Teenagers in the world of the victorious religious fundamentalism

The new novel by Philip Pulman is released - a prequel to the “Dark Indigenouss” (and you should not let it go for adults)

On March 12, Russia will go on sale by the Book of the English writer Philip Pulman “The Beautiful Dikar”-the long-awaited prequel to his teenage fantasy-trilogy “Dark Principles” (“Golden Compass”, “Wonderful Knife”, “Amber Telescope”). The Literary critic of Medusa Galina Yuzefovich explains why it makes sense to read this book, including adults.

This is a book about an unusual, hard -arranged world

In his new novel, Philip Pulman returns to the world, already familiar to the reader on the trilogy about the adventures of Lyra Belakva. This world is largely similar to ours - it contains the same continents, countries and even the city (so, the action of the “beautiful savage” unfolds in university oxford), the dominant religion in Europe is also Christianity, and the king runs England.

However, there are also important differences: instead of airplanes, the heaven here plow the airships, the dominant form of Christianity is a totalitarian and intolerant of any dissent Calvinism (therefore, the heart of religious life beats not in Rome, but in Geneva, where Jean Calvin lived and preached), but the mysterious tribes and armored bearings live in the distant north. But most importantly, Damon accompanies every person in this world from birth - a reasonable and endowed creature in the form of an animal or bird, a kind of analogue that in our Universe it is customary to call the soul.

To monitor how our world is reflected in a parallel, masterly and logically built by Philip Pulman, to find forks in which the history of the two worlds went in different courses, and track allusions and rapprochement - the pleasure of simultaneously refined and exciting.

This is a book about a difficult moral choice

Many parents do not approve of Pulman's books for ethical ambivalence: they are really not easy to figure out who is good and who is bad. However, it is this property that makes them truly attractive, including for an adult reader. In the "beautiful savage" moral ambiguity becomes especially noticeable.

In Pulman England, restless. The relatively liberal government was replaced by people leaning towards religious fundamentalism. Their task is to subjugate the Church Society as much as possible and prohibit all scientific research that can jeopardize its authority. In schools, the so -called “League of St. Alexander” is operating - the organization of local “Pavliks of the Morozov”, ready to convey to parents and teachers for behavior, which can be interpreted as “sinful” or “godless”.

The Disciplinary Court of Consistory (DSK) - the secret service of churchmen - turns into a powerful punitive organ that holds the whole country and terrorizing the press. In these circumstances, people who seek to preserve free will and the right to spiritual self -determination are forced to either hide or enter the path of underground resistance. The secret organization called OUKOKOKOT, which includes mostly scientists and politicians, coordinates their activity.

Eleven-year-old Malcolm Half, the son of an Oxford innkeeper, is directly drawn into the confrontation of the DSK and OUKOKOST, and now it depends on him whose hands the little Lyra Belakva will fall-the six-month-old godfather of the lord Azriel and the malicious Mrs. Cooletor, a highly installed agent of the Church and the Creator League of St. Alexander.

The inquisitive and inquisitive Malcolm chooses the side of “Ouccule Street”, but very soon it is convinced that not all methods of new associates to his liking, and to draw a border between good and evil is not as simple as we would like.

This is an actual book (including relevant for Russia)

Philip Pulman is known, among other things, as a like-minded evolutionary biologist Richard Dokinza and a convinced fighter with clericalism in all his manifestations, and today this position is of particular relevance. Reading a description of the dark wave of obscurantism and fanaticism, rising in the world created by the writer, it is difficult to get rid of the unpleasant feeling that all this is the most directly related to the trends in Russia and the world.

This is a book that causes a strong emotional reaction

One of Philip Pulman’s main writer's qualifications is to call the reader the acute, on the verge of discomfort, a sense of ownership. Throughout the novel, you will worry about the heroes, be afraid with them, hope and rejoice, and the most terrible moments of the “beautiful savage” have good chances to replenish the collection of your favorite nightmares, because Pulman is able to frighten the reader almost better than anyone (it is no coincidence that Stephen King himself praised his ability).

This is a fascinating novel and the first part of the promising trilogy

If we distract from the fact that the main character of the book by Malcolm half a half -half -half -year -old, the “beautiful savage” is read as a dynamic adventurous romance with bright characters, unexpected plot turns, a unique atmosphere and a paradoxical denouement. However, since the global success of Harry Potter, the age of the heroes has ceased to be perceived as a marker specifically “children's” literature. And this means that even a reader who has long come out of adolescence has a chance to enjoy Pulman’s novel, not experiencing the slightest awkwardness on this occasion. And if you like the “Beautiful Dikar”, then very soon we will be continued: the release of the second volume of the trilogy, entitled “Secret Commonwealth”, is scheduled for September 2018.

Galina Yuzefovich