Subject: (urth) OT- His Dark Materials

From: Don Doggett <harlekin at earthlink.net>
Date: Thu, 14 Oct 2004 17:08:23 +0000

Hey everyone,

	I just finished The Amber Spyglass last night and I have to say I was 
pleasantly surprised by the entire trilogy.  The only review I read of 
it was backhandedly complimentary and very critical of Pullman's 
negative approach to God and the Church.  I think the reviewer dropped 
the ball though.  It seems to me the work is profoundly Gnostic and 
having taken that viewpoint, it couldn't go in any other direction.  
Careful reading reveals that Pullman (no matter what his personal 
beliefs, which I don't know) leaves open the question of an ultimate 
Creator.  All he's really saying is the God of the Christian Church 
ain't it.  He's the Demiurge, a big faker who makes the world a worse 
place than it needs to be.  It's really interesting to read him with 
Wolfe in mind.   Though Pullman isn't nearly as subtle a writer, IMO, 
he is certainly as humane, and probably more sympathetic to women than 
Wolfe. (Though I tend to agree with Blattid's fallen world theory 
regarding that).  But they're apples and oranges I suppose.

Just my two cents

Don