Pullman vs. Lewis DEATHMATCH!!!111one!!!

[rj_anderson]

There's been a lot of Lewis links and commentary on my f-list lately (including a very nice referral to my own essay on Susan in a recommendation of Andrew Rilstone's recent blog post about the same thing, for which I thank you, kalquessa). Most recently (and thanks to kalquessa yet again) there's this kinda cool article from The Chronicle addressing Pullman's charges against Lewis's Narnia, including sexism, racism, a pernicious belief in heavenly bliss, and lack of love.*

Which reminds me, the other day I found a quite hilarious book-a-minute-style summary of the Dark Materials trilogy by Abigail Nussbaum. Thanks yet again to kalquessa for reminding me where it was.

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* Given the actual content of both series, the only thing I can imagine Pullman means by the latter is that in Lewis's universe twelve-year-olds do not have sex. I am sorry that we are not all as cool and enlightened as you are, Mr. Pullman. Some of us still think this is a little early.

Comments

[sienamystic.livejournal.com]

I really, really enjoyed the first book of the trilogy, because Pullman has a lot of writing talent and he pulls off some very entertaining things in it. The second one posed more problems for me (primarily a bleakness that I felt would get worse, not better, and which I wasn't interested in reading) and I never bothered to read the third. Despite being a very lapsed Catholic, faith still has a role to play in my life (although I'm never sure from day to day just what that role is) and I felt very uncomfortable by the way things were heading.