I was intrigued and excited by today’s Booking Through Thursday question, which is essentially an opportunity to pay homage to a favourite witting legend of mine.
The question is;
What book or author are you most thankful to have discovered? Have you read everything they’ve written? Reread them? Why do you appreciate them so much?
The author that I am most thankful to have discovered is Philip Pullman, most famously
Philip Pullman
known for writing the epic children’s trilogy ‘His Dark Material’ a collection of books that seem to have enthralled and entranced just as many adults as children.
I haven’t read all of his book, just the Dark Material Trilogy and The Ruby in the Smoke; another children’s book with the power and magic to also touch all audiences.
I have actually re-read Northern Lights, the first in the trilogy, and just last night I was discussing Pullman with another book loving friend. We both agreed that if any books were worth a re visit it was these three. There’s just so much going on that a second read will only reveal more magic previously missed. I’m pretty confident a third, fourth and even fifth re read would prove just as successful and gratifying.
So why do I appreciate Pullman and his books so much? Well it’s hard to think of one concrete reason. I have so many. It could be that his material is always fresh and original, the worlds, characters and idea’s he has created are so unique and inspiring.
It could also be that he always manages to reach back into my childhood imagination, suspending my long developed adult disbelief and instead transport me to another world with daemon’s and magic knives.
In fact one of my favorite aspects of Pullman is the entire concept of the daemon. In His Dark Material he created the idea that all human beings in Lyra’s world have a
Mrs. Coulter
daemon,which is essentially a living extension of their soul. It can be an ermine or a cat, a tiger or an otter. Many a time I have spent happily speculating with friends what our own daemon’s would be. I always say a cat.
And yet there are so many more reasons that I love Philip Pullman, but ultimately he taught me that writing and reading doesn’t always have to follow the generic norms of adult fiction. It doesn’t always have to be full of flowery poetic prose, laden down with existential metaphors. Writing can be fun, writing can be transporting and writing can be magical.
If ever I want to escape the drab dreariness that can be this world then I can always grab for Pullman’s magical carpet of literary transportation and enjoy the journey of being taken away to a world enlightened with mystical creatures, feisty characters and unpredictable twists and turns.
The cherry on the top of Pullman’s cake is that deep underneath all of this childhood fantasies is actually a very serious, real and frank exploration of life and people. Mix this with his atheist messages and you have a writer who can delve into the deepest recesses of any subject whilst whisking it all up in magic and fantasy.
So Philip Pullman is the writer I am most thankful to have discovered and I look forward to discovering many more of his wonderful works which I’m sure wont fail to enchant me.
And so the same questions to you lovely readers – who is the writer your most thankful for? Why, Have you read all of their books? Would you consider re-reading them? And off course why do they mean so much to you?
Don’t forget to leave your comments at Book Through Thursday and here. If you decide to do your own post then do remember to leave a link.
And on a slightly separate note here’s another question; Have you read the His Dark Material Trilogy? If so what would your daemon be?
I hug my books 