Difference between revisions of "Philip Pullman"

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'''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]].  
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'''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.
  
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Critics brand his books subversively anti-religious. Defenders say it's all good fun.  
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==Pullman's Life==
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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>
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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>
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==Pullman's Works==
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Philip Pullman has written almost 20 books, mostly young adult novels. These include:
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*''Count Karlstein''
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*''I Was a Rat!''
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*''The Scarecrow and His Servant''
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*''The Firework-Maker's Daughter''
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*''Clockwork/All Wound Up''
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*The ''Sally Lockhart'' series
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**''The Ruby in the Smoke''
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**''The Shadow in the North''
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**''The Tiger in the Well''
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**''The Tin Princess''
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*The ''His Dark Materials'' series
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**''The Golden Compass'' (''Northern Lights'' in the UK)
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**''The Subtle Knife''
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**''The Amber Spyglass
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==Awards==
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Philip Pullman has been the recipient of many awards:<ref>http://www.philip-pullman.com/about_the_author.asp</ref>
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*The Carnegie Medal (for the ''His Dark Materials'' series)
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**Incidentally, the series was the winner in a poll taken for the favorite Carnegie Medal book of all time.
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*The Guardian Children's Book Award (for the ''His Dark Materials'' series)
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*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)
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*The Eleanor Farjeon Award for children's literature
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==Criticism of Pullman==
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Some critics of Pullman's series brand his books anti-religious.
  
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==Pullman's views on religion==
 
 
Frank Furedi wrote:
 
Frank Furedi wrote:
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*... 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>
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<blockquote>
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... 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>
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</blockquote>
  
 
Blogger Joe Levi charged:
 
Blogger Joe Levi charged:
  
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*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>
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<blockquote>
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Pullman is a [[militant]] [[atheist]] and [[secular humanist]] (who describes himself as both an [[agnostic]] and an atheist)  
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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>
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</blockquote>
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Most of Pullman's criticism is based solely on the His Dark Materials series.
  
 
==References==
 
==References==
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<References/>
 
<References/>
  
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==Links==
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==External Links==
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*[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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[http://www.philip-pullman.com/|Philip Pullman's home page.]<br/>
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[http://www.randomhouse.com/features/pullman/author/author.html|A website about Philip Pullman and his writing.] <br/>
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[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.]
  
 
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pullman, Philip}}
 
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pullman, Philip}}
  
 
[[Category:Authors]]
 
[[Category:Authors]]

Revision as of 14:00, June 27, 2008

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 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. [1] 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. [2] Today Pullman lives in Oxford with his wife Jude. Pullman is a father to two grown children, and has two grandchildren as well. [3]

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:[4]

  • 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:

... 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. [5]

Blogger Joe Levi charged:

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. [6]

Most of Pullman's criticism is based solely on the His Dark Materials series.

References

  1. ↑ http://www.hisdarkmaterials.org/information/philip-pullman/biography
  2. ↑ http://www.philip-pullman.com
  3. ↑ http://www.randomhouse.com/features/pullman/author/author.html
  4. ↑ http://www.philip-pullman.com/about_the_author.asp
  5. ↑ http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php?/site/article/4169/
  6. ↑ http://www.joelevi.com/blog/index.php/2007/12/04/the-golden-compass-an-attack-on-god/

External Links

Pullman's home page.
website about Philip Pullman and his writing.
http://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/1359866|A negative review of the author.

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