Imaginary Friends

by Philip Pullman

An essay on stories and the childhood imagination, taken from Philip Pullman's forthcoming collection Daemon Voices. All the essays in the collection focus on storytelling. Warm, funny and entertaining, they discuss Philip's own stories, the craft of writing, other storytellers and the importance of stories in our culture.

Genres: Nonfiction

32 pages, Paperback

Published July 27, 2017

About the author

Sir Philip Nicholas Outram Pullman is an English writer. His books include the fantasy trilogy His Dark Materials and The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ, a fictionalised biography of Jesus. In 2008, The Times named Pullman one of the "50 greatest British writers since 1945". In a 2004 BBC poll, he was named the eleventh most influential person in British culture. He was knighted in the 2019 New Year Honours for services to literature.
Northern Lights, the first volume in His Dark Materials, won the 1995 Carnegie Medal of the Library Association as the year's outstanding English-language children's book. For the Carnegie's 70th anniversary, it was named in the top ten by a panel tasked with compiling a shortlist for a public vote for an all-time favourite. It won that public vote and was named all-time "Carnegie of Carnegies" in June 2007. It was filmed under the book's US title, The Golden Compass. In 2003, His Dark Materials trilogy ranked third in the BBC's The Big Read, a poll of 200 top novels voted by the British public.

Reviews

[Simon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pleasant enough, but far too short to really get to grips with the nature and importance of storytelling. It was only written in response to a fairly silly comment by Richard Dawkins about kids' minds being corrupted by fairytales, so maybe Pullman felt that his point was self-evident and didn't require much elaboration? Still, it's good on how reading (and acting out) stories as a child made him feel.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this little Indy exclusive and will be purchasing Daemon Voices when it later comes out. Loved this short essay as Pullman puts into words something I've been doing my whole life. For all my New Cross chums, this is on sale at The Word!

[L · Rating 4 out of 5]

The importance of storytelling and its impact upon the human mind is explored in great depth in this highly-informative read. Phillip Pullman's essay uncovers the craft of writing like never before, and shows the reader how our imagination paths the way to a richly fulfilled life. Exploring well-known stories that he enjoyed as a kid, Pullman offers the reader an insight into his own personal journey with the written word that's poignant and amusing. I was touched by his descriptions of when he was a child and I could relate to how he felt as a youngster --getting lost in one's own head. I similarly believe that children who are deprived of any contact with fairy-tales, fantasy and folklore are missing out on so much, as they give color and shape to our lives.

Compact at only twenty-nine pages, this intriguing read is something that I would highly recommend and I am greatly looking forward to 'Demon Voices' when published.

[Charlotte · Rating 4 out of 5]

The set up of this essay was definitely enough to persuade me to head out and read the rest of what Pullman has to say. Reading about fairytales and what exactly their effect is always makes for interesting discussion, particularly when a mind as enchanting as Pullman is engaging with the ideas of the brilliant Richard Dawkin's. One point which was made which stood out quite poignantly was that in order to comprehend what the true effect of fairytales is upon minds an experiment would have to be conducted in which children grew up without such stories. Pullman's emphasis that to grow up without stories is practically 'child abuse' is such a valid point that from this I began thinking about how exactly we are enriched by the stories we are told growing up and all throughout our lives opposed to what the damaging/negative affects might be. The result was that I found myself in a similar conclusion with that of the author - we never truly believe the stories and we know that they are made up, but in 'make believe' there is a third location between the binary of existent and non-existent in which even that which is not true can for a while exist. It is the space in which we develop and test out ideas, making it the most incredible place to have to escape to and grow up in. Without it, we would not become the adults who love books, travelling and questioning. Pullman answered Dawkins ten-fold in this response and I would be truly intrigued to read an interview of the two discussing this particular essay in further depth.

[T.E. Shepherd · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a short volume, published both in celebration of Independent booksellers, and also as a teaser of the Dæmon Voices that is to follow later this year. A collection of essays about writing, this is just one.

Anyone who has read my own book, Mr Tumnal, will know that imaginary friends are a subject very close to my heart. This is an essay that reflects on the importance of stories to us - our imaginary friends, our source of comfort, and our source of learning.

[Ania Hollinshead · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely and insightful enquiry into the influence that fairytales and storytelling have on children. As one of my favourite authors (if not my favourite), Pullman has a gift of structuring his essays as if he were talking directly to the reader and including them in his consideration. I enjoyed his personal relationship as a young child with 'The Moomins', as it truly delved into his interpretation of how children's minds work with stories.

[Daisy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quality Rating: Four Stars
Enjoyment Rating: Five Stars

Lovely little speculative essay on the importance of reading children fairytales, and how the fantasy doesn't have to be directly believed to be real to mean something.

[Madeline Puckett · Rating 4 out of 5]

An essay from his published work about writing - I loved his message that while we need science, stories and storytelling is an important part of learning and comprehending the world. Stories teach us moral lessons, they teach us how to be.

[Russio · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very slim volume making the case against the case against reading fairy stories to young children as, sort of, evinced by Richard Dawkins. Approachable common sense with a useful framework for assessing belief.

[Sofie Strömvall · Rating 1 out of 5]

Real rating: 1,5 stars

This could have been so good. If it hadn't been for the last four pages being so hypocritical, I would have rated this three stars.

[Poppy Flaxman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful essay on the importance of imaginary things. Because I clearly needed further convincing that daemons are real.

[Rosie Beveridge · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved it

[adam unwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A shirt, curt dismissal of those who think fantasy is detrimental to humanity

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is just a teaser - so it's hard to pass much judgment on what will be a more substantial body of work - but at present I'm looking forward to La Belle Sauvage rather more than his essays... Waterstones limited edition is up for pre-order now! [runs...]

[Bel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I do love a good Philip Pullman essay and this one was so interesting despite his obvious bias.

[Camille Dent · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a pleasant essay to read, but it was much more speculative than I was expecting. I was hoping for more objective, or at least externally observant, insight, but this essay literally just boils down to "people say imagination is important, so we have no choice but to believe them since we can't prove otherwise." However, I am curious about the essay collection from which this one was taken and hope to check it out soon!

[Maria Dellaporta]

#readathon2018
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[Colin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Impulse purchase - so small and nibbly, but also unutterably bland. Yes, reading stories to children is good. There you go, I've just saved you two pound fifty.