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His Dark Materials
I read Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy about a year ago. I recently head that there are plans for a movie of The Golden Compass, the first of the 3 books, and so my interest in the series has been re-awakened. I went to www.darkmaterials.com recently, and found the following item in the FAQ. I found this interesting as there is a religious overtone to the series, and the title of the series is inspired fom Milton's "Paradise Lost"...that most of us probably slept through reading in highschool.
According to Philip Pullman:
"[The Authority in His Dark Materials] is the God of the burners of heretics, the hangers of witches, the persecuters of Jews, the officials who recently flogged that poor girl in Nigeria who had the misfortune to become pregant after having been forced to have sex - all these people claim to know with absolute certainty that their God wants them to do these things. Well, I take them at their word, and I say in response that that God deserves to die."
- (In the Readerville Forum in February 2001)
"Do I believe in God? Well, actually, no. But could I just raise in response the question - does it MATTER what I believe in? You can see what [His Dark Materials] believes in - what it values, and what it criticises; what it holds up for admiration, and what it deplores. What I personally believe in or not isn't really important...Did I mean it?...Yes, I believe in what the [series] says. I mean every word of it."
- (In the Readerville Forum in February 2001)
I also found an interesting article here, that compares Little Red Riding Hood with The Golden Compass.
Little Red Riding Hood and The Golden Compass
- by L. E. MacDonald -
[Note: The Golden Compass is an alternative title for Northern Lights]
The traditional fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood deals with such universal aspects of the human existence as adolescence, sexuality, and the desire for independence. Therefore, it is not surprising to find similarities between the story and Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass, which also concerns a young heroine losing her innocence. While the latter novel is indefinitely more complex than the former short morality tale, both Lyra and Red Riding Hood have a great deal in common. Both individuals ignore instructions to stay to a safe path, both have idealized familial figures who turn out to be vicious predators, and both are stripped of their innocence as a result of dealing with this Wolf.
The most common version of Little Red Riding Hood, passed down by the Grimm Brothers (Rotkäppchen, 1812), is considerably sweeter and lighter than earlier versions of the tale. The titular heroine is sent to visit her grandmother by her mother, who warns the girl to stay on the path through the forest. Red Riding Hood encounters a Wolf, who convinces her to leave the path to pick flowers for her grandmother. While she is happily diverted, the Wolf runs to the grandmother's house, gains entry, and then swallows the poor woman whole. When Red Riding Hood comes at last to the house, she discovers a suspiciously furry individual in her grandmother's clothes who promptly devours her. A woodcutter (or huntsman - it varies) wanders by, opens up the now sleeping Wolf's stomach, and out pops Grandmother and Red Riding Hood, alive and undigested. Everyone is relieved and happy except for the Wolf, who is dead.
Earlier versions of the story are much darker. In Charles Perrault's version (Le Petit Chaperon Rouge, 1697), no kindly woodcutter happens by, and Red Riding Hood's death is regarded as a just and inevitable outcome of her gullibility, disobedience, and sexual nature. Both her red attire and her compliance with the socially unacceptable suggestions of the wild and feral Wolf are generally considered to be overt sexual symbols. Perrault's tale ends with an explicit warning that any young woman who let a "wolf" lead her astray would share Red Riding Hood's fate, figuratively if not literally. Other versions of the tale (El Cappelin Rossomake) make the same point with unpleasant details: Red Riding Hood removes her clothing and partakes of a pitcher of her grandmother's blood and a hunk of her grandmother's flesh before jumping into bed with the disguised Wolf, who then murders her.
...
I had no idea the version of the Little Red Riding Hood I grew up with was not the original one, or that the earlier versions were more grim than Grimm.
I am going to try to read more on the site later. I have to go to bed now though. Chas and I have to leave to go to the airport in a short few hours.
According to Philip Pullman:
"[The Authority in His Dark Materials] is the God of the burners of heretics, the hangers of witches, the persecuters of Jews, the officials who recently flogged that poor girl in Nigeria who had the misfortune to become pregant after having been forced to have sex - all these people claim to know with absolute certainty that their God wants them to do these things. Well, I take them at their word, and I say in response that that God deserves to die."
- (In the Readerville Forum in February 2001)
"Do I believe in God? Well, actually, no. But could I just raise in response the question - does it MATTER what I believe in? You can see what [His Dark Materials] believes in - what it values, and what it criticises; what it holds up for admiration, and what it deplores. What I personally believe in or not isn't really important...Did I mean it?...Yes, I believe in what the [series] says. I mean every word of it."
- (In the Readerville Forum in February 2001)
I also found an interesting article here, that compares Little Red Riding Hood with The Golden Compass.
Little Red Riding Hood and The Golden Compass
- by L. E. MacDonald -
[Note: The Golden Compass is an alternative title for Northern Lights]
The traditional fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood deals with such universal aspects of the human existence as adolescence, sexuality, and the desire for independence. Therefore, it is not surprising to find similarities between the story and Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass, which also concerns a young heroine losing her innocence. While the latter novel is indefinitely more complex than the former short morality tale, both Lyra and Red Riding Hood have a great deal in common. Both individuals ignore instructions to stay to a safe path, both have idealized familial figures who turn out to be vicious predators, and both are stripped of their innocence as a result of dealing with this Wolf.
The most common version of Little Red Riding Hood, passed down by the Grimm Brothers (Rotkäppchen, 1812), is considerably sweeter and lighter than earlier versions of the tale. The titular heroine is sent to visit her grandmother by her mother, who warns the girl to stay on the path through the forest. Red Riding Hood encounters a Wolf, who convinces her to leave the path to pick flowers for her grandmother. While she is happily diverted, the Wolf runs to the grandmother's house, gains entry, and then swallows the poor woman whole. When Red Riding Hood comes at last to the house, she discovers a suspiciously furry individual in her grandmother's clothes who promptly devours her. A woodcutter (or huntsman - it varies) wanders by, opens up the now sleeping Wolf's stomach, and out pops Grandmother and Red Riding Hood, alive and undigested. Everyone is relieved and happy except for the Wolf, who is dead.
Earlier versions of the story are much darker. In Charles Perrault's version (Le Petit Chaperon Rouge, 1697), no kindly woodcutter happens by, and Red Riding Hood's death is regarded as a just and inevitable outcome of her gullibility, disobedience, and sexual nature. Both her red attire and her compliance with the socially unacceptable suggestions of the wild and feral Wolf are generally considered to be overt sexual symbols. Perrault's tale ends with an explicit warning that any young woman who let a "wolf" lead her astray would share Red Riding Hood's fate, figuratively if not literally. Other versions of the tale (El Cappelin Rossomake) make the same point with unpleasant details: Red Riding Hood removes her clothing and partakes of a pitcher of her grandmother's blood and a hunk of her grandmother's flesh before jumping into bed with the disguised Wolf, who then murders her.
...
I had no idea the version of the Little Red Riding Hood I grew up with was not the original one, or that the earlier versions were more grim than Grimm.
I am going to try to read more on the site later. I have to go to bed now though. Chas and I have to leave to go to the airport in a short few hours.