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His Dark Materials

Tohpol

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Anyone read any of the Philip Pulman novels? (His Dark Materials: Northern Lights, Amber Spyglass, The Subtle Knife) Great stuff.

I'm not usually into fantasy books - or fiction for that matter - but this trilogy really captured my imagination. It was especially significant for me as I was at the time wondering whether or not I should go more deeply into the I Ching world. I suppose it helped me to do so in a way. He touches on the I Ching in his first book (as well as veiled allusions to all kinds of esoterica, religion; fascism; the theories of Jung; ancient wisdom etc.). He has clearly been inspired by it, as there is an instrument called the alethiometer. which is a kind of an "advanced" version for want of a better word.

Apparently it's been made into a Film called The Golden Compass which I haven't seen yet - not sure I will. Anyhow, I highly recommend this trilogy for bedtime, train, metro or bus reading!

Topal
 

hollis

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Thanks for the inspiration to pick these books up, Topal, I am into book one, and it is enthralling.
 

Tohpol

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Thanks for the inspiration to pick these books up, Topal, I am into book one, and it is enthralling.

Hey Hollis,

Really pleased you're enjoying it. It's the kind of book you never want to put down.

I actually downloaded the movie The Golden Compass recently and enjoyed that too. Very true to the book. But the child actors basically couldn't act - very wooden and lacked that spark. But overall it was pretty good. I think the studio is the same one who took on Lord of the Rings and they're obviously trying to stake out another success with this trilogy.

Topal
 

hollis

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:) These are books I'll want to read before ever seeing a movie, they are so wonderful:

Into this wilde Abyss,
The Womb of nature and perhaps her Grave,
Of neither Sea, nor Shore, nor Air, nor Fire,
But all these in thir pregnant causes mixt
Confus'dly, and which thus must ever fight,
Unless th' Almighty Maker them ordain
His dark materials to create more Worlds,
Into this wilde Abyss the warie fiend
Stood on the brink of Hell and look'd a while,
Pondering his Voyage; for no narrow frith
He had to cross.

Paradise Lost
- Book 2, lines 910 - 920
 
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Tohpol

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It's caused quite a controversy amongst fundies and moderates alike:

Interesting synopsis from snopes.com:

The Golden Compass, a fantasy film starring Nicole Kidman that is scheduled to be released into theaters on 7 December 2007, has been drawing fire from concerned Christians. The film is based on Northern Lights (released in the U.S. as The Golden Compass), the first offering in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy of children's books, a series that follows the adventures of a streetwise girl who travels
through multiple worlds populated by witches, armor-plated bears, and sinister ecclesiastical assassins to defeat the oppressive forces of a senile God.

Books of the trilogy have sold more than 15 million copies around the world, with Northern Lights winning the Carnegie Medal for Children's Literature in 1995 and in 2007 being awarded the 'Carnegie of Carnegies' for the best children's book of the past 70 years. The Amber Spyglass, the final book of the series, won The Whitbread Prize in 2001, making it the first children's book to do so.

The series' author, Philip Pullman (who has described himself as both an agnostic and an atheist), has averred that "I don't profess any religion; I don't think it's possible that there is a God; I have the greatest difficulty in understanding what is meant by the words 'spiritual' or 'spirituality.'" Critics of Pullman's books (conservative British columnist Peter Hitchens in 2002 labeled Pullman "The Most Dangerous Author in Britain" and described him as the writer "the atheists would have been praying for, if atheists prayed") point to the strong anti-religion and anti-God themes they incorporate, and although literary works are subject to a variety of interpretations, Pullman has left little doubt about his books' intended thrust in discussions of his works, such as noting in a 2003 interview that "My books are about killing God" and in a 2001 interview that he was "trying to undermine the basis of Christian belief."

A Los Angeles Times article on the Golden Compass controversy noted that:
[Pullman]'s never hidden his skepticism about God or his rejection of organized religion. A quick Internet search turns up a 2004 essay he wrote deploring "theocracies" for a newspaper in his native Britain, and his own Web site states that he thinks it "perfectly possible to explain how the universe came about without bringing God into it." "His Dark Materials" features a sympathetic character, an ex-nun, who describes Christianity as "a very powerful and convincing mistake," while "The Amber Spyglass" concludes with the two child heroes participating in the dissolution of "the Authority," a senile, pretender God who has falsely passed himself off as the creator of the universe.

Bill Donohue, president of The Catholic League, has condemned The Golden Compass as a "pernicious" effort to indoctrinate children into anti-Christian beliefs and has produced a 23-page pamphlet titled The Golden Compass: Unmasked in which he maintains that Pullman "sells atheism for kids." Donohoe told interviewer John Gibson on 9 October 2007 why he believes Christians should stay away from the film:
Look, the movie is based on the least offensive of the three books. And they have dumbed down the worst elements in the movie because they don't want to make Christians angry and they want to make money. Our concern is this, unsuspecting Christian parents may want to take their kid to the movie, it opens up December 7th and say, this wasn't troubling, then we'll buy the books. So the movie is the bait for the books which are profoundly anti-Catholic and at the same time selling atheism.
Other reviewers, however, have described Pullman's works as being more generally anti-religion rather than specifically anti-Christian or anti-Catholic:

In "His Dark Materials," Pullman's criticisms of organized religion come across as anti-authoritarian and anti-ascetic rather than anti-doctrinal. (Jesus isn't mentioned in any of the books, although Pullman has hinted that He might figure in a forthcoming sequel, "The Book of Dust.") His fundamental objection is to ideological tyranny and the rejection of this world in favor of an idealized afterlife, regardless of creed. As one of the novel's pagan characters puts it, "Every church is the same: control, destroy, obliterate every good feeling."


http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/compass.asp

______________

Topal here:

I must admit I found it quite audacious in it's rejection of "God" in the orthodox sense and welcomed this new view for children and emerging adults.

However, what is interesting - having studied this extensively - is that much of Pulman's philosophy veers very close to a form of occult worship very popular with some members of the Establishment. That unnerved me a bit but that may be coincidental. There's quite a materialistic view of life and death in the books which reflects his atheistic /humanist beliefs. The dead are merely that: just dead - zombies. While there is emphasis is on quantum worlds and multi-dimensionality. The soul exists via a totemic /shamanic referencing which is very much tied to the body and personality. The animal totem is a clear reference to the south American ideas of the "ally," or in the old Western geomantic ideas of the body's elemental or overshadowing soul of the body. In that sense, it is actually quite a limited view of the Universe of the soul. It's somehow separate from the Universe in quite a strange way. On reflection, and acknowledging the great story-telling skills; the wonderful imagery and imagination etc. and the welcome antidote to Christian propaganda - it's lacking something I can't quite put my finger on...

Nonetheless, all very rich and fascinating.

Topal
 
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dobro p

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Pullman's trilogy is wonderful and enjoyable.

Lyra's golden compass is an oracle. I'd be interested to know if anybody's actually constructed an oracle based on the Pullman idea.
 

gene

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Quote: "It is perfectly possible to explain the universe without bringing God into it." Absolutely correct, in terms of what we usually call God. The problem is, the universe IS God. Pure and simple. There is nothing that exists or does not exist that is not God. Nothing at all. In fact, all matter, and all ethereal substance is simply wavelike motions that are interpreted by the mind as matter. There is no matter. It is just an interpretation of the wave functions. So how to get back to understanding our oneness with the universe? Just this. Slow the mind down. It is the wavelength of the thoughts that creates the universe as we know it. Slow the mind down completely, and we become one with universal consciousness. The universe ceases to exist. Literally. Once again, it is only a construct of the mind.

So how do you define God. Simply spoken, it is the consciousness, the awareness that all matter, everything that exists or doesn't exist, is. There is only one thing in the universe. One thing only. Nothing else, and that is awareness. End of story. If that is you definition of God, then you know, you can't bring God into it, because that is all there is. There is nothing else. You can't bring him into it, and try as you might, you can't get him out of it. Actually, I mean him/her. For there is no polarity in the oneness of consciousness.

Gene
 

Trojina

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I tried to read these books last year but got bored -if theres more that 2 characters i can't handle it lol :eek:
 

Optimalist

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It was the trilogy that introduced me to the Yijing. It has been 10 years. The fascination continues.
 

lena_p

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I must say that i really enjoyed Pullman's trilogy. I got it as a birthday present, and i must say its one of those things that rate really high on my list!
 

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