Pullman's Strong Pull

The Amber Spyglass, the last book of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materialstrilogy has just missed being the first children's book ever to benominated for the Booker Prize. The three books -- Northern Lights (or TheGolden Compass in the US), The Subtle Knife and Spyglass --have receivedlittle global attention compared to the monster success of the Harry Potterbooks and this is a shame. In fact, well OK, let me put my neck on the lineand say it: His Dark Materials, I believe, is quite simply one of thegreatest literary feats of the 20th century.

Imagine something that equals The Plague in philosophical depth, TheLordof the Rings in imaginative power, The Name of the Rose in intricateplotting, and Chronicle of a Death Foretold in edge-of-the-seat narrativeskill, and you will get a sense of Pullman's stunning achievement.

Set in many parallel universes, including our own, the trilogy providesnothingless than a complete theory of Creation, combining Christian theology,quantum physics, mythology and magic. Simultaneously, His Dark Materialsisalso a bittersweet recreation of the wonder years of innocence giving wayto knowledge at the cusp of puberty, told through the adventures of Lyraand Will, two 11-year-olds who must destroy a senile God, re-enact The Falland create a new Kingdom of Heaven.

All this delivered at rubber-burningpace over more than 1,200 pages, with a cast of thousands, a teeming massof angels, witches, bears, ghosts, scientists, shamans, and the mysteriousDust, the building blocks of consciousness, and each character finelydrawn-from warrior bear Iorik Byrnison to Texan balloonist Lee Scoresby,from Lyra's evil mother Mrs Coulter to witch queen Serafina Pekkala.Driving one helpless British reviewer to exclaim: "Is (Pullman) the beststoryteller ever?" It's a valid query. 

The other question is whether children will enjoy the trilogy. They willdefinitely be disturbed and scared by some of the violence, sexuality,apparent blasphemy, and nightmarish horrors like the hideous Land of theDead, and spectres that feed on consciousness. Even adults may be initiallyshocked by events like the utterly rational bear king eating his deadfriend to escape starvation, knowing (correctly) that his friend would haveseen this as the greatest gift he could offer. But, whether children's bookor adult fantasy, His Dark Materials is a breathtakingly powerful work.Goread it. Please.

(A somewhat edited, and shorter, version of the above appeared in theprint magazine)