Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials Trilogy: A Reader's Guide

by Claire Squires

A critical appraisal of Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy, this text forms part of a series that aims to provide accessible and informative introductions to some of the most popular, most acclaimed and most influential novels of recent years. A team of contemporary fiction scholars from both sides of the Atlantic has been assembled to give a thorough and readable analysis of each of the novels in question.The books in the series all follow the same five-part structure: a short biography of the novelist; a full-length study of the novel, drawing out the most important themes and ideas; a summary of how the novel was received when it was first published; a summary of the novel's standing today, including any film or television adaptations and a helpful list of discussion questions, suggestions for further reading, and useful websites.

Genres: Fantasy

95 pages, Paperback

First published September 29, 2003

About the author

Professor Claire Squires is Director of the Stirling Centre for International Publishing and Communications at the University of Stirling, Scotland, and director of the Scottish Graduate School for the Arts and Humanities. Her publications include Marketing Literature: The Making of Contemporary Writing in Britain (2007) and as co-editor, the Cambridge History of the Book in Britain: Volume 7, The Twentieth Century and Beyond (2019). With Beth Driscoll, she is co-founder of the conceptual school Ullapoolism, with their jointly authored publications, including Publishing Bestsellers: Buzz and the Frankfurt Book Fair (2020) and articles on book festivals, sexual harassment in publishing, and the smell of books.

Reviews

[Eva Pohler · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am fascinated by the many worlds and characters Pullman has created, and I enthusiastically recommend this trilogy to everyone--young and old. My book club hasn't read this trilogy yet, which consists of The Golden Compass (or The Northern Lights), The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass. But I will encourage them to because it will provoke some interesting conversation.

I was curious to see what all the hubbabaloo was about "killing God," and, I have to say, I disagree with the notion that that's what these characters do. I understand the story as showing a tyrannical "authority," who is not the true creator but an angel imposter, who has inspired the religious leaders to oppress its peoples by spreading lies and keeping them in ignorance, and it is Lyra and Will's duty to help Asriel and others overpower this imposter and his minions and establish a new kingdom of heaven that fosters knowledge and tolerance and diversity.

But the new Adam and Eve have to pay a price in order to help their respective worlds to succeed.

Both The Golden Compass and The Subtle Knife were FAST reads full of intrigue and delightful creativity. The Amber Spyglass was equally delightful in the amazingly creative worlds and inhabitants, but much more slowly paced. Over all, I highly recommend the entire trilogy.

[Wesley Schantz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is probably the closest thing to what I would want to write, only I would want to write a much expanded, ever-updating version. In many respects, Squires work is consummate competence: her summary of Pullman's biography is excellent, and she does a smooth job of synthesizing a great deal of story and thematic material in a very brief space. There are a few outright errors: her assertion about what Asriel says to Lyra about Dust at the end of the first book and Pan's summary of it later leaves out what Asriel says to Mrs Coulter at the end of that book and then retcons later in his conversation with her in TAS; Squires calls Tony Makarios an old friend of Lyra's, which might be a mix-up with subsequent adaptations where the character is merged with Billy Costa, whose brother is also, confusingly, named Tony. She also puts a great deal of weight on the catch-all term politics, whereas I tend to think of that as largely a red herring in Pullman's story, subsumed under the much more important process of storytelling. Still, she is a perceptive reader overall, asking brilliant questions, connecting widely separated quotes from within the books, as well as essays, speeches, etc, and reviews (up until about 2003). A handy little volume, nothing earth-shattering, but I'll have to check out her other book on Pullman, Master Storyteller.

more reviews: https://newschoolnotes.blogspot.com/2...

[L · Rating 4 out of 5]

*read for study purposes*