Posted

May 19th 2008

Mood

Frustrated

Music

None

Wow, I've had some trouble concentrating lately. I know I needed a vacation (which I got) but now I still can't seem to keep on track with what I am supposed to be doing at work. I just want to run around and play, which I guess is from working so overly hard with the semester. But none-the-less I cleared the Spring Semester with Straight A's and posses a GPA of 3.8 so that is pleasing to hear.

I have had the divine pleasure of being able to actually READ again. It has been such a while since I have had such a chance to pick up and read books and it is something that I have missed deeply. I re-read the Hobbit by J.R. Tolkien rather recently and I was just as impressed now as when I was little, and now that I am older, the text makes my hair stand on end because it is so well-written (in my opinion). Despite this, my favorite author is still Piers Anthony for his very simplistic writing style and his creative imagination (c'mon, a Dinosaur Petting Zoo at the Ghost Carnival.. just.. too awesome).

So together those two books are a benchmark by which I judge other books you might say. So the two new books up for review are exact antipodes of each other.

Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" (which I give a 5 out of 10)
and
C.S. Lewis' "Chronicles of Narnia"
(which I've only read five books but thus far give it a 7 out of 10 )

So I read His Dark Materials first, the whole trilogy of The Golden Compass just in case some may not know, and I just was not impressed. I know it is supposed to be for kids and tweens, yes, but the world just was not so lively and Lyra came off not as a child or even a brat, but way to adult to me. These just seemed rather flat in their premise, all the characters did, and the writing did possess a few interesting moments. I loved when Dark Matter came in place in the second book and thought that that was a creative touch, but over-all I just didn't feel it was a remarkable book. The Golden Compass was the best of all the books, it was whimsical and lovely, and I enjoyed it but the last two seriously dropped the series from grace. I cannot exactly point my finger as to why. I was not very thrilled.

Some may cite that because I'm a Christian, that is the only reason why I do not like Philip Pullman. On the contrary, I actually heartily agree with quite a bit that Pullman has to say. I do agree that Dogmatic Churches are a terrible ruin to our world. I do agree that we have our PRESENT time to love and enjoy the world, I do agree that Christians do need to emphasis the Human Experience instead of trying to beat everybody into a bloody pulp if they do not fall into line in the exact order as dictated. I also do see Pullman's concentration on Story-telling and his emphasis on human tapestry period. I agree with him heartily, and I feel he is Agnostic, not Atheist. But this does not change the fact that I just was not impressed.


Then que C.S. Lewis' Narnia tales, an author that has been accused of being a bigot and a woman-hater and more by Pullman himself. Also, a Christian who has placed the allegory of Christian elements into his story. I have a book that has organized the stories into chronological order and believe me I can tell the difference between Lewis' earlier writings and his later writings. His later writings are so much more developed. I first started off with The Magician and his Apprentice with Digory and Polly Plummer and I was immediately swooned by the rich characters that Lewis' was developing. There is even a part where Polly Plummer sees a group of shiny rings that are just so pretty she wants to put one in her mouth... that only that single shining sentence gave her so much depth to me that it made Lyra completely pale in comparison. So I continued on to the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe only to be a little shaken because the character style and the depth of characters was not quite as developed as the first book (and learned that that was because he wrote the Lion, Witch, Wardrobe book first apparently). The character depth was not quite AS developed, and the story rather hurried to me. But the next one, A Horse and his Boy was brilliant. I enjoyed every ounce of it! Very adventurous and full of life and it did not even take place in Narnia!
None the less, thus far I am going to give Lewis a 7 out of 10 because he winds up the audience really well.. and gives them a big let down especially in Prince Caspian (which I have not seen the movie yet) and there was so much Lewis could have done with it... The witch could have come back, they could have been fighting a mistaken Prince Caspian that they may have thought of as evil, they could have had sided with the witch even and so much.. SO much could have happened... only to have Lewis go "Nahh... *BLIP*"

I feel that Lewis is NOT racist or a woman-hater by the way... Lucy has a wisdom none of the others possess and Aravis from A Horse and His Boy was also very ingenious and intelligent in her workings (I thought), and I just do not see evidence for Pullman's name-calling. I think Pullman needs to shut up and sit down.

But that is just the humble opinion of one reader and I have to remind myself and others that they are books rather meant for kids indeed, but still, I enjoyed Narnia's story-telling then I did for the Golden Compass.