Product Description

The first critical analysis of Philip Pullman’s cross-age fantasy trilogy.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #707831 in Books
• Published on: 2005-09-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 243 pages

From the Publisher
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. Demonstrating its wide appeal in 2001, The Amber Spyglass became the first book to be awarded the Whitbread Book Award in both the adult and children’s categories. 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 Lenz—renowned for her study of Pullman’s work—this 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. The first part, Reading Fantasy, Figuring Human Nature, looks at Pullman’s art of making stories and creating fantasy worlds and at readers’ responses to his creations. Part 2, Intertextuality and Revamping Traditions, examines the rich intertextuality of Pullman’s narratives and his use and revamping of literary traditions, including fantasy. Part 3, Pullman and Theology, Pullman and Science Fiction, centers on the complexities of the author’s stance toward religion, his treatment of "Eve," and his affirmation of the Republic of Heaven.

With the staging of His Dark Materials by the National Theatre in England and a film adaptation of the trilogy soon to become a reality, Pullman’s popularity and reputation across age groups is ever-growing—making this book a vital resource to scholars and informed readers of his work.

About the Author
Millicent Lenz was professor at the School of Information Science and Policy at the University at Albany, State University of New York. She was author of many works, including Alternative Worlds of Fantasy Fiction: Ursula K. LeGuin, Terry Pratchett, and Philip Pullman (Continuum, 2001) and Nuclear Age Literature for Youth: The Quest for a Life-Affirming Ethic (American Library Association, 1990), which was awarded the Prize for Best Book of Criticism of Children’s Literature by the Children’s Literature Association.

Carole Scott is professor of English in the Children’s Literature Program at San Diego State University and former undergraduate dean. She is co-author of How Picturebooks Work (Garland, 2001).

Customer Reviews

Fan Criticism
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.

An amazing reference
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.