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I have a burning need to know stuff and I love asking awkward questions.

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Just Finished Reading: The Devil’s Account – Philip Pullman & Christianity by Hugh Rayment-Pickard

I didn’t know this at the time of purchase but the author not only has a PhD in the Philosophy of Religion but it also a Parish priest in London. This may go some way to explain the tone of the book.

Rayment-Pickard (RP) certainly does a fair job of analysing Pullmans Dark Materials trilogy as well as several other Pullman works but failed to hold his own disparaging views in check. Not only was the overall tone of this work sarcastic and cynical but I quickly lost count of the number of snide comments aimed at both Philip Pullman and his books. It was abundantly clear that RP found His Dark Materials deeply offensive. On more than one occasion he dismissed Pullmans own statements regarding his atheism and pointed out that only someone with a deep (and presumably deeply repressed) need for God – indeed an actual belief in God – could have written such a seeming polemic against the Church. The criticisms of Pullmans works oscillated between statements pointing out the overly aggressive treatment of Christianity in his books contrasted with the apparent fact that Pullman was apparently trying to usurp the Christian Myth with one of his own. The charge of hubris was implicit on almost every page.

Thankfully the book was a short one and I didn’t have to suffer too long the overbearing criticism of three of the best books I’ve ever read. The few good points RP made were more than drowned out by his prejudicial stance and spiteful commentary. This book might be useful to those studying Pullman’s work academically but if you want to have a deeper understanding of His Dark Materials in particular I’d look elsewhere.

12 comments:

Sadie Lou said...

It was abundantly clear that RP found His Dark Materials deeply offensive.

We've discussed this before. I loved the first book but then grew critical of the next ones because of it's indulgent theme that I obviously don't agree with but it wasn't offensive--it's fiction.
I think this book is timely because some schools are using Pullman's book as suggested or required reading material. There should be open critism of it's content as well as praise if there are going to be children asked to read it in a school setting.

CyberKitten said...

There are many titles of Lit Crit covering 'His Dark Materials' and Pullman's other works. I was disapointed with this one (I have others) because of the blatent bias of the author who couldn't stop sniping at the books he was supposed to be critiquing. This book could done with a little less passion and a bit more cool objectivity.

I loved all three books particularly the 2nd one - The Subtle Knife - which I adored. Pullman created some truely fantastic characters (and situations) which still resonate with me years later. His brilliance has literally burnt the stories into my brain.

OldLady Of The Hills said...

I am unfaniliar with all of this CK...and probably wouldn't even have heard of either of these two authors except for you! And I love the fact that you are always searching and seeking and exploring where God and religion is/are concerned....You always teach me something when I come and visit you---and sometimes you make me laugh out loud! A great blogging experience!

FYI: About the light in my pictures...it was an overcast day and the only light used by me was whatever was coming in through my living room windows...Amazing, because if I tried to recreate that, I couldn't. That is what is exciting to me about playing with the camera---there is always this unknown, to me, factor, that I find extremely exciting...and that is how I feel when I paint, too....things go where they go and often in surprises even me!

Yulacu said...

On more than one occasion he dismissed Pullmans own statements regarding his atheism and pointed out that only someone with a deep (and presumably deeply repressed) need for God – indeed an actual belief in God – could have written such a seeming polemic against the Church.

Why is it that criticism of the Church is always seen as evidence of a deep belief in the truth of a religion? I criticize conservative policies...does that mean I secretly believe in the truth of conservative ideals?

Skywolf said...

I will never understand that either. Why can't people like this guy accept that other people do have genuine, well-thought-out reasons for dismissing the Church and/or religion? It could equally be argued that this guy's vehement views against Pullman's works are disguising his secret love of the books and deep respect for Pullman's viewpoint. Which would, of course, be a ridiculous conclusion to reach.

I still don't really understand why some people have such a massive problem with His Dark Materials. They're wonderful books. They're fiction... and they make the reader think. Lots of people thoroughly agree with Pullman's views (myself included) - don't they have a right to have their opinions and philosophies discussed in modern literature? If I'd read Pullman as a child alongside C.S. Lewis, perhaps I would have been able to ask deeper questions of the religion I was brought up in, and maybe my views would have been more healthily rounded in childhood.

Oh, but I forgot... kids brought up in religious families aren't allowed alternative viewpoints. Mustn't have that.

CyberKitten said...

Hi Alpha & welcome. That's the very point that the author was (I think) trying to make. Weird eh?

skywolf said: Why can't people like this guy accept that other people do have genuine, well-thought-out reasons for dismissing the Church and/or religion?

Because some people think that there *are* no genuine reasons for dismissing religion.... therefore there *must* be other, deeper and sometimes darker reasons behind what (from another view) is rather straightforward.

skywolf said: I still don't really understand why some people have such a massive problem with His Dark Materials. They're wonderful books.

Indeed. I can certainly see why Christians would find them disturbing but some of the criticism I've read has been *way* over the top. Maybe it's because they're so well written, aimed at the young and haven been proven to be very popular....?

Sadie Lou said...

Oh, but I forgot... kids brought up in religious families aren't allowed alternative viewpoints. Mustn't have that.

If you honestly believe that then you are obviously more brainwashed than those you make accusations against. Or you could just be very ignorant.

Cy said...
aimed at the young

That's my guess. C.S.Lewis's Christian themes in the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe series was symbolic. I didn't even "get it" as a child because I wasn't a Christian and nobody told me he had a Christian theme.
Pullman's books are quite frank: God is the evil enemy. There's nothing fiction about that for Pullman--it's true for him.

CyberKitten said...

Sadie said: C.S.Lewis's Christian themes in the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe series was symbolic. I didn't even "get it" as a child because I wasn't a Christian and nobody told me he had a Christian theme.

Haven't read any Lewis so I can't comment. I did see the first Narnia film though and was surprised by the low-key Christian stuff. I was expecting to be hit over the head by it all.

Sadie also said: Pullman's books are quite frank: God is the evil enemy. There's nothing fiction about that for Pullman--it's true for him.

It may indeed be 'true for him' but the story of Asriel's war against The Authority is fantasically fictional. The books are still fiction. Pullman quite clearly portrays God as absent, a tired old man who wants to die. The evil Authority is one of God's angels who has usurped God's powers to enslave the Universe. Certainly from his description (and the actions of the Church in various different Universes) they both are deserving of opposition.

Pullman is most certainly an atheist & he puts his ideas across in 'His Dark Materials' very well indeed. That, I suppose, makes him a dangerous author (from some perspectives) especially as one of literature aimed at young teens. His writings are supposed to make his readers think about things they probably would never even consider without reading his books. This he most certainly does.

Skywolf said...

If you honestly believe that then you are obviously more brainwashed than those you make accusations against. Or you could just be very ignorant.

Nope. I am neither brainwashed nor ignorant of these matters. I realise that what I said was a very sweeping statement, and it was in fact meant ironically rather than literally, but in my very real experience it is sadly not untrue. I am well aware that many religious parents bring their children up in a fantastically rounded manner, and it was indeed unfair of me to lump them all in together, but my experiences as a child, and around other religious kids whose families thought similarly, did not allow for any form of thought outside of Christianity. I was incredibly sheltered as a child, and coming out of that sheltering was the most unbelievable shock to my young system, simply because I'd never been allowed to think outside of my black-and-white religious upbringing. And some of my friends were more sheltered than I was.

Alternative viewpoints were considered 'dangerous'. And the people that shout so loudly against the likes of Pullman fit exactly into the category of those who uphold this view.

Laughing Boy said...

Sheltering children from certain ideas and attempting to promote their acceptance of other ideas is a significant part of what parenting is about. How strongly parents instill "their truths" into their kids is dependent on how important the parents consider those truths to be. That is a standard, even inevitable, dynamic in non-religious as well as religious families.

Laughing Boy said...

from the initial post...The few good points RP made were more than drowned out by his prejudicial stance and spiteful commentary.

What, in your opinion, does an author's prejudicial stance and spiteful commentary say about a) their understanding of the topic, and b) the veracity of their conclusions.

CyberKitten said...

LB asked: What, in your opinion, does an author's prejudicial stance and spiteful commentary say about a) their understanding of the topic, and b) the veracity of their conclusions.

It calls into question their conclusions and observations because of their obvious bias. When their understanding of a work of literature is coloured by their personal filters it must mean that any interpretations they make should be called into question and taken with a rather large 'pinch of salt'. If they are biased against the work in the first place then any conclusions they draw will probably also be biased don't you think?