{ irony. }

[delga]

Pullman wins 'great book' title.

Just to contradict everything I've been saying for the past two months: um. WHAT THE FUCK? Best children's book in the past seventy years, what? HAS NO-ONE READ TOM'S MIDNIGHT GARDEN? I mean, Northern Lights is wonderful, and I love it. But still.

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edit:

Dear flist,
There is totally an entry below this one. I swear,
M x

Comments

[delgaserasca.livejournal.com]

I think it's only the first that was awarded. But still. I'd rank it fairly high as an icon of British children's literature, but. Still. (I feel like TMG should be at the top of that list - it's so effortless and timeless.) (I'm just pleased Rowling didn't get the bid; that would have driven me batty.)

[emmademarais.livejournal.com]

JKR easily wins most popular based on sales, so I don't expect her to get a major quality award on top of that. Like HDM, the first HP book was the best, but at least she's done a better job of keeping the sequels reasonably acceptable even if she too failed to live up to the potential of the universe she created. Pullman? I may never forgive him for the mess he made at the end of HDM. Very disappointing.

[delgaserasca.livejournal.com]

Not to your opinion but having read all of HP, I'd say the first book was probably one of the weakest installments, though the one that I'd suggest was probably most for children out of the whole ream. As for HDM, I recently went through and charted the plot. Whilst a little clumsy at the denouement, the narrative remains strong. He wraps up the plot, his allusions - although transparent - are skillful, and but for the shady area of daemons, his mythology holds strong throughout the trilogy.

The reason I'd argue it's not the best is because, for example, Philippa Pearce's novel, Tom's Midnight Garden is effortless whilst you can see how hard Pullman worked on HDM. You can see the mechanics a little too clearly, you can see its contrivances. On the other hand, there are various other novels that hide their mastery and that's what makes them beautiful. (Which is why HP5, for me, failed as a narrative. You know, other than Rowling's caps abuse. I quite enjoyed book 3, though. Self-contained mythology, neat execution of plot, nice bit of time-fandangling. A self-contained success.)