The Rough Guide to Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials (Rough Guides Reference Titles) by Paul Simpson

by Paul Simpson

The Rough Guide to Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials explores the beguiling world of Philip Pullman’s classic trilogy. The guide covers Pullman’s inspiration from science and literature, including string theory, climate change and dark matter, Milton, Blake and fantasy fiction. The Story and characters are unraveled with insight into the key mysteries and events and how everyone from Lyra Belacqua to the golden monkey demon fit in to the author’s grand design. You’ll find everything from the story behind the filming and cast of the first His Dark Materials film, The Golden Compass to how the Victorian era shaped Pullman’s imagination, with a tour of Oxford’s Exeter College, Geneva (home of the Magisterium), Venice (Cittagazze), and of course where to catch the Northern Lights. Pullman shares his views on religion, and discover what organised religion has to say about his books.Cut threw the darkness and step into another universe with The Rough Guide to Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials.

Genres: Nonfiction

Paperback

First published October 1, 2007

Reviews

[Quirkyreader · Rating 5 out of 5]

See my review on my book blog: http://quirkyreader.livejournal.com/2...

[Lisa Houlihan]

I'm going to add Pullman's favorite books to my to-read list.

[Elmer Foster · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is one thing to read a story, or a trilogy, and be satisfied that it exists. However, in today's age, we, at least I, find it way more engaging to go behind the scenes and gawk at how the finished product came into being from scratch, much like bonus features on DVDs.

That holds true with this guide book. While I thought HDM was serviceable, for the most part, I highly enjoyed learning about everything Pullman stole from, um, was inspired by, more than the series. One can hardly go wrong with Milton, Blake, Jung, Galileo, even referencing the Bible as a primary source. Pullman's own associated commentary to the press about his works and literary choices was included.

The fictional trilogy was mildly interesting but reading about the hidden meanings of the daemons, the origins of literal symbolic references, even the political and religious structures being referenced, was more entertaining for me.

This guide didn't disappoint. It covered the books, sources, related movies and spinoff presentations including plays at the National Theater. Great pictorial references, accompanied the numerous name checks of all the characters, locations, and materials touched upon.

Highly recommend that if you haven't read HDM, find this guide before starting and it makes a great companion piece.

thanks for reading.

[Christine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Phillip Pullman is one of my favorite authors. For that reason, it drew me to this book. As informative as the book was, it was too much for me. It has added to my To Be Read Pile endless as it is. The minute breakdown of everything was a little over the top. As much as I did his creation of the Dark Materials to be unique, how it came about or its sources are not as imperative for me to know. The information and the research were fascinating. Ultimately, it was not my cup of tea. If information is what you seek, consider reading parts rather than the whole thing. Otherwise, if you are up for the challenge and crave the knowledge it gave, I think the book is added to your TBR pile as well.

[Brigitte Barrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting background information and explanations

[Carmyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book offers a wealth of information on the sources Pullman uses in his trilogy and the roots for many of his ideas. It appears the author has been VERY upfront about all the borrowing he's done and is not striving to maintain any illusions or mystery about his stories. I do find that a bit refreshing and so it's interesting to learn the behind the scenes of this fantastical world. One thing I learned is there are TONS of books and online sites that are dedicated to this topic. Pullman loves William Blake and also the Victorian World. I learned that. This guide's most interesting section was part two where we learned more about the characters, the inspirations, the science, the religion, the politics, the magic and the Victorian world. This was also the slowest reading. Overall, I found this interesting but dense and a bit repetitive.

[Kristy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was useful as a reference tool in helping me prepare for my middle school book club discussion of The Golden Compass. I will probably thumb through it again before I watch the movie. Nothing too ground breaking is revealed but I did find myself compelled to read aloud certain sections to Jay, and I think he's now interested in combing through the text.

















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[astried · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's like those travel book that you read to make sure you don't miss a single thing on your holiday. But though I loved Pullman's book from the bottom of my heart, I never did have the urge to dig up other things connected to it. Unlike other books where it lead me to another book then another. I suppose there's someone out there who'll pick up this book and go through all the books mentioned in it. Turns out it won't be me.

[James Madsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an easy-to-read wealth of information about Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials! This is a great reference and also a great book just to read cover to cover, once you've first read the trilogy.