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His Dark Materials

Has anyone read His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman? The epic trilogy includes The Golden Compass (Northern Lights), The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass. I am only into a quarter of the second book and have found it very entertaining. I have read the Harry Potter series and other epic tales, but I find this both heart-pounding and scary (in a fun, my-eyes-can't-read-fast-enough way). I love how he, Pullman, portrays the church as bad and how organized religion is illogical and dangerous.

I wonder how many of you have read these, and if you have not, please give them a shot. I appreciate how Pullman includes physics (and the study of dark matter), philosophy, theology, logic, and scifi/fantasy! I can't wait to finish The Subtle Knife and go on to The Amber Spyglass!! These books need more attention. I wish I had had something like this to read as a child. I will begin reading them to my sons very soon. Phillip Pullman wrote these as a sort of rebuttal to C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia, a very xtn. theme based book.

Any thoughts?

Tags: His Dark Materials, Phillip, Pullman

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Permalink Reply by Little Name Atheist on September 16, 2009 at 12:02pm

A mistake, I'm sure, but this is the "General Network Questions" category, and not the "Water Cooler". I'll be moving it since I'm already here. You'll probably get more discussion there.

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Permalink Reply by Leslee Love on September 16, 2009 at 12:08pm

I appreciate the comment, and I made sure to add this to General Network Questions and not Water Cooler. I'm sorry for the mistake. I meant for it to be GN and not WC...and that is what I put. It now says Water Cooler, and I did not select that. ??????? I will do it again.....It really is just a general network question. .......There should be a selection for literature. I almost put it in Philosophy, or Science.

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Permalink Reply by Little Name Atheist on September 16, 2009 at 12:18pm

The General Network Questions category is for questions about the Ning network, the software platform that Atheist Nexus uses.

Some groups where you might also get more discussion are Science Fiction Fantasy Atheists and Nexus Book Club.

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Permalink Reply by Leslee Love on September 16, 2009 at 12:20pm

Well thanks for clarifying that....I was under the impression it was merely questions around the nexus! :)

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Permalink Reply by Little Name Atheist on September 16, 2009 at 12:24pm

No problem. I'm here to help.

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Permalink Reply by Leslee Love on September 16, 2009 at 12:52pm

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Permalink Reply by Marc Draco on September 16, 2009 at 12:03pm

Such a shame that the Narnia films are so, er, "attractive" to youngsters and the Pullman adaptation was a traffic accident.

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Permalink Reply by Leslee Love on September 16, 2009 at 12:59pm

I must say, I HATE the Twilight Series...read them all, saw the movie and ugh. She's a crappy writer, and the movie did the book justice.
I do, however, want to read Inkheart, but will not see the movie, just because I can't stand Brendan Frasier (he is in it, right???).
I remember when The Golden Compass first came out and all the church hub-bub about not seeing it because it was written by an (DUN DUN DUN) atheist.
The books are amazing---great writing, smart, and fantastic!!

I'm still working on writing that book to piss off the church even more....full of blasphemy it is!! ;)

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Permalink Reply by Marc Draco on September 16, 2009 at 2:24pm

Radio? Now that can't be as awful as that car crash of a motion picture. Any idea where I can listen to it?

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Permalink Reply by Leslee Love on September 16, 2009 at 2:31pm

http://www.hisdarkmaterials.org/

I had another website here...but when I clicked on it after posting it, it read error...

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Permalink Reply by Leslee Love on September 16, 2009 at 2:34pm

Let's try this...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/arts/hisdarkmaterials/characters.shtml

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Permalink Reply by Leslee Love on September 16, 2009 at 2:30pm

I am now a huge Pullman fan!!! I have heard of Lyra's Oxford and some others, but not Clockwork, so I will definitely check that out soon! Thanks Sarah!
The radio I have heard of as well....but vaguely.