His Dark Narnian Messages

[Tabouli]

Just spent an interesting few hours reading about Philip Pullman on the web.  Very interesting.  I offer the following as an example (especially for the Goat, but others reading this thread):

http://www.thirdway.org.uk/past/showpage.asp?page=3949

I discovered that yes indeed, there *are* some protesters out there denouncing His Dark Messages.  Pullman has been described by right wing journalists in Britain as "semi-satanic" and "the most dangerous author in Britain"!  Good, good, just wondered where they'd got to.

Sadly, though, I can't seem to find the full text of his infamous article "The Dark Side of Narnia", published on the 1st of October 1998.  Oo, the audacity of the man!  Launching a blistering attack on Narnia - during the celebration of the centenary of CS Lewis' birth!  I chuckle evilly.  That's the spirit!

Not that I share his loathing of the Narnia chronicles (I agree with the standard criticisms about their dubious socio-political messages, but I can forgive them in the light of their other charms), I just relish his penchant for subversion.  I mean, CS Lewis is such a sacred cow.  His admirers parade him back and forth all the time, dressed in a "Best of Show" blue ribbon, believing him to be above reproach and deserving of reverence.  The fact that Pullman popped out of the members' stand to rain rotten fruit on the parade I find strangely entertaining.  I don't hold with this sacred cow business when it comes to literature: no book should be considered immune from criticism.

I did find some responses to that article on the Web, of course, including one which worried me by declaring that he "was another author who wasn't as nice as the books he writes", on the grounds that Pullman had pointed out that a lot of the things Lewis said weren't very nice.  O dear.  I mean, the ol' "if you have nothing nice to say, say nothing" is all very well when it comes to personal stuff, preserving self-esteem and whatnot, but extending it to all domains really seems a bit much to me.  Can't we strike some happy medium between scathing contempt towards all things and some happy pill world where people are only allowed to say Nice Things, especially when it comes to evaluating the work of dead authors who no longer have feelings to be hurt?

I should also add that "if you have nothing nice to say, say nothing" is a particularly Anglophone philosophy.  In my workshops for international students, Western Europeans from all manner of non English speaking countries regularly shake their heads over this one.  An example I give is that of the friend who has just had a truly appalling haircut.  Do you (a) tell her what you really think, or (b) try to find something complimentary and reassuring to say, or (c) say nothing?  That English speakers tend to prefer (b) ((c) being problematic, as it implies that you can't find anything nice to say about the haircut, and is therefore an implied criticism) astonishes them.  That's so insincere!  they cry.  As a friend, your job is to tell her the truth!  
As my just-married Swiss friend says, our schools emphasise the importance of having l'esprit critique!

Interesting.  Any thoughts from Grey Wolf and Katze and other Western European types on the list?

Tabouli.



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