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Reader's Paradise

Some thoughts on Philip Pullman's latest

laceyvail 6A, WV

8 years ago

Just a warning, spoilers here for those who haven't read His Dark Materials.

I read HDM several years ago, and while I admire Pullman's terrific writing, I found the trilogy quite disturbing. Throughout the entire thing, I expected that the "villain" would turn out to be organized religion, not religion and the belief in a God itself. The end, when all the trapped souls simply disintegrate into what seems to be nothing, disturbed me. I've always believed that children should be allowed to read a very wide range of books, but I would not want a child I cared about to read HDM without discussing it afterwards with me.

Now I'm nearly finished with the first volume in Pullman's trilogy that starts with the infancy of the protagonist of HDM, Lyra. Surely all the children who read HDM and loved it would want to read it. But, who does Pullman imagine his readers are? While the general style of this book is clearly a YA novel, there are references to pederasty, the use of the young male protagonist as a bait for a pederast, and a scene where the young boy sees and mostly overhears-pretty graphically--an act of intercourse.

I am certainly no prude, but how can this possibly be appropriate for the many children, some younger than 12, who will be reading this?

While I know that most of you will jump to say, it isn't appropriate, I'd really like to hear from those of you who have started the new trilogy--The Book of Dust", Vol 1-La Belle Sauvage."

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laceyvail 6A, WV
Original Author

8 years ago

Mockingjay probably. Game of Thrones, possibly. They are aimed at young adults. And readers will want to start with His Dark Materials trilogy, not this one that assumes the knowledge of the former.

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Comments (8)

vee_new
8 years ago
lacey, I have I have never read any Pulman but recently I heard part of one (or maybe it was the trilogy) done as a radio play. It concerned a terrible flood and a couple of young people with someone's baby leaving in a canoe. Everyone had 'spirits' (evil or good) attached to them or hovering near them. I don't know if I could have dealt with it when young . .. certainly didn't notice any sexual references.
laceyvail 6A, WV
Original Author
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Well, I'm sure they left those parts out, but that is indeed the basic plot of the new novel. The sexual references are not a major part of the plot by any means, but they're still there.
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woodnymph2_gw
8 years ago
I've heard about this author for years, but I cannot comment, as none of his books have ever come my way. Nor do I know anyone who has read them.
laceyvail 6A, WV
Original Author
8 years ago
They'd strongly appeal to all the people who loved Harry Potter, though they're darker. Much darker, I'd say.
woodnymph2_gw
8 years ago
Would they appeal to someone who loved the Mockingjay trilogy? Or Game of Thrones?
Rosefolly z5
8 years ago
I did like the Philip Pullman trilogy, although I do not share his opinion about religion, at least not to the extent he does. And I do think he is pitching his books to the older YA audience, teens rather than 12-14 year olds. There is a tendency in the publishing world to call any book with a young protagonist a YA or children's book, when many books with a protagonist of that age would appeal to adults. At least, that is the case if they are well written and deal with interesting themes.
laceyvail 6A, WV
Original Author
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
I too think his books are written more for older YAs, but most certainly many readers are younger-- just as with the Harry Potter books. (My granddaughter was 9 when when she read the Harry Potter books.) And throughout the first trilogy, I felt sure that the villain was organized religion, not belief in God. That was the shocker for me (and I don't belong to any organized religion and my views of "God" are quite large, inclusive, and highly unconventional.)

I still feel that the reference to pederasty in the first volume of the new trilogy is inappropriate and the overheard sex too graphic. It could have been toned down just a trifle.

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