Trusting in Lyra

D.H. lawrence said when reading a story trust the tale not the teller. That is exactly what I do when I read His Dark Materials. Even though Philip Pullman is a very outspoken atheist, I have always and will remain to ignore that when I read his books because there is more meaning in his books than what he intends (not because I disagree with atheism or Chritianity, but because I don't like the idea of knowing too much about the author of a book, sometimes it ruins my experience). Dr. Sexson points out that it is a rather odd thing to say that we might understand an author's story better than the author himself, but I think it is a very useful one. There is a great deal of religious material in the books and it is enriching and adds to the themes, but the politics of religion can get messy, so I try to focus on other themes. The themes seem to focus around innocence/experience, truth, storytelling, didacticism, what is a child, etc. as Dr. Sexson listed for us in class. The influences surrounding Philip Pullman's novels are rich and vast. He certainly does not worry about anxiety of influence, but rather embraces it. I want to blog later about some of the themes, this is just a quick intro blog to His Dark Materials.