Shedding Light on His Dark Materials

Short Description
Shedding Light on His Dark Materials. Book Discussion Guide. Introduction. What does Kurt Bruner find so compelling about Philip Pullman’s trilogy His Dark …

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Content
Shedding Light on His Dark Materials
Book Discussion Guide
Introduction
What does Kurt Bruner find so compelling about Philip Pullman’s trilogy His Dark Materials? What does he find so disturbing about Pullman’s novels?
On page xi, Philip Pullman describes the “religious impulse” he embraces as “the impulse to feel awe, wonder, a sense of mystery, a sense of delight in being alive, and in being a part of this great, extraordinary universe.” How has the church celebrated those same attributes? How has the church kept them in check?
Pullman does have a moral center throughout his series. Do you think it was intentional or unavoidable? Why?
Other Worlds
In talking about fantasy, what do you think J. R. R. Tolkien meant when he said that fantasy “does not destroy or even insult Reason; . . . The keener and the clearer is the reason, the better fantasy will make it” (see page 6)?
Children seem to have more imagination than adults. How might an adult enrich his or her spiritual imagination?
Daemons
What if you and I had daemon companions that clearly reflected who we were? If you had to choose an animal that reflected your…