The Wildcat's Den

First, the layout pimpage - which I made all by myself complete with matching default icon (with the help of MS Paint and IRFanview and all those fun free graphics making programs - 'course, where quality's concerned, you get what you pay for.  Don't expect me to be on any of those big-time LIMS or icontests communities.  This is just for my own use and fun).  And, yes, giving credit where credit is due: elucreh inspired me to use the "[username] @ LiveJournal" style for my icon.  I'm not sure if she's the first to do it, but she's the first one I've seen do it.  I'm quite pleased with my work, actually ^_^

On to other things - fandom has disappointed me during this past month (which is partially why I changed my layout and default icon - but the other part was because I wanted to try doing something that would make this corner or the 'net personally mine and mine alone).  It began with this news from JK Rowling's US book tour.  I've already ranted about it, so click the link if you really want to read it.  Since then, I've been going little-by-little, ever so more "anti-" (as my brother has termed it).  So, you can see why, while the fandom is whipped up into a frenzy over JKR suing a fansite (a fansite, moreover, that she once awarded her own personal Fan Site Award to) over a book the fansite was publishing, I couldn't give a rat's ass in hell about any of it (many of the HP fansites have pissed me off a little - simply because they were complacent in the first "outing" news and beat down anyone that dissented from JKR's "All-Knowing-All-Powerful-All-Ruler-of-the-Literary-Universe" Words from On High in the name of Political Correctness and "Open-Mindedness" - PotterCast and Leaky, especially can count one listener that they've lost - not that the HP version of the Drive-By media will really notice.  If you understand the reference of "Drive-By media" you deserve ten million dollars and a trip to Disneyland).

That rant aside, another fandom lost a potential devotee when yours truly finished reading the "His Dark Materials" series by Phillip Pullman.  I've mentioned this before on LiveJournal and I once endorsed it.  I'm officially rescinding my endorsement because, well, I hadn't finished reading all three books at the time.  And if I'd done my homework, I would have warned my readership sooner (spoilers be damned).

The details: Apparently, Pullman considers himself the "Anti-CS-Lewis" and HDM was to be considered as the "Anti-Narnia" in that, it was supposed to be an allegory for atheism.  Except you don't know that until you've finished reading "The Amber Spyglass," the final book in the series.  Basically, you've got this book sold as a children's book, but it's really a subversive con - the first two books are just a nice little romp with two kids and their pets through this fantasy world, but then they end up wanting to kill God (which, only an atheist could be so messed up as to think you could kill God).

Aside from the subversive atheism (which, is the only way atheism gets spread), it is the "Anti-Narnia" in one other way: it is an extremely poor example of allegory.  Allegory uses symbols, parable and what I call the "likening" technique, which is why Narnia works.  All Pullman does is change the names of key scriptural characters and kills them off.  That's not allegory, that's actually plagiarism (but since no one really owns the copyright of Holy Writ, I guess he can get away with it).  Because of the nature of allegory, religious allegories are typically the ones that are the most well-written.  Non-religious-allegory (or as I like to call it "emergency toilet paper") really doesn't work.  I've read non-religious-allegory - it requires you to be so open-minded that your brains fall out (which, "The Amber Spyglass" achieves very well).

What really bugs me about this Pullman series is that it tricks you.  Like I said, I'd never heard of this guy and I'd never done an internet search on him or anything.  I'd just started reading the books because they'd had come highly recommended (from The Leaky Cauldron, funnily enough... hmm...)  The first two were really fun.  Then you get to the third and you're left thinking "What the hell did I just read?"

I don't like feeling like an author has tricked me into reading something I didn't want to read.  Suspend moral beliefs and values for a moment - Readers want to know what they are reading.  If they are expecting a fantasy story about two kids saving the world, then make sure the book summary and reflect that.  If readers want to read about how Christianity is a mean, mean, mean religion that requires you to believe that Jesus Christ saved your soul whether you like it or not, market it as such.

On the whole: "His Dark Materials" is a crafty, confusing argument meant to distress and subvert people's beliefs while providing no alternatives (sort of like a Hillary Clinton speech).  If you are secure enough in your beliefs, you will able to see through the argument, dump it in the trash where it belongs and go find your well-worn and loved Narnia books to cleanse your literary pallet.  If you don't feel like you're secure enough in your beliefs, got read "Narnia" anyway.  It deserve the respect much more than HDM does (and don't waste your money on the "Golden Compass" movie this December).

By the way - it's sad indeed when I find a vampire romance novel much more morally satisfying than the "children's" fantasy novel.  Then again, the vampire novel is the "Twilight" series by Stephenie Meyer.  I finished the third book in that one last night and I highly recommend it. ^_^