Category: Books
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Pullman and the Gospel: Kingdom or Republic
“Firstly, a sense that this world where we live is our home. Our home is not somewhere else. There is no elsewhere. This is a physical universe and we are physical beings made of material stuff. This is where we live. Secondly, a sense of belonging, a sense of being…
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Pullman and Lewis: Space Trilogy not Narnia
It would seem to me that all the comparisons with Pullman’s His Dark Materials Trilogy and The Chronicles of Narnia are actually flawed. Rather than Narnia, the better comparison both in thought and plot would be Lewis’ Space Trilogy: Out of the Silent Planet, Peralandra, and That Hideous Strength. Central…
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The Irrelevancy of The Golden Compass
As a young teen, Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy was winsomely clever, dry, and sardonic. Having relished the books and the wacky BBC television production. I found the 2005 movie production, almost, well adolescent. It wasn’t as funny and biting and clever. Rather, it was olde (as…
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Pullman and the Gospel, E Pluribus Unum 2
Whether Pullman will recognize it or not, everyone has a functional savior. For the church Pullman rightly condemns, it’s not Jesus but rather power and influence. “Woe to you rich,” Jesus said. Not that having money is a sin, rather the sin is how one uses the money to manipulate…
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Contemnoterraism: Pullman doesn’t get Lewis, E Pluribus Unum
In the article I referenced earlier Pullman states, “Narnia has always seemed to me to be marked by a hatred of the physical world.” Philip Pullman Huh? A hatred of the physical world? Now there’s got to be a name for it, and if you know what it is would…
Backward Mutters 