Pullman takes aim at Narnia... again.

[intertext]

What's wrong with this guy? I've come somewhat late to this article about Philip Pullman's latest ill tempered attack on the Narnia works, this time on the film adaptation. It can't be sour grapes. He's made millions himself, from his own books and a very successful stage production, and, apparently, an upcoming film version. I just don't really understand the persistent and somewhat... I can only describe it as "bitchy" attacks by Pullman on what is, in effect, an easy target. Yes, the Narnia books are simplistic and transparently Christian and a little over-the-top and probably rascist and elitist and sexist and yada yada yada... But consider the time when they were written and published. And when was it an artistic crime to be Christian? Where is Pullman when a new Harry Potter book is published? Or what about that god awful Da Vinci Code rag? I won't claim that the Narnia books have the literary merit of, say, Le Guin, or Tolkien, or Tove Jansson, but they have stood the test of time, and legitimately won the love of generations of children (including me), which has to count for something. And in any case, I have yet to be convinced that Philip Pullman himself is the greatest author since Dante, which he seems to believe of himself. Humph.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Something about the Pullman books unnerve me. I'm not sure what, as finding out would mean reading them again, and they unnerve me (repeat ad nauseam). I'm am, however, reasonably sure that I have seen better books. A lot.

[lalouve.livejournal.com]

Sorry - forgot I wasn't logged in. I didn't intend to be anonymous...

[intertext.livejournal.com]

I know what you mean. To me, as well, there is definitely something "off" about them, and I'm not exactly sure what it is... I'm not a practising Christian, so I don't object on principle to the basic premise that the Fall as it occured in our universe was a mistake, rectified in the quest undertaken in his trilogy. It's unfortunate, in fact, that often to be seen to be opposing Pullman's attacks on C.S Lewis is perceived as aligning oneself with the fundamentalist Christian Right. There is a lot to admire in their imaginative power - I love the concept of the daemons, and there are some amazing visual "set pieces" that stay with me, such as the flight of the witches from the north, and the fight of the polar bears. But. I've never quite understood the way that the books seem to have been seized upon so immediately as "masterpieces," and by the serious critical readership as well as overheated publishers. I too have definitely read better books.