I'm in the middle of reading the book The Golden Compass, by Philip Pullman. I put my name on the waiting list for it at the public library after I saw the preview for the movie several months ago, back before any of the controversy. When I started getting email warnings forwarded to me about the movie and heard about all the Christians that were getting t.o.'d about the subject of the book and certain statements the author made, it made me want to read it even more.
I'm only a few chapters into it, but already I've found so many blatant similarities to C.S. Lewis' The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe that I honestly can't believe that Pullman ever got this published! Check this out:
1. In Lewis' book, the main character is a young, adventurous girl named named Lucy. In Pullman's book, the main character is a young, adventurous girl named Lyra.
2. While set in England, the majority of Lewis' book takes place in Narnia, a cold, harsh wintery landscape. While set in England, the majority of the Golden Compass is set in what's simply called The North, a cold, harsh wintery landscape.
3. In the first chapter of Lewis' book, Lucy hides in a wardrobe. In the first chapter of Pullman's book, Lyra hides in a wardrobe.
4. In Lewis' book, the main antagonist is the White Witch, a beauiful, exotic, yet terrifying woman. In Pullman's book, the main antagonist is Mrs. Coulter, a beautiful, exotic, yet terrifying woman.
5. In Lewis' book, Edmund meets the White Witch and is both scared and intrigued by her. She convinces him to go with her by offering him Turkish Delight. In Pullman's book, Tony meets Mrs. Coulter and is both scared and intrigued by her. She convinces him to go with her by offering him Chocolatl.
Coincidence? I think not. And that's after only five chapters.
As my friend Suzanne so astutely pointed out the other day when I was telling her about this, isn't that always how the devil works? He can't even come up with his own original material. He takes truth and twists it just enough to serve his own purposes.
In 1950, C.S. Lewis was inspired to write a fantastic piece of fiction that told the story of the gift that God gave us in his Son.
45 years later, Philip Pullman took that story and twisted it for his own atheistic agenda. In Pullman's words, "I'm trying to undermine the basis of Christian belief."
Undermine all you want, Mr. Pullman, but do it with your own story. Don't steal someone else's.
CNN article on The Golden Compass
4 comments:
Wow. Very interesting. Thanks for the info, Becky!
Great blog, Becky! (and I'm not just saying that because you mention me.) This is especially interesting when you hear Pullman's opinion of Narnia (from Al Mohler's blog):
Put simply, Pullman hates C. S. Lewis's work The Chronicles of Narnia. He told Hannah Rosin that Lewis's famous work is "morally loathsome" and "one of the most ugly and poisonous things I ever read." Narnia, he said, "is the Christian one . . . . And mine is the non-Christian."
You gotta hand it to the guy, he knows EXACTLY what he's doing.
You challenged me to investigate before I pull out my pitchfork and join the ogre hunt. I am going to see the movie and read the books. Sounds intriguing. Nothing bugs me more than when Christians get all crazed about something they know nothing about (i.e. Harry Potter). Just saw the lastest installment of that one. GREAT movie.
I'd love to hear your impressions after you finish the book, Becky!
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