Comments on: Message-driven fiction and The Golden Compass

By: being human: on the job training « Seven angels, four kids, one family

being human: on the job training « Seven angels, four kids, one family — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 14:32:57 +0000

[...] My next question: how does sharply limiting the kind of fiction you read affect that ability to empathize? For a while I was reading Christian inspirational fiction and I stopped because I kept finding it so unsatisfying: everyone thought the same way. The bad guys did bad things for cartoony reasons, not as believable characters. Because, of course, it was message-driven fiction. [...]

By: Thinking Christian | by Tom Gilson » Blog Archive » Preacher-Man Phillip Pullman

Sat, 01 Dec 2007 21:17:59 +0000

[...] From that beginning, Wright shows from the perspective of the storyteller just how much of a sermon Pullman wrote. Hat tip to Philangelus [...]

By: Diinzumo

Diinzumo — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 20:40:44 +0000

The funny part was I didn’t read the review to assess the story’s preachiness, but rather whether the story fulfilled its promises. According to the review, it doesn’t (you mentioned the “gun rack law”). That’s important. I’m also turned off by preachiness and any author’s attempts to drive home a message with a giant mallet.

By: philangelus

philangelus — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 19:38:04 +0000

Maybe you could borrow the DVD of it from the library?

I’m just intrigued by the idea that it’s not just preachy fiction that gets preachy, and the in-depth analysis of what it is that makes something preachy. I never thought to frame it in terms of the story itself getting compromised.

By: Diinzumo

Diinzumo — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 19:32:09 +0000

Thanks for saving me a few $s. I was curious, but this review hints that I would be very bored. Too bad. The web site was cool.

By: Jenni

Jenni — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 18:56:35 +0000

Yes, don’t waste your time on these books. After seeing a preview for the movie, I decided to read them but only got halfway through the second one for the same reason that Mr. Wright didn’t like them. The message trumped the story and neither was very good. I kept asking my husband why they got so many awards.