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January 07, 2008
My tired thoughts
It feels like a momentous week: tomorrow are the New Hampshire primaries, tonight Stewart and Colbert come back on the air, and....well, that's all I can think of. It's enough to make me excited (although the latter are coming back without their writers, which could be interesting and, dare I say, boring?) I may have more to say about all this later.
My promised comments about His Dark Materials: I don't have too much to say, just a few observations. I loved the first book because it is mainly about rescue and adventure, and Mrs. Coulter as a villain is wonderfully evil. The other two books excited me less and felt-heavy-handed at times. Besides Mrs. Coulter, the villains are not drawn in a complex manner. The priests of the Consistorial Court are clever but shallow, and I can't help but feel that Pullman is lazy in his portrayal of them, almost as if it reflects his limited view of the church and he hasn't bothered to go deeper in his criticism. (I suppose the Spectres are pretty terrifying villains, but they're in another category). My bigger problem with the books, especially with the last one, is Pullman's assertion that Christianity (and perhaps other monotheistic religions) have nothing to say about the flesh or about taking delight and pleasure in the created world. Granted, some sectors of Christianity emphasize the spiritual life more, but Pullman ignores how Christians believe that Christ came to earth in a body, and that we will be raised again in the flesh, and that meanwhile we are to take care of and enjoy God's creation. So, like Dr. Mary Malone, I too can enjoy roasted meat with olives at a restaurant by the sea in Lisbon, but unlike her I can also believe that God created these things. The two are not mutually exclusive. And before you say that I'm having a knee-jerk reaction and interpreting meanings in places that they needn't be interpreted (which no doubt I am), let me say that, from what I gathered, Pullman is blatant in his criticism of the church (and of religion in general, I suppose). So it's perfectly fine to criticize these books from a Christian perspective.
Let me also echo what Evan says about not using "the narrative tropes of his novels as guides for my own life." While I found the first book compelling in its depiction of love, loyalty, and sacrifice, I got less motivation out of the other two books. It's interesting that one of the ultimate messages of the books is that people must live their lives so as to have true stories to tell at the end of them. And the hallmark of Christianity is that it is a story, and it is true.
But, with all that said, I love Pullman's writing style, his descriptions of the natural world, his relatively coherent plot, and his originality. That sentence sounds trite, and I definitely have many more positive things to say about the series, but I'm tired and can't think straight anymore.
| By heiders | 07:28 PM
Comments
Didn't watch the Daily Show yet, but I did see Colbert, and I thought it was great. It made me realize that about 25% of the show is the writing, and 75% is just "him." The question is, can he keep it up? Jokes about the strike will prove tiresome, no doubt, he did use quite a bit of footage from past shows to make a point (although he has done that plenty of times before), and I'm not sure he can rely on his own charisma to carry the show entirely. But people still love him, and of course the interviews were as good as ever - those were never really scripted.
Posted by: Anna at January 8, 2008 08:00 AM
Yeah, the interviews are usually improvised, although I noticed he didn't have any blue cards in front of him, which he normally does. Improv works best with other people on stage, which is why I'm curious as to whether he'll be able to keep up the bits where he's on his own. Did you see the toss from Jon to Stephen? One of the funniest ever!
Posted by: heiders at January 8, 2008 04:27 PM
