Sifting through His Dark Materials: Intro

Every since the movie began to weave its way into the media, people have been asking me what I think about the books. I had to confess that I had not actually read them, so I could not give an opinion. And I hate, HATE, giving an opinion I know nothing about or relying on people to tell me what my opinion should be. I have always wanted to read these books, so now was a good excuse.

I am in a weird position, because I approach these books as a person who has a multi-layered interest in them. They interest me because I love a good story, they interest me as someone who wants to be a writer, and they interest me as someone who is interested in the questions that Pullman attempts to answer in his book. And yes, there are questions he is trying to answer, it's not just a story. There really is no such thing. Any writer who is remotely self aware, will tell you they have intentions behind their stories, and the good ones hide it as much as possible so as to disguise their intent with a good story.

Such is not the case the “His Dark Materials” series by Phillip Pullman. Or rather, that depends on which interview you read. In some interviews, he describes his work as just a story, meant to be read and enjoyed. Fine and good. In others, he states his intention is for this book to be the “Anti-Narnia” and to undermine Christianity. So, which one to believe? I have no idea, to be honest, I am still puzzling over those statements. I normally hate to know what an author’s point of view is before I read the story, but Pullman invites such speculation with his comments.

However, if he wanted his books to be read “just as stories to be enjoyed” he probably should have kept his mouth shut about his other purpose. C.S. Lewis never set out to write the “Anti-atheist” story. He just wanted to write the story behind an image that popped into his head of a faun carrying an umbrella. There is no doubt Lewis’ Christianity oozed out of him with the story. And frankly, I would not care if Pullman’s agnosticism oozed out of His Dark Materials. I would expect it. I just question whether you can make a good story by having a set agenda at the beginning. You should be able to enjoy a story for its own sake. I found myself not being able to do that with Pullman, as his intentions scream loudly from every page.

So, all that to say, my reactions to the book will be along those lines, as a reader, wannabe writer (I have written a book, just not published yet) and as a minister, my day job. I have chosen to divide my reactions into two, so hopefully it keeps each distinct. I want to react to His Dark Materials as a story in of itself, characters, plot, etc and then address the worldview present in the books.

Finally, I want to make it clear, I am not going to slam Pullman, make fun of him or make otherwise degrading remarks about his work. So, if that is what you are expecting in this little essay, then go elsewhere. You will find a lot of praise of Pullman in this little review of mine. I am not out to tell people whether you should read or not read these books. Of course you should read them. They are books that tell a fairly good story. This is not that sort of review. Rather, it is what I thought about the books on different levels.


I will begin with the reaction to the story in a few days.