leisurely pace was a result of the fact that he was writing in another time when life was a little slower and narratives could be more drawn out.

What raises Narnia to the level of literature is neither  plot nor  character. It is Lewis’ majestic conception of the story. When the movie came out, there was a lot of talk amongst a highly opinionated segment of the population that I happen to hang around with, that the books and the movies were didactic stalking horses for Christian dogma (a very bad thing).

I felt otherwise. Without the character of Aslan, unarguably a metaphor of Christ, the story would have been, well, just another story. Aslan  gave Narnia  a sort of larger than life universality, an epic dimension that raised  it  from  being simply  a wonderful story into an enduring masterpiece. At least until the final volume,  Aslan can be appreciated as an character representing  the quest in all religions and in all cultures  for something greater than our life on earth. In the final book, The Last Battle, Lewis does succumb to the temptation of reducing  the story into what is simply a Christian parable.  And the story suffers as a result. Additionally the return of the Pevensie children to Narnia, which could have been a dramatic  and moving experience even as a Christian story, was undermined by the author’s  flawed decision (from a dramatic perspective)  to have one of the children, Susan,  not return. How sad that was. She was always the most interesting  of the Pevensie children, anyway. I finished the book by throwing down The Last Battle in  rage and disgust. Shame on you, C.S. Lewis!

Narnia has had a huge impact on readers and writers over the years.  Most recently and most successfully, Philip Pullman created a fantasy trilogy: His Dark Materials. I heartily recommend it to anyone reading in the fantasy genre. The story is complex, the characters deeply drawn, and the plot  ingenious. Pullman was highly critical of Narnia and of Lewis’ Christianity.  Indeed, it struck me that one could call Pullman’s trilogy the Anti-Narnia. At the end, Pullman pointedly rejected the “kingdom of Heaven” for a “republic of heaven” here on Earth.

But all of this is of no consequence to Hayley. For her it was a beautiful and breathless story. She loved Aslan, particularly as he would come bounding into the story in the nick of time to insure that good triumphed over evil. And even though Susan was banished by Lewis from Narnia heaven, Hayley still plays her in school yard pretend.

Although Audrey Niffenegger had originally published her first novel in 2003, she has found a whole new wave of fans this year following a movie adaptation of The Time Traveler’s Wife.

Originally an artist and a professor, Niffenegger had an idea to create a graphic novel that portrayed the tale of a simple man with a genetic disorder that causes him to time-travel, and his wife who has to deal with his frequent and sometimes dangerous disappearances. While thinking about it, Niffeneger realised that it was tough to convey time travel through images, and decided to write it as a novel instead. The inital release was relatively small, but once the book was mentioned and endorsed by a fellow author and family friend on The Today Show, Niffenegger’s name soared on the bestseller lists. It wasn’t long before the film production company owned by Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston picked up the rights to adapt the novel for the big screen.

So where does an artist derives enough literary influence from in order to create such a massively bestselling first novel? It seems that the answer is actually quite varied. Amongst her favourites, Niffenegger names Tolkien, Poe and Anne Rice as a few that she constantly returns to over the years. Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials series is a delight for her “essentially atheist nature,” while authors like Richard Powers and Dorothy L. Sayers were crucial in influencing The Time Traveler’s Wife. More recently, Niffenegger has been working on a second novel, titled Her Fearful Symmetry. Set in the Victorian era, Niffenegger is grateful to the author Henry James, a key figure in 19th century literature.  Read more about Niffenegger’s writing style and influences on Infloox.

So I came upon this article while in panic mode.  I’m currently reading The Amber Spyglass, and I freaked when Lyra got separated from Pan, and I just had to know if they ever got reunited.  Yeah, that’s embarrassing.  But not as embarrassing as this article from the Christian Research Institute.

While the author praises Pullman for being an excellent storyteller, and even shines some light on a few issues (for example, he compares the touching of another person’s daemon to be similar to the horror of molestation, which I found particularly illuminating), his conclusion is so bizarre that I just can’t help but wonder, what the hell do people see in religion anyway?

I mean, seriously?  You won’t let your kid read this book because it might make them question their world views?  I mean, talk about ye of little faith…  Isn’t that how we form opinions and beliefs and faith?  By meeting challenges to our world views and either finding something in our own philosophies that we find truer than the threat, or changing our minds?

This Stephen Ross (sounds like an alias, doesn’t it?) is acting as if a novel is going to be the undoing of Christianity.  They did the same thing with Spongebob and Harry Potter.  But his words actually have a darker meaning.  Stephen Ross and the Christian Research Institute seek to keep children in the dark, insulating them from anything that could threaten their belief in Christianity.  They bash them over the head with God and Jesus until it’s drilled into their minds, and they don’t let anything else in.  I’m sorry, but that doesn’t sound like faith to me.  It sounds like brainwashing.

And that’s why I’m glad I grew up in an agnostic household.  Actually, maybe we should call it an apathetic one.  My mom didn’t really give two thoughts to theology, and has a strong distate for religion.  I was kind of left to come to my own conclusions.  And I’ll tell you readily – I read the Bible.  I went to church a couple of times because my friends did, and all little girls want to do what their friends do.  I talked to people, I read, I thought really hard about what I thought was plausible and what I thought wasn’t.  And as a result, I grew up to be an atheist, albeit an apathetic one.  Arguable, the truest of all atheists.  Does God exist?  Well, I personally don’t think so, but I really don’t give a crap about arguing with you about it.  It doesn’t make any difference to me.  You’re not going to change my mind, because I’ve thought long and hard about what I believe (or, more aptly, what I don’t believe), and I’m secure in that.

It doesn’t mean that I’m going to pick up a copy of the Chronicles of Narnia and suddenly become a believer (and I have, mind you).  What Stephen Ross suggests you do is shelter your children from opportunities to think critically about what they believe.  Without that type of intellectual challenge, we’re just going to raise a generation of Evangelical zombies who believe what their parents tell them without knowing why.  If you want your kids to be true believers in whatever faith you prescribe to, challenge their knowledge and their intellect.  Let them come to decisions and conclusions on their own.  What faith (or lack thereof, in my case) comes out of that is going to be stronger than any indoctrinated belief system you shove down their throats as babes.

Oh, I could go on and on about the suppression of ideas and free speech and intellectual hostage crises… but I might go to hell.

I was quite surprised this week to see so much classic literature topping the ALA’s most frequently challenged list for 2009. To clarify, this is a list of books that are challenged by individuals in the community. They have to submit a “challenge form” stating their reasons, to a school or public library.

First off, here’s the list:

1. And Tango Makes Three, by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell
   Reasons: anti-ethnic, anti-family, homosexuality, religious viewpoint, and unsuited to age group
2. His Dark Materials trilogy, by Philip Pullman
   Reasons: political viewpoint, religious viewpoint, and violence
3. TTYL; TTFN; L8R, G8R (series), by Lauren Myracle
   Reasons: offensive language, sexually explicit, and unsuited to age group
4. Scary Stories (series), by Alvin Schwartz
   Reasons: occult/satanism, religious viewpoint, and violence
5. Bless Me, Ultima, by Rudolfo Anaya
   Reasons: occult/satanism, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit, and violence
6. The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky
   Reasons: drugs, homosexuality, nudity, offensive language, sexually explicit, suicide, and unsuited to age group
7. Gossip Girl (series), by Cecily von Ziegesar
   Reasons: offensive language, sexually explicit, and unsuited to age group
8. Uncle Bobby’s Wedding, by Sarah S. Brannen
   Reasons: homosexuality and unsuited to age group
9. The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini
   Reasons: offensive language, sexually explicit, and unsuited to age group
10. Flashcards of My Life, by Charise Mericle Harper
    Reasons: sexually explicit and unsuited to age group

Now, I want to know: should these books actually be *allowed* to be challenged? Doesn’t that basically just amount to censorship, pure and simple? If parents are truly concerned about their children reading non-appropriate material for their age group (which is a valid concern of course!), perhaps books should be getting ratings, the same way movies do. At least to borrow from a public library would set age restrictions on younger patrons. What do you think? Would you also challenge any of these books? Find out more about other banned books over the years on Infloox.

The American Library Association announced its banned book list for 2008 this week and in it were details of the 513 cases were books were attacked in bids for censorship and the 74 cases where these attacks were to some extent successful.

While the most common complaints levelled at books tend to focus on offensive language or explicit sex scenes, Tango Makes Three, a story about day penguins at central Park Zoo in New York and based on true events, garnered the most complaints. Good to know that people are accepting of all sexual preferences eh?

Perhaps surprisingly (or perhaps not depending how cynical you’re feeling) it’s the popular fantasy trilogy His Dark Materials – from bestselling and much lauded author Philips Pullman – that’s in second place. Something to do with an anti Christian message?

Sad times, that’s all I can say. A quick look at my bookshelves and I can see plenty of classics that people have attempted to ban at one point or another over the years – the thought I might have never been able to read some of them is a horrible one. Oh well, maybe you should take it as an accolade when your bestselling book attracts calls for censorship?

The Amber Spyglass
(His Dark Materials, Book 3)
by Philip Pullman
narrated by Philip Pullman
Multicast performance
Produced by Listening Library
Approx 12 hours

I have finally finished the series of “His Dark Materials” by Philip Pullman.  I set out on this reading adventure intrigued by the protestations from organized religion when the movie came out.  I saw the movie and didn’t see what the hubbub was about.  So then I thought well maybe it was in the book and they left out parts from the movie to keep the religious right from protesting.  After reading the first two books I still didn’t see what the big deal was.  Basically the series was just another fantasy young adult series that borrowed from many mythologies to create a very creative well told story.  With this third book in the series I still wonder why all the fuss, but can see where closed minded individuals who believe “their truth” to be the only truth worry that the series may instigate the young masses to form thoughts on their own.  Okay, that was a bit harsh, but I still just don’t get it.  Yes the third book does see the death of a deity known as “The Authority,” but it also sees the death of a fallen angel by the name of Metatron, and yes, this book is Philip Pullman’s way of writing a book that promotes an alternative to organized religion, but, the general idea of good triumphing over evil and everyone can make a difference and we must fight for our freewill doesn’t make people become evil.

I was very pleased to find the books available in audio book form and especially once I found that the audio book featured a multi-cast as well as being narrated by the author himself.  There are many characters in the book and the multi-cast helps to move the story along for the audio book with out the listener having to try to battle with trying to figure who is talking or thinking at the moment.  The added bonus of having the author narrate the books helps to uncover intentions of the author himself.

This book may be a bit difficult to summarize because of the many events happening to close out this trilogy so I will touch a bit on the main events, but I will not give up the surprise ending.

Book two, “The Subtle Knife,” left the listener with a cliffhanger. Lyra’s mom, Marisa Coulter, captured Lyra and Will had just learned he had a task to help Lyra’s father, Lord Asriel.  Before he goes to the battle of the worlds with Lord Asriel, Will insists on finding and rescuing Lyra.  Mrs. Coulter has Lyra in a cave to protect her from the Magisterum, the church/government that rules in Lyra’s world.  The Magisterum has sent out an assassin to kill Lyra before she can yeild to original sin.

Will has used his knife to escape an attack from the archangel Metatron.  He is escorted by 2 angels one flies ahead to tell Lord Asriel of Will’s plan while the other stays behind to assist Will.  Upon hearing the news, Lord Asriel dispatches a small army to the cave where Lyra is being forced drugs to stay sleeping so she will be undetected, to counteract the zeppelins from the Consistorial Court. He also sends two Gallivespian spies, the Chevalier Tialys and the Lady Salmakia, to protect Lyra. Gallivespians resemble humans, but are approximately four inches tall and they ride dragonflies.

During this time Will runs into Iorek Byrnison, the bear king of the armoured Panserbjørne, who are migrating south to avoid the Arctic melt caused by the effects of Lord Asriel’s bridge. Three forces — Will, Iorek, and Balthamos; Lord Asriel’s army; and the army of the Magisterium — converge on Mrs. Coulter’s cave, where Will is able to wake Lyra with a special powder that he sprays up her nostrils. He is cutting a window into another world when Mrs. Coulter turns and looks directly at him. For a moment, Will is reminded of his own mother; as a result, his concentration falters, and the knife shatters, having been unable to sever his affection. Because the window he has cut is open, Will, Lyra, and the Gallivespian spies manage to escape to another world.

Will and Lyra delay even further their trip to Lord Asriel’s by going to the world of the dead.  Will and Lyra mean to keep promises to Will’s father and Lyra’s friend Roger.  In the world of the dead Lyra must leave her Daemon on the shore and is separated from her daemon.  They soon discover the dead must be released from the abyss and Will uses the Subtle Knife to cut an opening and release the ghosts into the world.  Once in the world the ghosts are freed and their atoms are free to mix back into nature.

The major battle begins between Lord Asriel’s army and the army of Metatron.  Ending with Lyra and Will reuniting with their daemons and Lyra’s parents sacrificing themselves to destroy Metatron.

While all this is going on Dr. Mary Malone has stepped through a window from her own world (assumed to be the readers’ world/Will’s world) into another window into a stranger world. There she meets elephantine creatures who call themselves Mulefa and use large seedpods attached to their feet as wheels. These creatures have a complex culture, intricate language, and an infectious laugh. Although from completely different worlds, Mary and the Mulefa establish a rapport which results in Mary’s acceptance into Mulefa community, where she learns that the trees from which the seedpods are gathered have gradually been going extinct for about 300 years. Mary uses the tree sap lacquer and accidentally constructs a telescope (the ‘amber spyglass’ of the title) that allows her to see the elementary particles known as Dust. Dust adheres to all life-forms that have attained a level of intelligence associated with building civilizations. She sees that Dust is flying away in large streams rather than falling on and nourishing the trees on which the Mulefa mutually depend.

After the battle Will and Lyra are reunited with Dr. Malone and soon learn their ultimate fate as well as the fate of all the worlds.    Here is where I’ll stop because the end of the book is a bit of a surprise, but I will tell you it is a very beautiful to end this magical tale.  Spread the word to all your friends, “This series is a fun romp through fantasy and mythology with a lesson to learn.”

A snippet from the UK Guardian that perked my little antenna right up:

He enraged America’s religious right with his portrayal of God as a senile old man in the His Dark Materials trilogy, and now Philip Pullman is set to court more Christian controversy – this time with a novel about “the Scoundrel Christ”.

The book will provide a new account of the life of Jesus, challenging the gospels and arguing that the version in the New Testament was shaped by the apostle Paul. “By the time the gospels were being written, Paul had already begun to transform the story of Jesus into something altogether new and extraordinary, and some of his version influenced what the gospel writers put in theirs,” said Pullman, who last year pronounced himself delighted that the His Dark Materials trilogy was one of the most “challenged” series in America’s libraries, boasting the most requests for removal from the shelves because of its “religious viewpoint”.

I have been a fan of Pullman’s since 2000 when I discovered the Dark Materials books and my jaw dropped. I read them, and was a little stunned by the size of the man’s balls. They’re another example of what is supposedly children’s literature raising the bar for the whole field, and they remain among my favourites to this day, all full of Blakean imagery and some fairly lugubrious criticism of organized religion. If they’re news to you, run out and buy a copy of the first book tout suite. (I wouldn’t recommend the movie.)

This new book will be published as part of Canongate Press’s myths series—a project which I heartily adore—and will be come out in the spring of next year.

I. Can’t. Wait.