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Line 1: − + − Critics brand his books subversively anti-religious. Defenders say it's all good fun. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + − ==Pullman's views on religion== − *... He is adept at public moralising. He has denounced [[Narnia]] as ‘morally loathsome’, describing CS Lewis’s series of books as amongst the ‘most ugly and poisonous things’ he has read. Indeed, Pullman directly counterpoises his ‘non-Christian’ trilogy to the ‘Christian’ Narnia. <ref>http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php?/site/article/4169/</ref>+ + + − *Pullman is a [[militant]] [[atheist]] and [[secular humanist]] (who describes himself as both an [[agnostic]] and an atheist) has said "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]]’" and despises [[C. S. Lewis]] and the [[Chronicles of Narnia]]. His motivation for writing this trilogy was specifically to counteract Lewis’ symbolisms of [[Christ]] that are portrayed in the Narnia series. <ref>http://www.joelevi.com/blog/index.php/2007/12/04/the-golden-compass-an-attack-on-god/</ref>+ + + + + + Line 15:
Line 51: − + − *[http://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/1359866 http://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/1359866] A negative review of the author.+ + +
Revamping this small article into a larger one
'''Philip Pullman''' is the [[atheist]]ic author of ''[[His Dark Materials]]'', a [[trilogy]] of [[fantasy]] novels for [[young adult]]s where the ultimate victory is killing the Judeo-Christian [[Yahweh|God]].
'''Philip Pullman''' is the prolific author of many [[young adult]] novels, including the ''[[His Dark Materials]]'' and ''Sally Lockhart'' series. However, his works have come under some criticism, from mainly conservative Christian public figures and bloggers.
==Pullman's Life==
Philip Pullman was born in Norwich, [[England]], in 1946, to Audrey and Alfred Pullman. The early years of Pullman's life were spent traveling, because his father was a member of [[United Kingdom|Britain]]'s [[Royal Air Force]] (RAF). His father died when he was age 7, and his family then traveled to [[London]] to find work. Only one year later, Pullman's mother remarried, to another man working for the RAF. His family lived in [[Australia]] for much of those next two years. When Pullman was ten years old, his stepfather quit his job at the RAF to help his growing family. In 1965, Pullman won a scholarship to attend [[Exeter College]] in [[Oxford]]. He did so, for four years. <ref>http://www.hisdarkmaterials.org/information/philip-pullman/biography</ref>
At the age of 25, Pullman became a teacher at a middle school, also in Oxford. From 1986 to 1994, he taught at Westminister College. Pullman wrote his first book, [[Count Karlstein]], in 1982. <ref>http://www.philip-pullman.com</ref> Today Pullman lives in Oxford with his wife Jude. Pullman is a father to two grown children, and has two grandchildren as well. <ref>http://www.randomhouse.com/features/pullman/author/author.html</ref>
==Pullman's Works==
Philip Pullman has written almost 20 books, mostly young adult novels. These include:
*''Count Karlstein''
*''I Was a Rat!''
*''The Scarecrow and His Servant''
*''The Firework-Maker's Daughter''
*''Clockwork/All Wound Up''
*The ''Sally Lockhart'' series
**''The Ruby in the Smoke''
**''The Shadow in the North''
**''The Tiger in the Well''
**''The Tin Princess''
*The ''His Dark Materials'' series
**''The Golden Compass'' (''Northern Lights'' in the UK)
**''The Subtle Knife''
**''The Amber Spyglass
==Awards==
Philip Pullman has been the recipient of many awards:<ref>http://www.philip-pullman.com/about_the_author.asp</ref>
*The Carnegie Medal (for the ''His Dark Materials'' series)
**Incidentally, the series was the winner in a poll taken for the favorite Carnegie Medal book of all time.
*The Guardian Children's Book Award (for the ''His Dark Materials'' series)
*The Whitebread Book of the Year Award (for the third book of the ''His Dark Materials'' series, the first time it was ever awarded to a children's book)
*The Eleanor Farjeon Award for children's literature
==Criticism of Pullman==
Some critics of Pullman's series brand his books anti-religious.
Frank Furedi wrote:
Frank Furedi wrote:
<blockquote>
... He is adept at public moralising. He has denounced [[Narnia]] as ‘morally loathsome’, describing [[C.S. Lewis]]’s series of books as amongst the ‘most ugly and poisonous things’ he has read. Indeed, Pullman directly counterpoises his ‘non-Christian’ trilogy to the ‘Christian’ Narnia. <ref>http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php?/site/article/4169/</ref>
</blockquote>
Blogger Joe Levi charged:
Blogger Joe Levi charged:
<blockquote>
Pullman is a [[militant]] [[atheist]] and [[secular humanist]] (who describes himself as both an [[agnostic]] and an atheist)
has said "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]]’" and despises [[C. S. Lewis]] and the [[Chronicles of Narnia]]. His motivation for writing this trilogy was specifically to counteract Lewis’ symbolisms of [[Christ]] that are portrayed in the Narnia series. <ref>http://www.joelevi.com/blog/index.php/2007/12/04/the-golden-compass-an-attack-on-god/</ref>
</blockquote>
Most of Pullman's criticism is based solely on the His Dark Materials series.
==References==
==References==
<References/>
<References/>
==Links==
==External Links==
[http://www.philip-pullman.com/|Philip Pullman's home page.]<br/>
[http://www.randomhouse.com/features/pullman/author/author.html|A website about Philip Pullman and his writing.] <br/>
[http://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/1359866 http://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/1359866|A negative review of the author.]
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[[Category:Authors]]
[[Category:Authors]]